SAQs for APUSH Topic 1.3 — European Exploration in the Americas

Ten short answer questions designed to help students review for the annual exam and that relate to a period of time beginning with Christopher Columbus's arrival in “the New World.”

1. European expansion into the Western Hemisphere generated intense social, religious, political, and economic competition and changes within European societies. What is the “Western Hemisphere?” When did Europeans first arrive in the Western Hemisphere? Briefly describe society in Europe before European arrival in the Western Hemisphere.
2. European nations’ efforts to explore and conquer the New World stemmed from a search for new sources of wealth, economic and military competition, and a desire to spread Christianity. What’s a simpler way of saying this?
3. European nations’ efforts to explore and conquer the New World stemmed from improvements in maritime technology and more organized methods for conducting international trade. Name and briefly describe three major improvements in maritime technology that paved the way for European exploration and conquering of the New World? Name and briefly describe a more organized method for conducting international trade that was developed in the years leading up to European exploration and conquering of the new world and that paved the way for European exploration and conquering of the New World?
4. helped drive changes to economies in Europe and the Americas.
5. Name and briefly describe three major changes in navigation technology that paved the way for European exploration and conquering of the New World?
6. Briefly describe one way in which the exploration of the Spanish differs from the exploration of the British? Briefly describe one way in which the exploration of the Spanish differs from the exploration of the French?
7. Briefly describe one way in which the exploration of the French differs from the exploration of the British? Briefly describe one way in which the exploration of the French differs from the exploration of the Spanish?
8. European exploration in the Americas resulted in something called the Columbian Exchange. Click here for five SAQ questions relating to the Columbian Exchange.
9. European exploration in the Americas resulted in extensive demographic, economic, and social changes. What is meant by the word “demographic?”
10. European exploration in the Americas begins with Columbus's arrival, an event that leads to the development of the Spanish Empire in the Western Hemisphere. What modern-day North American states can be found within the Spanish Empire? When did sailors representing an English-speaking European country first manage to establish a permanent colony in North America?