Maize, or corn, was the main food crop on which Mesoamerican societies were built.
Correct Answer
True
True. Mesoamericans domesticated maize thousands of years ago, and it became the dietary base that supported cities and large populations. Beans and squash were grown alongside it.
Category: Mesoamerican Civilizations
Question 2
The Inca moved goods along their road network in wheeled carts pulled by horses.
Correct Answer
False
False. The Inca, like all pre-Columbian societies, did not use wheeled vehicles, and the Americas had no horses until Europeans brought them. Goods and messages moved on foot and by llama along the stepped mountain roads.
Category: Andean Civilization
Question 3
Inca runners called chasquis carried messages across the empire in a relay system.
Correct Answer
True
True. Chasquis ran set stretches of road and passed messages to the next runner, allowing news to move quickly across an empire that stretched along the Andes.
Category: Andean Civilization
Question 4
Machu Picchu, the mountain site in present-day Peru, was built by the Maya.
Correct Answer
False
False. Machu Picchu was built by the Inca in the Andes around the mid-1400s. The Maya lived far to the north, in southern Mexico and Central America.
Category: Andean Civilization
Question 5
Teotihuacan, northeast of present-day Mexico City, contained the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.
Correct Answer
True
True. Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities in the ancient Americas, peaking around 500 CE, and its two great pyramids still stand. It was also a major trade center.
Category: Mesoamerican Civilizations
Question 6
The Hopewell culture is best known for the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.
Correct Answer
False
False. The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde were built by Ancestral Pueblo peoples in the Southwest. The Hopewell culture of the Ohio River Valley is known for its burial mounds, earthworks, and long-distance trade.
Category: Native North America
Question 7
In many Eastern Woodlands societies, women grew crops such as corn, beans, and squash.
Correct Answer
True
True. Women typically farmed and gathered while men hunted, fished, and defended the group. Women also often had a voice in choosing and advising leaders.
Category: Native North America
Question 8
Mesoamerican peoples worshipped a single, all-powerful god.
Correct Answer
False
False. Mesoamerican religions were polytheistic, with many gods tied to forces such as rain, maize, and the sun. Rituals, including bloodletting and sacrifice, were meant to honor and sustain these gods.
Category: Mesoamerican Civilizations
Question 9
Muslim forces conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula in the early 700s.
Correct Answer
True
True. After spreading across North Africa, Muslim armies crossed into Spain in 711 and held much of it for centuries. Christian kingdoms later fought to win it back in the Reconquista.
Category: Medieval Europe
Question 10
Norse explorers led by Leif Ericson reached North America about five hundred years before Columbus.
Correct Answer
True
True. Leif Ericson, son of Eric the Red, reached the coast of present-day Canada around 1000 CE. These visits did not lead to lasting contact, which began only with the voyages of the late 1400s.
Category: Iberian Exploration
Question 11
Christopher Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic was paid for by the king of Portugal.
Correct Answer
False
False. Columbus's voyage was sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in 1492. Portugal was focused on reaching Asia by sailing around Africa.
Category: Iberian Exploration
Question 12
Greek served as the common language of the Roman Catholic Church in medieval western Europe.
Correct Answer
False
False. The Roman Catholic Church used Latin, which tied together a continent of regional languages. Greek was the language of the eastern church centered in Constantinople.
Category: Medieval Europe
Question 13
Marco Polo's account of his travels to China discouraged later Europeans from seeking trade with Asia.
Correct Answer
False
False. Marco Polo's descriptions of the wealth of Kublai Khan's court fired European interest in Asia, and Columbus later owned an annotated copy of the book.
Category: Crusades and Trade
Question 14
The West African empire of Ghana grew wealthy by taxing trade in gold and salt.
Correct Answer
True
True. Ghana's rulers controlled the flow of gold from the south and salt from the Sahara, and taxing this trade paid for a strong state and army.
Category: West African Empires
Question 15
Timbuktu, a city of the Mali Empire, became a leading center of Christian learning.
Correct Answer
False
False. Timbuktu became a famous center of Islamic learning and commerce. Mali's rulers converted to Islam, and Muslim scholars and scribes served the empire.
Category: West African Empires
Question 16
By 1500, the Songhai Empire had overtaken Mali as the leading power in West Africa.
Correct Answer
True
True. Under rulers such as Sonni Ali, the Songhai, based at Gao, expanded as Mali weakened. They took over Timbuktu and the trade routes Mali had controlled.
Category: West African Empires
Question 17
Slavery was unknown in Africa before the Atlantic slave trade began.
Correct Answer
False
False. Slavery existed in Africa, as in most civilizations, long before Europeans arrived. It often took forms such as debt bondage or servitude in exchange for protection, and enslaved people frequently became part of the household.
Category: Slavery and Labor
Question 18
In the 1400s, Portuguese traders began carrying enslaved Africans from the West African coast to Europe.
Correct Answer
True
True. As Portugal explored Africa's western coast in search of a sea route to Asia, it began trading for captives and shipping them to Portugal and Spain, where by 1500 enslaved Africans lived in cities such as Lisbon and Seville. The Portuguese later used enslaved Africans to grow sugar on Atlantic islands and in Brazil.
Category: Slavery and Labor
Question 19
In the English colonies, indentured servants were bound to work for their masters for life.
Correct Answer
False
False. Indentured servants agreed to work for a set term, usually between three and seven years, often in exchange for passage to the colonies. Lifelong, inherited bondage was the condition of enslaved people.
Category: Slavery and Labor
Question 20
The Black Death that struck Europe in the 1340s was a plague that killed a large share of its population.
Correct Answer
True
True. The plague spread quickly through Europe and wiped out entire villages. Some villages disappeared entirely.
Category: Medieval Europe