History exam 1

What factors account for the diversity of Native American cultures?

• Ecological diversity: Different climates, environments, and natural resources.

• Political diversity: Different types of political and social organization.

• Cultural diversity: Different languages, clothing, architecture, arts, and traditions.

Explain the Aztec Empire's rise to power

The Mexica settled at Tenochtitlán in 1325 and began expanding their empire around 1430 after defeating a rival city with their allies.

Explain how Aztec is governed

Ruled by a tlatoani (king) and governed through provinces and tribute states. Conquered peoples paid tribute in goods and labor.

Aztec religion

• Believed the gods were sacred powers

• The universe was in its Fifth Age and could collapse without sacrifices.

• Practices included autosacrifice and human sacrifice.

Aztec relationship between its religion and its military expansion

Holy war and warfare were connected to religion

captured enemies alive to sacrifice them believing their blood and spirits satisfied the gods

helped keep the sun in motion.

Aztec weaknesses.

• Heavy tribute: caused resentment.

• Constant warfare: became difficult to maintain.

• Resistant enemies & limited food: weakened the empire.

how is Inca Empire governed

• Sapa Inca: ruled the empire.

• Bureaucrats & local leaders: managed tribute and labor.

• Road system: moved troops, supplies, and information.

How did Inca treat its subjects

Bad overall. The Incas demanded tribute, labor, and allegiance from conquered peoples, and many subjects viewed their rule as tyrannical and exploitative.

Inca’s weaknesses?

They faced rebellions and resistance from conquered groups. Succession struggles and civil war also weakened the empire.

compare the practice of human sacrifice in the Inca and Aztec Empires.

• Aztecs: Human sacrifice, warfare, tribute, satisfy gods with pure warrior blood, keep sun moving

• Incas: Sacrifices were rare, usually captives or children.

• Main difference: Sacrifice was much more important to the Aztecs.

explain Europe's place in the Afro-Eurasian World before Columbus.

• Trade: participated in Afro-Eurasian land and sea routes

• Trade goods: Spices, cotton textiles, silk, gold, silver, and slaves.

explain why European began to expand and explore in the 1450s and beyond.

• Economic reasons: Desire for spices, Asian goods, gold and silver, and to avoid Muslim and Italian middlemen.

• Other: Spread Christianity, expansion and crusading, competition between European countries, and new technologies

explain why the Portuguese were the first European to expand in this period.

• Portugal: led exploration under Prince Henry the Navigator.

• Trading posts: reached West Africa and sought gold and trade.

explain why Columbus sailed West to go to Asia, what he was trying to prove, and what he actually accomplished.

• Why: Wanted a westward route to China and Japan.

• Goal: Reach Asia by sailing west across Atlantic

• What happened: Reached the Bahamas in 1492, opening the way for European exploration of the Americas

explain Magellan's Circumnavigation of the Earth was a disappointment.

• Disappointment: 5 ships, 280 men → 1 ship, 18 men returned.

• Magellan died; crew died from scurvy and starvation.

what regions involved in columbian exchange and what was exchanged?

• Americas to Afro-Eurasia

Foods/crops: corn, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, squash, sweet potatoes

Other: tobacco, cocoa, vanilla, pineapples

• Afro-Eurasia to Americas

Foods/crops: bananas, citrus fruits, coffee, grapes, grains, sugarcane

Animals: cattle, sheep, pigs, horses

Diseases: smallpox, influenza, measles, malaria, typhus

Columbian Exchange's impact on Afro-Eurasia, North and South America.

• Afro-Eurasia: Population growth from maize and potatoes.

• North & South America: population decline from new diseases

explain how the Spanish were able to conquer the Aztec and Inca Empires.

• Disease: smallpox and other diseases weakened Indigenous populations.

• Spanish tactics: treachery, capturing leaders, and terror helped them conquer the empires.

Encomienda and its impact

• Native villages gave labor and tribute to Spanish encomenderos in exchange for protection and Christianity.

• round up workers for gold mines and led to mistreatment and population decline.

Repartimiento and its impact

• Spanish system that drafted Indigenous laborers for work, especially in silver mines.

• Impact: Dangerous and deadly work, population decline.

The spanish desire for silver

• For wealth, trade, and European ambitions.

• Mine Potosí = lots of silver

how and why some Spanish clergy and the king sought to limit the mistreatment of the native population.

• Why: Abuse and high death rates led Spanish leaders to seek change.

• How: Queen Isabella opposed Indigenous slavery, and Bartolomé de Las Casas defended Native rights.

Explain why Portugal colonized Brazil and what they hoped to profit from in Brazil

• Why: Portugal wanted to defend its claim to Brazil and compete with the French.

• Profit: Portugal first profited from brazilwood, sugarcane plantations

the social makeup of West Africa before European involvement

Families lived in communities, with “landlords” giving protection and “strangers” (traders/blacksmiths) providing goods and services.

political makeup of West Africa before European involvement

Leaders gained power by controlling people, labor, trade, and tribute rather than simply owning land.

