Unit 1: Period 1: 1491-1607

Land Bridge

there is a theory that the indigenous people of the Americas came to the Americas by a land passageway connecting Alaska to Siberia.

Hohokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos

- indigenous people that were settled in Southwestern settlements
- these people lived in caves, under cliffs, and in multistoried buildings
- developed irrigation systems
- weren't able to survive up until when the Europeans arrived due to hostile natives and extreme drought

Adena-Hopewell

- civilization in the Mississippi River Valley
- known for their earthen mounds

Maya Civilization

built cities in the rain forests of Yucatán Peninsula between the years 300 and 800

Aztec Civilization

- developed a powerful empire many centuries after the Maya
- their capital, Tenochtitlán, has a population of about 200,000
- equivalent to the population of the largest city in Europe

Inca Civilization

developed a vast empire in western South America

Corn (maize)

the spread of the cultivation of this crop allowed for civilizations to develop incredibly

Algonquian

a language family in the Northeast

Siouan

a language family in the Great Plains

Longhouses

usually permanent structures that house many families would live in

Iroquois Confederation

- powerful political union of several tribes from the Great Lakes and New York area
- battled rival Native Americans and Europeans

Woodland Mound Builders

people that build timber and bark lodgings alongside rivers

Gunpowder

- originally invented by the Chinese
- Europeans made improvements on this invention

Sailing Compass

- originally invented by the Chinese
- was adopted by Arab merchants

Printing Press

- invented in the 1450s
- helped spread knowledge across Europe

Isabella and Ferdinand

- King and Queen of Spain
- married in 1469, which merged 2 of the largest kingdoms of Spain
- funded Christopher Columbus on his first voyage

Christopher Columbus

- sponsored by the monarchs of Spain to go on a voyage to find a pathway to India that cuts across the Atlantic
- reaches Central America thinking it was India
- many people think of his voyage as a failed voyage

Henry the Navigator

- Portugal's Prince
- sponsored many voyages (patronage)

Treaty of Tordesillas

- by papal order, a vertical line of demarcation was created to divide the Americas in two for Spain and Portugal
- Spain had lands west of the line and Portugal had lands east of the line
- this line was moved a few degrees west in 1494 due to this treaty

Roanoke Island

- a failed attempt at an English colony as the people had disappeared
- people still do not know to this day what happened

Protestant Reformation

certain Christians in Germany, England, France, Holland, and other Northern European countries revolted against the Pope

Nation-States

countries in which the majority of people shared a common culture and common loyalty to a certain government

Horses

were introduced to the Americas through the Europeans

Diseases

- also introduced to the Native American population
- was the cause for the decline in their population

Smallpox/Measles

- diseases introduced to Native Americans, resulting in the deaths of many

Capitalism

an economic system where the control of capital became more important than the control of land

Joint-Stock Company

A method that let business owners invest money into expeditions, and if the expeditions failed, they would not lose much

Encomienda

a system where Native Americans were granted land in exchange for forced labor

Asiento

required colonists to pay a tax to the king for each enslaved person imported to the Americas

Slavery

how colonists were able to profit off of the exploitation they did to the land

Conquistadores

Spanish people who conquered the Americas

Hernán Cortes

famous for the conquests of the Aztecs

Francisco Pizarro

famous for the conquests of the Inca

Slave Trade

many abducted people from Africa were brought to the Americas through this system

Middle Passage

the voyage that Africans took to get to the Americas

New Laws of 1542

- these laws would end slavery for the Native Americans, halted forced Native American labor, and would put a stop to the encomienda system
- biggest advocate for these laws was Bartolomé de Las Casas
- conservative Spaniards didn't want this to be the case so they got the king to repeal most of these laws

Bartolomé de Las Casas

- Spanish priest who dissented from the views of most Europeans towards Native Americans
- Most known for his involvement in the New Laws of 1542 and the Valladolid debate

Valladolid Debate

- debate on the role of Native Americans
- two sides to this argument
- believing that slavery is morally wrong as Native Americans are humans too
- believing that Native Americans were less than human, which means that through the encomienda system, they were somehow helping them

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

argued that Native Americans were less than human and that slavery was good for them