Unit 1 1492-1607: Native Americans and European colonization

Flashcards covering pre-colonization societies in the Americas, the Columbian Exchange, and European colonization's effects.

Farmers

People who planted and harvested crops like beans, squash, and maize.

Pueblo People

Native Americans in the Great Basin and Plains known for advanced irrigation systems and urban centers made of clay bricks.

Great Basin Region/Great Plains People

Nomadic hunter-gatherers who hunted buffalo and organized into small egalitarian kinship groups.

Ute People

An example of the egalitarian kinship groups in the Great Basin Region/Great Plains.

Northwest and Pacific Coast People

Native Americans with permanent settlements due to the abundance of fish, small game, and plant life.

Chumash People

Native Americans in present-day California who built villages and participated in regional trade networks.

Chinook People

Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest who built extensive plank houses.

Northeast/Iroquois People

Farmers who planted crops and lived communally in longhouses constructed from timber.

Mississippi River Valley People

Farmers due to rich soil, they participated in trade along the waterways. One example is Cahokia which had a centralized government led by powerful chieftains.

Feudalism

The societal and economic system in Europe where peasants worked on land in exchange for protection.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and free exchange.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of people, animals, plants, and diseases between Europe and the Americas.

Encomienda System

A colonial labor system where Spanish colonists enslaved Native Americans to farm and mine.

Casta System

A system of social classes in Spanish colonies based on racial ancestry.

Joint-stock companies

Limited liability organization in which a group of investors pool their money to fund a venture.

Christopher Columbus

Italian sailor who sought sponsorship to sail west and find new wealth in Asian markets.

Cahokia

A major Mississippian settlement with a centralized government led by powerful chieftains.

Maritime Technology

New sea technology like the caravel that allowed Europeans to explore new areas.

Reconquista

The Spanish reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from North African Muslims.

Las Casas

Priest who defended Native American rights and persuaded the king to pass laws ending native slavery.

How did Europeans affect native American societies

European settlement led to the introduction of diseases, forced labor

How did native Americans affect European societies

native Americans introduced new crops like potatoes and maize/corn, which changed European agriculture and diet.

How did Europeans view native Americans and later on, africans

They looked down on them, forced them into labor, created encomienda and caste system, and thought they deserved the punishment cause they “weren’t human”