APUSH Unit 1 Review (1491-1607)

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering APUSH Period 1 (1491-1607) key terms, native regional societies, European exploration motives, Columbian Exchange, and colonial ethical debates.

Period 1 (1491-1607)

The APUSH timeframe spanning from the year before Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas to the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America.

Maize Cultivation

The agricultural practice first domesticated in southern Mexico by at least 5,000 BCE that spread through trade and migration, leading to economic development, permanent sedentary settlements, advanced irrigation, and social diversification.

Iroquois

A semi-sedentary Indigenous society of the Northeast region that lived in longhouses housing up to 200 people and relied on maize and forest resources.

Cherokee

A semi-sedentary Indigenous society of the Southeast region that practiced matrilineal inheritance, farmed maize, beans, and squash, and maintained a gender division where men hunted and women farmed.

Mississippian Cultures

Sedentary, urban Indigenous societies in the Mississippi River Valley (e.g., Cahokia) characterized by populations of 4,000 to 20,000, extensive river trade, and hierarchical social structures.

Ute

A nomadic Indigenous society of the Great Basin & Plains that moved seasonally in 20-100-person bands, lived in portable animal-skin tipis, hunted buffalo, deer, and antelope, and gathered plants.

Chinook and Chumash

Sedentary, non-agricultural Indigenous societies of the Northwest & California that built permanent villages based on abundant marine resources and did not rely on maize.

Caravel

A technological sailing advancement featuring a Latin sail that allowed vessels to catch wind from both directions, enabling European maritime exploration.

Joint-Stock Companies

Financial organizations that spread financial risk among multiple investors to fund expensive overseas exploration and trading ventures.

Feudalism to Capitalism Shift

The economic transition in Europe accelerated by the flood of gold and silver from Spanish conquests of the Aztec and Inca, shifting wealth from land ownership (feudalism) to capital assets (capitalism).

Protestant Reformation

A 1517 movement that split Western Christianity, prompting rival European Catholic states to seek overseas expansion to spread their faith.

Reconquista

The military and political unification of Spain completed in 1469, which reinforced a militant Spanish Catholic identity prior to colonial expansion.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement mediated by the Pope that established a line of demarcation granting Portugal control of Brazil and Spain the remainder of the Americas.

Columbian Exchange

The massive, reciprocal transfer of plants, animals, minerals, diseases, and human populations between the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) and the New World (the Americas).

Syncretic Religious Adaptation

The blending of distinct religious beliefs and symbols, exemplified by the Virgin of Guadalupe incorporating Catholic iconography with Aztec symbolism.

Cultural Adaptation

The process by which European newcomers incorporated Indigenous knowledge or survival practices, such as learning corn cultivation techniques or intermarrying within fur-trade networks.

Matrilineal Inheritance

A social system practiced by societies like the Cherokee where descent, family lineage, and property are traced through the female line.

Diplomatic Resistance

An Indigenous resistance strategy utilizing negotiation, treaties, or strategic political alliances with European powers to exploit rivalries and safeguard community interests.

Taino Rebellion (1511)

An armed confrontation in Puerto Rico where Taino forces resisted forced Christianization and the oppressive Spanish Encomienda labor regime.

Encomienda

A Spanish colonial labor system granting colonists rights to extract forced labor and tribute from Indigenous populations in exchange for protection and Christian instruction.

Valladolid Debate

A landmark 1520s royal commission in Spain that marked the first major European debate on the moral status, legal rights, and humanity of colonized Indigenous peoples.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

A Spanish debater who argued that Indigenous peoples are fully human with rational souls, calling for the abolition of the Encomienda system and protection of Indigenous rights.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

A Spanish debater who argued that Indigenous peoples are naturally inferior and benefit from servitude under European rule, defending forced labor and coercive conversion.

Curse of Ham

A biblical narrative (Genesis 9:20-27) reinterpreted by 16th-17th century European theologians to provide scriptural justification for racialized African slavery and forced labor.