Period 1, ch 1 APUSH vocab

Cahokia

Large Mississippian city near present-day St. Louis; known for its mound structures and trade networks.

Anasazi

Ancient people of the Southwest; built cliff dwellings and used irrigation farming.

Matrilineal

System where family lineage and inheritance are traced through the mother.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Old and New Worlds after 1492.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spanish priest who criticized the mistreatment of Native Americans and advocated for their rights.

Mulattos

People of mixed African and European ancestry in the Spanish colonies.

Creoles

Spaniards born in the Americas; second in social status below Peninsulares.

Zambo

People of mixed Native American and African ancestry.

Iroquois Confederacy

Alliance of Native tribes in the Northeast that formed a powerful political and military union.

Pueblo

Native peoples of the Southwest who built adobe homes and practiced dryland farming.

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Native ancestry in the Spanish colonies.

Mercantilism

Economic system where colonies exist to benefit the mother country by providing raw materials and markets.

Northwest Passage

Mythical sea route through North America connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans sought by explorers.

“Gold, God, and Glory”

Main motivations for European exploration: wealth, religious conversion, and national prestige.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer funded by Spain; reached the Americas in 1492 and initiated European colonization.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in Peru.

Primogeniture

Inheritance system where the eldest son receives all property; led younger sons to seek fortunes elsewhere.

Reconquista

Christian reconquest of Spain from Muslim control, completed in 1492; inspired expansion overseas.

Roanoke

The “Lost Colony,” England’s first failed attempt at settlement in North America.

Peninsulares

Spanish-born settlers living in the Americas; top of the colonial social hierarchy.

El Requerimiento

Spanish declaration claiming divine right to rule the Americas and demanding Native submission.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system granting colonists authority over Native labor in exchange for “protection.”

Hacienda

Large estates or plantations in Spanish America worked by Native or African labor.

Great Dying

Massive Native population decline due to European diseases like smallpox.

Valladolid Debate

1550–1551 debate in Spain between Las Casas (defending Natives) and Sepúlveda (justifying conquest).