Songhai empire

• one of West Africa’s most powerful states.

• Sunni Ali & Askia: expanded through military conquest.

• Wealth: controlled gold, salt, and trade through Timbuktu and Gao.

explain the origins of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

• The Portuguese began the trade in the 1400s by trading for enslaved Africans

• demand grew after 1500 as the Americas developed plantations and needed labor.

rise and continuation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

• Rise: European demand, African wars, and plantation profits expanded the trade.

• Continuation: European planters and African rulers/merchants profited from enslaved labor.

explain who/why was involved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade,

• Portugal, Spain, England, France, the Dutch, Denmark, and some African rulers/merchants

• They were involved mainly for profit, trade, and labor for plantations and mines.

and how the slave trade impacted the enslaved Africans.

• Forced through the Middle Passage

• Created a gender imbalance because most captives were male

• enslaved Africans faced a brutal social system in Spanish America

explain the social impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

• Deepened existing conflicts between African groups.

• Created new conflicts through widespread kidnapping and slave raiding.

political impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

• Trade with the Portuguese upended the balance of power

• Conflicts between African states increased

Trade slave impact on West Africa, Kingdom of Kongo.

• Portuguese aid: strengthened Kongo but fueled the slave trade

• King Afonso I: protested the loss of his peopls

• Kongo: eventually collapsed in 1569

explain the impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade on the New World.

• Enslaved labor helped expand plantations and mining.

• But this economic growth was built on forced labor, violence, and exploitation.

Explain the socio-racial systems that developed in Spanish America and Brazil.

• Mixing: Europeans, Africans, and Indigenous Americans married or had children.

• Hybrid cultures: developed across the Americas.

• Enslaved labor: came to dominate in some areas.

More rigid system in the Caribbean & British North America

• Sexual relations: relatively rare in British North America.

• Antimiscegenation laws: discouraged Black-white unions.

• Racial codes: strictest where African slavery was most common.

explain what the main reasons for colonization in the Caribbean, British North America, and French North America were.

• Caribbean: European powers wanted plantation agriculture and profitable cash crops, especially sugar, using enslaved labor.

• British & French North America: Colonization focused on farming, trade, fishing, fur, and religious goals.

explain how European relations with native peoples differed in the British and French colonies of North America.

• French: relied on alliances, fur trade, and missionaries.

• British: focused on displacement and removal of Indigenous peoples.

explain the political and economic make up of East Africa, especially the Swahili Coast, before Portuguese involvement.

• Political: The Swahili Coast had 100+ independent port towns, ruled by local princes.

• Economic: It thrived through Indian Ocean trade, exporting gold and ivory for cloth, ceramics, and spices.

How were the Portuguese able to insert themselves into Indian Ocean trading networks?

• Portuguese arrival: around 1500; entered existing trade networks.

• Military force: used guns, ships, and fortified posts.

• Goal: create trade monopolies and push out Muslim competitors.

To what degree were the Portuguese able to build an empire in the Indian Ocean?

• Control: gained key ports like Goa.

• Feitorias: established fortified trading posts.

• Limits: could not fully control trade or conquer major inland empires.

What changes resulted from Portuguese involvement in the Indian Ocean?

• Trade disruption: Portuguese brute force disrupted existing trade.

• Monopolies: increased piracy and contraband trade.

• European role: became trading partners, arms suppliers, and imperial powers.

Why and how were the Dutch and English able to enter Indian Ocean trade?

• Why: wanted profitable spices and commodities.

• How: used trading companies to organize trade.

• The English East India Company (EIC) and Dutch traders used hostility toward Portugal to gain access to markets.

How did the Dutch and English trading companies expand their influence?

• EIC: sent traders and diplomats to places like Aceh.

• Competition: Dutch and English competed with Portugal for valuable trade.

• Method: used trade and diplomacy instead of immediate conquest.

To what degree were the Dutch and English able to insert themselves into Indian Ocean trade?

• Became important competitors in the pepper trade and Southeast Asian markets.

• They gained increasing influence but did not control all trade.

• Aceh remained independent and resisted European colonial rule.

How did Europeans control their empires in the Americas vs. Asia?

• Americas: Used conquest, settlement, and colonization to gain direct control.

• Asia: Used trading companies, fortified ports, and trade monopolies rather than conquering large territories.

What was the relationship between European powers and local rulers in the Americas vs. Asia?

• Americas: Europeans increasingly replaced or weakened Indigenous rulers as they took control.

• Asia: Europeans often worked with and competed against local rulers and merchants to gain access to trade.

What was the relationship between European powers and local peoples in the Americas vs. Asia

• Americas: Indigenous peoples were often displaced, enslaved, or killed as European settlement expanded.

• Asia: remained alongside existing societies and religions.

To what degree were Europeans able to dominate the regions?

• Americas: Europeans achieved much greater political and territorial control.

• Asia: Europeans had limited control, mainly dominating certain ports and trade routes rather than entire empires.