Unit 1: Period 1: 1491-1607 (copy)

Bering Land Bridge

A land connection that existed between Eurasia and North America, allowing the first people to inhabit the Americas from Siberia to Alaska.

Contact Period

The period in which Europe sustained contact with the Americas beginning with Columbus's arrival in 1492 and ending in 1607.

Columbian Exchange

The period of rapid exchange of plants, animals, foods, and diseases between the Old World and the New World following Columbus's voyages.

Encomienda System

A Spanish system granting colonists authority over a specified number of natives, requiring them to protect and convert the natives to Christianity in exchange for their labor.

Joint-Stock Companies

Corporate businesses with shareholders aimed at settling and developing lands in North America, such as the British East India Company and the Virginia Company.

Headright System

A system established in 1618 by the Virginia Company to attract new settlers by granting them a tract of land for each person they brought.

Mayflower Compact

A legal agreement signed by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower to create a government based on the consent of the governed.

Puritanism

A Protestant movement initiated by English Calvinists seeking to purify the Anglican Church of Roman Catholic practices.

Tobacco as Cash Crop

Tobacco became a major export for the Virginia colony, significantly affecting its economy and eventually leading to the development of plantation slavery.

Plantation Economy

An economic system in the Southern colonies that relied heavily on slave labor for the cultivation of cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo.

Middle Passage

The brutal shipping route that carried enslaved Africans to the Americas, marked by inhumane conditions and high mortality rates.

Coureurs du bois

French fur traders who traveled into the wilderness and established trade relationships with Native Americans.

Maroon People

Descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped to form independent communities in the Americas.

Roger Williams

A minister who founded Rhode Island after being banished from Massachusetts for advocating separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson

A woman who challenged Puritan beliefs and was banished for her antinomian views, which questioned the authority of the clergy.

Indigenous Societies

Complex societies of Native Americans that existed prior to European contact, with diverse cultures and social structures.

Spanish Colonial Power

The dominance of Spain in the Americas during the colonial period, characterized by widespread wealth extraction and cultural imposition.

Conflicts and Misunderstandings

Interactions between Native Americans and European settlers that led to warfare and resistance against colonization.

Native American Resistance

The efforts of Indigenous peoples to resist European colonization and preserve their cultures and lands.

Spanish Mission System

A series of missions established by Spain aimed at converting Native Americans to Christianity and integrating them into colonial society.