Migration, Settlement, and Conflict in the Americas (~15000 BCE - ~1600 CE)

Flashcards covering key figures, events, and concepts related to migration, settlement, and early conflicts in the Americas from approximately 15000 BCE to 1600 CE, including pre-Columbian societies, European colonization (Spanish, French, Dutch, British), and indigenous resistance.

Land bridge theory

A hypothesis proposing human migration from Siberia to the Americas across a land bridge, primarily the Bering Strait, during periods of lower sea levels.

Beringian Standstill Model

A hypothesis suggesting that early human migrants to the Americas paused in Beringia for an extended period before continuing their southward journey.

Pre-Columbian population

Refers to the diverse societies and native peoples inhabiting the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Tenochtitlán

A large and significant pre-Columbian city in the Americas, capital of the Aztec Empire, located in what is now Mexico City.

Cahokia Mounds

A sizable pre-Columbian settlement and historic site in Illinois, known for its large earthen mounds built by the Mississippian culture.

Teosinte

The wild ancestor of cultivated maize or corn (Zea mays), from which corn was developed through selective plant-breeding.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Taíno people

Indigenous Arawakan-speaking people of the Caribbean, notably affected by European diseases and impact during the Columbian Exchange.

New Spain

A Spanish vice-royalty in North America, covering vast territories including Spanish Florida and the American southwest, established during the era of European colonization.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

An uprising by the Pueblo people against Spanish colonizers in present-day New Mexico, challenging Spanish religious practices and governance.

Po'Pay

A Tewa religious leader who played a pivotal role in organizing and leading the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against Spanish rule.

New France

A territory colonized by France in North America, extending from the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes, known for its fur trade and interactions with indigenous societies.

Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois)

A historically powerful and important native confederacy in North America, known for its trade relationships and influence, particularly with the Dutch in New Netherland.

New Netherland

A Dutch colony in North America, with trade goals focused on interaction with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, headquartered at New Amsterdam.

New Amsterdam

The capital settlement of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, later captured by the English and renamed New York.

Sir Walter Raleigh

An English explorer and promoter of New World colonization during the Elizabethan age, associated with early attempts at British settlement like the Roanoke colony.

Richard Hakluyt

An English writer and geographer known for his compilations of voyages and discoveries, boosting interest in English colonization of the New World.

Roanoke colony

An early British colonization attempt in Virginia that mysteriously disappeared, earning it the moniker 'the Lost Colony'.

Jamestown (1607)

The first permanent English settlement in North America, located in Virginia, which faced early conflicts with the Powhatan Confederacy.

Plymouth (1620)

A British colony in New England founded by Pilgrims, known for strong religious motivations and early interactions with the Wampanoag people.

Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629)

A British colony in New England founded by Puritans, who sought to establish a religious society, famously articulated by John Winthrop.

Puritans

A group of English Reformed Protestants who sought to 'purify' the Church of England from its Catholic practices, many of whom settled in New England.

John Winthrop

A key leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, known for his vision of the colony as a religious model, famously stating, 'wee must be knitt together, in this worke, as one man'.

Pequot War (1637)

A conflict between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of English colonists (from Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth) with their indigenous allies (Narragansett and Mohegan).

Powhatan Confederacy

A powerful group of Algonquian-speaking Native American tribes in present-day Virginia, frequently in conflict with the early English settlers of Jamestown.

Wahunsenacawh (Powhatan)

The paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy when the English colonists arrived at Jamestown, who initially engaged in complex relations with figures like John Smith.

Opechancanough

A chief of the Powhatan Confederacy who led major offensives against English settlements in Virginia in 1622 and 1644, challenging colonial expansion.

Metacom's War / King Philip's War (1675-76)

A major conflict in Puritan New England between indigenous inhabitants and English colonists and their indigenous allies, led by Metacom (King Philip), chief of the Wampanoags.