Name:_____________________________ date due:_______________ period:______________
APUSH: The American Pageant- Reading Guide
Chapter 1: New World Beginnings
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
The Shaping of North America – page 4
1. Label the following on the attached Map: The Appalachian Mountains, the Rocky
Mountains, The Sierra Nevada, The Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean,
Pacific Ocean, Lake Superior, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Ontario.
2. What do scientists use as proof of a “single supercontinent” that existed 225 million
years ago?
3. According to your textbook, when were the Appalachian Mountains formed?
4. Identify the mountain ranges that arose 135-25 million years ago.
5. Describe the North American landscape during the Great Ice Age.
Peopling the Americas
6. Explain how North America was populated by humans. Be sure to identify the two
leading theories (both accepted, and controversial).
7. How do some Native Americans feel about the scientific theories regarding migration
into the Americas? (from notes)
8. By 1492, approximately how many people inhabited North & South America?
The Earliest Americans
9. Explain why the cultivation of corn was integral to the development of Native American
culture and societies in North America.
10. When did the cultivation of corn reach the present day south west?
11. According to your textbook, one of the main factors that enabled Europeans to conquer
native North Americans with relative ease was…
12. Describe the “three-sister” farming method. What impact did this agricultural system
have on Native American societies?
13. What responsibilities did women have in more settled agricultural groups?
14. Compare the Native American views regarding land and the environment with the
European perspective.
Indirect Discoverers of the New World-page10
15. Which group of European adventurers accidentally arrived in North America almost 500
years before Columbus?
Europeans Enter Africa
16. Why did Europeans want to find a shorter route to Asia?
17. Identify: Caravel
18. What role did the Portuguese play in the emergence of the African slave trade?
19. Identify the two events which signaled the unification of Spain.
Columbus Comes upon a New World
20. What machine facilitated the spread of knowledge in Europe (circa 1450)?
21. What year did Christopher Columbus sail the ocean blue? Where did he land ( name the
modern day location)
22. Where did Columbus think he was?
23. Identify 5 new world plants that were introduced to Europe after 1492.
24. What animals did the Europeans introduce to the Americas?
G.
When Worlds Collide -page14
25. What percentage of Native Americans died after the arrival of Columbus? Why?
H.
The Spanish Conquistadores
26. Identify: The Treaty of Tordesillas
27. Which Spanish conquistador explored Florida in 1513 and 1521? What was he looking
for?
28. Which Spanish explorer was the first to cross the Mississippi river in the 1500’s?
I.
The Conquest of Mexico
29. List 5 reasons why the Spanish conquistadores were eager to travel to (and invade the
new world)
30. In your own words, summarize the Fall of Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital) to the Spanish
conquistadores.
J. The Spread of Spanish America- page21
31. What is the oldest European settlement in the Modern day U.S.?
32. Describe the events that led to the foundation of Santa Fe, New Mexico in the late
1500’s.
33. Why did the Pueblo people rebel against the Spanish in 1680 (Pope’s rebellion)? Why is
this event significant in American history?
34. Name the Spanish adventurer that explored the California coast in 1542.
35. Who founded the first California Mission? What year? What was the purpose of the
missions?
36. What are your thoughts regarding the “black legend”?
Choose three AP themes that were addressed in this chapter and name a specific example from the
reading. See attached AP Themes handout.
1. Theme: American diversity- the relationship amongst different groups
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Example: The tense relationship between the Spanish and the Pueblo people in New Mexico.