Scott Demeter - McGraw-Hill Education 500 AP US History Questions to Know by Test Day

. (C) Throughout the last Ice Age, over the period of roughly 22,000 to 7,000 years ago, the climactic shift caused increased glaciations in both the Arctic and Antarctic, causing a global lowering of ocean levels. During this same period, other land bridges, such as those connecting Australia to surrounding lands, also appeared. Interestingly, D is incorrect because climatologists theorize that during this time period, there was a lack of precipitation caused by ocean currents and location of regional mountain ranges.

. (E) Maize first appeared circa 5000 BCE in the highland regions of Mexico. It reached North America in about 1200 BCE, though the spread of its cultivation in North America is believed to have been slower than in other parts of the Americas.

. (A) The Native American Mississippian Valley culture is often associated with vast complexes of mound structures constructed around CE 1200. Archaeological evidence shows that this group illustrated a much higher level of political organization than was common among most indigenous populations in North America, though the civilization began to decline and vanish nearly a century prior to European arrival in North America.

. (C) Though the Native Americans had developed high-yielding agriculture illustrated by the Three Sisters (maize, beans, and squash) cultivated by groups such as the Creek and Cherokee, they did not develop the intensive farming techniques commonplace in Europe. This could be partly due to the commonly held reverence for the natural world. However, many groups did use slash-and-burn clearing techniques to open forest and clear areas for agriculture on a limited basis.

. (B) The pre-Columbian Mesoamerican and Central American civilizations developed highly sophisticated societies, such as the Aztecs (containing by some estimates over 20,000 people at the time of European arrival), as well as highly complex trade networks. Also, the Mayans demonstrated advances in astronomy in their calendar. However, large, domesticated draft animals were not introduced until European arrival.

. (A) The technique of growing beans, squash, and maize first appeared around CE 1000. The maize provided a structure for the beans, and the squash aided in maintaining moisture in the soil. This allowed populations densities to increase within the Eastern seaboard region of North America.

. (B) Maize, commonly referred to as corn, is a New World crop originating from the area that is now modern-day Mexico. Wheat, cattle, horses, and coffee are Old World crops. The introduction of American agricultural products to Europe and vice versa is part of what is called the Columbian Exchange.

. (E) The Iroquois League founded around the fifteenth century initially consisted of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca and spanned what is now southeastern Canada into New York. While initially consisting of five nations, the league expanded to six when the Tuscarora joined in the 1700s. The league began to decline after its allies, the British, were defeated in the American Revolution. The Powhatan were a tribe from eastern Virginia that controlled a confederacy of roughly thirty tributary tribes. They are associated with the early history of the Jamestown settlement. Pocahontas, the daughter of a Powhatan chief, is stated to have rescued John Smith. The confederation declined after the two Powhatan Wars in the 1700s.

. (B) While the males of the Iroquois League held the actual lordship or chief title, unlike most European nations, the lineage was passed through the female or maternal lineage, rather than the paternal or male lineage. While the time period did mark a period often referred to as the Age of Absolutism in Europe, codified laws were being established placing certain limitations and checking certain powers of European monarchs as illustrated by the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, and French Estates General.

. (E) With the exception of groups such as the Cahokia settlement in the present-day Mississippi Basin and the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) culture in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, most Native American groups in North America lived in small, impermanent, matrilineal groups right up to the arrival of European explorers. However, as evidenced by the passage, the Iroquois did establish codified laws in terms of lineage and intertribal relations.

. (A) Native American groups across the North American continent shared the trait of using kinship networks to define their clans. They consisted of a group of related families (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) connected through common ancestry.

. (D) While initially believed to be legend, archaeological evidence has confirmed Norse sagas that describe contact between Europeans and North American Native Americans. Most evidence illustrates that this contact may date back to CE 1000, predating Columbuss voyage by over four centuries. While settlements such as LAnse aux Meadows were temporary, they do illustrate the earliest documented contact and trade between Europe and the indigenous populations of North America.

. (A) LAnse aux Meadows, located in present-day Newfoundland, marks the location where Norse seafarers arrived around CE 1000. The settlement was short lived and soon forgotten except in Norse legend. Later archaeological finds rediscovered the settlement in the 1960s.

. Possible response: The indigenous populations of the North American plains used bison or buffalo for a multitude of purposes. The meat was a primary source of sustenance. The hides were used for both clothing and shelter. The bones, organs, and animal tissue were used in tool production. Furthermore, by-products such as dried dung were used as a source of fuel. In addition, because of the multiple uses of the bison, they also became a significant part of the Native Americans spiritual practices.

. (B) The Magna Carta, which was signed by King John in 1215, ensured certain liberties to all free people, as well as protection of certain rights. Many of these rights can be seen in the present-day U.S. Bill of Rights. While the initial document attempted to check the absolute rule of the king, the notion of a true separation of powers did not truly originate with the 1215 signing, and while commoners did gain certain protections under the document, it was the aristocracy that forced the king to eventually agree to the charter.

. (C) The Columbian Exchange refers to the transfer of European products in exchange for those in the Americas. While this exchange would become a cornerstone of trade, it was not limited to the exchange of agricultural or material goods. It also included diseases, ideas, and even humans through the form of slaves exported to Europe.

. (B) In 1532, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incan Empire located in present-day Peru. The Incan population had recently been inflicted with a wave of smallpox, which destabilized the political leadership within the region. The event happened roughly eleven years after Hernan Corts subdued the Aztec Empire in the region that is modern-day Mexico. The Aztecs also were considerably weakened by an outbreak of smallpox.

. (D) Starting with Christopher Columbuss first expedition to the Americas, the spread of Christianity served as a major function of exploration. While the papacy did play a role within the New World, such as the establishment of the line of demarcation under the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Spanish monarchy retained sovereignty over its possessions in the Americas.