Unit 1 Study Guide
Renaissance and Reformation/Age of Exploration
The study guide must be turned in when you finish your test.
Test Structure
20 Multiple Choice Questions
2 Short Answer Questions.
3 Essay Responses – You must answer 1 of them.
Important Terms
Please give a general date, definition, and significance for the following terms…
Hint: You can look to the back of your book for these definitions, but often times those definitions are too complicated for our
purposes. Instead, look in your packets for simplified and shorter definitions. Some of these words can be defined in a word or a
phrase.
1) Renaissance man
2) Humanism
3) Patron
4) Secular
5) Indulgence
6) Protestant
7) Predestination
8) Caravel
9) Atlantic Slave Trade
10) Columbian exchange
11) Joint-stock company
12) Mercantilism
Important Concepts
Answer the following questions completely.
13) How did Italy’s location help it become the birthplace
of the Renaissance?
15. What were Martin Luther’s three main beliefs
about God and the Church?
16. Why did Henry VIII split with the Catholic Church
and form the Church of England?
17. Describe the ideal political leader according to
Niccolo Machiavelli.
18. What effect did the printing press have on
European society?
19. How was Africa affected by the Atlantic Slave
Trade?
20. How did Prince Henry the Navigator influence
exploration?
21. What three factors helped Cortes and the Spanish
defeat the Aztecs?
22. Explain the differences in the reasons why the
English colonies of Massachusetts Bay and
Jamestown were settled.
23. What were the reasons why European colonists
decided to use Africans as slaves rather than
Native Americans?
24. What was the purpose of the Middle Passage?
Describe what that experience was like?
25. Describe the impact that the Columbian Exchange
has had on American culture today.
26. Describe the three legs of triangular trade,
including the locations and the goods traded.
27. Explain the three motivations of exploration (the
3Gs).
Essay Questions
These three questions will be the ones offered on the test. You will only be required to answer one of them. For your
study guide, you do not have to answer these questions.
A. Explain TWO important and lasting results of the printing press. Evaluate which invention was most
revolutionary; the 16th century invention of the printing press or the Internet of the 21st century. Include in your
evaluation two arguments supporting your choice.
B. Explain the three primary motivations of exploration. Give an example of how each motivation was displayed in
a particular action from the time period studied in class, and discuss how these motivations are still present in
the actions of countries’ governments today.
C. Explain the three steps of the Atlantic Trade Network (Triangular Trade) and the impact on the global economy
of that time, and how you can see the impact of triangular trade today.
USE YOUR NOTES, DAILY WORK, AND BELLRINGERS TO PREPARE
FOR THE TEST AND FIND ANSWERS ON THE STUDY GUIDE.
*This essay must be in 5 paragraph form.*
Essay Guide
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Paragraph 1 – Thesis Paragraph 2 – Answers question 1
Paragraph 3 – Answers part of question 2
Paragraph 4 – Answers other part of question 2
Paragraph 5 – Conclusion (restates Thesis)
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Paragraphs should include 4 - 5 sentences at a Minimum
Sentence 1 – Introduction to topic
Sentence 2 – Explanation/description of what the topic is
Sentence 3 – Explains how the topic answers the question
Sentence 4 – Gives an example of the topic
Sentence 5 – Analyzes the example by explaining how it relates to the topic and how it proves the answer.
Sentence 6 – Transition sentence leads into the next paragraph
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