Prologue Self-assessment

. Which of the following were environmental barriers to the growth of complex agricultural and commercial civilizations in pre-modern Latin America?

Uneven amounts of rainfall.

River systems that did not experience annual floods.

A relative absence of large lakes.

All of the above.

. Which pairing of an indigenous people with its geographical location is INCORRECT?

Maya - Yucatán Peninsula.

Inka - Atlantic coast of present-day Brazil.

Muisca - present-day Colombia near present-day Bogotá

Aztec - Central Mexico.

. The best characterization of the Aztecs by the year 1519 is

An expanding empire ruling by force over recently-conquered peoples.

A civilization of independent city-states.

A once-great civilization that had already declined.

A nomadic people

. Among the legacies of the Aztecs that endured into the colonial and modern periods was

Their language Nahuatl.

Their food.

Their capital city, under a new name.

All of the above.

. The Inka

Ruled one of the largest empires in the world at the time, incorporating modern-day Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and parts of Chile and Colombia.

Had no means of recording economic and tax information.

Ruthlessly stamped out diverse religious practices in their territory.

Had ruled their territory for over a thousand years at the time of contact with the Spanish.

. Which of the following is INCORRECT about the Spanish in the sixteenth century?

They had only recently succeeded in unifying their kingdom in Europe.

They brought a distinctly militaristic outlook to their overseas ventures.

They generally brought less religious and crusading zeal to their empire than the Portuguese did to theirs.

They viewed expansionist activity as an opportunity for personal and family enrichment.

. The Spanish conquest of the Aztecs

Followed an intricate and consistent plan.

Was resisted by all the native peoples of the area.

Failed to establish real control over many indigenous peoples, who retained considerable autonomy for centuries.

Wiped out most of the indigenous population militarily even before the spread of disease took its toll.

. Spanish control in the Americas

Was deepest in the areas where the indigenous population was at its least dense and sophisticated

Was largely limited to what had been peripheral areas at the edges of the Aztec and Inka realms.

Is best characterized as a sort of overlordship, with a new elite that kept much of the previous social relations intact.

Was mostly an afterthought compared to its activities in Asia.

. Which of the following was NOT an aspect of the Columbian Exchange?

Imported and invasive animal species damaged native flora and fauna.

People in both the Americas and the Old World benefited from new foods from across the sea.

Colonization transformed Latin American landscapes, replacing grasslands and forests with agricultural lands.

The Spanish introduced addictive substances like tobacco that decimated the indigenous populations.

. Catholic priests and monks in the Americas

Ignored the indigenous populations and focused their preaching and ministry on peoples of Iberian and African descent.

Worked to undermine the authority of the Spanish or Portuguese crowns, favoring local self-government.

Built profitable enterprises using the rural and urban landholdings that were reserved to the Church by law.

Refrained from publicly criticizing the abuses that colonists perpetrated against indigenous peoples and slaves.

. The elite in colonial Latin American societies

Generally preferred to live in rural areas, to oversee their ranches and plantations.

Was defined exclusively on racial lines and reserved only for "white" people.

Grew more stratified along racial lines over time, but also included important distinctions between the European- and American-born.

Was mostly the product of intermarriage between colonists and the surviving indigenous nobility.

. Which of the following was NOT a sign of the weakness of Spanish or Portuguese colonial authority?

The existence of autonomous communities of escaped slaves (quilombos) in the Brazilian interior.

The frequent use of the phrase "obedezco pero no cumplo" ("I obey but do not comply").

The practice of selling administrative offices to local elites.

The capture of Havana from the Dutch during the Seven Years' War.

. During the eighteenth century

Once-neglected and peripheral areas of Latin America, such as Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, and southern Brazil, began to prosper.

The Catholic Church strengthened its position at the expense of the Spanish monarchy.

Colonial governments permitted free trade in items such as tobacco.

Silver mining in Mexico and Peru collapsed.

. The expulsion of the Jesuit order from Portuguese and Spanish America

Allowed the monarchies to seize the order's assets.

Resulted in the threat of excommunication of both monarchs by the Pope.

Improved education in the colonies by forcing the priests to stop preaching and dedicate themselves to teaching secular subjects.

Was motivated by the order's opposition to capitalism and profit.

. The following pairs a region with its principal commodity export. Which pair is incorrect?

Cuba: sugar.

Argentina: leather and salted beef.

Venezuela: cacao.

Brazil: silver.

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