Chapter 6: Answers and Explanations

Test What You Already Know

  1. B

    Slave trading with Europeans began in coastal regions of Africa, causing previously established African trade routes to shift; (B) is correct. North Africa remained predominantly Islamic despite European imperialism, while sub-Saharan Africa largely Christianized in the twentieth century, well after the end of the transatlantic slave trade. Thus, (A) is incorrect. Also, the map suggests that relatively little slave trading occurred in regions of Northern Africa such as Egypt and Algeria. It also suggests that relatively few slaves were sent to India and other Asian regions, and that relatively little slave trading occurred near Cape Colony in South Africa. Therefore, (C) and (D) are incorrect.

  2. A

    Although Islam did indeed spread throughout Africa during this time period, it had the least impact on the slave trade, making (A) correct. Influenced by Islamic and Asian technological developments, the Europeans improved ship design, utilized better navigation techniques, and produced goods such as gunpowder, which allowed them to more easily engage in global trade. Thus, (B) and (C) are incorrect. Once the Europeans established colonies in the Americas, they used slaves to provide labor in these regions. (D) is also incorrect.

  3. B

    Sugar was an especially labor intensive cash crop, meaning plantation owners required cheap labor. Their primary source of such labor was African slaves, who were transported to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade. Therefore, (B) is correct. Industrialization began with the nineteenth century Industrial Revolution, postdating this map. Thus, (A) is incorrect. Although absolute monarchy was the primary political system in Europe during this period, it did not directly affect the economics of the slave trade. Therefore, (C) is incorrect. European countries of this time period adhered to mercantilist principles rather than laissez-faire capitalism; this meant that governments intervened in economic exchange by placing tariffs on goods from other countries and promoting industries within their countries, instead of allowing free market exchanges to occur. Thus, (D) is also incorrect.

  4. C

    Thomas Paine, the author of the popular pamphlet Common Sense, and other leaders of the American Revolution were inspired by Enlightenment philosophers—including Montesquieu, Locke, and Rousseau—to establish independence from England in the 1770s. These leaders were not primarily motivated by economic considerations. Therefore, (C) is correct. Charles Inglis, the Loyalist author of this passage, describes how the colonies’ economic dependence on Great Britain should have otherwise deterred these leaders from embarking on such a risky revolution. (A) is incorrect; the Industrial Revolution did indeed begin in England, but it began in the 1780s, after the American Revolution had ended. Although the passage mentions metal, the American revolutionaries were not primarily motivated by a desire to improve the colonies’ industries. Rather, more abstract ideas about natural rights and the social contract inspired them. Therefore, (B) is incorrect. (D) is also incorrect; it describes the Puritans’ religious motivations to create their settlements in Massachusetts in the seventeenth century.

  5. C

    Although serfdom was no longer present in late eighteenth century France, many of the obligations and taxes of the feudal period continued to burden peasants up to the revolution. Thus, (C) is correct. Unlike the American Revolution, France’s revolution was primarily an internal struggle resulting from dramatic social divisions and economic inequality. Thus, (A) is incorrect. While the wealthiest members of society were at the forefront of the American Revolution, the wealthy typically resisted the French Revolution, which was led primarily by the Third Estate. While a catch-all category for people who were not nobles or clergy, politically the Third Estate was primarily led by the bourgeoisie. Thus, (B) is incorrect. Enlightenment philosophers and ideals such as natural rights, the separation of powers, and the social contract inspired both revolutions. Therefore, (D) is incorrect.

  6. A

    The thirteen British colonies primarily provided England with their natural resources instead of growing their own industries. That model describes mercantilist principles; (A) is correct. Feudalism was a medieval social system which generally required peasants to serve vassals, who in turn served nobles. This does not describe the passage, so (B) is incorrect. Similarly, (C) is incorrect because monarchism is a political system, in which a monarch such as King George III of Great Britain rules over his people. Economic liberalism is a system which advocates for free trade and minimal government regulation of the economy, which contrasts with the limitations of mercantilist trade. Therefore, (D) is incorrect.

  7. B

    The Indian National Congress was a group of educated Indians formed with the permission of the British in the late nineteenth century. This group eventually helped to lead the nationalist movement in India under the leadership of Mohandas Gandhi. The Pan-African Congress first met in 1919 after World War I. It stressed African unity and helped to create nationalist movements, which came to eventually defeat the European colonial powers. Therefore, (B) is correct, while (A), (C), and (D) are incorrect. 

  8. B

    Toussaint L’Ouverture helped lead the Haitian revolution. Simón Bolívar led the establishment of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama as sovereign states, free of Spanish rule. Miguel Hidalgoy Costilla was a leader of the Mexican War of Independence. Therefore, (B) is correct. The Reconquista refers to a series of wars and battles between Christian Kingdoms and Muslim Moors for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Thus, (A) is incorrect. All three leaders advocated for the abolishment of slavery and predated the mid-eighteenth century development of communist ideology. (C) and (D) are incorrect.  

  9. D

    Toussaint L’Ouverture led a successful slave revolt in Saint-Domingue, resulting in the independence of Haiti and abolition of slavery; (D) is correct and (C) incorrect. Prior to the revolt, France controlled Saint-Domingue, not the United States. Therefore, (A) is incorrect. Inspired by both Enlightenment ideals and the French Revolution, Haiti became the first democracy established in the Caribbean; (B) is incorrect.

  10. A

    The Sepoy Rebellion began after a rumor spread that gunpowder cartridges were made from cow and pig fat, which insulted Hindu and Muslim religious practices. In response, both Muslim and Hindu Indians rebelled cooperatively against British rule. Therefore, (A) is correct and (C) is incorrect. The Indian National Congress was instrumental in India’s independence from Great Britain, but was formed after the Sepoy Rebellion; (B) is incorrect. After this war, the British East India Company no longer ruled India. Instead, the British crown ruled the subcontinent directly. Thus, (D) is incorrect.