NW Period 1 Flashcards, 1491-1607

1492

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in the year _____

Aztecs

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

Pueblo

tribe that was located in the Southwest who lived in apartment like structures, had extensive agriculture and derived from the Anasazi. They made many arts and had successful revolts against the Spanish.

Plains Indians

After the introduction of horses from Europe, most Plains Indians became migratory bison hunters.  The teepee dwelling, which many see (falsely) as a stereotypical dwelling for all Native Americans, was especially popular with the nomadic tribes living in this region.  Some tribes in the Plains, such as the Wichita, grew crops in settled communities, trading their produce with the nomadic hunting tribes, such as the Sioux.

Scientific Revolution

A major shift in thinking between 1500 and 1700 in which modern science emerged as a new way of gaining knowledge about the natural world

Astrolabe

a device that enabled navigators to learn their ship's location by charting the posistion of the stars

Christopher Columbus

italian navigator who, in 1492, was granted a voyage of three ships. He sought out to find a quicker path to the Indies, but instead he wound up in the "New World". Columbus brought permanent connection between Europe and Native Americans

Encomienda

a labor system instituted by the Spanish crown in the American colonies. In this system, a Spanish encomendero was granted a number of native laborers who would pay tributes to him in exchange for his protection.

Columbian Exchange

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

Transatlantic Slave Trade

trade among Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The Americas would give Europe raw materials, Europe would give finished products to Africa. Africa would give enslaved Africans to the Americas

Smallpox

highly contagious and often fatal infectious disease which devastated Native American populations upon contact with European settlers.

Pueblo Revolt

successful indigenous uprising against Spanish colonization in present-day New Mexico in 1680, resulting in the expulsion of Spanish settlers from the region for over a decade.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Agreement between Spain and Portugal, mediated by the Pope in 1494, dividing newly discovered lands outside Europe along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands.

Iroquois Confederation

known by the British as the "Five Nations," were a confederation of five (later six) distinct tribes who maintained a permanent peace and military alliance with each other.

Bartolome de las Casas

Spanish historian, social reformer, and Dominican friar known for his defense of the rights of indigenous peoples in the Americas during the Spanish colonization

Juan de Sepulveda

Spanish humanist who argued that Native Americans were "natural slaves” and undeserving of rights

Valladolid Debate

1550-1551 event where Sepulveda and Las Casas debated Spanish colonization's impact on indigenous peoples in the Americas.

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement in 16th century Europe where Protestants challenged the authority of the Catholic Church and promoted new Christian denominations

Gunpowder

Chinese invention utilized by Europeans to facilitate subjugation and colonization of the New World

Sailing Compass

Chinese/Arab invention utilized by Europeans to improve maritime navigation, made sailing open waters easier

Ferdinand and Isabella

sponsored Columbus’ voyage

horses