Columbian Exchange and Early Native American History

A comprehensive set of Q&A flashcards covering the initial settlement of North America, European exploration, the voyages of Columbus, the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Columbian Exchange, and the demographic consequences of contact.

When did the first humans arrive in North America?

12,000–15,000 years ago

How did the first humans reach North America?

By crossing the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska

By 1492, approximately how many people lived in North America?

Over 10 million

How many tribes and languages were there in North America before European contact?

About 250 tribes and about 400 languages

What were the three major Native American groups?

Eastern Woodlands Tribes, Great Plains Tribes, Western Tribes

Name some Eastern Woodlands tribes.

Choctaw, Powhatan, Cherokee

Name some Great Plains tribes.

Sioux, Apache, Kiowa

Name some Western tribes.

Shoshone, Nez Perce, Chinook

Which tribes were first conquered and which were last conquered by Europeans?

First conquered: Eastern Woodlands; Last conquered: Great Plains; Second conquered: Western tribes

What was the key motivation for European explorers?

Silks and spices

How did Europeans obtain silks and spices before the 1450s?

Via the Silk Road

What happened in 1453 that affected trade in silks and spices?

Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, gaining a trade monopoly and taxing silks and spices

What caused Columbus to sail?

The Turks taking Constantinople, cutting the Silk Road, and heavily taxing spices and silks

Where was Christopher Columbus born and when?

Genoa, Italy in 1451

What was Columbus’s early goal in the 1480s?

To reach Asia by sailing west, but he had no money or connections

How did Columbus secure sponsorship for his voyage?

He married into a wealthy family that gave him connections to royalty; King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sponsored him in January 1492

What ships did Columbus sail with on his first voyage?

Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria (3 ships and 90 men)

Where did Columbus first land in the Americas?

The Bahamas on San Salvador

Who were the Tainos?

The first people Columbus met; they were friendly

What were the second and third islands Columbus visited?

Second: Cuba; Third: Hispaniola

What happened to the Santa Maria?

It sank on December 25, 1492

What happened when Columbus returned to Spain in March 1493?

He left behind 40 men and was named Admiral of the Ocean Sea

What happened on Columbus’s second voyage?

He received 17 ships and 1,400 men; on Hispaniola his men were killed; the locals were harassed and killed or enslaved by the Spaniards

How long did the second voyage last?

1493–1496

How many trips did Columbus make to the New World in total?

Four

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas and when was it created?

A treaty in 1494 by Pope Alexander VI to divide the newly discovered world between Spain and Portugal

How were the lands divided by the Treaty of Tordesillas?

Spain received the Americas (minus Brazil); Portugal received Africa, most of Asia, and Brazil

Who named America and after whom?

Named by cartographer Martin Waldseemüller after Amerigo Vespucci

When did Amerigo Vespucci reach America and what did he do?

Reached in 1499 and mapped the coast

What is the Great Biological Exchange?

The exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the New World; lasted from 1492 to the 1700s

What did the Old World bring to the New World?

Wheat, Coffee, Citruses, Horses, Cattle, Pigs, Chickens, Smallpox, the Black Death, and Influenza

What did the New World bring to the Old World?

Corn, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turkeys, and Syphilis

What effect did New World foods have on Europe?

Population boom in Europe thanks to corn and potatoes

What effect did Old World diseases have on the Native Americans?

Wiped out over 90% of the Native population

When did the Great Biological Exchange last?

From 1492 to the 1700s