APUSH Period 1 terms

Aztecs

Also called “Mexica,” and establish Tenochtitlan in 1300 ce, with the city having a population of as many as 100,000 by 1500. Had aqueducts, large impressive buildings, male children schools, organized military and medical system, and slave workforce made up of conquered tribes. Dominance of much of central Mexico by enforcing a tax system, used military power, however people still has some sense of independence. Believed in human sacrifice (Cut out beating hearts for the gods)

Mayas

Starting around 800 ce, in Central America and Yucatan peninsula, had written language, numerical system, accurate calendar, advanced agricultural system, and significant trade routes to other parts of the continent

Incas

In Peru, the largest empire in Americas, started in Cuzco in the early 1400s by Pachacuti, sustained by innovative administration systems and a network of paved roads

Native Americans

Diverse tribes/civilizations across the Americas

American Southwest

Tribes had complex agricultural systems with large irrigation systems for the dry land. They had towns for trade/crafts/ religious or civic ritual, and had pueblos that were houses made in stone. Ex: Pueblo and Apache

Great Plains

Tribes had sedentary farm settlements for corn/grain, as well as some nomadic buffalo hunters (which got big once Europeans brought horses, made it easier to hunt buffalo/bison). Ex: Sioux and Blackfoot

Northeast

Tribes were more nomadic, less fertile soil, with a farming and hunting mix. Farming techniques were temporary. Crops- corn, beans, squash, pumpkins- which moved every few years. Ex: Seneca, Mohawk Oneida

Mississippi River Valley

Extremely fertile land surrounding the Mississippi River, thus had permanent farming settlements

Atlantic Seaboard

East coast of US, made up of Northeast, East, and Southeast. East- known as “Woodland Indians” had good food sources, farmed/hunted/gathered/fished. Southeast- permanent settlements/trading networks based on crops from Mississippi river (fertile soil). Cahokia was a big trade city that peaked in 1200 CE with 10,000 population with big earthy mounds.

North West

Tribes relied on salmon fishing, were competitive with other tribes and fights could get violent, permenent settlements on coast (steady resource from the ocean) Ex: Chinook and Hupa

Black Death

Bubonic Plague that caused the swelling of lymph nodes, killed almost a third of Europe’s population in the 1400s, allowed for immence population growth and economic growth, motivation for exploring

Ferdinand & Isabella

Powerful Monarchs of Spain, funded Christopher Columbus’s expedition to find a trade route to Asia, however he stumbled upon Carribean, and later the mainland.

Christopher Columbus

Explorer credited for discovering the New World

Magellan

First man to circumnavigate the globe, and he discovered the strait of Magellan named after him, and found a sea route to Asia.

Conquistadors

Spanish for “conquerers”; term used to describe the Spanish explorers who were brutal towards inhabitants they discovered in the Americas

Cortes

Hernando Cortes, former Spanish government official in Cuba for 14 years with little success, in 1518 he led 600 men to Mexico in hopes of finding treasures, however, he found the Aztecs and brutally attempted to conquer them, and also introduced Small pox.

Mexico

Inhabited by Aztecs

Great Basin

The Great Basin has the largest watersheds in North America. The Great Basin goes through the states of Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, California and the Mexican state of Baja California.

Ordinances of Discovery

Forbade unauthorized operations against independent Native American groups

Missions

Motive for Europeans to journey to the New World to spread Catholicism to Natives

Pueblo Revolt

In 1680, a native known as Pope led a revolt of Pueblos against the Spanish settlers in their area. Caused by instability from Apache raids, as well as suppression of Pueblo culture by the Spanish. Many died, and the Spanish left, but then returned in 1692

Diseases

 Part of Columbian Exchange- SMALLPOX!!! Influenza, chicken pox, typhus, measles, cholera. Natives had no immunity to these diseases, which caused a decimation of many native populations.

Maize/Corn

One of the “three sisters” in Northeast, a cash crop. Traded with Europe in Columbian exchange. Important in Southwest.

