Very Short Questions with Answers (1 Mark Each)
Q. 1. Write an important feature of the tradition of the earliest inhabitants of North America.
Ans. Making formal alliances and friendship, and exchanging gifts.
Q. 2. What enabled the Europeans to dictate their terms to the earliest inhabitants of North America?
Ans. The earliest inhabitants of North America were not aware about alcohol. But the Europeans gave them alcohol and thus made them addicted to it. Alcohol became their weakness. This very weakness of theirs enabled the Europeans to dictate their terms to them.
Q. 3. Why did the earliest inhabitants of America appear uncivilised to western Europeans?
Ans. In the eighteenth century, western Europeans defined ‘civilised’ people in terms of literacy, an organised religion and urbanism. On the basis of this very definition, the earliest inhabitants of America appeared uncivilised to them.
Q. 4. What was difference in view-points of the natives of North America and the Europeans regarding exchange of gifts?
Ans. The natives of North America regarded the goods they exchanged with the Europeans as gifts, given in friendship. On the other hand, the Europeans regarded the goods they exchanged with the natives of North America as commodities, which would sell for a profit in Europe.
Q. 5. Why did the European plantation owners employ slaves in their plantations in America?
Ans. The climate of the southern region of America was too hot for Europeans to work outdoors.
Therefore, the European plantation owners employed slaves in their plantations in America.
Q. 6. Why did the Europeans buy slaves in Africa ? Did these slaves get freedom?
Ans. The Europeans wanted slaves so that they could work in their plantations. But those natives of South America who had been enslaved had died in large numbers. That is why the Europeans bought slaves in Africa.
No, the African slaves did not get freedom. With the passage of time, slave trade was banned. But those Africans and their children who were in the USA remained slaves.
Q. 7. How was slavery abolished in the USA?
Ans. The economy of the northern states of the USA did not depend on plantations and therefore not on slavery. So there raised a voice for ending slavery and it was condemned as an inhuman practice. In 1861–65, the American civil war started between those states who wanted to retain slavery and those who wanted to abolish it. Those who supported abolition of slavery came out victorious in this war and thus slavery was abolished.
Q. 8. Who were the Cherokees ? What injustice was being done to them?
Ans. The Cherokees were the original inhabitants of one of the American state i.e., Georgia. They were the only one among the natives who tried to learn English and who tried to understand the living style of the British. They were governed by the state laws but were deprived of their civil rights.
Q. 9. On what ground did those who took the land occupied by the natives of America justify it?
Ans. Those who took the land occupied by the natives of America, justified their decision on the basis that the native did not use the land to the maximum which is why they did not deserve to occupy the land. They condemned the natives as lazy. The natives did not use their crafts skills to produce goods for the market. They were also not interested in dressing correctly or learning English.
Q. 10. What were ‘reservations’ in c
Ans. The original inhabitants of North America were locked off in small areas. These areas often consisted of land with which they hardly had any earlier connection. These areas were called reservations.
Q. 11. Why was the subject of Anthropology introduced in North America from the 1840s?
Ans. The subject of Anthropology was introduced in North America from the 1840s so that the differences between native primitive communities and the civilised communities of Europe could be studied.
Some Anthropologists are of the view that just as there were no primitive people to be found in Europe, the American natives too would not be found.
Q. 12. How did the ‘Gold Rush’ prove a blessing for the continent of North America?
Ans.
Q. 13. What were two main objectives of the development of industries in North America?
Ans. 1. To manufacture railway equipment so that rapid transport could link distant places.
2. To produce machinery which would make largescale farming easier.
Q. 14. In 1934 CE, a landmark law was passed in the USA. What was it?
Ans. It was the Indian Reorganisation Act of 1934 CE. This law gave natives in reservations the right to buy land and take loans.
Q. 15. By which document and on what condition did the natives of North America accept citizenship of the USA?
Ans. The natives of North America accepted citizenship of the USA by the ‘Declaration of Indian Rights’ in 1954 CE on condition that the reservations would not be taken away from them and their traditions would not be interfered by any one.
Q. 16. When did the ‘aborigines’ begin to arrive on the continent of Australia? What did the natives say about this?
Ans. The ‘aborigines’ began to arrive on the continent of Australia over forty thousand years ago.
But the natives opposed this view. In their traditions, they did not come to Australia from outside, but had always been there.
