Early European Colonization in the New World - Practice Flashcards

A set of practice flashcards covering key people, places, motives, events, and consequences from the notes on early European colonization in the New World.

What are the basic characteristics of the Spanish colonial approach in the New World?

Conquest and expansion through the encomienda system, extraction of tribute, missionary activity and forced conversion, and exploitation of indigenous populations.

How did contact between Europeans and Native Americans affect societies?

Introduction of Old World diseases causing population declines, along with exchange of crops, goods, and technologies that reshaped both societies.

Tenochtitlan was the capital of which empire and where is it located today?

The Aztec Empire; site of present-day Mexico City.

Which empire built a warrior-centered, conquest-based system that demanded tribute and practiced human sacrifice?

The Aztec Empire.

Name a cultural area that includes the Kwakiutis, Nootkas, Shuswaps, Haidas, and Tlingits.

Northwest Coast.

What were the typical characteristics of Eastern Woodland Peoples?

Smaller populations, dispersed settlements, permanent villages, and a mix of farming and fishing.

What were the two main motives for European exploration listed in the notes?

Trade with Asia and spreading Christianity.

Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in which region?

The Caribbean.

Who was Hernando Cortes?

A Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that toppled the Aztec Empire.

What was the Requerimiento (1510) and what did it threaten?

A declaration asserting obedience to the Church and Crown; if ignored, Spaniards would enter by force, wage war, enslave people, seize goods, and attribute deaths to the natives.

Encomienda was a system that granted control of native villages to Spanish soldiers. What did it entail and what was its real outcome?

Soldier could demand tribute and was expected to protect and convert natives, but it often led to exploitation and abuse.

The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) ceded territories from France to Great Britain. Name two examples.

Examples include Acadia and Newfoundland (also Hudson Bay and other territories).

The French Fur Trade in North America centered on which economic activity?

The fur trade.

Who was Jean de Brébeuf?

A French Jesuit missionary.

What is the Columbian Exchange?

The widespread exchange of crops, animals, and diseases between the Americas and the Old World after European contact.

Name a crop that moved from the Americas to Europe during the Columbian Exchange.

Maize (corn), potatoes, tomatoes, cacao, beans, squash, etc.

Which region received the largest share of enslaved Africans during the Atlantic slave trade according to the map?

The West Indies.

Which country is credited with introducing African slavery to the New World?

Spain.

Approximately what percentage of enslaved Africans were brought to North America?

About 2%.

What was a major consequence of European colonization for Native populations?

Population collapse or severe decline due to diseases, disruption, and conflict.

Name one major French fort in the Great Lakes region mentioned in the notes.

Fort Detroit (also Fort Michilim Makinac, Fort Frontenac, etc.).

Which empire did Hernando Cortes conquer in the early 16th century?

The Aztec Empire.