APUSH Questions for Chapter 1

1.) How did the geographic setting of North America including its relation to Asia, Europe, Africa
affect its subsequent history?
2.) What were the common characteristics of all Indian Cultures in the New World, and what were
important differences among them.
3.) What fundamental factors drew the Europeans to exploration, conquest, and settlement of the
New World?
4.) What was the impact on the Indians, Europeans, and Africans when each of their previously
separate worlds collided with one another?
5.) Should European encounter with the Indian peoples of the Americas be understood primarily as
a story of conquest and exploitation, or as one of the mutual cultural encounters that brought
beneficial as well as tragic results for both?

1.) North America‘s distance from the center of the beginning of human kind had an adverse effect
upon the civilizations that would later develop there. Due to the crossing of the landmass
connecting the Asian continent to that of North America humans were able to reach the
previously secluded continent. However the landmass once again became inaccessible,
essentially separating the continents once again, dividing the humans into those who had fairly
simple contact with the rest of those
2.) Indian cultures in the New World, particularly the advanced ones, relied on the use of advanced
agricultural techniques and the cultivation of their staple food crop of maize. Similarly, even
without the use of several simple technologies, the Indian cultures were able to develop large
areas of worship and cities based on commerce. Although some cultures were able to stay in
one area due to agriculture, many Indian groups were hunter-gatherer groups especially those
who were far away from the center of maize production and initial spread, Mexico. Also, many
cultures were unique with their different methods of worshipping gods, and their gods
themselves differed depending on the tribe.
3.) The discovery and later settlement of the New World was not intentional as it was just a result
of a differing motive. The initial power the Muslims held over the trade routes leading to Asia
led to a large markup of all goods, coming from the Silk Roads, for the Europeans to buy leading
to several countries wishing to acquire spices and etc. The Portuguese would later monopolize
the African continent in an effort to bypass such restrictions. Due to the fact the eastward
movement to gain such goods was either held by Portuguese or Muslims, Spain and other
nations decided to find a westward passage to Asia allowing for direct trade. However it was
unknown that between Europe and East Asia was another continent. Columbus’s discovery of
the lands and the accidental misnomer of the Natives as “Indians” were insignificant in
comparison to the quick influx of Europe to these new lands. Although not the Asian lands, the
Americas contained numerous valuable goods ranging from valuable ores to crops. From there
settlement and further expansion followed.
4.) When the people of the continents of Europe, North and South America, and Africa the results
were generally one sided in favor of the European invaders. In both North America and Africa
the local populations were either decimated by disease or slavery or both. However not all
interactions were negative. For one, this brought the very different cultures together creating
unique amalgams of the beliefs. In addition new crops and items were introduced to each of the
continents respectively also known as the Columbian Exchange. Examples include the American
Maize, European potatoes and wheat, and etc.
5.) While the interactions between the cultures should probably be analyzed as that of mutual
encounters to see the long term effects and material differences, the truth should be
understood as that of European conquest and exploitation. This does not imply that the
Europeans were evil by nature or only had the idea of ruling natives in mind. I believe the
several factors contributed to this. For one, the Europeans were at the point in their
development of their civilizations that expansion was almost necessary as the population was
expanding and wealth was being more available to those who could access and trade goods that
were sought out. The Asian trade also influenced this creating demand by those who could
afford the luxuries allowing for the development of capitalist mentalities where those who could
acquire goods could resell them would profit. Furthermore the religion of European nations
somewhat supported the “heathen” idea as Europe’s history of development. The nations and
their close proximity led to constant warfare during the developing of their civilizations. This
triggered the concept of warfare development or the advancement of battle technology to
protect and attack other areas. The Europeans also had resources available to support such
technology unavailable to the natives of America. All these factors ultimately led to the
mentality of conquest that decimated the American people.