APUSH Unit 1 Terms

Cahokia

An ancient settlement of southern Indians, located near present-day St. Louis, it served as a trading center for 40,000 at its peak in A.D. 1200.

Black Legend

False notion that Spanish conquerors did little but butcher the Indians and steal their gold in the name of Christ.

Bartolomé de las Casas (1474-1566)

First bishop of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. He devoted most of his life to protecting Amerindian peoples from exploitation. His major achievement was the New Laws of 1542, which limited the ability of Spanish settlers to compel Amerindians to labor.

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto)

An Italian sailor sent by England to search for the Northwest Passage - claimed land for the English

Robert de La Salle

A Frenchman who followed the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the region for France and naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

Encomienda

A grant of authority over a population of Amerindians in the Spanish colonies. It provided the grant holder with a supply of cheap labor and periodic payments of goods by the Amerindians. It obliged the grant holder to Christianize the Amerindians.

Noche Triste

"Sad night", June 30, 1520, when the Aztecs attacked Hernán Cortés and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochitlán, killing hundreds. Cortés laid siege to the city the following year, precipitating the fall of the Aztec Empire and inaugurating three centuries of Spanish rule.

Isabella of Castile

Along with Ferdinand of Aragon, monarch of largest Christian kingdoms in Iberia; marriage to Ferdinand created united Spain; responsible for initiation of exploration of New World.

Malinche (Dona Marina)

Native American who helped the Cortes defeat the Aztecs by translating for him

Canadian Shield

First part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level

Incas

Ancient civilization (1200-1500AD) that was located in the Andes in Peru

Aztecs

Ancient civilization (1200-1521AD) that was located in what is present-day Mexico City

Three Sisters Farming Method

corn, squash, and beans

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.

Plantation System

A system of agricultural production based on large-scale land ownership and the exploitation of labor and the environment. This system focused on the production of cash crops and utilized slave labor.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.

Mestizos

A person of mixed Native American and European ancestory

Conquistadores (conquerors)

Sixteenth-century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztec and Incan empires.

Battle of Acoma

In the Battle of Acoma in 1599, the Spanish severed one foot of each survivor. They proclaimed the area to be the province of New Mexico in 1609 and founded its capital at Santa Fe the following year.

Pueblo Revolt

1680, revolt of indigenous laborers led by shaman named Pope'. killed colonists and priests and got Spanish out of modern-day New Mexico for 12 years

Ferdinand of Aragon

Along with Isabella of Castile, monarch of largest Christian kingdoms in Iberia; marriage to Isabella created united Spain; responsible for the initiation of exploration of New World.

Christopher Columbus

He mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.

Francisco Coronado

A Spanish soldier and commander; in 1540, he led an expedition north from Mexico into Arizona; he was searching for the legendary Seven Cities of Gold, but only found Adobe pueblos.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).

Hernan Cortes

Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of Aztec Mexico in 1519-1521 for Spain.

Moctezuma

Aztec emperor defeated and killed by the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes.

Father Junipero Serra

A major Canadian Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in California. He was a great promoter of the spread of Christianity because of his missions.