American History Connecting with the Past 15th Edition By Alan Brinkley - Test Bank - Updated 2025

Multiple-Choice Questions

1.   The origins of the majority of human existence in North America began

A.  with migrations from Eurasia over the Bering Strait.

B.  with the explorations of Christopher Columbus.

C.  as a result of the development of the wheel.

D.  long after the last ice age ended.

E.   from the southern tip of South America.

Answer: A

Page: 2

Topic: America Before Columbus

2.   Scholars estimate that human migration into the Americas over the Bering Strait occurred approximately

A.  2,000 years ago.

B.  5,000 years ago.

C.  9,000 years ago.

D.  11,000 years ago.

E.   18,000 years ago.

Answer: D

Page: 2

Topic: America Before Columbus

3.   The first truly complex society in the Americas was that of the

A.  Mayas.

B.  Aztecs.

C.  Incas.

D.  Pueblos.

E.   Olmec.

Answer: E

Page: 3

Topic: America Before Columbus

4.   Which of the following was NOT possessed by any of the early Central or South American civilizations such as the Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs?

A.  the use of wheeled vehicles

B.  economies primarily based on agriculture

C.  substantial cities

D.  complex political systems

E.   elaborate religious and cultural systems

Answer: A

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Topic: America Before Columbus

5.   The pre-Columbian American peoples in the Pacific Northwest

A.  did not have permanent settlements.

B.  developed political systems as sophisticated as those of the Mayas and Aztecs.

C.  fished salmon as their principal occupation.

D.  were the most peaceful of pre-Columbian societies.

E.   were known as the Inuit.

Answer: C

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Topic: America Before Columbus

6.   The pre-Columbian North American peoples in the Southwest

A.  were primarily hunters of small game.

B.  built large irrigation systems for farming.

C.  lived in small, nomadic tribes.

D.  created an economy exclusively based on trade.

E.   primarily pursued moose and caribou for sustenance.

Answer: B

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Topic: America Before Columbus

7.   In the Great Plains region, most pre-Columbian societies

A.  engaged in sedentary farming.

B.  lived in small nomadic tribes.

C.  hunted buffalo for survival.

D.  used horses.

E.   developed a harsh religion that required human sacrifice.

Answer: A

Page: 5

Topic: America Before Columbus