Us History
...new lands?
a. Merchants were interested in increasing their profits from trade by cutting out Middle Eastern intermediaries in the trade with Asia.
b. Better designed ships and more advanced sailing instruments made it safer to venture farther from land.
c. The monarchies of the new nation states were interested in increasing their wealth and power through territorial acquisitions.
d. Europeans were looking for new markets for the slave trade.
e. Religious dissenters thought that they would be able to escape persecution by emigrating to a colony.
The correct answer is D. While slavery was not unknown to Europeans, the impetus to enlarge the slave trade came after Europeans had explored parts of the Americas and established settlements. The slave trade was not a motive for exploration and colonization.
Cortés was aided in his conquest of the Aztec empire by
a. the superior ships and sailing technology of the Spanish
b. help from Aztec tribute states that wanted to rid themselves of Aztec rule
c. European diseases against which the Aztecs had no immunities
d. the threat of the introduction of Africans to work the Aztecs' silver mines
e. the civil war that raged in the empire
The correct answer is B. Choice A doesn't make sense since the Aztecs lived inland. Choice C would be a good guess—if you had been asked about why Aztecs died off after they became part of the Spanish empire, not when they were being conquered. Choice D is a distracter—sounds good but has no basis in fact. Choice E would be a good answer—if the question asked about the Spanish conquest of the Inca.
A major difference between Massachusetts Bay and the Virginia Colony was that
a. Virginia Colony was a commercial enterprise, whereas Massachusetts Bay was a religious enterprise
b. early colonists in Massachusetts Bay were freemen and...
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