Unit 1 — Period 1: Contexts and Encounters in the Americas (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on Period 1.

Columbian Exchange

Transatlantic transfer of crops, animals, and germs between the Old World and the Americas after 1492, altering diets and populations globally.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America (founded 1607), signaling the start of a framework for a new nation.

Encomienda system

Spanish colonial labor system granting rulers control over Indigenous labor in exchange for care, often leading to harsh exploitation.

Asiento

Spanish license to import enslaved Africans to the Americas, taxed by the crown.

Conquistadores

Spanish conquerors who claimed and colonized vast portions of the Americas (e.g., Cortés, Pizarro).

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish priest who argued for humane treatment of Indigenous peoples and influenced reforms like the New Laws.

Valladolid Debate

1550–1551 Spanish debate over the humanity and rights of Indigenous peoples (Las Casas vs. Sepúlveda).

New Laws of 1542

Spanish laws aimed at reforming the encomienda system and ending Indian slavery, later opposed by colonists.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing newly discovered lands along a north–south line.

Line of Demarcation

Papal boundary (later adjusted) that divided new discoveries between Spain (west) and Portugal (east).

Mayas

Central American civilization (300–800 CE) known for cities, calendars, and maize agriculture.

Aztecs

Powerful Central Mexican empire with the capital at Tenochtitlán and a large population.

Incas

South American empire centered in Peru with an extensive road system and terraces.

Pueblos

Southwestern Native American people with multi-story adobe dwellings and irrigation.

Hohokam

Southwestern culture famed for extensive canal irrigation systems.

Anasazi

Ancestral Puebloans known for cliff dwellings and sophisticated housing in the Southwest.

Adena-Hopewell

Woodland mound-building cultures in the Ohio Valley noted for large earthworks.

Cahokia

Mississippian city near present-day St. Louis, one of the largest pre-Columbian settlements in North America.

Northwest Coast

Region from Alaska to northern California with permanent towns, longhouses, and totem poles.

Great Basin

Dry, basin region with mobile hunter-gatherers adapting to arid conditions.

Great Plains

Grasslands home to nomadic buffalo-hunting cultures and later mounted peoples.

Algonquian

Major Native American language family in the Northeast.

Siouan

Language family associated with the Great Plains and surrounding regions.

Athabaskan

Language family in the Southwest and Alaska region.

Iroquois Confederation (Haudenosaunee)

Powerful alliance of Northeastern tribes that influenced regional politics.

Maize (corn)

Staple crop central to many Indigenous chiefdoms and civilizations in the Americas.

Potatoes

New World staple crop from the Andes that transformed diets and agriculture.

Horses

Animals reintroduced by Europeans; transformed transportation, warfare, and mobility for Native peoples.

Columbus

Italian navigator whose 1492 voyage, funded by Spain, opened sustained contact with the Americas.

Christopher Columbus (1492 voyage)

Voyage that began sustained European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who sponsored early Atlantic exploration and navigation along Africa.

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who sailed around Africa to reach India (1498).

Renaissance

European cultural and intellectual revival that spurred exploration and scientific advances.

Gunpowder

Military technology adopted in Europe that aided conquest and defense.

Sailing compass

navigational instrument improved in Europe to aid long sea voyages.

Printing press

Invention that facilitated rapid spread of knowledge and maps in Europe.

Cortés

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and expanded Spanish territory in Mexico.

Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in Peru.

Balboa

Explorer who crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean.

Columbian Exchange impact (Europe and the Americas)

Dramatic changes in food, population, and disease; European population growth and Indigenous decline.

New Spain

Spanish territories in the Americas, including Mexico, with large silver mining operations.

New France

French colonial territories in North America focused on fur trade and conversion.

New Amsterdam

Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island, later renamed New York.

Roanoke

Early English colony attempt (1587) that ultimately failed.

Joint-stock company

Business organization with multiple investors sharing risk to fund voyages and expansion.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

Massive forced migration of Africans to the Americas; millions transported, with high mortality on the Middle Passage.

Encomienda

Spanish system assigning Indigenous labor to settlers; often abusive and coercive.

Asiento

Spanish tax on the importation of enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Columbus’s governance titles

Columbus was named governor, admiral, and viceroy of all lands he claimed.

Isabella and Ferdinand

Spanish monarchs who funded Columbus’s voyages and unified Spain.