Chapter 4 Study Guide
1. Which best describes the factors that enabled Cortes to defeat the Aztecs?
a. disease, allies, and more men
b. metal armor, muskets, horses, and allies
c. larger forces, better weapons, and horses
d. stone weapons, muskets, and allies
2. Why did Columbus sail west on his first expedition?
a. to discover Bahama Islands
b. to take part in the Columbian Exchange
c. to find a shorter route to the Indies
d. to show King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella he could make the journey
3. How did Columbus voyages impact the Americas?
a. The Indians returned to Asia with Columbus.
b. The Indians showed Europeans how to breed stronger horses.
c. Explorers and settlers abandoned their plans to colonize the West Indies.
d. Columbus showed Europeans the way to the Americas.
4. Which of the following was not a reason Columbus made more voyages to the
West Indies?
a. The Spanish wanted the riches of the land.
b. Spain wanted him to start a colony in the West Indies.
c. He wanted to learn the language of the Taino.
d. He delivered people and animals to the new land.
5. What did NOT happen as a result of the Columbian Exchange?
a. Europeans practiced Indian religion and customs, and the two groups
shared the land.
b. Many Indians dies from overwork and the diseases brought over by the
Europeans.
c. Europeans enjoyed new foods from the Americas, such as corn, potatoes,
tomatoes, cocoa, and beans.
d. Europeans brought horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs to the Western
Hemisphere.
6. Which of the following defines the Columbian Exchange?
a. using missionaries to convert Indians to Christianity in the Eastern
Hemisphere
b. changing sugarcane into sugar to sell at a huge profit
c. moving people and their ways of life between the Eastern and Western
Hemispheres
d. sharing the riches from one land to another in the Western Hemisphere
7. What was Las Casa’s point of view on Indians in the encomienda system?
a. He supported slavery.
b. He supported their work on farms, but not in mines.
c. He wanted to increase the number of slaves.
d. He wanted slavery to end.
8. After Cortes conquered the Aztecs, who conquered the Incan empire?
a. Pizarro
b. Coronado
c. Cortes
d. Cabeza de Vaca
9. Why did the Spanish landowners want to keep slaves?
a. The slaves didn’t eat much.
b. The slaves made them rich.
c. They could replace slaves easily.
d. They helped with the slaves’ education.
10. What colony was founded after the defeat of the Incan empire?
a. Lima
b. New Portugal
c. New Spain
d. Peru
11. Which BEST describes the Indians’ life on an encomieda?
a. They ran small businesses making furniture or clothing to sell to settlers.
b. They were wealthy and powerful landowners who wanted to become
Christians.
c. They had large farms with many workers.
d. They often worked without pay and were expected to become Christians.
12. Which happened FIRST in Spain’s search for gold?
a. Coronado explored what is now the American Southwest.
b. They kingdom of Cibola was discovered far north of Mexico.
c. Esteban was killed by the Zuni people in what is now New Mexico.
d. Cabeza de Vaca traveled the American Southwest.
13. Which answer correctly sequences the groups in New Spain’s colonial society
from most to least powerful?
a. peninsulares, creoles, mestizos, Africans and Indians
b. peninsulares, Africans and Indians, mestizos, creoles
c. peninsulares, Africans and Indians, creoles, mestizos
d. Africans and Indians, mestizos, creoles, peninsulares
14. Which happened AFTER Estebans death in what is now New Mexico?
a. The Spanish abandoned their search for the kingdom.
b. Zuni people joined another expedition to find Cibola.
c. Cabeza de Vaca was shipwrecked off the Texas coast.
d. Coronado continued the search for Cibola.
15. What sequence of events led to the Columbian Exchange?
16. How did having Indian allies help Cortes conquer the Aztecs?
17. Why do archaeologists today find evidence of the ancient Aztec capital right in
the center of Mexico City?
18. The Spanish explorers conquered Indian empires to gain land and riches. How do
you think the Aztec and Incan people may felt about these events?
19. What was colonial society like in New Spain?
20. How did Spain become one of the most powerful countries in the world in the
1600’s?