Chapter 1: New World Beginnings, 33,000 B.C.E.-1680 C.E.

A comprehensive set of QA flashcards covering major geographic, cultural, and historical topics from Chapter 1: New World Beginnings.

What is the time span covered in Chapter 1 'New World Beginnings'?

33,000 B.C.E.–1680 C.E.

What is Pangaea, and when did it exist?

The single supercontinent that contained all the world's dry land about 225 million years ago.

When did the Appalachian Mountains likely form relative to continental separation?

They formed before continental separation, perhaps as many as 480 million years ago.

What is the 'tidewater' region?

A narrow eastern coastal plain creased by river valleys, sloping gently upward to the Appalachians.

What major climatic event began around 2.6 million years ago and shaped North America?

The Great Ice Age, with ice sheets up to two miles thick.

What happened when the glaciers retreated about 10,000 years ago?

The landscape transformed; Great Lakes formed; drainage patterns shifted in the midcontinent and West.

What is the Bering Land Bridge?

A land bridge connecting Eurasia with North America that allowed migration of peoples about 15,000–16,000 years ago.

Approximately how many people inhabited the two American continents by 1492?

Perhaps 54 million people.

Which civilizations dominated Mesoamerica and the Andes before European contact?

Aztecs in central Mexico, Mayans in Central America, and Incas in Peru.

What crop became the foundation of many Native American civilizations in the Americas?

Maize (corn).

What farming technique used maize, beans, and squash together?

Three-sister farming.

What was Cahokia?

A Mississippian center near East St. Louis with up to 20,000 people and a 100-foot central mound.

What is the Iroquois Confederacy?

A powerful alliance in the Northeast that developed a matrilineal political system.

Which Norse site is associated with early North American exploration around 1000 C.E.?

Vinland, near L'Anse aux Meadows in present-day Newfoundland.

What error did Columbus make in naming the lands he reached?

He believed he had found the Indies and called the inhabitants Indians.

What is the Columbian Exchange?

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the New World after 1492.

What was the 'sugar revolution' in the Caribbean?

Sugar cane cultivation fueled by enslaved African labor, transforming diets and economies.

What is the encomienda system?

A Spanish policy granting Indians to colonists in return for Christianizing them; effectively slavery.

Who were the conquistadores?

Spanish conquerors seeking gold, glory, and God who toppled the Aztec and Inca empires (e.g., Cortés, Pizarro).

What pivotal move did Cortés make to prevent retreat?

He burned his ships, cutting off any hope of retreat.

Who was Malinche (Doña Marina)?

Cortés's interpreter who knew Mayan and Nahuatl and became a bridge to the Aztecs; mother of mestizos.

What city did Cortés and his forces conquer in 1521?

Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital.

What does 'mestizos' mean?

People of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry; a cultural and biological bridge between European and Indian populations.

What role did silver from Potosí play in Europe?

It fueled a price revolution, inflation, and helped finance capitalism.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?

A division of the New World lands between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.

Where and when did the first permanent Spanish settlement in what would become the U.S. appear?

St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565.

What was the Pueblo Revolt of 1680?

An uprising of Pueblo Indians against Spanish rule in New Mexico that destroyed missions and churches.

What is the Black Legend?

A Protestant-themed notion that Spaniards tortured and killed Indians and ruined civilizations; emphasizes cruelty.

How did the introduction of horses affect Native American societies?

Horses spread rapidly after 1493, transforming mobility, hunting, and warfare (e.g., the Comanche and others).