APUSH Period 1

from notebookLm study guide

Adena-Hopewell

An ancient Native American culture centered in the Ohio River Valley, known for building large earthen mounds.

Algonquian

A language family and cultural group of Native Americans primarily located along the Atlantic seaboard and in the Northeast, known for mixed agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies and sometimes forming confederations.

Anasazi

One of the ancient Puebloan cultures of the American Southwest, known for developing complex societies, irrigation systems, and living in multi-storied dwellings, often in cliffs.

Astrolabe

A historical astronomical instrument used by navigators to determine latitude and time by measuring the altitude of celestial bodies.

Aztecs (Mexica)

A powerful indigenous empire that dominated Mexico and Central America before the arrival of the Spanish, known for their complex society, extensive trade, accurate calendar, and capital city Tenochtitlan.

Bartolomé de las Casas

A Spanish Dominican friar and historian who advocated for the rights of Native Americans and criticized the brutality of the encomienda system, though he initially suggested replacing Native American labor with African slaves.

Cahokia

A large Native American urban center near present-day St. Louis, part of the Mississippian culture, known for its large population, mound building, and centralized government.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed by the Portuguese in the 15th century, used for exploration, known for its speed and ability to sail against the wind with lateen sails.

Caste System

A rigid social hierarchy, particularly in Spanish colonial America, based on racial ancestry, which determined an individual's social status, legal rights, and tax obligations.

Chinook

Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest who developed permanent settlements based on abundant fishing and forest resources, known for building extensive plank houses.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer funded by Spain's Ferdinand and Isabella who, in 1492, sailed west across the Atlantic and reached the Americas, initiating the Columbian Exchange and European colonization.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World (Europe and Asia) in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Corn (Maize)

A staple crop cultivated by many Native American societies, particularly in Mesoamerica and the Southwest, which supported economic development, settlement, and social diversification due to its high yield and nutritional value.

Criollos

In the Spanish colonial caste system, individuals of pure Spanish descent who were born in the Americas.

Delaware/Lenape

Native American societies of the Northeast and Atlantic seaboard known for their mixed agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies and adapting to their environment.

Doctrine of Discovery

A concept used by European nations to justify claiming sovereignty over lands in the Americas, often asserting that Christians had the right to take land from non-Christian "savages."

Encomienda System

A labor system established by the Spanish in their American colonies that granted Spanish leaders land and the right to extract labor and tribute from the Native Americans living on that land.

Ferdinand and Isabella

The monarchs of Spain who united the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, completed the Reconquista, and funded Christopher Columbus's voyages, playing a key role in the early Spanish Empire.

Feudalism

A social and economic system in medieval Europe where peasants lived and worked on a noble's land in exchange for protection.

Franciscan Priests

Members of a Catholic religious order who played a significant role in the Spanish mission system, attempting to convert Native Americans to Christianity.

Great Basin

An arid region in the western United States where Native American societies adapted to the dry climate by developing largely mobile, hunter-gatherer lifestyles.

Great Plains

A vast grassland region in central North America where Native American societies developed mobile, hunter-gatherer lifestyles, often centered around the buffalo.

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)

A confederation of Native American tribes in the Northeast, known for living in longhouses, practicing agriculture, and having a matrilineal social structure.

Hohokam

One of the ancient Puebloan cultures of the American Southwest, known for developing complex societies and extensive irrigation systems based on maize cultivation.

Incas

A vast indigenous empire based in Peru in western South America before the arrival of the Spanish, known for their complex society, extensive trade, accurate calendar, and cultivation of potatoes.

Iroquois Confederation

A political alliance of several Iroquois tribes in the Northeast, known for their communal living in longhouses and adaptation to the forested environment.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in Virginia in 1607, marking the beginning of sustained English colonization.

John Cabot

An Italian sea captain who sailed for England's King Henry VII in 1497 and explored the coast of Newfoundland, establishing England's earliest claims in North America.

Joint Stock Company

A business entity in which shares of ownership are held by multiple stockholders, who pool their money to fund a venture, such as colonial exploration and settlement.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

A Spanish theologian who argued for the inferiority of Native Americans and justified their subjugation by the Spanish.

Line of Demarcation

A vertical line drawn by the Pope in 1493 to divide newly discovered lands in the Americas between Spain and Portugal.

Longhouses

Communal dwellings constructed from timber, used by Native American groups in the Northeast, such as the Iroquois, where multiple families lived together.

Maritime Technology

Innovations and advancements in seafaring and navigation, such as improved ship designs (caravels), astronomical charts, astrolabes, and sternpost rudders, which facilitated European exploration.

Matrilineal

A social system in which descent and inheritance are traced through the mother's line, common in some Native American societies like the Tainos and Iroquois.

Mayas

An ancient indigenous civilization that flourished in Mesoamerica, known for their advanced calendar, writing system, mathematics, organized societies, extensive trade, and cultivation of corn.

Mercantilism

An economic theory prevalent in Europe during the 16th to 18th centuries that emphasized government regulation of the economy to maximize exports and accumulate precious metals, often through the establishment of colonies.

Mesoamerica

The region spanning from central Mexico to northern Central America, where advanced pre-Columbian civilizations like the Mayas and Aztecs flourished.

Mestizos

In the Spanish colonial caste system, individuals of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.

