Discovery and Settlement of the Americas

Help Questions

AP World History: Modern › Discovery and Settlement of the Americas

Questions 1 - 5
1

Where were the first European colonies in the New World established?

Hispaniola

Florida

Virginia

Brazil

Honduras

Explanation

The first European colonies in the New World were established in Hispaniola on the initial voyages of Columbus in 1492 and 1493. The island of Hispaniola is now shared by the modern-day countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

2

Which of these groups were the first to settle the Hudson River Valley?

The Dutch

The English

The Portuguese

The Spanish

The French

Explanation

The Dutch were the first to found colonies in the Hudson River Valley, the area comprising most of modern-day New York. They founded the colony of New Amsterdam, which would become New York City, in the early seventeenth century.

3

Prior to the arrival of Columbus in the fifteenth century, which of these groups is believed to have arrived in North America?

The Vikings

The French

The Chinese

The Celts

The Gauls

Explanation

The Vikings, led by the famous Leif Erikson, are believed to have arrived in what is modern-day Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in the eleventh century, four centuries before the arrival of the Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

4

Manifest Destiny states that __________.

the United States is fated to spread across the whole North American continent

the British will one day return to claim their former American colonies

there is fluidity and mobility in the American social and economic system

the United States should police the involvement of European nations in Central and South America

the United States should avoid getting involved in European conflicts

Explanation

Manifest Destiny is an important and influential mythology of the early American Republic. Proponents of Manifest Destiny argued that the United States was fated to spread and expand across the whole North American conflict. Manifest Destiny was an important driving myth in the massive westward expansion of American settlers in the nineteenth century.

5

According to the Monroe Doctrine, the United States

Would intervene if any European power tried to establish new colonies in the American hemisphere.

Had a divine right and mandate to expand across the whole of the North American continent.

Would aid Britain in any future conflict with another European power.

Would aid France in any future conflict with another European power.

Could establish imperial colonies in the South Pacific.

Explanation

The Monroe Doctrine was issued in 1823 following the independence of several South American countries. It stated that if the European powers tried to reestablish colonial control over South or Central America then the United States would intervene.

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