Spanish, French, Dutch and English claims, and the first English colonies
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Use this
Spain in New Mexico (cards A to D, summaries in our words from the National Park Service and the Library of Congress). Card A: Spain claimed New Mexico. Settlers led by Juan de Oñate arrived in 1598, and Santa Fe became the capital around 1610. Spanish officials and priests demanded labor and tribute from Pueblo peoples and banned many Pueblo religious ceremonies. Card B: in August 1680, Pueblo peoples across the region rose together, led by Popé of Ohkay Owingeh, and drove the Spanish out of New Mexico. The Spanish returned in 1692 and 1693. Card C: Spanish reports of 1680 described the uprising as a rebellion against Spain's rule and church. Card D: Pueblo peoples today remember the revolt as a defense of their religion and way of life.
How do cards C and D describe the same event differently, Ari asks?
- C and D both call it a Spanish victory over the Pueblo peoples
- C calls it a defense of a way of life; D calls it a rebellion
- C calls it a rebellion; D calls it defense of a way of life
- C and D describe two different revolts in two different years
Which chain best explains why the revolt of 1680 happened, using cards A and B, Bo asks?
- A Pueblo uprising led Spain to demand labor and ban ceremonies
- Spanish rule ended in 1598, so the Pueblo peoples rose in 1680
- Santa Fe's founding in 1610 caused Spain to leave New Mexico
- Demands for labor and bans led Pueblo peoples to unite
Card C is a Spanish report. What is the best way for Esme to use it, as evidence of why the revolt happened?
- As a neutral record, since officials wrote it very carefully
- As proof that the revolt had no cause other than disloyalty
- As useless, since Spanish officials had reasons to lie about it
- As Spain's view, to be weighed against Pueblo accounts
What do cards B and D together suggest about the revolt's lasting effect, Jun asks?
- The Spanish had won in the end, so Pueblo memory of the revolt faded
- The Spanish return ended Pueblo religion for good in the 1690s
- The Spanish did not return to New Mexico after the revolt
- The revolt showed their strength, and it is remembered
Which statement about the revolt is best supported by all four cards, Luz asks?
- Pueblo peoples united, and Spain and the Pueblo tell it differently
- Pueblo peoples fought alone and Spain did not return afterward
- Spain's account alone gives the true cause of the whole revolt
- The revolt ended Spanish claims to New Mexico for good in 1680
Use this
Comparing empires (cards E to G, summaries in our words). Card E, estimates around 1750: about 70,000 people lived in New France, and about 1.5 million in the British colonies. Card F: New France lived by the fur trade, which depended on alliances with Native nations. The British colonies grew by farming and towns, and settlers kept asking for more land. Card G: in 1675 to 1676, a war broke out in New England between English colonists and Native nations led by the Wampanoag leader Metacom, called King Philip by the English.
About how many times larger was the British colonial population than New France's, per card E, Milo asks?
- About 5 times
- About 2 times
- About 200 times
- About 20 times
How did the fur trade shape French relations with Native nations, compared with British farming, per card F, Pia asks?
- The fur trade relied on alliances; farming needed land
- British farming depended on Native alliances to supply furs
- The fur trade ended conflict with Native nations for good
- The fur trade needed more land, while farming relied on alliances
A classmate says 'colonists and Native nations were always at war.' Which card detail best challenges that, Ren asks?
- Card E says about 70,000 people lived in New France in 1750
- Card F: French traders depended on Native alliances
- Card G says a war broke out in New England in 1675 and 1676
- Card E says about 1.5 million people lived in the British colonies
Card G calls Metacom 'King Philip' too, since the English did. What does the double name show, Tala asks?
- The Wampanoag called themselves the English
- Metacom and King Philip were two different leaders
- The English invented a leader to explain the war
- Each side used its own name for the same leader
Which statement is best supported by cards E to G, Zee asks?
- The British colonies were peaceful and the French colonies violent
- Different colonial economies led to different relations
- The size of a colony decided who would win each later war
- Each colony treated the Native nations in exactly the same way