Unit 1 Period 1: 1491–1607 Vocabulary Flashcards (AMSCO & Barron’s)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key people, policies, phenomena, and concepts from Topic 1.1 through Topic 1.7 in Period 1.

Columbian Exchange

Transatlantic transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World after 1492, reshaping populations and economies on both sides.

Encomienda system

Spanish colonial policy granting settlers the right to compel Indigenous labor for plantation agriculture and resource extraction in exchange for protection and Christian instruction.

Casta system

Spanish colonial social hierarchy that defined status by race/heritage (European, Indigenous, African) and regulated rights and privileges.

Atlantic slave trade

European-driven trade that forcibly moved enslaved Africans to the Americas, often with West African partners, to supply labor for plantations and mines.

Middle Passage

The brutal sea voyage that transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.

Joint-stock companies

Investment firms that pooled capital to fund long-distance voyages and colonial ventures, enabling large-scale exploration and settlement.

Maize cultivation

Spread of maize from present-day Mexico northward into North America, supporting economic development, settlement, irrigation, and social diversification.

Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas

Major pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas with complex agriculture, cities, and social structures.

Great Basin

An arid region where many Native groups developed largely mobile lifestyles in response to climate.

Great Plains

Grassland region where many groups practiced mobile hunter-gatherer economies and adapted to vast open spaces.

Northeast settlements

Area with mixed agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies and the development of permanent villages (e.g., Iroquois).

Cahokia

A large, sophisticated pre-Columbian city in the Mississippi River Valley illustrating permanent, organized settlement.

Iroquois Confederation

A powerful alliance of Northeastern Native American nations with a centralized political structure.

Pueblo

Southwestern Native American communities known for advanced irrigation and settled towns.

Northwest settlements

Coastal groups in the Pacific Northwest relying on hunting, gathering, and rich marine resources, with some settled communities.

Cherokee

A Native American group in the Atlantic Seaboard region with established towns and complex social structures.

Roanoke Island (Lost Colony)

English attempt to establish a colony in the late 16th century that famously disappeared, becoming the Lost Colony.

Ferdinand and Isabella; Reconquista

Spanish monarchs who completed the Reconquista and sponsored voyages that expanded Spanish exploration and empire.

Columbus, Christopher

Italian navigator whose 1492 voyage opened sustained European contact with the Americas and spurred further exploration.

Reformation

Religious reform movement in Europe that influenced politics, society, and exploration by altering religious authority and motivation.

Ottoman seizure of Constantinople

1453 event that blocked land routes to Asia, prompting Europeans to seek sea-based routes to wealth and trade.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese patron who promoted exploration and navigational advances, helping kickstart Atlantic exploration.

Valladolid Debate

Debate in Spain about the treatment and status of non‑Europeans in the Americas and debates over rights and humanity.

God, glory, gold

Motivations for European exploration: religious expansion (God), national prestige (glory), and economic wealth (gold).

Shift from feudalism to capitalism

Economic transformation aided by overseas wealth and trade, contributing to changes in European economic systems.