Prepare for the AP European History exam with these practice questions and answers. This guide covers the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, French Revolution, and modern European history.
Q: Four Stages of European Overseas Empire
Answer: 1st – European discovery, exploration of the New World2nd – mercantile empires, European powers fought for control of trade, created wars midcentury, many of the colonies became independent at end of this stageFirst two periods were dominated also by the slave trade3rd – Europe carved up new empires in Africa and Asia4th – decolonization of empires formed in 3rd stage
Q: European global dominance
Answer: Europe was dominant force in world in these stages, had a huge influence even though they had a relatively small country and populationWere bad to other people, killed many due to advanced technology (guns, trains, and other things like that)
Q: Treaty of Utrecht
Answer: ended the war of spanish succession
Q: mercantilism
Answer: Governments closely controlled economy to maximize exports and increase stores of bullionAt this time people thought that all economies grew slowly, and the only way to grow was to take land/resources from another country or competitorStores of bullion were to save up for war
Q: Navigation Laws
Answer: The colonies could only trade with their home country
Q: Home Country
Answer: Main focus of mercantilism was to benefit home countryColonies existed as a way to supply resources for home country and as a market for goods from home countryColonies were always subordinate, led eventually to independence from these idealsNational monopoly benefiting home countryDidn’t make sense after a while because the home country and colony could not make the right goods in the right quantities for each other
Q: British colonies in America
Answer: Britain had colonies throughout the Atlantic coast, and in islands in the CaribbeanFought with France for Caribbean, Ohio River Valley, and upper New England
Q: Cash Crops
Answer: Caribbean created most wanted cropsSugar was biggest – had become staple in Europe and could make lots of moneyOthers were tobacco, cotton, indigo, coffee
Q: West Indies
Answer: Created cash crops for britain
Q: Ohio River Valley
Answer: Fought between French and British
Q: St Lawrence River Valley
Answer: In Canada, Quebec area, eventually won by British in French and Indian War
Q: intendants
Answer: Introduced by Bourbon Spanish king, Charles IIIRoyal Bureaucrats who collected taxes and helped end corruption that had seeped into empire
Q: peninsulares
Answer: Persons born in Spain who entered into Spanish colonies to take new jobsThe creoles were that people of Spanish heritage born in the AmericasThey were inferior to the PeninsularesThey took most of the high paying jobs during Charles III reign, made creoles feel badEventually led to wars of independence
Q: Slave Labor
Answer: Had started in Europe since ancient times, no negative stigma attachedSlave labor became fundamental to plantation economies of the Americans, mainly as slaves were taken to the Americas from AfricaAfricans were used as Natives were killed off by disease or war, and a need for labor had increased exponentiallyMajor source was west coast of Africa, African societies were willing to sell to Europeans, came from infighting between African countries
Q: Plantation System
Answer: System by which large farm created cash crops like cotton, sugar etc. to sell into EuropeNeeded lots of labor to create produce, created need for slaves
Q: Transatlantic trade
Answer: Far more slaves imported into Brazil and West Indies at firstHad to constantly bring more slaves as death rate was so highSouth America became less dependent, but West Indies needed more and more to meet needs of sugar cropAs time went on more came to British coloniesMain trade pattern was guns to africa, slaves to Americas, goods to Europe
Q: Secondary Trade Patterns
Answer: Other pattern was between New England and Indies, with sugar being traded for lumber, rum, fish
Q: African Slave Trade
Answer: Slavery was terrible, most died during first passage from interior Africa to coast, and then many from coast to America (middle passage)Once in Americas they were broken in, or “seasoned”Were taught that they were no longer free
Q: Coromantee
Answer: Predominant African language on Jamaica, which was 90% slaves hybrid of other languages
Q: Portuguese Slavery
Answer: Slaves living in Portuguese colonies had fewest protections
Q: Slavery & Religion
Answer: Most converted to Christianity, were taught to accept their slavery and believe in GodSome slaves kept their African religions but were eventually forced to change to Christianity
Q: Atlantic Passage
Answer: Known as middle passageMany slaves died, example is slave ship Brookes, packed horrid conditionsMany died to smallpox
Q: The War of Jenkin’s Ear
Answer: During a spanish patrol to search for smuggling there was a battle with a British shipThe British captain (named Jenkins) lost his ear in fightBrought ear to parliament demanded warWar was started, became opener of many wars to come in mid-eighteenth century
Q: Prussia
Answer: Prussia invaded silesia, province of Habsburg empires (Austria) 2 months after Maria Theresa became queen of AustriaStarted War of Austrian Succession, crazy warEventually kept silesia, became European power
Q: Frederick II
