APUSH Period 1 Vocabulary: Native American Societies & European Exploration

Vocabulary flashcards covering Native American societies, European exploration motivations, the Columbian Exchange, Spanish labor/social systems, and Native resistance.

Beringia

The land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska, across which the first peoples migrated to the Americas from Asia during the last Ice Age.

Pueblo peoples

Native peoples who settled in the Southwest and constructed irrigation systems and adobe structures to farm in dry environments.

Mississippian peoples

Native peoples who settled along major rivers, cleared land, and developed large agricultural societies including Cahokia near present-day St. Louis.

Cahokia

A large Mississippian agricultural settlement near present-day St. Louis where communities built large mounds for religious, political, and ceremonial purposes.

Iroquois/Haudenosaunee

Native peoples living in the Northeast who developed a political confederacy uniting several nations to increase political and military strength.

Chinook and Tlingit

Pacific Northwest peoples who developed societies based heavily on fishing, ocean resources, and food-preservation techniques.

Great Plains peoples

Native peoples adapted to grasslands who used controlled burning to influence vegetation and became heavily dependent on the buffalo.

Maize

Corn from Mesoamerica whose spread into North America provided a dependable food source that allowed societies to produce surpluses, establish permanent settlements, and support larger populations.

God, Gold, and Glory

The three major motivations for European exploration: spreading Christianity (God), seeking wealth and trade opportunities (Gold), and gaining territory and prestige (Glory).

Fall of Constantinople (1453)

An event in 1453 that motivated Europeans to seek alternative direct trade routes to Asian markets.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and cultures between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after 1492.

Encomienda

A Spanish colonial system in which colonists received the right to demand labor and tribute from Native Americans in exchange for supposed protection and Christianization.

Repartimiento

A Spanish colonial system requiring Native communities to provide labor for Spanish projects for limited periods.

Potosí

A silver mining location that, along with Mexican mines, generated enormous wealth for Spain through coerced labor and connected the Americas to the global economy.

Middle Passage

The transatlantic voyage in which enslaved Africans were forced to travel to the Americas to supply labor for colonial plantation economies.

Casta system

A social and racial hierarchy in Spanish America that organized colonial society according to ancestry, race, and social status.

Peninsulares

Spaniards born in Spain who occupied the highest position in the Spanish colonial Casta system.

Creoles

Spaniards born in America within the Spanish colonial Casta system.

Mestizos

Individuals of mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry within the Casta system.

Mulatos

Individuals of mixed Spanish and African ancestry within the Casta system.

Syncretism

The blending of different cultural or religious traditions, such as when Native American and European practices merged.

Pueblo Revolt of 1680

A 1680 Native American uprising against Spanish colonial rule that was partly a reaction against religious and cultural oppression.

Pequot War (1636–1638)

A military conflict between Native peoples and European settlers taking place from 1636 to 1638.

King Philip's War (1675–1676)

A major conflict between Native Americans and European settlers occurring from 1675 to 1676 demonstrating Native military resistance.