APUSH-Ch. 1 Vocab

Incas

Highly advanced South American civilizations that occupied present-day Peru until conquered by Spanish forces (Francisco Pizarro) in 1532. Incas developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as terrace farming, in order to sustain large, complex societies in the unforgiving Andes Mountains.

Mayans

Advanced South American civilization that emerged around 2000 B.C.E. in present-day Central America with sophisticated agricultural practices.

Aztecs

Native American empire that controlled present-day Mexico until 1521, when Spanish Hernan Cortes conquered them. Maintained control over their vast empire through a system of trade and tribute. Aztecs came to be known for their advances in mathematics and writing, as well as their use of human sacrifices in religious ceremonies.

Nation-states

Those societies in which political legitimacy and authority overlay a large degree of cultural commonality.

Cahokia (CA. 1100 C.E.)

Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as 25,000 Native Americans.

Three-Sister Farming

Agricultural system employed by Native Americans as early as 1000 CE; maize, beans, and squash were grown together to maximize yields.

Caravel

Small regular vessel with a high deck and three triangular sails. Caravel could sail more closely into the wind, allowing European sailors to explore the western shores of Africa, previously made inaccessible due to prevailing winds strong bipartisan support.

Plantation

Large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor. European settlers established plantation in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the American South.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between the New and Old World societies after 1492.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing the territories of the New World. Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with titles to lands in Africa and Asia.

Encomienda

Spanish government’s policy to “commend,” or give, Native Americans to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them. Part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indian tribes in the West Indies and on the North American mainland.

Noche Triste (June 30, 1520)

When the Aztecs attacked Hernan Cortes and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, killing hundreds. Cortes surrounded the city the following year, causing the fall of the Aztec empire and inaugurating three centuries of Spanish rule.

Capitalism

Economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets. European colonization of the Americas, and in particular, the discovery of vast bullion deposits, helped bring about Europe’s transition to capitalism.

Mestizos

People of mixed Indian and European heritage, notably in Mexico.

Conquistadores

16th century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztec and Incan empires.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Pueblo Indian Revolt that drove Spanish settlers from New Mexico. The Spanish left behind some 1,500 horse herds that spread across the continent and transformed the lives of many Plains Indians.

Black Legend

False notion that Spanish conquerors did little but butcher the Native Americans and steal their gold in the name of Christ.

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator sailing for Spain who landed in the Caribbean in 1492, initiating sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.

Francisco Coronado

Spanish explorer who led expeditions (1540s) throughout the present-day American Southwest in search of legendary riches.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who, in 1532, led the conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru.

Bartolome de las Casas

Spanish missionary and critic of the encomienda system who denounced Spanish mistreatment of Native Americans as a “moral pestilence.”

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in 1519-1521, establishing Spanish control over much of Mexico.

Moctezuma

Aztec emperor during the Spanish conquest; his rule ended when Cortes deposed him off leadership during the fall of Tenochtitlan.

Giovanni Caboto

Italian explorer who sailed for England in 1497-98, exploring parts of North America’s northeastern Coast.

Father Junipero Serra

Spanish Franciscan friars who established a series of Catholic missions along the California coast (start of 1769), aimed at converting Native Americans.