Unit 11 AFRICA AND THE AMERICAS

According to Aztec legend, what sign involving an eagle and a snake led the Mexica to establish their capital on an island?

An eagle perched on a cactus holding a snake in its mouth in the middle of a lake.

What horrific ritual did the Aztecs perform at the 1487 dedication of the Great Temple because they believed their sun-and-war god needed human blood?

They sacrificed between 10,000 and 80,000 living victims, extracting hearts and eating body parts.

Which Aztec emperor, convinced Hernán Cortés might be the returning god Quetzalcoatl, was ruling when the Spanish first arrived in 1519?

Montezuma II.

Who led the Spanish expedition that toppled the Aztec Empire in 1521 by using superior weapons, native allies, and the unintended spread of smallpox?

Hernán Cortés.

Which Andean civilization, centered at Machu Picchu, built over 14,000 miles of roads and recorded information with knotted ropes instead of writing?

The Inca civilization.

What staple crop did the Incas introduce to the wider world, celebrated as their greatest agricultural gift?

The potato.

Which Spanish conqueror precipitated the collapse of the Inca Empire by kidnapping and strangling its ruler?

Francisco Pizarro.

Which migrating African group, originally from the area of modern-day Nigeria, established powerful kingdoms at Zimbabwe, the Kongo, and Benin?

The Bantu people.

Which Christian-converted monarch of the Kongo Kingdom wrote an emotional letter to the king of Portugal begging him to end the slave trade in his realm?

King Affonso I.

Which Muslim ruler of Mali astonished observers with his immense wealth during his pilgrimage to Mecca in the early 1300s?

Mansa Musa.

Who was the Songhai emperor that broke away from Mali, conquered Timbuktu, and came to dominate the West African gold trade in the late 15th century?

Sonni Ali.

Which British member of Parliament and evangelical humanitarian led the campaign that resulted in the abolition of slavery across the British Empire in 1833?

William Wilberforce.

What name is given to the three-legged commerce pattern sending European goods to Africa, enslaved Africans to the Americas, and colonial products back to Europe?

The Triangular Trade.

What term describes the brutal Middle Passage voyage that carried enslaved Africans from West Africa to plantations in the Americas?

The Middle Passage.

Which 1765 British statute required American colonists to buy stamped paper for legal documents, provoking widespread protest and eventual repeal?

The Stamp Act.

In which 1770 event did British troops fire on a crowd in Boston, killing five colonists and inflaming anti-British sentiment?

The Boston Massacre.

Which clashes at the Massachusetts towns outside Boston in April 1775 are considered the opening battles of the American Revolution?

The Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Which 1776 document, largely drafted by Thomas Jefferson, justified the colonies' break from Britain by appealing to natural rights?

The Declaration of Independence.

Which former slave and trained soldier led the 1791 Saint-Domingue uprising that ultimately secured Haiti's independence in 1804?

Toussaint L'Ouverture.

Which Creole general, nicknamed "the Liberator," freed Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador and helped form the republic known as Gran Colombia?

Simón Bolívar.