APUSH Unit 1: Period 1 (1491–1607)

APUSH Period 1 Timeframe

1491 (pre-Columbus) to 1607 (founding of Jamestown).

Bering Land Bridge

Land bridge between Siberia and Alaska crossed by early migrants to the Americas.

Maize Cultivation

Spread of corn agriculture from Mexico that enabled larger, settled populations.

Mayas

Mesoamerican civilization in the Yucatán Peninsula known for cities and calendars.

Aztecs

Central Mexican empire with a powerful capital city, Tenochtitlán.

Incas

South American empire based in Peru that cultivated potatoes in the Andes.

Southwest Native Societies

Pueblo, Hohokam, and Anasazi groups that developed complex irrigation and cliff dwellings.

Northwest Native Societies

Pacific coast tribes that lived in permanent longhouses and carved totem poles.

Great Basin & Great Plains Societies

Nomadic tribes that hunted buffalo and lived in easily transportable tepees.

Impact of Horses on Plains Tribes

Allowed tribes like the Lakota Sioux to hunt buffalo more effectively.

Cahokia

Major Mississippi River Valley settlement near modern St. Louis with ~30,000 residents.

Adena-Hopewell Culture

Ohio Valley mound-building culture famous for large earthen structures.

Iroquois Confederation

Alliance of five (later six) Northeast tribes living in matrilineal longhouses.

Columbian Exchange

Transatlantic transfer of plants, animals, culture, populations, and diseases after 1492.

Demographic Impact of European Diseases

Native populations declined by up to 90% within a century due to lack of immunity.

Motives for European Exploration

Search for wealth (gold/silver), trade routes, foreign luxury goods, and spreading Christianity.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system granting conquistadors land and native forced labor.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Agreement dividing the Americas between Spain and Portugal.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

Forced transportation of enslaved Africans to the Americas for plantation and mine labor.

Jamestown (1607)

First permanent English settlement in North America.

Isabella and Ferdinand

Spanish monarchs who united Spain, defeated the Moors in 1492, and funded Columbus's voyages.

Protestant Reformation

16th-century religious revolt against the Pope, heightening European rivalry to spread competing Christian faiths.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese ruler who sponsored early sea exploration along the West African coast.

Joint-Stock Company

Business structure pooling investor capital to reduce individual financial risk in ocean trade expeditions.

Rise of Capitalism

Economic shift where control of capital and commerce eclipsed land ownership as the primary wealth source.

John Cabot

Italian sea captain who explored Newfoundland in 1497, establishing early English territorial claims.

Jacques Cartier

French explorer who claimed territory for France by exploring the St. Lawrence River (1534-1542).

Roanoke Island

Failed English colonial settlement attempted off the North Carolina coast by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587.

Vasco Núñez de Balboa & Ferdinand Magellan

Spanish explorers who crossed the Isthmus of Panama and initiated global circumnavigation, respectively.

Hernán Cortés & Francisco Pizarro

Conquistadores who conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico and the Inca Empire in Peru.

Asiento System

Spanish tax system requiring colonists to pay a fee per imported enslaved African.

Middle Passage

Brutal transatlantic voyage carrying enslaved Africans to the Americas, with 10-15% mortality.

Spanish Colonial Caste System

Social hierarchy defining status by heritage, placing pure Spaniards at top and Indians/Blacks at bottom.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish priest who advocated for Native American rights and protested against the encomienda system.

New Laws of 1542

Spanish legislation advocated by Las Casas that ended native slavery and restricted the encomienda.

Valladolid Debate (1550-1551)

Formal Spanish debate over the moral status and treatment of Native Americans.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

Spanish scholar who argued Native Americans were natural inferiors benefiting from Spanish subjugation.