1. Three Worlds Meet
Native Americans created complex societies spread throughout the continents. Peoples in Europe and Africa developed their own cultures, which they later contributed to American Society

2. What were the effects of agriculture on the hunting and gathering peoples of the Americas?
Made it possible for people to stay in one place and store surplus food

3. What were some of the achievements of the early civilizations of the Americas?
They built great cities and ceremonial centers and developed forms of writing

4. Early Civilizations of the Americas
Dates
Location
Olmec
1200 BCE to 400BCE
along the Gulf of Mexico
Maya
250 to 900
Guatemala and the Yucatan Peninsula
Aztec
1200s to 1500s
Valley of Mexico
Inca
1200
western coast of South America
Hohokam and Anasazi
300 BCE to 1400 CE
Southwest
Adena and Hopewell
500 BCE to 400 CE
east of Mississippi River
Mississippian
600 to 1500

5. What are some similarities among these early civilizations?
They created large architectural structures
Many of them built pyramids Or mounds

6. How might California’s varied landscapes have encouraged diverse ways of life?
The people in the north might have dressed differently and developed different hunting techniques than the people of the South

7. Those living in the Southwest relied mostly on crops
In what ways did food production differ among Native American societies?
Groups that lived along the coasts were able to rely on the ocean for their food
Those living in the Southwest relied mostly on crops
Groups in the eastern woodlands mixed hunting and gathering with agriculture

8. In what ways did trade link Native Americans?
It allowed the different groups to interact with one another and enabled them to exchange foods and goods

9. What similarities and differences existed among Native American social structures?
Some societies organized related families into clans, who would live together
In societies where people hunted and gathered, groups broke into smaller bands for hunting

10. Why would trade have helped spread Islam?
Muslim traders would have spread their religion along their trade routes

11. How did the Portuguese sugar plantations affect the course of history?
To work the sugar plantations, the Portuguese began importing slaves from the west African mainland.
This was the beginning of the European slave trade.

12. West Africa West Africa’s Climate Zones
Desert
Rain forests
Savanna
West Africa’s Major Geographical Features
Sahara Desert
Atlantic Coastline
Niger River
Three West African Kingdoms and Their Climate Zones
Songhai – savanna and desert
Benin – rain forest
Kongo – rain forest

13. How was the government in Benin similar to that of Askia Muhammad?
Both were highly organized and used appointed officials to administer districts and control economic activity

14. Why did political leaders claim authority on the basis of religion?
It was the best way to justify their authority

15. What agricultural skills did West Africans bring to the Americas?
Rice and the knowledge of how to cultivate it

16. Changes in Western Europe
Political
Rise of centralized states
Declining papal authority
Economic
Growth of commerce
Social
Renewed missionary calling
Population growth
Technological
Improvements in mapmaking
Caravel
Compass and astrolabe
Cultural
Renaissance spirit of adventure and curiosity

17. The invention of the printing press – it spread ideas
Which European events of the late 1400s to early 1500s had the most far-reaching impact on European lives?
The reconquista - it set the stage for future Spanish conquest to spread Christianity around the globe
The reformation – it caused many people to seek religious freedom in the new world
The invention of the printing press – it spread ideas

18. How did advances in technology open the way for world exploration?
Advances in sailing promoted trade and the urge to discover and conquer other lands

19. Where did Europeans first experiment with the plantation system?
In Lebanon during the Crusades and on islands off the coast of Africa during the 1400s

20. What activities occupied Columbus as he explored the Americas?
He began searching for gold and asserting Christian dominance

21. Timeline of Columbus’s Voyages and Interactions with Native Americans
1492 – Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas
1493 – Columbus’s return trip to the Americas and his conquest of St. Croix despite resistance by Native Americans
1495 – rebellion of the Taino of Hispaniola against the Spanish
1500 – Columbus asked to leave Hispaniola because of his inability to maintain order
1504 – Columbus returns to Spain

22. Why did European explorers believe they could simply claim lands for their home countries, even though these lands were already populated?
Perhaps they believed that because their culture was more sophisticated, they had the right to occupy those lands

23. In the centuries before Columbus’s voyages, where had Europeans gained experience in colonization?
During the Crusades, Italians from Venice had taken over Arab sugar farms in what is now Lebanon
By the late 1400s, the Portuguese had established plantation colonies off the coast of West Africa

24. What were some important long-term consequences of Columbus’s encounters in the Americas?
The entrenched pattern of violating human rights in the process of conquering new lands
The African slave trade and its tragic outcomes
The emergence of various nations in North and South America
The permanent altering of the global environments and societies as a result of the Colombian Exchange
The multicultural character of the United States