Q. 17. Briefly discuss the Torres Strait Islanders of Australia. Why is the term ‘Aborigine’ not used for them?
Ans. The Torres Strait Islanders is a large group of indigenous people who live in North Australia.
They make up 2.4 per cent of Australia’s population in 2005 CE. The term ‘Aborigine’ is not used for them as they are believed to have migrated from elsewhere and belong to a different race.
Q.17. Where does most of the population of Australia reside and why?
Ans. Most of the population of Australia resides along the sea-coast. This is because the central region of the continent is arid desert.
Q. 17. Who were most of the early settlers of Australia? On what condition were they allowed to live as free people in Australia?
Ans. A number of convicts were deported from England to Australia. These convicts were the early settlers of Australia. They were allowed to live as free people in Australia when their prison term ended but on a condition that they would not return to Britain. So they displaced the natives from their lands and began cultivating that land.
Q. 20. Who discovered Australia? Why the relations were strained between Europeans and native Australians?
Ans. Australia was discovered by a British Sailor Captain Cook in 1770 CE. Initially, Captain Cook and his crew was welcomed by native Australians.
But later on, Cook was killed by a native which is why the British point of view was changed towards them. Now they tried to prove that natives of Australia were violent in behaviour.
Short Questions with Answers (2 Mark Each)
Q. 1. What do you mean by Imperialism ?
Name those European countries which encouraged Imperialism.
Ans. Imperialism is a process in which a country establishes economic and political control over any other country. The main feature of imperialism is colonial exploitation. One of its another feature is to establish strict control over colony by the imperial country.
Conducive Circumstances for emergence of Imperialism. Industrial revolution gave a great contribution in the emergence of imperialism.
Industrial nations of the west adopted the policy of imperialism to obtain raw material and for the consumption of the final product. Development of means of transport and communication, nationalism, civilised mission of European races also encouraged the sense of imperialism.
Countries which encouraged Imperialism.
Imperialism was mainly encouraged by European countries and these countries were:
(i) Britain
(ii) France
(iii) Holland
(iv) Portugal and
(v) Spain
Q. 2. What was the major motivating factor for colonialism ? Give examples of variations found in the nature of colonialism.
Ans. The prospect of profit was the major motivating factor for colonialism. But there were significant variations in the nature of colonialism, which were as follows:
(1) In South Asia, trading companies established their political powers. They defeated local rulers and annexed their territories. They retained the older well-developed administrative system in place of a new one and collected taxes from landowners. Later, they constructed railways to make trade easier, excavated mines and established big plantations.
(2) Except in South Africa, Europeans traded on the sea-coasts of the whole of Africa for long. It was only in the late nineteenth century that they went into the interior. After this, some of the European countries agreed to divide up Africa as colonies for themselves.
Q. 3. When and where did the European traders reach North America first of all? Briefly discuss their behaviour and attitude towards local people of the continent.
Ans. The European traders reached the north coast of North America first of all in the seventeenth century. They came there to trade in fish and furs.
Expert local people helped them in this work. They were quite happy to see that the local people were quite friendly and welcoming. Europeans gave blankets, iron vessels, guns and alcohol to natives in exchange for local products. The natives had not known alcohol earlier. Very soon they became addicted to it. This addiction proved very helpful for Europeans. It enabled the Europeans to dictate terms of trade. The Europeans also acquired an addiction of tobacco from the natives.
Western Europeans defined civilised people in terms of literacy, an organised religion and urbanism. According to them, natives of America were uncivilised.
Q. 4. Why did the Europeans come to settle in America after the European traders? What policy did they follow towards forests of the continent?
Ans. The Europeans came to settle in America after the European traders to escape persecution in their countries. These people were being persecuted because they belonged to different sects of Christianity. They included Catholics in those countries where Protestantism was the official religion or the Protestants living in predominantly Catholic countries. A number of such people left Europe and went over to America so that they could begin a new life.
There was hardly any problem as long as there was vacant land in America. But Europeans started to move towards the interior i.e., near native villages. They cut down forests with their iron tools to lay out farms. The forests provided the natives such tracks as were out of reach of the Europeans.
On the other hand, Europeans saw these forests as their farms. That is why they cut down the forests and replaced them with corn fields. The third President of the USA, Jefferson dreamt of a country which is populated by Europeans having small farms. The natives were not in a position to understand this view of Jefferson.
