America before Columbus RMS Colgan – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
What was the main source of food for the Europeans before Columbus discovered the Americas?
answer
Grains - wheat, rye, barley and oats
question
What food plant was responsible for creating large civilizations in North America? Hint: The Mississippians
answer
Corn (maize)
question
What food plant was responsible for creating a large civilization in Andes Mountains of South America? Hint: The Incas
answer
Potatoes
question
Who were mound builders and where were they located?
answer
Native Mississippians - from the Great Lakes in north to Florida in the south
question
What domesticated animal did the Incas have?
answer
Llamas
question
What did the people along the Amazon River do to the land there?
answer
Cleared the jungle to create farms for food
question
Who were the Anasazi?
answer
Native Americans who lived in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
question
What do scientists think happened to the Anasazi?
answer
They ran out of trees and food
question
How did the Native Americans "manage" the land before the Europeans arrived?
answer
They burned the plains and prairies (tall dry grass) so good green grass would grow in its place. This brought the animals closer for hunting.
question
What killed off the fish in the rivers and lakes of Europe?
answer
The water got muddy from farming, which killed many of the fish. They also built dams so fish could not come into the rivers from the ocean to lay their eggs.
question
Who helped make the demand for fish in Europe so huge by not allowing people to eat meat 100 days each year?
answer
Catholic Church
question
What did the people in Venice, Italy use wood for?
answer
They used it to build a city on top of the water
question
Why did the Europeans need new land?
answer
Cities were overcrowded and they were also running out of wood and fish
question
What would Spain gain with a shortcut to India?
answer
Trade for the goods they wanted (like spices and fabric)
question
What were the "big five" domesticated animals in Europe?
answer
Horses, cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep
question
What was the first animal the Europeans brought to the Americas?
answer
the horse
question
What happened to the horses brought to the Americas?
answer
They reproduced rapidly and spread all over the continent
question
Why were pigs a curse to the new world
answer
They ate the seeds planted by the natives and destroyed crops
question
Who did Pizarro destroy within 40 years?
answer
the Incas
question
Who did Cortez destroy in the same time period as Pizarro?
answer
the Aztecs and the Mayans
question
What other curse did the Europeans bring?
answer
Sickness and diseases like small pox and measles
question
What disease did the Americans send back to Europe?
answer
Syphillis
question
What was the first English settlement in North America?
answer
Jamestown, Virginia
question
Explain how the British changed the landscape of North America.
answer
They cut down the forests to make farms to grow grains; they over-fished the lakes and rivers; they brought domesticated animals (cows, pigs, sheep) that replaced the native animals
question
What was the name for the "exchange" of plants and animals between the New World (the Americas) and the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa)?
answer
The Columbian Exchange
question
What became the largest export crop in the early years of North America?
answer
Apples
question
What was the ONLY animal brought to Europe from the Americas?
answer
Turkeys
question
What vegetable brought to Europe from America caused a population explosion?
answer
the potato
question
What two crops were brought from Europe to America to be grown and shipped back for the rich people of Europe?
answer
Tobacco and sugar
question
What "cultural" change happened as a result of the huge plantations created in America?
answer
Slavery came to America - captured Africans
