Chapter 4 Study Guide

1. Why did Columbus make his first voyage and then ones that
followed? (They are different reasons.)
The first voyage was made to search for a better, cheaper, and quicker
way to reach the Indies to find gold and riches. The other voyages
were to claim more land and set up more colonies for profit for Spain.
2. What is the Columbian Exchange and what led to it?
The Columbian Exchange is the movement of goods, people, diseases,
and ways of life from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western
Hemisphere. The voyages of Columbus led to it because he went back
and forth between America and Europe exchange many goods each
time.
3. What were the effects of the Columbian Exchange?
Each side got many different types of goods that they wouldnt have
had before, but they also got bad diseases and many people died.
Slavery began as a result of trading in the Columbian Exchange.
4. What was the effect of Columbus voyages?
Many explorers began to travel the world claiming land for their
countries and new places were discovered and new colonies were
formed all over the world.
5. What were the advantages Cortes had to help him conquer the
Aztecs?
Cortes had metal armor, guns, better weapons, bullets, horses,
diseases, and many native allies who knew the land and were tired of
living under the rule of the Aztecs.
6. How and why did Natives help Cortes?
They helped fight against the Aztecs because they were unhappy living
under the rule of the Aztecs. They wanted the Aztecs to be defeated.
7. What was the colony founded when the Aztecs and Incas were
conquered by the Spanish?
New Spain

8. Describe Cibola and the stories that surrounded it. What was the
sequence of events in this search for the gold?
Cibola was an imaginary city built from solid gold that many Spanish
explorers were sent to find. The stories made the Spanish obsessed
with finding gold so more and more of them came to find it, but instead
they ended up finding new lands to claim for Spain.
9. What is the ranking of the social classes in New Spain? Who are
the people of each class and what is their background? How did
it benefit the Spanish?
1st- Peninsulares- Were completely Spanish and born in Spain
2nd Creoles- completely Spanish but born in America
3rd- Mestizos- Half Spanish and Half Native
4th- NO Spanish background- All natives or Africans.
This whole system was set up to benefit the Spanish and make life
better for them but was awful for anyone who wasnt Spanish.
10.
What happened to the Indians in the encomienda and what
was life like for the natives? How did life change for the natives
after the Spanish came?
The natives on the encomiendas were sometimes treated terribly and
left with little food. They were forced to give up their native ways of
life and their beliefs. Some were forced into slavery and others were
expected to give everything they made to the encomienda owners.
11.

Who was Bartalome de Las Casas and what did he want?

He was a Catholic priest who did not like the way the native people
were being treated on the missions in New Spain. He fought back
against the Spanish for just treatment of these people and to get the
laws changed.
12.

How did Spain become so powerful?

They sent out lots of explorers around the world to claim new lands
and set up new colonies that would be profits to Spain. They claimed a
large area of land and gained lots of gold and riches for their country.
13.
Explain in detail the story of the Roanoke colony from
beginning to end.

England decided to start a colony in America in order to compete with

Spain. They sent over 100 men, women, and children to North
Carolina were John White had already explored to set up a colony.
They were not prepared and many started to die and get sick. John
White left to go back to England for supplies, but he was delayed 3
years by the War between England and Spain. By the time he got back
to Roanoke, the only trace of the settlement was the word CRO carved
into a tree. All of the colonists had disappeared.
Jamestown14.
Why did the English want to establish a colony in North
America?
They wanted riches and power like Spain and wanted to expand their
lands to become powerful and bring profits to England.
15.
What was the first English colony?
Technically Roanoke, but the first permanent settlement that survived
was Jamestown.
16.
What were some of the hardships experienced by the
settlers of Jamestown?
They settled in a low, swampy area with bad water. There were
mosquitoes that carried diseases and made people sick. They had
little food or supplies and many people died of starvation.
17.
How did the colonists survive the hardships of life in
Jamestown?
John Smith made the rule No work No eat. They had to work to survive
instead of looking for gold all day. John Smiths leadership saved the
colony.
18.
Who became the leader of Jamestown and how did his
leadership save Jamestown?
John Smith- he made them work
19.

What helped Jamestown begin to thrive as a colony?

John Rolfe began to grow tobacco as a cash crop and they were able to
make money off it to pay for their needs.
20.

Name and describe the government of Jamestown.

House of Burgesses. It was a form of self-government where the

people were able to elect members of the colony to make decisions for
the colony instead of following Englands rule.
21.

Why were the Spanish and English fighting?

Spain was unhappy that England was beginning to create colonies in

North America.

Other Colonies22.
What were explorers looking for in northern North America
and what did this search result in?
The Northwest Passage. The search for the Northwest Passage
resulted in new lands being discovered by many countries and they
founded many new colonies, which have grown into major cities today.
23.
Name the French explorers and the colonies established by
those explorers.
Samuel de Champlain founded the colonies of Quebec and Montreal.
24.

What made Quebec so successful?

There were millions of beavers in the forests and they were able to sell
the furs in Europe for lots of profits.
25.
Name the Dutch explorers and the colonies they
established.
Henry Hudson founded the colony of New Amsterdam.
26.
What plan did the Dutch have for the growth of New
Amsterdam?
They were able to control trade on the Hudson river because of the
location and they encouraged many people from many nations to come
live there so it became a huge thriving colony.
Pilgrims and Puritans-

27.
What was King Henry VII requiring in England during the
1600s?
He was requiring all people to attend the Church of England and belief
as he believed.
28.

What reason did the Pilgrims have for coming to America?

Religious Freedom
29.
Where did the Pilgrims plan to go and where did they end
up? Why?
They had planned to set up a colony in Virginia but they ended up in
Plymouth, Massachusetts because storms pushed them off course on
their voyage.
30.

Name the Pilgrims colony and its founder or leader.

Plymouth was founded by William Bradford

31.
What was life like for the Pilgrims? Give examples of what
they experienced.
Life was very difficult for the Pilgrims when they arrived in America.
They had limited supplies so they were starving, they got many
diseases, people got sick and died, and many were dying from freezing
weather in the harsh winter.
32.

Who did the Pilgrims meet and how did they help them?

Squanto and the Wampanoag Indians. The showed them the best
fishing and hunting areas, and showed them how to grow corn in order
to survive. They saved them.
33.
Explain how and why Thanksgiving was celebrated by the
Pilgrims.
They were Thankful for the harvest they had and for the Indians saving
their lives so they invited the Indians to a 3 day celebration and feast
to thank them for their help.
34.

Why did the Puritans want to go to America?

They wanted Religious Freedom

35.
How were the Puritans more prepared for life in American
than the Pilgrims?
They sent a small group of people to the colony first to set it up and
bring some supplies before they sent the larger group of colonists.
They had most of the hard work done in the colony before they went to
go try to live there and survive.
36.
Explain the steps the Puritans took in leaving England and
establishing their colony.
They separated from the Church of England and sent people to set up
a colony in Massachusetts Bay before the rest of the colony came to
live there. They wanted religious freedom.
37.

Name the Puritans colony and its founder or leader.

Massachusetts Bay Colony or Boston founded by

Know the following explorers. Where they explored and when and
what makes them significant.
Columbus- First to discover America
Vespucci- America was named after him.
Magellan- First to sail around the world
Cortes- Conquered the Aztecs
Pizzaro- Conquered the Incas
Coronado- First to explore the Southwest U.S.

De Soto- First European to reach the Mississippi River

Ponce de. Leon- First to reach Florida