European Colonization and Its Impact on the Americas

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers who conquered Native empires.

Encomienda System

Settlers controlled Native labor and resources.

Silver Discovery

Found in Mexico and Peru, boosted global trade.

Casta System

Racial hierarchy categorizing mixed-race individuals.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between continents.

Smallpox Epidemic

Disease that reduced Native populations by 90%.

Protestant Challenge

Protestant nations contested Spanish colonial dominance.

Spanish Armada

1588 naval defeat that shifted power to England.

Brazil's Sugar Plantations

Portuguese colonies dominated global sugar production.

Tobacco Cash Crop

Jamestown's economy relied on tobacco cultivation.

Caribbean Sugar Economy

Barbados and Jamaica thrived on sugar plantations.

Atlantic Slave Trade

Primary labor source for plantation economies.

New France

Focused on fur trade and Native alliances.

New Netherland

Dutch colony centered on trade and commerce.

Iroquois Confederacy

Native alliance that dominated regional trade.

Puritan Settlement

New England founded for religious freedom.

Metacom's War

1675 conflict between Native tribes and settlers.

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 uprising against Virginia's colonial government.

Labor Systems

Encomienda and slavery used for economic production.

Colonial Economies

Distinct economies developed based on local resources.

Racialized Slavery

Shift towards race-based labor systems post-rebellion.

Francis Drake

English privateer who disrupted Spanish shipping.

Hernán Cortés

Conquistador who overthrew the Aztec Empire.

Nathaniel Bacon

Leader of the rebellion in Virginia.