Pearson APUSH (AP United States History) Unit 1

Age of Discovery

a common name for the period beginning in the fifteenth century and ending in the seventeenth century when Europeans set out to find new trading routes around the world

Algonquian

a family of Native American languages spoken by peoples from Labrador to Carolina and westward into the Great Plains

Anasazi

Anasazi, meaning "ancient ones," lived in modern-day New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado some 700 years before Columbus

Aztec

a member of a Nahuatl-speaking people that founded the Mexican empire conquered by Cortes in 1519

Benin

powerful kingdom of central Africa before European contact

Bering land bridge

the name given to the land that connected Alaska and Siberia thousands of years ago, which is now under the current Bering Sea

Black Death

the bubonic plague that devastated Europe in the 1300s, reducing the population by as much as half

bubonic plague

plague caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis) and characterized especially by the formation of buboes

Clovis people

the name of early residents of North America whose spear points were found near what is now Clovis, New Mexico, in 1929

colony

a body of people living in a new territory but retaining ties with the parent state a colony of settlers

Columbian Exchange

the transatlantic exchange of plants, animals, and diseases that occurred after the first European contact with the Americas

conquistador

the name given to the early Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru

Counter-Reformation

a reform movement within the Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation

culture

the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group

denomination

a subset of a particular religion in which specific beliefs and practices may differ from those of other groups who adhere to the same overarching principles of faith

diffusion

the spread of cultural elements from one area or group of people to others by contact

emperor

the sovereign or supreme male monarch of an empire

encomienda

in the Spanish colonies, the grant to a Spanish settler of a certain number of American Indian subjects, who would pay him tribute in goods and labor

genocide

the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

globalization

the development and increase of the exchange of goods and culture among countries as opposed to exchanges within a country or with close neighbors

heresy

a practice or belief that is contrary to or inconsistent with religious dogma

hunter-gatherer

a member of a culture in which food is obtained by hunting, fishing, and foraging rather than by agriculture or animal husbandry

Inca

a member of the Quechuan peoples of Peru, who maintained an empire until the Spanish conquest

indigenous

produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment

Iroquois Confederacy

a confederacy formed for largely defensive purposes by the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca, and later the Tuscarora

Islam

the religious faith of Muslims including belief in Allah as the sole deity and in Muhammad as his prophet

kingdom

a politically organized community or major territorial unit having a monarchical form of government headed by a king or queen

Kongo

powerful kingdom of central Africa before European contact

Line of Demarcation

an imaginary line drawn through the Americas by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 granting Portugal rights to land east of the line and Spain rights to land west of the line

mariner

an individual who helps navigate a ship at sea

Maya

an advanced Native American culture that once controlled the Yucatán Peninsula, much of modern Guatemala, and parts of southern Mexico

migrate

to move from one country, place, or locality to another

mission

a Spanish religious settlement

Mound Builder

a name given to Native American tribes that built large burial and ceremonial mounds on which religious and sports activities took place

nation-state

a relatively new development in Europe during the 1300s and 1400s in which nations became the major political organizations, replacing both the smaller kingdoms and city-states

natural resource

a substance or environmental condition (such as a mineral, fertile soil, abundant sunshine or wildlife, forests, etc.) that is valuable to people and found naturally

Northwest Passage

a potential passage, sought after but never found by either England or France, that would allow ships to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through northern North America

Paleo-Indian

one of the early American hunting people of Asian origin extant in the Late Pleistocene

pirate

an individual who forcibly stops ships in the ocean and steals their cargo

Plains people

Native American groups that developed in central North America in the area of the Great Plains

presidio

a military post or fortified settlement in areas currently or originally under Spanish control

privateer

a government-approved armed ship that actively pursued and seized the cargo of the ships of other countries

Protestant Reformation

the process that began with Martin Luther's efforts to reform the Catholic Church's practices in the early 1500s, which eventually led followers of Luther, Calvin, and others to completely break from the Catholic Church

Pueblo people

Native American peoples native to southwestern North America

Reconquista

the long struggle (ending in 1492) during which Spanish Christians reconquered the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim occupiers, who first invaded in the 700s

Renaissance

a period of European history roughly between 1300 and 1600 marked by the rediscovery of works from the classical period and the literature and art these inspired

slavery

the practice of one person or institution owning a person

smallpox

a dangerous disease that causes fever, rashes, and frequently death if untreated

Songhay

kingdom of west Africa before European contact

Treaty of Tordesillas

treaty confirmed by the pope in 1494 to resolve the claims of Spain and Portugal in the Americas