Period 1: 1491–1607
134 soru
Bernardino de Sahagún, a Spanish missionary, recorded the following description of a disease outbreak in Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City) in the sixteenth century:
"A great sickness broke out among the people... It spread over the people as great destruction. Some it quite covered on all parts—their faces, their heads, their breasts... They could not move; they could not stir... And many died of it..."
Which of the following aspects of the Columbian Exchange is most directly reflected in the event described in the excerpt?
"On their way back the two Christians met many people, both men and women, who were returning to their homes. The men always carried a lighted brand in their hands and certain herbs, the smoke of which they inhaled. These herbs were dry and were wrapped in a leaf, also dry... Having lighted one end of it, they sucked the other, and inhaled, or absorbed, the smoke. This calmed their weariness and, as they said, made them feel no fatigue."
— Christopher Columbus, journal entry describing the Taíno people, November 1492
The commodity described in the excerpt represents which of the following dynamics of the Columbian Exchange?
Read the following passage describing the pre-Columbian Great Basin and answer the question below.
"In the arid Great Basin, where water was scarce and vegetation sparse, indigenous groups like the Shoshone and Paiute developed highly mobile societies. Rather than establishing permanent agricultural villages, they moved seasonally to exploit diverse resources, harvesting pine nuts in the uplands, gathering seeds in the valleys, and hunting small game. This mobility allowed them to survive in a challenging environment that could not support large, stationary populations."
The mobile lifestyle of the Great Basin societies described in the excerpt was most directly a response to which of the following?
Decree of the Council of the Indies, 1578:
"We order and command that no mestizo, mulatto, or person of mixed lineage shall live in the Indian towns or villages, because they are often the cause of disturbances and bad examples to the native population. Furthermore, these mixed-race individuals shall not be permitted to hold public office, carry weapons, or inherit the encomiendas of their Spanish fathers unless they have been granted specific legitimacy by the Crown. Their presence threatens to disrupt the orderly collection of tributes and the conversion of the natives."
Based on the passage, the restrictions placed on individuals of mixed ancestry in Spanish America most directly reflected which of the following imperial goals?
Read the excerpt below carefully and answer the following question.
'I am not insensible to the high honor which the King your master does me... but I must tell you that the people of this country are very different from the Portuguese, and are easily alarmed... It is far better for us to continue on our old footing, trading together as merchants when you come here, and departing when you have finished, than for you to build a permanent house here to live among us... Friends who meet occasionally remain friends, but neighbors who live together are prone to quarrel.'
— Kwamin Ansah, ruler of Elmina (in modern-day Ghana), responding to Portuguese requests to build a permanent trading fortress, 1482 (recorded by João de Barros in Asia, 1552)
Which of the following characteristics of early West African relations with European powers is best reflected in the excerpt?
Source: An account of the Hernando de Soto expedition by a Portuguese member known as the Gentleman of Elvas, published in 1557.
"As soon as the Governor [De Soto] arrived in Cofitachequi, the Lady of the town sent her niece to welcome him, who presented him with a great string of pearls... The Governor ordered his men to search the temple and the tombs for pearls, where they found many of great value. The Spanish remained in this province for some days, during which they suffered from a lack of maize, and when they departed, the Governor ordered that the Lady of Cofitachequi should be taken with them under guard, forcing her to accompany them through the wilderness so that her subjects would provide the Spaniards with guides and food along their route."
Which of the following historical developments during the sixteenth century is best illustrated by the excerpt?
Source: Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Spanish soldier and chronicler, *The True History of the Conquest of New Spain*, describing events in 1519.
"The chief of Cempoala complained bitterly of Montezuma and his tax-gatherers, saying that they took all their property, and if their wives and daughters were beautiful, they took them... He related how the Mexica [Aztecs] had conquered them and forced them to pay tribute, and how they had to give their sons for sacrifice... Hernán Cortés comforted them, saying that the great King of Spain, his master, had sent him to punish evil-doers and stop these sacrifices, and that he would protect them. The chief was so glad of this promise that he swore they would do whatever we commanded them, and would join their forces with ours against Montezuma."