Answer: Ruler who invaded AustriaLater called Frederick the Great, amazing that he kept Prussia after everyone started to attack him
Q: Silesia
Answer: Province of Austria that was attacked by Prussia, became Prussian in the end
Q: Maria Theresa
Answer: Queen of Prussia due to Pragmatic sanctionKept Austrian empire together
Q: how many new African slaves each year in the indies in like 1725
Answer: 20,000
Q: how much of the population of Jamaica consisted of black slaves
Answer: ≈90%
Q: Habsburg Empire
Answer: Austria, led by Maria Theresa
Q: Pragmatic Sanction
Answer: Done by Charles VI, put Maria Theresa as Queen
Q: The War of Austrian Succession
Answer: Started as Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia, province of Austrian Habsburg empireMaria Theresa maintain empire through alliances and making concessions to nobility of HungaryCardinal Fleury of France was convinced to get into war and divert resources from attacking British shipping in Atlantic, fought for Prussia against France’s traditional enemy, AustriaBritain then had to support Austria, as they could let the Low Countries get into bad French handsFrench forces were now divided and Britain had the upper hand in North America against FranceSo France and Prussia vs. Britain and AustriaWar ended in stalemate
Q: Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle
Answer: Ended war of Austrian SuccessionPrussia retained silesia
Q: Sir Robert Walpole
Answer: Britain and Prussia signed Convention of Westminster as Britain was worried about foreign troops passing through German landsFrance was mad, now joined forces with AustriaThings now totally reversed, very strange not sure why exactly
Q: Diplomatic Revolution
Answer: Frederick II opened up 7 years war by invading saxony, was a preemptive strike against people wanting to destroy Prussia, in reality it created the alliance he fearedFrance, Austria, Sweden, Russia joined together to destroy PrussiaBritain pumped huge money into Prussia to keep French busy, Russia stopped,Prussia able to hold off enemies, war ended with no change in borders in Treaty of Hubertusburgalso Treaty of Paris ended the 7 years war in west europe and hubertusburg was b/w prussia and austria in east europe
Q: Seven Years War
Answer: North American theater of seven years warWilliam Pitt, leader of British forces, pumped money into Prussia to keep France occupied away from the colonial sceneAchieved cooperation with colonists, put 40,000 troops in AmericaFrench unable to put enough resources into North America, lost canada in battle on Plain of Abraham, Quebec cityFrench West Indies also fell to BritainBritain also beat France in India
Q: French-Indian war
Answer: Architect of British victories in North AmericaCame up with strategy of keeping France occupied in Austrian war and unable to compete in colonial scene
Q: William Pitt the Elder
Answer: put Britain and Prussia together against Austria, flip flopped war in central europeall bc of that sillyfacePrince Wenzel Anton Kaunitz, who always thought alliance w/ France was a good thing.
Q: Convention of Westminster
Answer: Britain received all of Canada, the Ohio River valley, and the eastern half of the Mississippi river valleyBritain returned Pondicherry and Chandernagore in India and the West Indian sugar islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique to the FrenchDone by Bute, since Pitt had had fight with king
Q: Treaty of Paris
Answer: Attempted to increase revenue to pay for wars and maintain new British empire by rigorously collecting new taxBritish thought that the colonists were entitled to pay tax because they had benefited from warswhole thing was that it controlled exports bc it was a tax on sugar imported from places other than England so it was an attempt to keep everything mercantilist
Q: Sugar Act
Answer: Tax by British on legal documents, newspapers,Thought fair as parliament had collected, money was to be used in coloniesbasically w/out a stamp any consumer good or legal document was considered invalid and contrabandso you had to buy one for a lot of things the price varied but basically it was money 4 the Brits
Q: Stamp Act
Answer: Repealed stamp and sugar tax, but also stipulated that Parliament could legislate over the colonies
Q: Declaratory Act
Answer: Britain snapped, closed Boston harbor, put troops in homes, and removed trials of tax officials to Britain, so basically anything the colonists considered cruel/unusual was considered an Intolerable Act
Q: Intolerable Acts
Answer: Extended boundaries of Quebec to Ohio River valleySeen by colonists as a way for Britain to keep self governing from spreading past Appalachian mountains
Q: Quebec Act
Answer: Got French support for Revolutionary War against BritishKey to British losing the warSpanish also joined war against Britain
Q: Benjamin Franklin
Answer: Colonists used many of his ideas to justify their actions against Britainright to rebel against tyranny and all
Q: John Locke
Answer: Was a movement in Northern Britain by Christopher Wyvill to try and restrict corrupt parliamentary voting and restructure government somewhatParliament responded, power of monarch was lessened, thought that corruption occurred bc Parliament was all rich people
Q: Yorkshire Association Movement
Answer: Founder of Yorkshire Association Movement
Q: Charles Wyvil
Answer: house of trade w/ the spanish