Age of Exploration Quiz

Grade 7 · Social Studies · Quiz

Test your knowledge of European exploration, key explorers, and the global effects of contact between the Old and New Worlds.

Questions

1. Which of the following explorers is credited with leading the first European expedition to circumnavigate the globe?

   1. Christopher Columbus
   2. Ferdinand Magellan
   3. Vasco da Gama
   4. John Cabot
   Show answer

   Answer: Ferdinand Magellan

   Magellan's expedition (1519–1522) was the first to circumnavigate the globe, though he died before its completion.

2. The Columbian Exchange MOST directly resulted in which of the following?

   1. The end of the spice trade
   2. The spread of European diseases to Native American populations
   3. The unification of European nations
   4. The decline of Portuguese exploration
   Show answer

   Answer: The spread of European diseases to Native American populations

   Indigenous peoples had no immunity to European diseases like smallpox and measles, leading to catastrophic population loss.

3. Portugal's early exploration efforts were largely funded and organized under which leader?

   1. King Philip II
   2. Prince Henry the Navigator
   3. Hernán Cortés
   4. King Ferdinand
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   Answer: Prince Henry the Navigator

   Prince Henry the Navigator established a school for navigation and funded Portuguese voyages along the African coast.

4. Which route did Vasco da Gama pioneer in 1498?

   1. A western sea route to the Americas
   2. An overland route through Central Asia
   3. A sea route around Africa to India
   4. A northern passage through the Arctic
   Show answer

   Answer: A sea route around Africa to India

   Da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and reached Calicut, India in 1498, opening a sea route to the spice trade.

5. What was mercantilism, as practiced by European empires?

   1. A system of trading goods equally with colonies
   2. An economic policy where colonies existed to enrich the home country
   3. A form of representative government in colonies
   4. A military alliance between European nations
   Show answer

   Answer: An economic policy where colonies existed to enrich the home country

   Mercantilism held that colonies should provide raw materials to the mother country and buy its manufactured goods, maximizing the empire's wealth.

6. Which of the following was a DIRECT consequence of the Age of Exploration for Indigenous peoples?

   1. Access to European education systems
   2. Population decline due to introduced diseases
   3. Political alliances with European monarchs
   4. Increased agricultural technology
   Show answer

   Answer: Population decline due to introduced diseases

   Diseases like smallpox, measles, and typhus wiped out up to 90% of some Indigenous populations within decades of European contact.

7. Bartholomeu Dias was the first European explorer to round the southern tip of Africa.

   Show answer

   Answer: True

   Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, proving a sea route to Asia was possible.

8. Spanish conquerors in the Americas who overthrew Indigenous empires were known as ________.

   Show answer

   Answer: conquistadors

   Conquistadors such as Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro conquered the Aztec and Inca empires for Spain.

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