Lecture Notes: Early Exploration, Conquest, and The Columbian Exchange

Vocabulary flashcards covering key people, places, events, and concepts from the notes on early exploration, conquest, and the Columbian Exchange.

Siberia

A vast region in northern Asia (Russia) that, with the Beringia land bridge, connected Asia to North America during the Ice Age.

Beringia

The land bridge that connected Asia (Siberia) to North America, enabling migration of people and animals.

North America

Continental landmass comprising present-day Canada, the United States, and Mexico; site of Indigenous civilizations and later European colonization.

Gulf of California

Sea between the Baja California Peninsula and the Mexican mainland (also called the Sea of Cortez).

Yucatán

Peninsula in southeastern Mexico; heartland of the Maya civilization and site of early Spanish contact.

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on Lake Texcoco; center of Aztec power.

Veracruz

Spanish port on the Gulf of Mexico; Cortés landed here in 1519.

Aztec Empire

Mesoamerican empire centered in central Mexico with Tenochtitlan as its capital; fell to Cortés.

Tlaxcala

Region allied with Cortés against the Aztecs during the conquest of Mexico.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that toppled the Aztec Empire (1519–1521).

San Juan de Ulúa

fortress island off Veracruz guarding the Gulf coast during the Spanish colonial era.

Cabo Catoche

Cape at the Yucatán where Cortés first encountered Maya groups during exploration.

Gulf of Mexico

Sea bordered by the U.S. Gulf coast, Mexico, and Cuba; central to Spanish colonization.

New Spain

Spanish colonial viceroyalty including Mexico and parts of the southwestern Americas.

New France

French colonial empire in North America, including parts of present-day Canada and nearby regions.

Acadia

French colonial region along the Atlantic coast in what is now Atlantic Canada and parts of Maine.

Port-Royal

Early Acadian settlement and administrative center in Acadia.

Quebec

City founded in 1608; capital of New France.

Louisiana (Upper & Lower)

French colonial divisions along the Mississippi River: Upper Louisiana (Illinois Country) and Lower Louisiana.

New Orleans

French-founded city at the mouth of the Mississippi River, established in 1718.

Fort Duquesne

French fort at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers (present-day Pittsburgh).

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607.

Plymouth

English settlement founded by the Pilgrims in 1620.

Chesapeake Bay

Region along the Virginia/Maryland coast with early English settlements.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing non-European lands west (Spain) and east (Portugal) of a north-south line.

Pueblo Revolt (Pope’s Rebellion)

1680 uprising of Pueblo peoples against Spanish rule in New Mexico; Spanish regained control in 1696.

Columbian Exchange

Widespread transfer of crops, animals, people, and diseases between the Americas and the Old World after 1492.

Maize (corn)

A staple crop from the Americas that spread to Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Potatoes

Andean tubers that became a global staple after European contact.

Tomatoes

Fruit from the Americas that became a key ingredient in Old World cuisine.