A New World and European Expansion

Flashcards covering pre-Columbian societies, early European maritime exploration, indigenous cultural practices, and initial transatlantic exchanges based on lecture notes.

Adam Smith

Author of 'Wealth of Nations' who identified the discovery of America and the Portuguese sea route around Africa as the two greatest and most important events in recorded human history.

Transatlantic Migration Numbers

Following 1492, approximately 10 million people crossed between the Old and New Worlds, 7.7 million of whom were enslaved Africans.

Bering Strait Land Bridge

A land bridge crossed by early hunters and gatherers from Asia between 15,000 and 60,000 years ago, which submerged at the end of the last Ice Age.

Early American Agriculture

Agricultural development that arose independently around 9,000 years ago in modern-day Mexico and the Andes, centered around staple crops such as maize, squash, and beans.

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec empire in modern-day Mexico, which boasted a population of 250,000 at the time of European arrival.

Inca Civilization

A South American civilization located in the Andes mountains of modern-day Peru, featuring a population of 12 million linked by a 2,000-mile road network.

Mound Builders

A Native American community from 3,500 years ago centered around giant semicircular earthworks overlooking the Mississippi River Valley in Louisiana, serving as a commercial and government center.

Cahokia

A major settlement near 1200 AD that replaced the earlier Mound Builders, featuring a population of 10,000 to 30,000 and a 100-foot-high mound topped by a temple; it was the largest settlement in the future US until the 1800s.

Hopi and Zuni

Deserts peoples of Arizona whose civilization peaked from 900 to 1200 AD with planned towns, multi-family dwellings, and public water works, later becoming known as the Pueblo Indians.

Great League of Peace

A 15th-century alliance formed by five Iroquois peoples—the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Onondaga—to bring stability to modern-day New York and Pennsylvania.

Animism

A widespread Native American religious belief system in which sacred spirits were believed to inhabit both living and inanimate objects in nature.

Native Property Views

The cultural understanding that land was a common resource rather than an economic commodity, where families held temporary rights to use land but did not buy or sell real estate.

Matrilineal Society

A social system common among many Native American tribes where clan and kinship lines were traced through the mother, and women owned tools and dwellings.

Vacant Wilderness

A European justification for taking indigenous land by claiming that Native Americans did not subdued or properly 'use' the land, labeling them as nomads despite their established towns and agriculture.

European Concept of Freedom

A moral or spiritual condition linked to religious uniformity and submission to law and higher authority, rather than modern individual personal liberties.

Zheng He

A Chinese admiral who led 7 large-scale naval voyages into the Indian Ocean between 1405 and 1433 to demonstrate China's power before China halted overseas exploration.

Caravel

A Portuguese vessel designed for long-distance ocean travel, which along with the navigational compass and quadrant enabled major European maritime expansion.

Kingdom of Benin

A West African kingdom famous for its bronze sculptures that Portuguese traders reached in 1485 while establishing fortified trading posts along the African coast.

Traditional African Slavery

An institution existing prior to European contact where enslaved individuals were typically criminals, debtors, or war captives who retained specific rights, could own property, marry free persons, and gain freedom.

Early Transatlantic Slave Trade

The trade system developed by European powers that moved 100,000 enslaved Africans to Spain and Portugal between 1450 and 1500, leading to the first transport of enslaved Africans to the Caribbean in 1502.