1.

What were the effects of maize cultivation on Native American civilizations in the American
southwest?
The Incan and Mayan civilizations depended greatly on the cultivation of maize. Maize
cultivation transformed nomadic hunting groups into agricultural based villagers and it also led
to the use of the three-sister farming along the east coast. Some places that are example of this
are Pueblo, Mound Builders, and Creek.
2. How did the climate/environment of other parts of North America help shape Native American
culture and society in those areas?
Well in the Great Basin & Great Plains there were few natural resources so they couldnt
use agriculture which means the societies were more nomadic. Though eventually Pueblo
developed a irrigation system which allowed them to grow crops. While in the Northeast/Atlantic
Seaboard the climate was more conducive to farming. Also, the animals they hunted were more
stationary, those turned into traditional hunting ground for a variety of tribes.
3. How did disease and social interaction between Spanish & Portuguese explorers and the
Africans/Native Americans they encountered affect society and culture in Africa and the
Americas?
The diseases that were brought by the Spanish & Portuguese were new diseases so the
Native Americans werent immune to them due to their isolation in N.A. As much as 90% of the
native population seized to exist due to the diseases. As for social interaction, the Europeans
brought not only disease with them but also their language, laws, customs and the Catholic
religion which means they forced the Native Americans to learn it. Intermarriage with the native
people created a new distinctive culture, the Mestizo.

4. Explain the origins of the slave trade that developed among the Spanish, Portuguese, and
kingdoms of West Africa.
Slaves werent even a main goal for the Portuguese. They just happened to pass by West
Africa and decided to explore it. They set up trading posts there to trade for gold. The Africans
had been trading slaves for centuries and the Portuguese began buying them to have them work
in colonial sugar plantations. That led to slave trade being diffused all over the world.
5. How did the Columbian Exchange affect European and Native American economies and
societies and how did the plantation-based economies of Spanish colonies develop and change
over time?
In Europe, 3 out of 5 of the crops cultivated now are originated from N.A. Their
population exploded and needed more space. A preponderant amount of gold and silver was
added to the European economy making Spain the dominant power in Europe. For the Native
Americans, they gained new crops and animals from Europe. The horse was a main one because
the nomadic tribes used them for hunting. The Spanish developed the Encomienda System which
allowed them to give them to colonists and those colonists used them to do their labor, so
basically slavery.

6. What were the various motivations that fueled European exploration and conquest?
One of the many reasons is that they wanted to find alternate trade routes to China.
Another reason (for the Spanish Conquistadors) was God, Gold, and Glory. God, because they

wanted to spread Catholicism. Gold, because they wanted more resources and money. Glory,
because they wanted more land and wanted to conquer more and claim it.
7. How did crops and mineral wealth from the Americas, along with improvements in technology
and methods of trading, bring massive changes in both the Americas and Europe?
The caravel and sextant were created and so that made travel more efficient and led to an
increase in trade. Gold and silver made Spain the most powerful country in Europe, they had new
crops and that led to a surplus in food. Later, joint-stock companies were created. This helped in
the development in both the Americas and Europe.
8. What were the various views of how Spanish and Portuguese explorers believed that they
should treat Native Americans and how did some use a belief in white superiority to justify their
subjugation of Africans and Native Americans?
Spanish and Portuguese a wanted to spread their religion and so some Indians were given
to colonists in the option that they would learn that religion (Catholicism). But really they just
used them to do labor. People used their belief in white superiority to justify their subjugation by
making the people believe that they couldnt do anything against them.