IAH 211 C DS

What were the Atlantic Antecedents for European colonization?

Norse invasions of islands like Iceland & Greenland, the Reconquista in Iberia, and the colonization model developed in the Canary Islands.

What was the Reconquista?

An ~800 year war on the Iberian Peninsula where Christians fought to reclaim land from Muslims, shaping Spanish ideals of war, Christianity, and plunder.

What was the significance of the Canary Islands for Spain?

They served as a model and base for future Spanish colonization, featuring resource extraction, sugar plantations, and the enslavement of Indigenous peoples.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?

An agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing the newly discovered lands outside Europe, giving Spain rights to most of the Americas.

What was the initial consequence of early Spanish invasions in the Americas?

The spread of European pathogens, which devastated Indigenous populations, more than immediate mineral wealth.

Who was Hernán Cortés and what did he do?

A Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire by exploiting internal divisions and capturing Emperor Montezuma.

Why was the fall of Tenochtitlan significant?

It signaled that the Spanish were in the Americas to stay. Their primary wealth became the labor of the millions of Indigenous people, not just minerals.

What were the two main forms of bound Indigenous labor in New Spain?

Encomienda (grants of Indigenous laborers) and Repartimiento (rotational labor draft).

What was "Limpieza de Sangre"?

The Iberian concept of "purity of blood," first used against Jewish migrants and later adapted in the Americas to create a racial caste system.

What was the Sistema de Castas?

A caste system in Spanish America designed to categorize people based on their perceived racial mixture of Spanish, Indigenous, and African heritage.

What was the Pueblo Revolt of 1680?

A successful, coordinated uprising led by Popé that drove the Spanish out of New Mexico for over a decade.

What was the primary economic activity for French colonists in North America?

The fur trade, which relied on Indigenous technology, hunters, and traders.

What were the "Beaver Wars"?

A series of violent 17th-century conflicts where the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), pressured by European rivals, raided other Indigenous nations for furs.

How did French colonization in the Illinois Country differ from the Great Lakes?

In the Illinois Country, French habitants established farming communities (like Ste. Genevieve), appropriating land, unlike the trade-focused coureurs de bois in the Great Lakes.

What was the primary goal of the Puritan settlers in New England?

To reform English society by creating a model, religiously pure community in the American countryside.

What were "Praying Towns"?

Settlements established by John Eliot where Indigenous people were encouraged to convert to Calvinism and adopt English customs.

What was Metacom's Rebellion (King Philip's War)?

A deadly conflict (1675-1676) between New England colonists and a coalition of Indigenous peoples, led by Metacom (King Philip).

What was a major consequence of the Seven Years' War (1754-1763)?

The Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the war, giving Britain control of much of North America and transferring French Louisiana to Spain.

What is a "borderland" in the context of Spanish Louisiana?

A zone of interaction and rivalry among empires where people (like Indigenous groups and contraband traders) used the shifting borders to their advantage.

Who were the "Five Nations" in the Southeast?

The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muskogee (Creek), Cherokee, and Seminole peoples.

How was Indigenous captivity different from African chattel slavery?

Captivity was often a tool of warfare to replace lost kin

What was a key economic activity in the Carolina colony?

The Indigenous slave trade, where for its first 50 years, more Indigenous enslaved people were exported from Charles Town than Africans were imported.