Q. 5. How did the USA reach their present size?
Ans. The USA came into existence at the end of the eighteenth century. At that time, it occupied only a small portion of land which it now covers. To reach its present size, it extended its control over more territory over the next hundred years. It acquired large areas by purchase. It bought Alaska from Russia and land in the South from France (the Louisiana Purchase). The USA won much of its southern part from Mexico by war. No one had hardly cared to take the consent of natives living in these areas. The western frontier of the USA always went on shifting.
The natives were forced to move back as frontiers moved.
Q. 6. Why did there come changes in the landscapes of America in the nineteenth century? What were these changes?
Ans. There came drastic changes in the landscapes of America in the nineteenth century. These changes occurred because of the following reasons:
(1) Some of the migrants from Britain and France wanted to own land in America. They were younger sons and were therefore not able to inherit their father’s property.
(2) Several immigrants from Germany, Sweden, Italy, etc., had lost their lands to big farmers. They wanted farms that they could own.
(3) People from Poland wanted to work in the prairie grasslands, which reminded them of the steppes of their homes. They were excited at being able to buy huge properties at very low prices in America.
Changes. (1) The Europeans cleared land and developed agriculture. They introduced crops like rice and cotton. These crops did not grow in Europe and therefore could be sold in Europe for profit.
(2) To protect their huge farms from wild animals such as wolves and mountain lions, they hunted them to extinction.
(3) They surrounded their farms with barbed wire.
Q. 7. Write a note on the prevalence and abolition of slavery in the USA.
Ans. The climate of the southern region of the USA was very hot. So it was very difficult for the Europeans to work outdoors. Therefore, they wanted to employ slaves as workers. But the natives of South America who had been made slaves, died in great number. As a result, slaves were bought from South Africa by plantation owners. Gradually, protests started against slavery by anti-slavery groups. It led to a ban on slave trade but the Africans and their children remained slaved who were in the USA.
Abolition of Slavery. The economy of the northern states of the USA was not dependent on plantations and therefore they did not depend on slavery. Hence, there a voice in favour of ending slavery was raised. The northern states condemned slavery as an inhuman practice. In 1861–65, a civil war started between the states who wanted to retain slavery and who wanted to abolish it. The states that opposed slavery won this war and so slavery was abolished.
Q. 8. What was the reaction of the natives of Australia against the advent of the Europeans in Australia?
Ans. Australia was discovered in 1770 by the British navigator Captain Cook. Captain Cook and his crew were welcomed by the natives of Australia.
Therefore the early reports send by Captain Cook and his crew about their interaction with natives were quite enthusiastic. But later on, Captain Cook was killed by a native in Hawaii. This led to complete change of the British feeling towards them. Now they tried to prove that the natives of Australia were violent in their behaviour.
All the natives of Australia did not consider the advent of the Europeans as a danger because they lacked foresighteness. They were unable to see that in the 19th and 20th centuries, most of them would die to their exposure to germs, battles against the settlers and by the loss of their lands.
Q. 9. By making a mention of the history of human habitation in Australia, discuss the communities of natives of Australia.
Ans. The history of human habitation in Australia is very long. Early human were known as aborigines.
They started to arrive in Australia around 40,000 years ago. They came to Australia from New Guinea which was connected by a land bridge with Australia. But on the contrary, native traditions say that they had always been there as they did not come to Australia.
Communities of Natives. Around 350–750 native communities were there in Australia in the late 18th century. Each of these communities had its own language. Another large group of indigenous people (the Torres Strait islanders) lived in the north.
They formed 2.4 per cent of Australia’s population in 2005 CE. The term aborigine is not used for these people because they belong to different race and are believed to have migrated from elsewhere.
Q. 10. How have Human Rights paved a path for providing justice to the natives of Australia?
Ans. From the 1970s, a stress on human rights began to be laid in the meetings of the United Nations and other international agencies. Austrians were realised by this that in contrast of the USA, Canada and New Zealand, the Europeans had not entered into any treaties with the natives formalising the take over of land in Australia. The Europeans had always called the Australian land as ‘terra nullius’ which means belonging to nobody. Moreover, there was an agonising and long history of children of mixed blood, i.e., native Europeans, being captured forcibly and separated from their native relatives.
Agitations were started against these questions which led to enquiries and two important decisions:
(i) To give recognition that these natives had strong historic relations with the land which was sacred to them and this sacred land should be respected.
(ii) While past laws could not be changed, a public apology should be there for the injustice done to children so that the white and coloured people could be kept apart.
