AP European History Practice Quiz: The Slave Trade
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 7 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 7
All Questions (7)
A) The desire to establish new European colonies within Africa.
B) The economic demands of the plantation system in the Americas.
C) A surplus of population within European nations.
D) The closing of traditional trade routes to Asia.
Correct Answer: B
The content explicitly states that Europeans expanded the trade of enslaved Africans 'in response to the establishment of a plantation economy in the Americas.'
A) The immediate abandonment of American colonies by European powers.
B) The shift by Europeans to a new, coerced labor source from Africa.
C) The rapid adoption of indigenous agricultural methods by European colonists.
D) The successful resistance of native populations to European economic systems.
Correct Answer: B
The text links the demographic catastrophes of indigenous peoples directly to the expansion of the slave trade, indicating that the loss of the indigenous labor force caused Europeans to seek an alternative in enslaved Africans.
A) Religious missionary zeal and political rivalries in Europe.
B) The search for precious metals and the decline of feudalism.
C) The growth of the American plantation economy and the collapse of the native workforce.
D) Innovations in maritime technology and the rise of joint-stock companies.
Correct Answer: C
The content directly connects the expansion of the slave trade to two causes: 'the establishment of a plantation economy in the Americas' and 'demographic catastrophes among indigenous peoples.'
A) The process of capturing individuals within Africa.
B) The European-led expansion of the trade of enslaved Africans.
C) The economic negotiations between European traders and American plantation owners.
D) The cultural assimilation of enslaved peoples in the Americas.
Correct Answer: B
The text presents the Middle Passage as a specific example of how 'Europeans expanded the trade of enslaved Africans,' highlighting it as a key component of this expansion.
A) The slave trade developed independently in Africa and was later joined by Europeans.
B) The slave trade was a direct consequence of European economic ambitions in the Americas, which were exacerbated by a local labor crisis.
C) The primary cause of the slave trade was the demographic collapse in Europe, which required a new source of labor for its colonies.
D) The plantation economy was established primarily to create a market for the already-thriving European-led slave trade.
Correct Answer: B
This option correctly combines the two stated causes: the 'plantation economy' (economic ambitions) and the 'demographic catastrophes among indigenous peoples' (a local labor crisis) as the reasons for the expansion of the slave trade.
A) European technology.
B) Indigenous knowledge.
C) Capital investment from Asia.
D) A large labor force.
Correct Answer: D
The text links the plantation economy directly to the expansion of the trade in enslaved Africans, logically implying that the economy's primary need was for labor to work the plantations.
A) Political instability and conflict within African empires.
B) A moral and religious crusade to convert non-Christians.
C) Economic and demographic conditions in their American colonies.
D) Competition with Ottoman and Asian merchants for global trade dominance.
Correct Answer: C
The provided content explicitly frames the expansion of the slave trade as a European 'response to' two factors located in the Americas: the 'plantation economy' and the 'demographic catastrophes among indigenous peoples.'