apush cause and effects

What social motivation drove Europeans to spread Christianity in the Americas?

The desire to convert Native Americans to Christianity led to forced conversions and religious discrimination.

What were the social effects of cultural differences between Europeans and Native Americans?

Europeans viewed Native cultures as inferior, leading to discrimination, forced labor, and destruction of Native societies.

How did European settlement affect social hierarchies in the Americas?

It created race-based hierarchies with Europeans at the top and enslaved Africans and Native Americans at the bottom.

What was the encomienda system?

A forced labor system where Native Americans worked on plantations for Spanish settlers.

What were the New Laws of 1542?

Spanish laws that ended Native American slavery and limited the power of encomenderos.

What was a major social effect of the Atlantic slave trade?

Millions of Africans were enslaved and forced to work on plantations, especially in the Caribbean and South America.

What motivated English and Spanish political expansion into the Americas?

National rivalries and a desire for global influence.

What was a major effect of political expansion on Native Americans?

They were pushed off their land into interior regions and suffered massive population loss due to disease.

What happened to the Inca and Aztec civilizations as a result of Spanish conquest?

They were destroyed; survivors were forced into labor systems.

How did English justify colonization politically?

They claimed it was more humane than Spanish brutality.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?

A 1494 agreement that divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal.

What was a major biological effect of European political conquest?

Diseases like smallpox and measles killed up to 90% of Native American populations.

What economic motivation drove Spanish colonization?

The desire for gold and silver, which enriched Spain and funded further conquest.

What effect did Spanish mining have on Europe?

Spain became the wealthiest European nation due to a 500% increase in gold and silver.

Why did European colonists import African slaves?

Native populations had died from disease, creating a labor shortage on plantations.

How did the French profit economically from their colonies?

Through fur trade and civil relations with Native Americans.

What economic role did the Dutch play in the Americas?

The Dutch West India Company managed trade and colonial profits, especially along the Mississippi.

What long-term effect did Spanish wealth have on European exploration?

It motivated other nations to explore and claim territory in the Americas for economic gain.