APUSH Unit 1 (1491-1607) Simplified Def. 2025

Maize Cultivation

The growing of maize. Mesoamerican, Mississippi River Valley, and Pueblo people grew maize, skyrocketing their wealth, population, technological advancement, and political development.

Pueblo

Sedentary Southwestern Native peoples who lived in adobe/stone huts (pueblos) and used irrigation systems to cultivate maize

Great Basin

Region bounded by the Rocky Mountains on the east and Sierra Mountains on the west. Natives were hunter gatherers.

Great Plains

A broad plateau region that stretched from central Texas to the Canadian Plains to the Rocky Mountains. Natives were hunter-gatherers, mostly hunting buffalo. They became mobile after Europeans introduced horses.

Mississippian Culture

Native Americans in the Mississippi River Basin who were characterized by agriculture, mound building, and distinctive pottery styles. Mississippian communities were usually complex chiefdoms.

Iroquois Confederacy

A league of five Native American nations (mohawks, oneidas, onondagas, cayugas, and senecas) who banded together around 1450 C.E. The league was formed by Hiawatha, a mowhawk.

Northwest Coast Tribes/ Pacific Northwest Cultures

Wealthy Natives along the Pacific coast who had plenty of natural resources. They had salmon fishing, totem poles, permanent plank houses, and complex social hierarchy.

Semi-permanent settlements

Usually made out of buffalo/animal hide and wood. Adopted by hunter-gatherer societies.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas between old and new worlds.

Encomienda System

Spanish system that granted colonists land and native labor if colonists christianized the natives

Conquistadores

Spanish Conquerors who defeated the Aztec and Inca; driven by 3Gs

Bartolome de Las Casas

Spanish priest advocated against slavery.

Juan de Sepulveda

Big bitch. wanted and justified slavery

Spanish Mission System

Catholic institutions established across the Americas to convert Native populations to Christianity and put them to manual labor. Established by Juniperro Serra

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Division of the New World between Spain and Portugal

Asiento system

Spanish system that allowed foreign merchants to sell enslaved Africans to Spanish colonies

Catholicism and conversion

Catholicism: a denomination of Christianity adopted by the Roman Catholic Church that believed sins required confession, which told the confesse to perform typically self induced suffering.

Spain used the mission system to convert Natives to catholicism

Mestizos

Native/Spanish mix

Mullatoes

African American/Spanish mix

West African Societies

Advanced African kingdoms that engaged in trade networks. Many Africans practiced Islam. They were targeted for slave trade.

Portuguese Slave Trade

Portugal pioneered Atlantic slave trade that transported african slaves to sugar plantations.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

Systematic transport of millions of Africans to the Americas to labor on plantations

Middle Passage

Brutal voyage characterized by overcrowding, disease, high mortality for enslaved Africans

Spanish colonization

Colonization fueled by the 3Gs

French Colonization

Colonization of Canada and Mississippi Valley that established fur trade alliances.

Dutch Colonization

Based in New Amsterdam; focused on fur trade

English colonization

Settler colonies along the Atlantic; both profit driven and religiously driven

Joint Stock Companies

Investor-backed companies that funded colonization

Christopher Columbus

Italian (genoan) voyager who discovered America for Spain. He discovered the Bahamas and their inhabitants, which he called Indians.

Casta System

Spanish New World system of racial hierarchy.

1. Peninsularies: pure 1st gen Spanish born in Europe

2. Criollos: pure 2nd gen Spanish born in the Americans

3. Castas: Spanish/Other

3a. Mullatoes: Spanish/Black

3b. Mestizos: Spanish/Natives

4. Africans/African Americans

5. Native Americans

Eastern Woodlands

People who lived from the Atlantic ocean westward to the great plains and from the great lakes ot the gulf of mexico, who cultivated maize, beans, and squash. They were usually chiefdoms.

Cahokia

Capital of Mississippi River Valley. Ruled by a powerful class & priesthood which believed worshipping the sun.

Matrilineal Societies

Societies in which daughters inherited their mother's property and social standing.

Animism

The belief that spiritual power lies in the natural world.

Hunter-Gatherer Societies

Usually nomadic societies whose members gather food by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants rather than farming for breeding animals.

Smallpox

European disease characterized by pustules and scabs. Smallpox killed off many Natives

Crusades

Wars undertaken by Christian armies in 1096 and 1291 C.E. to reverse the Muslim advance in Europe and win back holy lands

Plantation system

a system of production where cash crops en masse through labor which were sold to distant markets.

Bering Land Bridge

Land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska during the last ice age that asians used to cross over to the Americas

Protestant Reformation

Religious movement sparked by Martin Luther's 95 Theses that challenged the Catholic Church; fractured Christianity in Europe, fueled religious wars, and motivated migration/colonization.

Printing Press

Invented by Johannes Gutenberg; revolutionizing the communication of ideas and accelerating cultural and religious change

Caravel

Portuguese-developed ship with triangular sails which were highly maneuverable and fast, crucial to Atlantic exploration and the African/Asian trade routes.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who founded early voyages along Africa's coast; established navigation schools; laid groundwork for Portuguese exploration and slave trade

Renaissance (14-16th century)

European cultural movement emphasizing humanism, science, and classical learning; fostering curiosity, technological innovation, and the spirit of exploration

Nation-States

Strong monarchies such as Spain, France,and England that emerged in the late 1400s that had resources and motivation for overseas colonization

Maroon Communities

Communities of escaped Africans in the Americas that resisted European control and preserved their culture

Primogeniture

European inheritance system where the eldest son inherited all property. This forced younger sons to explore/colonize

Feudalism

Medieval European social/economic system of rigid hierarchies, later replaced by market economies, setting the stage for colonization and capitalism

Valladolid Debate (1550-1551)

Debate between Juan de Sepulveda and Bartolome de Las Casas on the morality of slavery.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that global wealth was finite and nations must control trade to increase their own wealth and power; this drove European countries to colonize for raw material wealth