Period 1 (1491-1607) AP U.S. History — Migration, Native Lifeways, Columbian Exchange, and Early Contacts

A comprehensive set of Q&A flashcards covering migration theories, Native American lifeways by region, major Mesoamerican civilizations, the Columbian Exchange, and early European contact and colonial policies.

What are the two main routes discussed for the first migration into North America (per the notes)?

A coastal maritime route reached the Americas by about 16,000–15,000 years ago and the earlier Bering land bridge route is also discussed.

Environment 1 describes which factors that led to mobile, nomadic lifestyles in the Great Basin and western Great Plains?

Aridity of the Great Basin and the grasslands of the western Great Plains.

In Environment 1, who tended to crops and who hunted and cleared fields for planting?

Women tended crops; men hunted, fished, and cleared fields for planting (e.g., bison).

Name two tribes listed as pre-horse hunter-gatherers in Environment 1.

Sioux and Apache.

Environment 2 describes which region’s mixed economy and three-sister farming that supported permanent villages?

Northeast, Mississippi River Valley, Atlantic seaboard; three-sister farming (beans, corn, squash).

Which alliance formed a military alliance among Iroquois-speaking peoples?

Iroquois Confederacy.

Name three Eastern Woodlands groups mentioned in the notes.

Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee.

What is animism?

The belief that natural objects and phenomena have spirits or powers.

Environment 3 refers to the Northwest region. Name two hunter-gatherer groups associated with it.

Chinook and Nez Perce (also Shoshone mentioned in related notes).

Environment 4 describes the American Southwest; what did maize enable there?

Economic development, settlement, advanced irrigation, and social diversification (e.g., Pueblo, Navajo).

Which three major pre-Columbian civilizations in Mesoamerica are described in the notes?

Maya, Aztec, Inca.

What is a key feature of the Maya civilization?

Independent city-states with a complex writing system (hieroglyphics) and codexes; pyramids and calendars.

Which civilization built Tenochtitlan and practiced extensive human sacrifice?

Aztec Empire.

Which civilization built Machu Picchu and used the mita labor system and quipu?

Inca Empire.

What is the mita?

An Inca system of mandatory labor tribute required of all citizens.

What is a quipu?

Inca knotted-rope accounting system used for record-keeping.

Where and when did Samuel de Champlain establish a French presence, and what was his policy toward Native Americans?

Quebec, 1608; fur-trade focus with relatively lax Native policy, including intermarriage and Coureur de Bois connections.

What is the encomienda system?

The Spanish crown granted natives to colonists for labor and tribute, with efforts to convert them to Catholicism; harsh treatment and punishment could occur.

What is the caste system in the Spanish colonies?

A hierarchical system based on race/heritage (e.g., mestizo, mulatto) with limited social mobility.

What role did the African slave system play in the Spanish colonies?

Spanish colonies increasingly depended on enslaved Africans; Brazil imported the most slaves during the Atlantic slave trade era.

What is a virgin soil epidemic?

Massive outbreaks of Old World diseases in the Americas, causing extremely high Native mortality (often cited as ~90%).

What is feudalism?

A system with little mobility, serfs tied to land, a small noble/knight class, and an absolute king.

What major maritime technologies contributed to European exploration?

Improved maps, the mariner’s astrolabe, compass, and the caravel.

What political-economic system rose as feudalism declined and supported colonial expansion?

Mercantilism (aspect of capitalism) with a rise of a middle class and joint-stock companies.

What was the purpose and outcome of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?

Line of Demarcation dividing newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal; West went to Spain, East to Portugal; sanctioned by Pope Alexander VI.

Who conquered the Aztec Empire and how is it summarized in the notes?

Hernán Cortés; 500 men, 20 horses, and 6 cannons; captures Tenochtitlan and establishes Mexico City.

Who conquered the Inca Empire and how is it summarized in the notes?

Francisco Pizarro; invited into Peru, kidnapped Atahualpa, and executed him.

What was the impact of Bartolomé de Las Casas’ writings on Spanish colonial policy?

Critiques of the encomienda system and advocacy for better treatment of Native Americans (contextual note from him in the speech).

What is the difference between the Spanish, French, and English approaches to Native peoples as described in the notes?

Spain: encomienda, aggressive conquest, religious zeal; France: fur trade with relatively cooperative relations and intermarriage; England: mixed results, with joint-stock ventures and religious settlements.

What were two key English colonial strategies described in the notes?

Joint-stock companies for economic ventures and religious experiments; initial governance with limited central control.

What major conflict occurred in Massachusetts involving Native peoples and English settlers?

King Philip’s War (Metacom’s War); resistance by Native groups against Puritan expansion.

What is the significance of the “Three G’s” in European exploration?

Glory, God, and Gold—driving motives of exploration: national prestige, religious expansion, and economic profit.

What is the Three Sisters farming method?

A farming system of beans, corn, and squash that supported high yields and permanent settlements in the Northeast.

What is the significance of maize (corn) in the Americas before widespread European contact?

Maize enabled sedentary agriculture, surplus food, larger populations, and the development of complex societies like in Mesoamerica and the Andes.