Mission System

A system established by the Spanish, particularly in New Mexico after 1573, involving Franciscan priests establishing missions to convert Native Americans to Christianity and impose Spanish culture and control.

Mixtón War

A rebellion by Caxcanes, an Indigenous group in New Spain, against Spanish rule in the mid-16th century, depicted in indigenous artwork like "Lienzo de Tlaxcala."

Moors

Islamic invaders from North Africa who conquered much of Spain starting in the 8th century and whose expulsion in 1492 (the Reconquista) was a significant event for Spain.

Mulattos

In the Spanish colonial caste system, individuals of mixed Spanish and African ancestry.

Nation-States

Countries in which the majority of people share a common culture and loyalty to a central government, emerging in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries through the unification of smaller kingdoms.

Nomadism

A lifestyle characterized by moving from place to place in search of food, water, and resources, common among Native American groups in arid regions like the Great Basin and Great Plains.

Northwest Settlements

Native American societies along the Pacific coast from Alaska to northern California, who lived in permanent longhouses or plank houses and relied on hunting, fishing, and gathering.

Ottoman Turks

A Muslim empire whose power threatened the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th and 16th centuries, contributing to European religious conflict and motivation for exploration.

Peninsulares

In the Spanish colonial caste system, individuals born in Spain (on the Iberian Peninsula), who held the highest social and political status.

Plank Houses

Large, permanent dwellings constructed from wooden planks, used by Native American groups in the Pacific Northwest, such as the Chinook.

Pope (Pueblo leader)

A leader of the Pueblo people who led the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against Spanish rule in New Mexico, resulting in the temporary expulsion of the Spanish.

Potatoes

A staple crop originating in the Americas (specifically cultivated by the Incas) that was transferred to Europe as part of the Columbian Exchange and had a significant impact on European diets and population growth.

Prince Henry the Navigator

A Portuguese royal figure in the 15th century who invested heavily in navigation and exploration, pioneering sea routes around Africa and establishing trading posts and sugar plantations on Atlantic islands.

Pueblo

Native American groups in the American Southwest (descendants of the Hohokam and Anasazi) who developed settled agricultural societies, irrigation systems, and lived in diverse dwellings like adobe villages and cliff dwellings.

Pueblo Revolt

A major uprising by the Pueblo people in 1680 against Spanish rule in New Mexico, led by Popé, which temporarily expelled the Spanish from the region.

Queen Elizabeth I

The monarch of England in the late 16th century who took a greater interest in overseas affairs, challenging Spanish power and authorizing early English colonial attempts.

Reconquista

The centuries-long process by which Spanish Christian kingdoms gradually reconquered the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim (Moorish) rule, culminating in the fall of Granada in 1492.

Requerimiento

A Spanish document read aloud to Indigenous people in the Americas, demanding their submission to Spanish authority and conversion to Christianity, used to justify conquest and subjugation.

Roanoke Island

The site of an attempted English colonial settlement off the coast of North Carolina in 1587, led by Sir Walter Raleigh, which ultimately failed mysteriously.

San Salvador

The island in the Bahamas where Christopher Columbus first made landfall in the Americas in 1492, naming it "Holy Savior."

Sir Francis Drake

An English sea captain and privateer who, under Queen Elizabeth I, challenged Spanish shipping and attacked Spanish settlements in the Americas.

Sir Walter Raleigh

An English adventurer who attempted to establish the failed English colony at Roanoke Island in 1587.

Siouan

A language family and cultural group of Native Americans primarily located in the Great Plains, known for their nomadic lifestyles and adaptation to the grassland environment.

Smallpox

A deadly infectious disease brought by Europeans to the Americas as part of the Columbian Exchange, which caused massive mortality among Native American populations due to their lack of immunity.

Southwest Settlements

Native American societies in the dry region of present-day New Mexico and Arizona (including the Hohokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos) who developed multifaceted societies based on maize cultivation and irrigation.

Sternpost Rudder

A navigational device attached to the stern of a ship, improving steering and maneuverability, adapted by Europeans from Chinese technology.

Taino and Arawak

Native peoples of the Caribbean islands encountered by Christopher Columbus, who were among the first to experience the devastating effects of European disease and the encomienda system.

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec (Mexica) Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco (present-day Mexico City), known for its large population and complex infrastructure.

Theodore de Bry

An engraver who created influential images of Native American life based on the watercolors of John White, though sometimes adding his own interpretations.

Three-sister farming

An agricultural technique used by some Native American groups (especially in the Northeast and East Coast) where corn, beans, and squash are planted together, benefiting each other's growth.

Totem Poles

Carved wooden poles created by Native American groups in the Pacific Northwest to represent and remember stories, legends, and myths.

Trading Post Empire

A type of colonial empire, like that established by the Portuguese along the African coast, focused on controlling strategic trading locations rather than extensive territorial conquest and settlement.

Treaty of Tordesillas

An agreement signed in 1494 between Spain and Portugal, mediated by the Pope, that moved the Line of Demarcation westward to resolve overlapping territorial claims in the Americas.

Ute

A Native American group who lived a nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle in small egalitarian kinship bands in the Great Basin and Great Plains region.

Woodland Mound Builders

Native American cultures, such as the Adena-Hopewell and the builders of Cahokia, who lived in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys and were known for constructing large earthen mounds for burial, ceremonial, or residential purposes.

Zemis

Ancestor spirits worshipped by the Taino people of the Caribbean.