AP Coast-to-Coast Chapter 1 Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on Chapter 1 notes detailing Native American societies, West African trade empires, European exploration, and Spanish conquest.

Agriculture in Native American Societies

The practice of farming that created reliable food supplies, leading to population growth, the development of permanent settlements, and larger, more politically complex societies.

Aztec Empire

A large, centralized empire built through military conquest that relied heavily on tribute from conquered peoples until its capital, Tenochtitlán, fell to the Spanish in 1521.

Inca Empire

A large, centralized empire in South America maintained through a strong central government, officials, and an extensive road system to control distant territories and organize labor and resources.

Tribute

Required payments of goods and resources provided by conquered peoples to the Aztec Empire, which increased the empire's wealth and power.

Ghana, Mali, and Songhai

Powerful West African empires that gained substantial wealth by controlling important trans-Saharan trade routes and trading gold, salt, copper, textiles, and other goods.

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

Overland trade routes across the Sahara Desert where Muslim merchants traded valuable goods and introduced Islamic beliefs and culture into West African kingdoms and trading centers.

European Overseas Exploration

Maritime voyages sponsored by Spain and Portugal, driven by expanding trade, increased demand for Asian goods and wealth, and the desire for direct trade routes.

Maritime Technology

Technological developments—including better ships, maps, navigation tools, and compasses—that allowed Europeans to travel farther by sea and expand exploration and colonization.

Coastal Trade Routes (West Africa)

Trade routes established along the West African coast by European traders, which operated alongside trans-Saharan trade and connected Africa to the Atlantic economy.

Atlantic Slave Trade

The system of purchasing and transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas, which expanded rapidly due to European colonization and the growing demand for plantation labor.

European Diseases

Infectious diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza to which Native American populations had little immunity, resulting in severe epidemics, massive population loss, and political disruption.

Hernán Cortés

The Spanish conquistador who allied with Native groups and utilized warfare and disease to conquer Tenochtitlán in 1521 and gain control of the Aztec Empire.

Tenochtitlán

The capital city of the Aztec Empire that fell to Spanish control in 1521 following conquest by Hernán Cortés, Native allies, warfare, and disease.

Francisco Pizarro

The Spanish conquistador who arrived in South America in 1532 and conquered the Inca Empire by exploiting weakness caused by severe disease epidemics and political instability.

Native North American Political Systems

Decentralized political structures common in North America that included chiefdoms, independent communities, and confederacies, in contrast to centralized empires like the Aztec and Inca.

Powhatan

A Native American political system in North America where one powerful chief controlled many subordinate chiefdoms.

Iroquois Confederacy

A political alliance of several Native American nations in North America governed through councils of sachems.

Sachems

Tribal leaders and council members who participated in governing the Iroquois Confederacy.