US HISTORY - PERIOD 1 NOTES

A comprehensive set of factual flashcards covering the key topics from the notes on early North American shaping, exploration, and intercultural contact.

Which mountain range was thrust up around 350 million years ago forming the first major North American mountains?

Appalachians.

Which mountain ranges formed between 135
–
25 million years ago?

Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and Cascades.

When did the Ice Age begin in North America according to the notes?

About 2 million years ago.

What major landscape feature did melting glaciers create in the Great Lakes region?

The Great Lakes.

Through which river did melted glaciers drain toward the Gulf of Mexico?

The Mississippi River.

What lake was left behind by melting glaciers in the western United States?

The Great Salt Lake.

What land bridge connected Eurasia with North America at the end of the Ice Age?

The Bering Land Bridge (between Siberia and Alaska).

What were early migrants likely following when crossing the land bridge?

Migratory herds of game.

Approximately how many people lived in the Americas by 1492?

About 54 million.

How many separate cultures arose in the Americas before European contact?

Over 2,000.

Name three major ancient civilizations in the Americas and their regions.

Incas (Peru), Mayans (Central America), Aztecs (Mexico).

What was the main crop that supported large pre-Columbian societies in the Americas?

Maize (corn).

What impact did maize agriculture have on nomadic bands?

Transformed many into settled agricultural villages.

Who were the Pueblo people and what did they do in the Rio Grande valley?

They constructed intricate irrigation systems for water to cultivate corn.

Around 1000 AD, maize, beans, and squash supported high population densities on which region, and among which peoples?

The southeastern Atlantic seaboard; Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee.

Where were the Iroquois located?

In the northeastern woodlands.

What was the Iroquois Confederacy?

A military-political alliance that lasted for well over a century.

What was notable about gender roles in many Native American societies?

Women tended crops and could wield substantial authority; inheritance often passed through the female line.

By 1492, what was the extent of Native American settlement across North America?

Small, scattered, impermanent settlements; vast areas were untouched.

Who were the indirect discoverers of the New World around AD 1000?

The Norse (Vikings) in Newfoundland (Vinland).

What goods did Crusaders crave from Asia that spurred exploration?

Silk, drugs, perfumes, draperies, spices, and sugar.

What role did sugar play in Europe before and during the Crusades?

Sugar was a rare luxury used to preserve and flavor foods.

Which European country began establishing trading posts along the West African coast in the 15th century?

Portugal.

Who rounded the southern tip of Africa in 1488 in search of a sea route to Asia?

Bartholomeu Dias.

Who reached India by sailing around Africa in 1498?

Vasco da Gama.

What treaty in 1494 divided the New World between Spain and Portugal?

The Treaty of Tordesillas (Papal Line of Demarcation).

What events unified Spain and strengthened its expansionist drive in the late 1400s?

Marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile and the expulsion of the Moors.

What was Columbus seeking, and what did he encounter on October 12, 1492?

Seeking a westward route to Asia; he landed in the Bahamas and thought he found the Indies.

Name some crops from the Americas that revolutionized the global economy and diet.

Maize, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco.

What impact did European animals have on North American tribes after Columbus?

Tribes such as the Apaches, Sioux, and Blackfoot adopted the horse.

What germs did Europeans bring that devastated Native Americans?

Smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria.

Which disease did Indigenous peoples reportedly introduce to Europeans that became infamous in Europe?

Syphilis.

Who explored South America and how did the continent get its name?

Amerigo Vespucci explored South America; a cartographer named the continent America after him.

What did the Treaty of Tordesillas determine about new lands?

It divided lands outside Europe between Spain (west) and Portugal (east).

Which explorer crossed the Mississippi River in the 1539
–
1542 period?

Hernando de Soto.

Which expedition led to the first circumnavigation of the globe (1519
–
1522)?

Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition.

Which conqueror destroyed the Aztecs in 1521?

Hernán Cortés.

Which conquistador crushed the Inca civilization in the 1530s?

Francisco Pizarro.

What was the encomienda system?

A system where Indians were given to colonists to Christianize them; effectively slavery.

What happened as Native labor declined under encomienda in the Caribbean?

Spaniards began importing African slaves to replace them.

When did John Cabot claim Newfoundland for England and what did he discover there?

1497; primarily cod (Grand Banks).

What changes in the mid-1500s encouraged English exploration?

Spanish threat to European balance of power, Protestant Reformation, increased English nationalism, rise of a commercial middle class, and the evolution of mercantilism.

What was the primary theory guiding European economic thought during this period, emphasizing national wealth and the role of colonies?

Mercantilism.

According to mercantilistic theory, what was the purpose of colonies for the "mother country"?

To provide raw materials, serve as markets for manufactured goods, and act as a depository for overpopulation.

What were the "sea dogs" and who were two prominent figures among them?

English privateers encouraged by the Crown to raid Spanish shipping; Hawkins and Drake.

Who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world, returning with an immense profit for England?

Sir Francis Drake.

What pivotal naval battle in 1588 marked the end of Spanish and beginning of English naval domination?

The defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Name three key reasons for English colonization in the New World.

Unemployment due to population growth and enclosure; religious freedom; adventure and fortune (especially for younger sons due to primogeniture).

What English legal principle often pushed younger sons of gentry to seek opportunities in the New World?

Primogeniture, where only the eldest son inherited landed estates, pushing younger sons to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Who was Sir Humphrey Gilbert and what was his attempt at colonization in 1583?

He attempted to establish a trading/raiding post on the Penobscot River and assert control over fishermen in St. Johns, Newfoundland, but failed and was lost at sea.

Under whose charter was the Roanoke Island settlement attempted in 1585 and 1587?

Sir Walter Raleigh.

What happened to the settlement on Roanoke Island?

The 1587 colony lacked support due to the Spanish Armada, and its inhabitants were found to have disappeared when a supply ship arrived in 1590, leading it to be known as the "Lost Colony."