APUSH Period 1: (1491-1607)

First Americans

Descendants of people who migrated from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge during the last Ice Age.

Aztec Empire

A powerful civilization in Mesoamerica (modern-day Mexico) known for its capital Tenochtitlan, complex systems, and practices like human sacrifice.

Huitzilopochtli

The Aztec god of war and the sun.

Incan Empire

A powerful civilization in the Andes Mountains known for its extensive road system and intricate stonework.

Cahokia

A Mississippian mound-building culture in present-day Illinois that was a major trading center.

Algonquin

A group of linguistically related Native American peoples in the eastern and northeastern regions of North America.

Iroquoian

A major language group in the eastern regions of North America, known for the Iroquois Confederacy.

Powhatan

A powerful Algonquian chiefdom in the Chesapeake Bay region, encountered by the English at Jamestown.

Iroquois Confederacy

A political and military alliance of five (later six) Iroquois tribes with a complex governance system.

Indian Burning

A controversial practice used by some European colonists involving the burning of villages and crops.

Matriarchal Society

A society that emphasizes the importance of women and female lineage.

Trans-Saharan Trade

Trade routes across the Sahara Desert connecting North Africa with West Africa, involving gold, salt, and slaves.

Reconquista

A centuries-long Christian campaign to expel Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula.

Spanish Conquest

The period during which Spanish conquistadors like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro conquered Aztec and Incan empires.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 treaty that divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Old World and the New World.

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Native American descent.

Five Nations

Another name for the Iroquois Confederacy.

Henry VIII

King of England who established the Church of England after breaking with the Catholic Church.

Jacques Cartier

French explorer known for exploring the St. Lawrence River.