Period 1 Vocab

Maize Cultivation

the domestication and spread of maize from Mexico to other Native American societies

Hunter-gatherer economy

a system where food and resources were primarily obtained through hunting and gathering

Northwest/CA Natives

Native American societies in the ___ , characterized by permanent villages, reliance on the ocean and forest, advanced craftsmanship, and complex social structures

Columbian Exchange

the transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between New and Old World societies after 1492

Plantation-based agriculture

large scale commercial farming of commercial/cash crops that usually employed coerced or slave labor

Maritime technology

European innovations in shipbuilding and navigation that enabled the Age of Exploration and the Columbian Exchange

Great Basin

arid region (drylands) in the Western US with mountains, valleys, and a closed drainage system, so the Native Americans there were nomadic

Agricultural economy

an economy primarily based on farming

Spanish exploration

late 15th-early 17th century period of Spanish colonization in the Americas driven by gold, God, and glory

Encomienda system

Spanish government policy where Native Americans were given to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them

Joint Stock companies

short term partnerships between multiple investors to fund a commercial enterprise

Deadly epidemics

devastating introduction of European diseases through the Columbian Exchange which decimated Native populations by 50-90% due to lack of immunity 

Great Plains

a vast region of grasslands from Canada to Texas and the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and historically home to nomadic Native American tribes

Permanent Villages

Native settlements that aren’t nomadic and stay in one place, usually because of the adoption of agriculture

Northeast Natives

natives living in the ___; characterized by semi-sedentary villages, agricultural practices, and sophisticated political systems

Slave Labor

the system of forced, unpaid servitude

Feudalism to capitalism

the transition from an agricultural, land-based system of social hierarchy to a market driven, profit based economy

Spanish caste system

a rigid social hierarchy based on race and ancestry that dictated a person’s social, economic, and political status in the Spanish colonies