The interactions described in the excerpt best support which of the following arguments regarding the Spanish conquest of the Americas?
“I marvel how Your Majesty has for so long tolerated a man so restless, importunate, and troublesome... who does nothing but write of the evils and injuries committed by the Spaniards... He claims that the Spaniards have impoverished and oppressed the Indians, whereas they have in fact civilized them, brought them under the rule of law, and taught them the true Catholic faith, showing them charity and kindness in many places. If there have been abuses, they have been punished by Your Majesty’s judges.”
— Fray Toribio de Benavente (Motolinia), Letter to Emperor Charles V, 1555
The perspective expressed in the excerpt most directly supports which of the following arguments used to justify Spanish colonization of the Americas?
Read the excerpt below and answer the following question.
"The aborigines in question were true owners, before the arrival of the Spaniards, both from the public and the private point of view. . . . The Spaniards have a right to travel into the lands in question and to sojourn there, provided they do no harm to the natives. . . . The Spaniards may preach and declare the Gospel to the barbarians. . . . But if the barbarians, after being spoken to and exhorted, still refuse to receive the Gospel, it is not lawful to wage war on them or to despoil them of their goods."
— Francisco de Vitoria, Spanish theologian, *De Indis* (*On the Indies*), 1539
Which of the following assertions from the Spanish colonization era is most directly challenged by Vitoria's argument in the excerpt?
"The Indians of this island [Hispaniola] are by nature idle and vicious, doing little work. Their chief desire is to eat, drink, play, and worship their idols. Many of them killed themselves with poison rather than work, and others killed themselves for amusement... What else can one expect from people whose skulls are so thick and hard that the Spaniards have to be careful in fighting them not to strike them on the head, lest their swords be broken?"
— Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, Spanish chronicler, *General and Natural History of the Indies*, 1535
The perspective expressed in the excerpt most directly reflects which of the following historical developments during the early colonial period?
Source: Thomas Hariot, *A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia*, 1588
"Within a few days after our departure from every such town, the people began to die very fast, and many in a short space; in some towns about twenty, in some forty, in some sixty, and in one six score, which in truth was very many in respect of their numbers... The disease also so strange, that they neither knew what it was, nor how to cure it; the like by report of the oldest men in the country never happened before, time out of mind. A thing that may be worthy of the noting, that this misery fell on them only in those towns where we had been..."
Which of the following was a major long-term consequence of the demographic trend described in the excerpt?
"The introduction of American root crops, particularly the potato, to the Old World did more than simply supplement European diets; it fundamentally reorganized agrarian economies. Because potatoes produced substantially more calories per acre than traditional European cereal grains like wheat or rye, they allowed smallholders to survive on marginal lands. This agricultural surplus mitigated chronic famines, catalyzed a sustained demographic boom in Northern and Western Europe, and ultimately helped supply the surplus labor force necessary for the rise of industrial capitalism. Simultaneously, the crop’s expansion altered geopolitical power dynamics, as states that adopted the tuber could sustain larger standing armies and support denser urban populations."
—Adapted from modern historical analyses of global ecological exchanges
Which of the following processes in Europe was most directly facilitated by the ecological developments described in the excerpt?
"Regarding the island of Hispaniola, the native peoples have almost entirely disappeared, having been consumed by the great sicknesses and the intolerable burdens of labor in the gold mines. To preserve the royal revenues and sustain the sugarcane plantations, the Spanish settlers have begun to purchase laborers brought from the Portuguese trade in West Africa. These new laborers are far more resistant to the diseases that have decimated the natives, and they possess the strength required for the heavy work of the mills."
— Report by a Spanish crown inspector on colonial agriculture, 1530s
The developments described in the excerpt most directly contributed to which of the following shifts in the Spanish colonial labor system?
Source: Council of Castile, *El Requerimiento* (The Requirement), 1513.
