APUSH: Period 1

Bering Strait land bridge

How early Americans reached North and South America

Nomadic; following food and herds

The lifestyle that encouraged Indians to cross the land bridge

Mayan, Inca and Aztecs

The most complex Indian communities living in South America

Maize

This crop transformed nomadic hunter-gatherer societies into settled farm communities

Silk, Spices, Oils/Perfumes

Items desired by Europeans from Persia & China. Motivation for exploration

God, Gold & Glory

3 motives for Spanish Exploration

Hispaniola

The island (what is now Dominican Republic and Haiti) that Columbus landed

Anasazi; Pueblo

Tribes that settled in the Southwest; had culture based on farming & irrigation systems with permanent buildings

Treaty of Tordesillas

Divided the trade routes to Asia: Spain gets the route across the Atlantic and Portugal gets the route around Africa. Also, Spain got a lot of land in the New World and Portugal got present-day Brazil.

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador that led Spanish troops, reaching Mexico in 1519. Conquered the Aztecs by 1521

Francisco Pizzaro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas by 1532

Bartolome de las Casas

Spanish Bishop (holy figure) that devoted most of his life to protecting Native Americans from exploitation. His major achievement was the New Laws of 1542, which limited the ability of Spanish settlers to compel Native Americans to labor.

John Cabot

English explorer who claimed Newfoundland for England while looking for Northwest Passage

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator who mistakenly discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)

Ferdinand Magellan

Explorer who is credited with the 1st circumnavigation of the world

Henry Hudson

An English explorer who explored for the Dutch. He claimed the Hudson River around present day New York and called it New Netherland. He also had the Hudson Bay named for him

Columbian Exchange

Exchange of plants, animals, and diseases (beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes & tobacco) between Old World and New World after the time of Columbus.

Corn, beans, squash (3 sister farming)

3 crops from the Americas that were part of the Columbian Exchange that ended up being grown by Europeans

Horses

Animal introduced by the Spanish that changed the lifestyle of the Native Americans on the Great Plains

Smallpox, malaria, yellow fever, influenza

Diseases from the Old World and went to the New World. Responsible for most Native American deaths

Valladolid Debate

The argument between Bartolome de Las Casas and Juan Gines de Sepulveda over treatment of Indians by the Spanish.

Encomienda

A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as laborers on it; essentially set up slavery for Native Americans

Atlantic slave trade

Lasted from 16th century until the 19th century. Trade of African peoples from Western Africa to the Americas. 98% of Africans were sent to the Caribbean, South and Central America.

Iroquois Confederacy

a powerful group of Native Americans in the eastern part of the United States made up of five nations: the Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondoga, and Oneida

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.

Aztec

(1200-1521) 1300, they settled in the valley of Mexico. Grew corn. Engaged in frequent warfare to conquer others of the region. Worshipped many gods (polytheistic). Believed the sun god needed human blood to continue his journeys across the sky.

Inca

Their empire stretched from what is today Ecuador to central Chile in the Andes Mountain region of South America. Called the Children of the Sun.

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins.

Nomad

A person who moves from place to place in search of food

Martin Luther

Broke away from the Catholic Church because of his 95 problems with the Catholic Church.

Animism

Belief that non-human things possess a spiritual essence

Pope's Rebellion/Pueblo Revolt

An Indian uprising in 1680 where pueblo rebels in an attempt to resist catholicism and Europeans all together destroyed every catholic church in the province and killed scores of priests and hundreds of spanish settlers.

Mercantilism

Economic system in which the colonies exist to enrich the Mother country; attempt to export to colonies more than they import

Conquistador

A Spanish conqueror of the Americas

Old World

the regions of the world (Africa, Asia, Europe) that were known to Europeans before the discovery of the Americas

New World

the name given by Europeans to the Americas (North and South America), which were unknown to most Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus

Great Basin

The area between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas. Dry desert, mostly.

maize cultivation

The growing of Indian corn, a staple of many Indians diets, leading many nomadic tribes to settle and develop great civilizations such as the Aztecs incas and Mayans.

Agricultural Economy

an economy based on farming, or earning most of its money from farming

hunter-gatherers

People who hunt animals and gather wild plants, seeds, fruits, and nuts to survive

permanent villages

The settlements of Indians tribes based on the spread of agriculture (think maize cultivation)

plantation-based agriculture

Production system based on a large estate owned by an individual, family, or corporation and organized to produce a cash crop.

cash crop

farm crop raised to be sold for money

Slave Labor

Forced labor of people considered property by the people in charge

Empire Building

Territory expansion; growth - usually taken by force (expanding, conquering & ruling other lands)

Political Autonomy

the ability of a state/nation to govern themselves without outside control