AP US History Curriculum Unit 1 Review

Flashcards reviewing key vocabulary and concepts from Unit 1 of the AP US History curriculum, focusing on Native American societies, European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, and early colonization.

Diverse Native Societies

Native American societies were diverse and based on their environment.

Pueblo People

Farmers in Utah and Colorado who cultivated crops like beans, squash, and maize, and developed advanced irrigation systems.

Great Basin and Great Plains Region

Nomadic hunter-gatherers like the Ute people organized in egalitarian kinship bands.

Chumash People

Native peoples in present-day California who built villages and participated in regional trade networks.

Chinook Peoples

Native peoples in the Pacific Northwest who built extensive plank houses.

Iroquois People

Farmers in the Northeast who lived communally in longhouses constructed from timber.

Cahokia

A large civilization in the Mississippi River Valley with a centralized government led by powerful chieftains.

Political Unification in Europe

European kingdoms were going through a process of political unification, leading to stronger states governed by monarchs.

Trading Post Empire

Portugal established trading posts around Africa and gained a foothold in the Indian Ocean trade network using maritime technology.

Maritime Technology

New and old technologies used by the Portuguese, including astronomical charts, the astrolabe, new ship designs, the Latin sail, and the stern post rudder.

Reconquista

Spain finished the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, leading to a desire to spread Christianity and seek new economic opportunities.

Christopher Columbus

Sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 seeking a route to Asian markets, landing in the Caribbean.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of people, animals, plants, and diseases from the East to the West and from the West to the East.

Feudalism

A system where peasants worked on noble's land in exchange for protection.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and free exchange.

Joint Stock Company

A limited liability organization in which multiple people pooled their money to fund a venture.

Encomienda System

An economic system where Spaniards forced natives to work on plantations and extract gold and silver.

Casta System

A new system of social classes introduced by the Spanish, categorizing people based on racial ancestry, with peninsulares at the top and Native Americans at the bottom.

Peninsulares

Spaniards born in Spain.

Criollos

Spaniards born in the Americas.

Mestizos

Those born of Spanish and Native American blood.

Mulatos

Those of Spanish and African blood.

Bartolome de las Casas

A priest who defended the humanity of Native Americans and persuaded the king to pass laws ending their slavery.