Period 1: 1491-1607

Canadian Shield

First part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level.

Incas

Highly advanced South American civilization that occupied present-day Peru until it was conquered by Spanish forces under Francisco Pizarro in 1532. The Incas developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as terrace farming, in order to sustain large, complex societies in the unforgiving Andes Mountains.

Aztecs

Native American empire that controlled present-day Mexico until 1521, when they were conquered by Spanish Hernán Cortés. The Aztecs maintained control over their vast empire through a system of trade and tribute. They came to be known for their advances in mathematics and writing, as well as their use of human sacrifices in religious ceremonies.

nation-states

The term commonly describes those societies in which political legitimacy and authority overlay a large degree of cultural commonality.

Cahokia

Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as twenty-five thousand Native Americans.

three-sister farming

Agricultural system employed by North American Indians as early as 1000 c.e.; maize, beans, and squash were grown together to maximize yields.

caravel

Small regular vessel with a high deck and three triangular sails. Caravels could sail more closely into the wind, allowing European sailors to explore the western shores of Africa, previously made inaccessible due to prevailing winds on the homeward journey.

plantation

Large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor. European settlers established plantations in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the American South.

Columbian exchange

The transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between New and Old World societies after 1492.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing the territories of the New World. Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with titles to lands in Africa and Asia.

encomienda

Spanish government’s policy to “commend,” or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them. Part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indian tribes in the West Indies and on the North American mainland.

noche triste

“Sad night,” when the Aztecs attacked Hernán Cortés and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochittlán, killing hundreds. Cortés laid siege to the city the following year, precipitating the fall of the Aztec empire and inaugurating three centuries of Spanish rule.

capitalism

Economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets. European colonization of the Americas, and in particular, the discovery of vast bullion deposits, helped bring about Europe’s transition to capitalism.

mestizos

People of mixed Indian and European heritage, notably in Mexico.

conquistadores

Sixteenth-century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztec and Incan empires.

Battle of Acoma

Fought between Spaniards under Don Juan de Oñate and the Pueblo Indians in present-day New Mexico. Spaniards brutally crushed the Pueblo peoples and established the territory as New Mexico in 1609.

Pueblo Revolt

Pueblo Indian revolt that drove Spanish settlers from New Mexico. The Spanish left behind some 1500 horses that became the ancestors of the horse herds that spread across the continent and transformed the lives of many Plains Indians.

Black Legend

False notion that Spanish conquerors did little but butcher the Indians and steal their gold in the name of Christ.