APUSH Unit 1: 1491–1607 – Exploration, Exchange & Early Interactions

These 35 Q&A flashcards cover the major concepts, events, and vocabulary from APUSH Unit 1 (1491–1607), including Native societies, European exploration motives, the Columbian Exchange, Spanish labor systems, slavery, and differing colonial-native relationships.

What is the overarching focus of APUSH Unit 1 (1491–1607)?

Identifying causes and consequences of first contact as Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans shaped future culture, labor, and social systems in the Americas.

Why is the year 1491 significant in APUSH Unit 1?

It marks the year before Columbus arrived, a moment when the two hemispheres had not yet undergone the transformative Columbian Exchange.

What landmark event in 1607 begins sustained English colonization?

The founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Which staple crop did the Maya and Aztecs rely on for food and population growth?

Maize (corn).

Which high-altitude crop was central to Inca agriculture?

Potatoes.

In many pre-contact North American societies, what were typical gender roles in food production?

Men hunted game while women gathered plants and cultivated crops such as maize, beans, and tobacco.

How did intensive maize cultivation transform Southwestern native societies?

It spurred economic growth, required irrigation systems, and led to more complex, settled communities.

What distinctive art form did Northwestern Pacific Coast peoples use to record stories and legends?

Carved totem poles.

What animal, introduced by Europeans, revolutionized mobility and buffalo hunting on the Great Plains?

The horse.

Which powerful alliance of tribes developed in the Northeastern woodlands?

The Iroquois Confederation.

From which earlier culture did Atlantic Seaboard peoples inherit mound-building traditions and riverside timber lodgings?

The Woodland Mound Builders.

Name three key factors that pushed European nations to explore new routes westward.

Renaissance knowledge (navigation & shipbuilding), religious conflict (Protestant Reformation), and Ottoman control blocking traditional Asian trade routes.

Which two inventions greatly improved European navigation and information sharing during the Age of Discovery?

The astrolabe (plus advanced ships like caravels) and the printing press.

Who was Prince Henry the Navigator and why is he important?

A Portuguese prince who financed voyages that opened the sea route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to Asia.

What was Columbus originally seeking when he sailed west in 1492?

A shorter and more profitable sea route to Asia.

What did the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas establish?

A Pope-sanctioned line giving Portugal claim to Brazil and Spain claim to the rest of the Americas (later challenged by other Europeans).

Define the Columbian Exchange.

The first widespread transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after 1492, transforming life on every continent.

List at least four New World crops that boosted European diets and population growth.

Beans, corn (maize), potatoes (white & sweet), tomatoes, and tobacco.

Name two important Old World animals or technologies introduced to Native Americans through the Columbian Exchange.

Horses and pigs (plus the wheel, iron tools, and guns).

Which epidemic diseases decimated Indigenous populations during the Great Dying?

Smallpox and measles (among others).

What was the purpose of a joint-stock company in the 1500s–1600s?

To pool investors’ money for exploration while limiting individual risk if a voyage failed.

Who were the conquistadores?

Spanish conquerors who subdued Native empires and shipped gold and silver to Spain, fueling its wealth and power.

How did Cortés and Pizarro help secure Spanish supremacy in the New World?

Cortés conquered the Aztecs (Mexico) and Pizarro conquered the Incas (Peru), funneling vast riches to Spain.

What was the encomienda system?

A Spanish labor system granting colonists control over Native labor and land, requiring Indigenous people to farm or mine for the Spaniard who was supposed to ‘protect’ them.

How did the Spanish caste (casta) system rank colonial society?

Pure-blooded Spaniards at the top, mixed-heritage peoples in the middle, and pure Natives/Africans at the bottom.

What proportion of enslaved Africans is estimated to have died during the Middle Passage?

Roughly 10–15 percent.

Give one way enslaved Africans resisted cultural erasure in the Americas.

They preserved aspects of their culture such as music, dance, language, and religion.

Who was Bartolomé de las Casas and what reform did he influence?

A Spanish priest who championed Native rights and inspired the New Laws of 1542.

What did the New Laws of 1542 attempt to accomplish?

To end Indigenous slavery, halt forced Native labor, and phase out the encomienda system (partially repealed later).

How did Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda justify harsh treatment of Natives?

He argued that Indigenous peoples were less than human and benefitted from serving Spaniards.

Describe the general English approach to Native Americans in the 17th century.

Initially trade-oriented but increasingly disrespectful, leading to conflict; rather than subjugating tribes, they sought to expel them from desired lands.

Why did the French typically maintain more peaceful relations with Native Americans?

They had fewer colonists, relied on fur-trade partnerships, and viewed tribes as valuable economic and military allies (e.g., aiding the Huron against the Iroquois).

Give an example of Native peoples allying with Europeans for strategic reasons.

Some Mesoamerican tribes supported the Spanish to overthrow Aztec domination in the 16th century.

Why were large-scale unified Native resistances to Europeans uncommon in the 1500s–1600s?

Tribes were diverse, often rivals, and geographically scattered, making unified defense difficult.

Contrast Spanish, English, and French colonial policies toward Native populations.

Spanish integrated Natives into a coercive labor hierarchy (encomienda), English displaced them, and French allied and traded with them with less settlement pressure.