history

Question 1

Tainos

Answer 1

Native people in the Caribbean (ex: Hispaniola) who were among the first Indigenous groups the Spanish encountered.

Question 2

Conquistadors

Answer 2

Spanish soldiers/explores who conquered land in the Americas.

Question 3

Smallpox

Answer 3

Deadly European disease that killed millions of Native Americans who had no immunity.

Question 4

Hernán Cortés

Answer 4

Conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire.

Question 5

Malinche

Answer 5

Indigenous woman who served as Cortés’s translator and advisor; helped him communicate and form alliances.

Question 6

Aztecs

Answer 6

Powerful empire in central Mexico.

Question 7

Moctezuma (Montezuma)

Answer 7

Aztec emperor when Cortés arrived.

Question 8

Tenochtitlan

Answer 8

Capital city of the Aztec Empire (built on an island).

Question 9

Francisco Pizarro

Answer 9

Conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire.

Question 10

Atahualpa

Answer 10

Inca ruler captured by Pizarro.

Question 11

Inca

Answer 11

Powerful empire in the Andes Mountains (South America).

Question 12

Results of first encounters between Spanish and Native Americans

Answer 12

Native Americans were killed by disease, especially smallpox

Spanish took land, demanded tribute, and forced labor

Violence + enslavement caused huge population decline

Spanish gained wealth and control

Question 13

2) How did Spanish conquer the Aztec empire?

Answer 13

Used alliances with enemies of the Aztecs

Took advantage of confusion around Moctezuma

Attacked and eventually destroyed Tenochtitlan

Disease weakened the Aztecs

Question 14

2) How did Spanish conquer the Inca empire?

Answer 14

Arrived during a civil war in the Inca Empire

Captured Atahualpa and demanded ransom

Killed Atahualpa and took over the empire

Question 15

3) Why were the Spanish victorious?

Answer 15

Diseases wiped out Native populations

Better weapons (steel swords, guns, armor)

Horses gave a huge military advantage

Alliances with Native groups who hated the Aztecs/Inca

Native empires had internal problems (like civil war)

Question 16

Triangular trade

Answer 16

Trade system connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Question 17

Middle Passage

Answer 17

Horrific voyage where enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic to the Americas.

Question 18

Olaudah Equiano

Answer 18

Former enslaved African who wrote about slavery and helped the abolition movement.

Question 19

1) How did the arrival of Europeans in Africa lead to the Atlantic slave trade?

Answer 19

Europeans wanted labor for plantations in the Americas

They traded guns, metal goods, and cloth for enslaved people

African traders and some leaders began capturing people to sell

The demand grew into a massive system

Question 20

2) How did African leaders attempt to resist the slave trade?

Answer 20

Some refused to sell captives

Some fought wars to stop raids

Some tried to control trade or limit who could be taken

(BUT resistance was hard because Europeans had strong weapons and huge demand.)

Question 21

3) Impact of the Atlantic slave trade

Answer 21

Millions of Africans were forcibly taken from their homes

Many died during capture or the Middle Passage

African societies were destabilized (wars, fear, loss of population)

The Americas’ economies grew using enslaved labor

Racism and slavery became deeply built into society