Columbian Exchange

Exchange (both positive and negative, but more positively impacted the Europeans by far) of crops,animals, ideas, disease, and people between Natives and European explorers/settlers

Enslaved Africans

 Europeans settlers had Natives do labour for them, however they wanted more people, so they got slaves from Africa, particularly the Guinea area.

Atlantic Ocean

Ocean that is at the coast of the Americas, Europe, and Africa, essential for travel by ship

Racial Hierarchy/ Spanish Caste System

(top to bottom) Spanish, mixed, native. However, it was more fluid that the Spanish believed, so wealth and influence, regardless of race, could make someone “Spanish” at the top of the system.

Encomienda System

Laborers of conquerors were in theory given military protection and education (catholicism) in return for labor

John Cabot

First European explorer to see the New World (east coast), sponsored by Henry the VII

West African Slave Trade

In the early 16th century, European demand for trade slaves changed the nature of slavery in Africa. Slaves only served for a set amount of time, and was not passed down to their children, but the demand for slaves changed slavery drastically.

Western Hemisphere

 Lies west of the prime meridian. This region contains the Americas.

Enclosure

Movement in Europe as farmers shifted to sheep farms rather than crops- economic transformation in the countryside

Joint-Stock Companies

 Merchants worked together to share the costs, risks, and profits of their companies. Ex- The London Company

Shift from Feudalism to Capitalism

New crops and wealth from minerals in the Americas allowed for a shift toward capitalism, where private ownership is valued.

Maritime Technology

Technology created and utilized in the age of exploration in order to make sea navigation easier and more efficient/accurate. For example, the compass, astrolabe, caravel, triangular sail

Mercantilism

Economic system in which the country as a whole is the player in the economy, which aims to increase the Nation’s total wealth, as opposed to individual. Also believe that there is set amount of wealth in the world, and must take wealth from foreign places, and export little wealth from the home country.

Richard Hakluyt

Clergyman that supported the idea of colonies in the new world because of relieving poverty, unemployment, and it would allow England access to resources their rivals had.

Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther argues that god cannot contact people on Earth, and that the bible was the true voice of god rather than the Pope or clergy, and that you could achieve salvation by faith alone.

Henry VIII

King of England in 1529 severs ties with the catholic church because he is not allowed to divorce his wife who bore him no sons, causes religious reform. Names himself head of the country’s religion, the Church of England

Catholic Church

had a hierarchical structure that placed the Pope at the head of the church, and emphasized loyalty to church leaders and absolution from sin through confession.

Separatists

The separatists have the most radical values of any new form of Christianity, and wished to separate from the Church of England

Puritans

 Believe in purifying the Church of England by getting rid of its Catholic qualities

Bloody Mary

Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary, brings back Catholicism in England, and executes protestants.

Subjugation of Ireland

Starting in the mid- 16th century, England colonized Ireland, as a first attempt at colonization. Saw the Irish as barbaric savages, and erased their culture, just as they did with the Native Americans.

PLantation Model

Transplantations of English society in the New World and Ireland. English would keep separate from the Natives, like starting different societies.

Coureurs de Bois

French/Dutch Fur traders in Northern America, essential to French economy

Henry Hudson

English explorer working for the Dutch, discovers the Hudson river and thinks he has found a path to the Pacific, instead he claims land for the Dutch.

Philip II

King of Spain who attempted to invade England

Spanish Armada

Largest fleet in history, attempts to invade ENgland via the English Channel, but fails horribly as an English ship disperses them

Roanoke

Known as the Lost Colony in North Carolina that mysteriously was left abandoned with one clue “Croatoan” carved into a post. Led by John White, and created by Walter Raleigh in 1587

Vasco de Balboa

In 1513, crosses the Isthmus of Panama and sees the Pacific for the first time.

Francisco Pizzaro

Conquers the Incas in Peru in 1532-38

Hernando de Soto

crosses the Mississippi in search of wealth and gold and minerals (1539-41)

Francisco Coronado

goes north from Mexico and opens up southwest for Spain 1540-42