AP US History: Period 1 (1491 - 1607) 2 — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Which Native American civilization built large mound structures and was centered in present-day Illinois?

Cahokia (Mississippian culture) (Correct answer)
Iroquois Confederacy
Ancestral Puebloans
Chinook

Correct answer: Cahokia (Mississippian culture)

Cahokia was the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico, featuring massive earthen mounds and a population of up to 20,000.

Cahokia, the center of the Mississippian culture, was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois. At its peak (c. 1050-1200 CE), it was the largest urban center north of Mesoamerica, with an estimated population of 10,000-20,000. The site features over 120 earthen mounds, including Monks Mound (the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas). Cahokia had a complex society with social stratification, long-distance trade networks, and sophisticated astronomical knowledge, as evidenced by its wooden sun calendar ('Woodhenge').

Question 2: What was the Columbian Exchange?

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and cultures between the Americas and the Old World (Correct answer)
A trade agreement between Columbus and the Spanish Crown
The exchange of prisoners between European and Native American groups
A monetary system used in colonial trade

Correct answer: The widespread transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and cultures between the Americas and the Old World

The Columbian Exchange was the massive biological and cultural transfer between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres following Columbus's voyages.

The Columbian Exchange, a term coined by historian Alfred Crosby, describes the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World after 1492. The Americas received wheat, horses, cattle, and smallpox; Europe received potatoes, tomatoes, corn, tobacco, and chocolate. The most devastating impact was the introduction of Old World diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza) to the Americas, which killed an estimated 90% of the indigenous population — the greatest demographic catastrophe in human history.

Question 3: What was the encomienda system implemented by Spanish colonizers?

A system granting colonists the right to demand labor and tribute from indigenous peoples (Correct answer)
A trade network between Spanish colonies
A democratic governing system for colonies
A religious education program for Native Americans

Correct answer: A system granting colonists the right to demand labor and tribute from indigenous peoples

The encomienda system gave Spanish colonists authority over groups of indigenous people, extracting labor and tribute in exchange for supposed protection and religious instruction.

The encomienda system was a Spanish labor system that granted individual colonists (encomenderos) the right to demand tribute and forced labor from indigenous peoples living in a specific area. In theory, encomenderos were supposed to protect and Christianize their charges. In practice, it was a brutal system of exploitation that, combined with disease, devastated indigenous populations. Bartolomé de las Casas famously documented its abuses. The system was gradually replaced by the repartimiento and hacienda systems but established patterns of racial hierarchy and forced labor that persisted throughout colonial Latin America.

Question 4: How did the arrival of horses transform Native American societies on the Great Plains?

It revolutionized hunting, warfare, trade, and nomadic lifestyles (Correct answer)
It had no significant impact on Plains cultures
It only affected agricultural practices
It was limited to transportation

Correct answer: It revolutionized hunting, warfare, trade, and nomadic lifestyles

Horses, introduced by the Spanish, fundamentally transformed Plains Indian cultures by enabling more efficient buffalo hunting and increased mobility.

Horses, reintroduced to the Americas by Spanish colonizers (they had gone extinct ~10,000 years earlier), profoundly transformed Great Plains cultures. Beginning in the 1600s, tribes like the Comanche, Lakota, and Cheyenne adopted horses, which revolutionized buffalo hunting (enabling mounted pursuit rather than dangerous foot-based jumps), warfare (cavalry tactics), trade networks (expanded range), and social structures (horse wealth became a status marker). Some previously agricultural peoples became nomadic. The horse-buffalo complex became central to Plains identity until the near-extinction of buffalo in the 1880s.

Question 5: What motivated European exploration of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries?

The three Gs: Gold (wealth), God (religious conversion), and Glory (national prestige) (Correct answer)
Scientific curiosity about geography
Desire to establish democratic colonies
Escaping religious persecution in Europe

Correct answer: The three Gs: Gold (wealth), God (religious conversion), and Glory (national prestige)

European exploration was driven by economic motives (gold and trade routes), religious zeal (spreading Christianity), and competition for national glory.

European exploration of the Americas was driven by three interconnected motivations. Gold: the desire for wealth, new trade routes to Asia (after the Ottoman Empire blocked overland routes), and access to resources like gold, silver, and spices. God: the religious imperative to spread Christianity, especially after the Protestant Reformation intensified Catholic missionary zeal. Glory: national competition for prestige, territorial claims, and strategic advantage. Spain led early exploration, followed by Portugal, England, France, and the Netherlands, each establishing colonial empires that reshaped global power dynamics.

Question 6: What was the significance of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?

It divided newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal along a meridian line (Correct answer)
It established peace between France and England
It granted Columbus rights to all discoveries
It ended the Reconquista in Spain

Correct answer: It divided newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal along a meridian line

The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the non-Christian world between Spain and Portugal, with lands west of the line going to Spain and east to Portugal.

The Treaty of Tordesillas (June 7, 1494), mediated by Pope Alexander VI, divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. Lands west of the line went to Spain; lands east went to Portugal. This is why Brazil (which extends east of the line) became Portuguese while the rest of the Americas became Spanish. The treaty reflected the extraordinary power of the papacy and Iberian dominance in early exploration, though other European powers (England, France, Netherlands) eventually ignored it.

AP US History: Period 1 (1491 - 1607) 2

Which Native American civilization built large mound structures and was centered in present-day Illinois?