A New World of Many Cultures, 1491-1607 – Practice Flashcards

These 48 question-and-answer flashcards cover major peoples, events, technologies, policies, and debates from the period 1491-1607, helping students review for AP U.S. History Unit 1.

What theory explains how the first people reached North America?

They crossed a land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska, now submerged under the Bering Sea.

Which three major civilizations dominated Central and South America before European contact?

The Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas.

Which crop formed the food staple of the Mayas and Aztecs?

Corn (maize).

Which crop was most important to the Inca economy?

Potatoes.

What is the estimated population range of the Americas in the 1490s?

Roughly 50–100 million people.

Name the language families that dominated the Northeast, Great Plains, and Southwest of North America.

Algonquian (Northeast), Siouan (Great Plains), Athabaskan (Southwest).

Which Southwestern cultures built multistoried cliff dwellings and used irrigation?

Hokokam, Anasazi, and Pueblo peoples.

What structure did Woodland cultures like Adena-Hopewell create in the Midwest?

Large earthen mounds.

Which powerful political alliance included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca?

The Iroquois Confederation.

How did Great Plains tribes such as the Lakota Sioux change after acquiring horses in the 17th century?

They shifted from farming to nomadic buffalo hunting.

What European intellectual movement of the 15th–16th centuries spurred technological advances that made exploration possible?

The Renaissance.

Which two Chinese inventions were crucial to European exploration once improved by Europeans?

Gunpowder and the magnetic compass.

What invention in the 1450s helped spread knowledge across Europe?

The printing press.

Which 1492 event united Spain under Catholic monarchs and funded Columbus’s voyage?

The conquest of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella.

What religious upheaval in the early 1500s challenged papal authority and motivated overseas missions?

The Protestant Reformation.

Which Portuguese prince sponsored voyages that opened a sea route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope?

Prince Henry the Navigator.

Who was the first European to reach India by sailing around Africa in 1498?

Vasco da Gama.

What profitable plantation crop led the Portuguese to begin large-scale African slave trading in the 15th century?

Sugar.

Define a ‘nation-state’ in the context of 15th-century Europe.

A country where most people share a common culture and allegiance to a central government.

On what date did Columbus first land in the Bahamas?

October 12, 1492.

What term describes the trans-Atlantic transfer of plants, animals, and diseases after 1492?

The Columbian Exchange.

Which deadly European diseases devastated Native American populations, causing mortality rates above 90 percent?

Smallpox and measles (among others).

What 1494 agreement moved the pope’s line of demarcation westward, giving Portugal Brazil and Spain the rest of the Americas?

The Treaty of Tordesillas.

Name two Spanish conquistadores who overthrew major American empires.

Hernán Cortés (Aztecs) and Francisco Pizarro (Incas).

What labor system granted Spaniards land and Native workers in exchange for ‘care’ of the natives?

The encomienda system.

Under what system did Spain import enslaved Africans and pay a tax per slave to the crown?

The asiento system.

Which Spanish priest advocated for Native rights and influenced the New Laws of 1542?

Bartolomé de Las Casas.

What 1550-1551 Spanish debate centered on the moral status of Native Americans?

The Valladolid Debate.

Which early English explorer’s 1497 voyage provided England’s first claim to North American territory?

John Cabot.

Which English ‘sea dog’ raided Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I in the 1570s–1580s?

Sir Francis Drake.

What was the fate of Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1587 colony on Roanoke Island?

It mysteriously failed and became known as the ‘Lost Colony.’

Which French explorer founded Quebec in 1608 and is called the ‘Father of New France’?

Samuel de Champlain.

Which 1609 voyage up a namesake river established Dutch claims to New Netherland?

Henry Hudson’s voyage up the Hudson River.

What is the significance of St. Augustine, founded in 1565?

It is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America.

Why did Pueblo peoples revolt in New Mexico in 1680?

Harsh Spanish efforts to force Christianization.

Which missionary founded nine Franciscan missions along California’s coast, including San Diego and San Francisco?

Father Junípero Serra.

How did Spanish colonial society structure its rigid class hierarchy?

Pure-blooded Spaniards at the top, followed by mixed and Indigenous peoples.

Why did English colonists have less intermarriage with Native Americans than the Spanish?

English settlers arrived in family groups and lacked large native empires to incorporate.

How did French colonists generally view Native Americans?

As potential economic and military allies, especially in the fur trade.

What strategy did many Native tribes adopt to survive European encroachment after population losses?

Form alliances with European powers or migrate to new lands.

Which debate surrounds Columbus’s legacy as either a heroic discoverer or oppressive conqueror?

Modern historians contrast traditional hero worship with revisionist critiques emphasizing exploitation and violence.

What key term refers to the mound-building culture centered in present-day Ohio?

Adena-Hopewell.

Which Great Plains tribe migrated south from Canada and later adopted buffalo hunting on horseback?

The Apaches (and later also the Lakota Sioux).

What was the main economic motive driving European exploration after the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453?

Finding new sea routes to Asian markets for spices and luxury goods.

Define ‘conquistador.’

A Spanish explorer-conqueror who subdued Native civilizations and claimed lands for Spain.

What two items introduced by Europeans most transformed Native American life on the Great Plains?

Horses and guns.

Which 15th-century device helped navigators determine direction at sea and was adopted from Arabs and Chinese knowledge?

The sailing (magnetic) compass.