American Pageant Chapter 1

Canadian Shield

Zone of Northern America supported by massive rock outcropping.

Incas

Native American tribe in Peruvian Andes.

Aztecs

Native American tribe in present-day Mexico City, known for its human sacrifices.

nation-states

Civilizations with functioning governments and civil bureaucracies.

Cahokia

St. Louis settlement home to many Native Americans.

Three-Sister Farming

Practice of growing beans, corn, and squash together for maximum yield.

Middlemen

Muslim traders who raised prices on Asian goods.

Caravel

Innovative Portugese ship with triangular sails, allowing it to sail into the wind.

planation

Large scale agricultural enterprise using slavery to grow commercial crops.

Columbian exchange

Transfer of diseases, crops, and livestock between the Old and New Worlds.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Agreement which gave Brazil and African territory to Portugal, but the rest of South America to Spain.

Conquistadores

Spanish military commanders/explorers.

Capitalism

Economic system characterized by private property and free trade.

Encomienda

Spanish system of legal slavery.

Noche Triste

Night during which the Aztecs attacked and drove Cortes and the Spanish away from Tenochtitlan.

Mestizos

Those who had Spanish and Native American descent.

Battle of Acoma

Clash between Spanish and Native Americans in which the Spanish severed the foot of every survivor.

Pope's Rebellion

Pueblo rebels destroy Churches and kill hundreds of Spaniards.

Black Legend

Myth that Spaniards brought nothing but slavery and genocide to the New World.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Leaders of Spain during the exploration of the New World.

Christopher Columbus

Spanish explorer who first reported the existence of the New World to the European powers.

Francisco Coronado

Spanish explorer of present day Kansas.

Francisco Pizarro

Conquistador who conquered the Incas.

Bartolome de Las Casas

Spanish priest who tried to protect Native Americans.

Hernan Cortes

Conquistador who conquered the Aztecs.

Malinche (Dona Marina)

Aztec woman who translated for Cortes and eventually married him.

Moctezuma

Leader of the Aztecs during the war against Cortes.

Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot)

European discoverer of Canada.

Robert de La Salle

French explorer of the Mississippi River.

Father Junipero Serra

Leader of the effort to christianize Native Americans in California.