American Studies, Unit 1 Vocab

Colonization

When one country takes over foreign land, and having their people settle there

Conquistador

Soldiers who lead military explorations in the Americas

Columbian Exchange

European explorers and settlers took plants and animals with them to the Americas. They also brought back a variety of new animals and plants to Europe, Asia, and Africa. This exchange is called the Columbian Exchange because it started with Christopher Columbus’s explorations.

Northwest Passage

A historic sea route that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic ocean above North America

Line of Demarcation

An imaginary line that divided the Atlantic Ocean. Spain could claim all land west of the line.

Caravels

Ships that used triangular sail that, unlike traditional square, allowed ships to sail against the wind

Mercantilism

A economic system where a country builds its wealth and power by controlling trade and having more exports than imports

imports

Buying a product from a foreign country and bringing it in

exports

Selling a domestic product to a buyer in another country and shipping it out

Raw Materials

Basic and natural materials that come from the earth, water ,or living things

Cash crop

A crop that farmers grow only for selling

Indentured Servitude

A legal system where a person agreed to work without pay for a set number of years in exchange for passage to a new country, food, and housing

Slavery

 A system or condition in which one human is owned by another as property and forced to work under the threat of violence or coercion without freedom to leave.

Middle passage.

A voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that enslaved africans were forced to endure

Triangular Trade

A system which goods and slaves were traded among the Americas, Britain, and Africa

African Diaspora

Enslaved Africans were sent all across the New World

Leif Erikson

The son of Erik the Red, shared his fathers love of adventure. In the year 1000, he was sailing from west Norway to Greenland when strong winds blew his ship off course, and carried his ship all the way to the North American coast.

Christopher Columbus

 A sailor from Genoa, Italy. Columbus was convinced he could reach Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic ocean.

John Cabot

An Italian sailor who traveled to North America for England in 1497-1498

Ferdinand Magellan

A Portuguese navigator, set out with a Spanish fleet to sail down the east coast of South America

Bartolomé de las Casas

A Spanish Catholic priest and historian who, protected the Indians by fighting against the cruel treatment of the Native Americans

Hernán Cortés

A conquistador who left Cuba to sail to present-day Mexico in 1519

Moctezuma II

A king that ruled the Aztec Empire, which was at the height of its power in the 1500.

Francisco Pizzaro

A conquistador who led 400 men to capture the great Inca at Cuzco in present-day Peru, and killed Inca leaders

Samuel de Champlain

A French explorer and mapmaker who founded Quebec City in 1606