Unit/Period 1 APUSH

Portuguese slave trade

The initial, large-scale system of transporting enslaved people from West Africa across the Atlantic (Middle Passage) to the Americas.

Vasco da Gama

A Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail around Africa and reach India by sea (1497–1498).

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer, funded by Spain, whose four voyages to the Americas beginning in 1492 marked the start of European colonization.

Hispaniola

The Caribbean island (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) that was the site of Columbus's first landing and the first major Spanish colony.

Old World Diseases

Infectious diseases, such as Smallpox, measles, and yellow fever, common in Europe and Africa but new to the Americas, causing a massive native population decline.

Ferdinand Magellan

A Portuguese explorer whose expedition (1519–1522) was the first to successfully circumnavigate the globe.

Juan Ponce de Leon

Spanish explorer who led the first European expedition to Florida (1513).

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador who led the 1519 expedition that conquered the powerful Aztec Empire in Mexico.

John Cabot

An Italian explorer hired by England who explored the coast of North America in 1497, establishing an English claim.

Robert de La Salle

A French explorer who descended the Mississippi River (1682), claiming the entire river basin for France (Louisiana).

Father Junipero Serra

A Spanish Franciscan friar who established a string of Catholic missions along the coast of California in the 1700s.

nation-states

A political unit where people are united by a common culture and governed by a central government (like Spain or England).

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish that was essential for long-distance ocean travel.

plantation system

A system of agriculture based on large estates that relies on the widespread use of forced labor (slavery) to grow cash crops.

Columbian Exchange

The massive transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the "Old World" (Europe/Africa) and the "New World" (Americas) after 1492.

Conquistadores

Spanish explorers and soldiers responsible for the conquest of the Americas, seeking Gold, Glory, and God.

Capitalism

An economic system where the means of production are privately owned and controlled by the search for profit.

Mestizos

A new racial category in the Spanish colonies describing a person of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.

Pope’s Rebellion (Pueblo Revolt)

A 1680 successful uprising of the Pueblo people in New Mexico against the Spanish, driving them out for over a decade.

Queen Elizabeth I

English Queen (ruled 1558–1603) whose reign saw the start of England's rise as a global naval power and competitor to Spain.

Spanish Armada

The massive fleet sent by King Philip II of Spain to invade England in 1588, which was defeated by the English navy and a storm.

Edict of Nantes

A 1598 proclamation by the King of France granting limited religious tolerance to French Protestants (Huguenots).

Roanoke Island

Site of the first, ultimately failed, English attempt at a permanent North American colony (1587), which became known as "The Lost Colony."

colonial charter

A document granted by a monarch that gave permission and authority to individuals or groups to establish a colony.

James I

King of England from 1603 to 1625 who granted the charter that led to the successful establishment of the Jamestown colony in 1607.