"On the part of the King, Don Fernando, and of Doña Juana, his daughter, queen of Castile and Leon, subduers of the barbarous nations, we their servants notify and make known to you... that the Lord our God, Living and Eternal, created the Heaven and the Earth... Of all these nations God our Lord gave charge to one man, called St. Peter, that he should be Lord and Superior of all the men in the world... One of these Pontiffs [Popes], who succeeded that St. Peter as Lord of the world... made donation of these isles and Firm-land to the aforesaid King and Queen and to their successors..."
Which of the following Spanish colonization objectives is most directly reflected in the ideas expressed in the excerpt?
“In these kingdoms of the Indies, there has arisen a great diversity of mixtures among the Spanish, the native Indians, and the Black slaves brought from Africa. Because the Spanish men are few in number compared to the vast populations of the other groups, the Crown has established a clear hierarchy of rights and obligations based on parentage. Those of pure Spanish descent born in the Peninsula hold the highest offices of government and the Church, while those of mixed blood are excluded from honors and authority. This social order is necessary to preserve the obedience of the provinces and to prevent the different classes from uniting against the royal authority.”
— Alonso de Zurita, Spanish jurist and administrator, *Brief Relation of the Lords of New Spain*, c. 1585
Which of the following was the primary purpose behind the development of the social hierarchy described in the excerpt?
In the early sixteenth century, Portuguese merchants operating along the coast of West Africa negotiated directly with local rulers to establish trading agreements. The Portuguese offered European textiles, brass vessels, and metal goods in exchange for gold, ivory, and enslaved people, who were primarily transported to Lisbon or to Atlantic sugar-producing islands like Madeira and São Tomé. These transactions occurred under the strict jurisdiction and taxation of African authorities, who regulated the terms of trade and controlled access to inland markets.
Which of the following best describes the relationship between European merchants and West African societies during the early development of the transatlantic slave trade?
"Since the land is newly won, and the Spanish residents have no other support than the labor and tribute of the Indians to maintain themselves and defend the land for Your Majesty, if the Indians are taken away, the Spaniards will abandon the territory..."
— Petition from the City Council of Mexico to the Spanish Crown, 1525
The labor arrangement described in the petition, in which the Spanish Crown granted colonists the right to demand tribute and coerced labor from local Indigenous populations, refers to which of the following systems?
Source: Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, Spanish chronicler, *General and Natural History of the Indies*, 1535
"Of the animals of Europe, there are now so many cows, horses, and especially pigs, that they have spread over all the islands and the mainland. These beasts have multiplied to such an extent that they run wild, and they have caused great damage to the native peoples. The herds of cattle and horses destroy the crops of maize and cassava which the Indians plant for their sustenance, as the Indians do not have fences to protect their fields."
Which of the following environmental or social changes in the Americas was a direct result of the developments described in the excerpt?
"Item: We order and command that henceforward, for no cause of war or any other . . . can any Indian be made a slave, and we will that they be treated as our vassals of the Crown of Castile, as they are. . . . Furthermore, we command that the royal councils shall make it their principal care to see to the preservation and increase of the Indians . . . and that they be not encomendados [held in encomienda] by any person, but rather placed under our Royal Crown, to be taught and indoctrinated in the tenets of our Holy Catholic Faith."
— Emperor Charles V, New Laws of the Indies, 1542
Which of the following historical developments in the Spanish colonies during the sixteenth century is best reflected by the passage?
"The people of this island and of all the other islands which I have found and of which I have information... have no iron or steel or weapons, nor are they fitted to use them... they are so guileless and so generous with all they possess, that no one would believe it who has not seen it... They should be good servants and intelligent, for I see that they very quickly say all that is said to them, and I believe that they would easily be made Christians, for they appeared to me to have no religion."
— Christopher Columbus, Letter to Luis de Santángel, 1493
Which of the following developments in the Spanish colonies in the sixteenth century most directly resulted from the Spanish assumptions about Indigenous peoples expressed in the excerpt?