APUSH American Yawp Ch. 1

Bering Land Bridge (Beringia)

Land bridge connecting Asia and North America that early peoples used to migrate to the Americas during the last Ice Age

Monte Verde

Archaeological site in Chile showing humans lived in the Americas by at least 14

Three Sisters

Corn beans and squash grown together as the foundation of many Native American agricultural societies

Matrilineal Society

Kinship and inheritance traced through the mother's family in many Native American societies

Puebloans

Southwestern Native Americans who built permanent settlements such as Chaco Canyon and used advanced irrigation and trade networks

Chaco Canyon

Major Puebloan cultural and trading center in present-day New Mexico from about 900 to 1300 CE

Kiva

Ceremonial underground room used for religious and community purposes by Pueblo peoples

Cahokia

Largest Mississippian city located near present-day St. Louis and center of a chiefdom society

Mississippian Culture

Agricultural civilization centered along the Mississippi River known for mound building extensive trade and chiefdoms

Chiefdom

Hierarchical Native political system led by powerful chiefs with religious and political authority

Lenape

Eastern Woodland people organized into matrilineal clans with consensus-based leadership

Sachem

Elected or chosen Native American leader who governed by consent especially among the Lenape

Potlatch

Ceremonial feast of Pacific Northwest peoples used to display wealth and reinforce social status

Leif Erikson

Norse explorer who reached Newfoundland around 1000 CE before Columbus

Reconquista

Spanish campaign ending in 1492 that expelled Muslims from Iberia and strengthened the Spanish monarchy

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who sponsored exploration and advances in navigation

Astrolabe

Navigation instrument used to determine latitude at sea

Caravel

Small maneuverable ship that made long Atlantic voyages possible

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who reached India by sailing around Africa

Atlantic Slave Trade

System begun by the Portuguese transporting enslaved Africans to Atlantic plantations

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer sailing for Spain who reached the Caribbean in 1492 beginning sustained European contact with the Americas

Taíno

Arawak people of the Caribbean encountered by Columbus

Encomienda

Spanish labor system granting colonists the right to demand labor and tribute from Native Americans

Repartimiento

Spanish labor system replacing the encomienda but still exploiting Native labor

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish priest who condemned the mistreatment of Native Americans

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of plants animals diseases people and culture between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after 1492

Great Dying

Massive decline of Native American populations primarily from Old World diseases after European contact

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire with Native allies and the effects of smallpox

Doña Marina (La Malinche)

Native translator and advisor who assisted Cortés during the conquest of the Aztecs

Montezuma II

Aztec emperor during the Spanish conquest

Tenochtitlán

Capital of the Aztec Empire built on islands in Lake Texcoco

Chinampas

Artificial farming islands used by the Aztecs to increase agricultural production

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire

Inca

Powerful Andean empire conquered by Spain in the 1530s

Sistema de Castas

Spanish colonial racial hierarchy based on ancestry and purity of blood

Peninsulares

People born in Spain who held the highest positions in colonial society

Criollos

American-born people of Spanish ancestry ranking below peninsulares

Mestizos

People of mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry who formed a large colonial population

Mestizaje

Blending of Spanish and Indigenous peoples and cultures in Spanish America

Virgin of Guadalupe

Religious symbol that became an icon of Mexican identity and mestizo culture

Juan Ponce de León

Spanish explorer who landed in Florida in 1513

St. Augustine

Founded by Spain in 1565 and the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the present-day United States

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

Spanish explorer who searched the American Southwest for wealth

Hernando de Soto

Spanish explorer who led expeditions through the southeastern United State