AP US History - Chapters 1 & 2 (stars ⭐️ = chap 1 and 🚀 = chap 2)

Pangaea ⭐️

225 million years ago ____ was a single supercontinent that contained all of the world’s dry land, where enormous chunks of terrain began to drift away from the colossal landmass, opening the Atlantic and Indian oceans as well as narrowing the Pacific Ocean. This continent has been proven to have existed in part by the discovery of nearly identical species of fish that swim today in long-separated freshwater lakes throughout the world.

Canadian Shield ⭐️

The ____ ____ is a large area of ancient rock that was one of the first parts of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level. It is a geologic region that covers a significant portion of Canada.

Sebastian Munster ⭐️

Shows one of the earliest efforts to make geographic sense out of the New World by creating a map with gross geographic inaccuracies.

Nation-states ⭐️

A _____ is a political entity that consists of a sovereign state and a population that shares a common culture, language, and history. Characterized by a centralized government that exercises authority over a defined territory and represents the interests of its citizens.

What is the relationship between the Native Americans and corn? ⭐️

Native Americans were the first to cultivate and domesticate it which is also known as __*____*__, developing various varieties and agricultural techniques. It became a staple food in their diet, providing sustenance and cultural significance. It played a crucial role in their societies, economy, and spiritual practices. The cultivation and knowledge of ___ were passed down through generations, contributing to the rich cultural heritage of Native American communities.

Cahokia ⭐️

_____ was a Native American city in Illinois, active from 1050 to 1350 CE. It was the largest pre-Columbian settlement in North America, with a population of 10,000-20,000 people. Settlements like this began to disappear around 1100 C.E and 1300 C.E

Three-sister farming ⭐️

Was a system of farming where the **beans** grew on the trellis of the **cornstalks** and the **squash** covered the planting mounds to retain moisture in the soil. This technique produced some of the highest population densities on the continent as it was able to sustain so many people.

What techniques did the Native Americans use to better their lives? ⭐️

Some used fire to burn down thousands of acres of woods to create a better habitat for hunting, especially for deer. This technique accounted for the open, park-like appearance of eastern woodlands that amazed early European explorers.

Who were the first to discover the Native Americans and the Americas? ⭐️

It was the Norse seafarers from Scandinavia that chanced upon the shoulder of North America about 1000 C.E. But they had no strong nation-state yearning to expand had supported these voyagers so their flimsy settlements were soon abandoned and their discovery was soon forgotten, except for in Scandinavian song and saga.

Why did the Europeans want to find a shortcut to Asia? ⭐️

This is because the middlemen in the route exacted a heavy toll en route for the shipment of the products, forcing the price of the products to go up, making the purchasers and products limited. Thus European consumers and distributors wanted to find a less expensive route.

What was Marco Polo’s impact on the European’s desires? ⭐️

He furthered their desires to explore and find a shortcut when he returned to Europe in 1295 and began telling tales of his nearly 20-year sojourn in China, which stimulated European desires for a cheaper route to the East.

What did the Portuguese do that helped Europe expand? ⭐️

They created the **caravel** and discovered that they could return to Europe by sailing north-westerly from the African coast toward the Azores, where the prevailing westward breezes would carry them home (before they discovered this sailors would refuse to sail southward along the coast of West Africa because they couldn’t beat their way home against the prevalent northerly winds and south-flowing currents.

Caravel ⭐️

A ship developed by the Portuguese that could sail more closely into the wind.

What happened to the slave trade in Africa when the Portuguese adopted their practices? ⭐️

The slave trade became huge, as the Portuguese’s appetite for slaves was huge, dwarfing the modest scale of the pre-European traffic. With some forty thousand Africans being carried away to the Atlantic and millions more being wrenched from their home after the discovery of the Americas. With this, the Portuguese experiments in the fifteenth century were the origins of the modern plantation system.

Plantation system ⭐️

The _______ was an agricultural system in the Americas during colonial times. It involved large-scale cultivation of cash crops on plantations using slave labor. The system had a hierarchical structure with wealthy plantation owners and enslaved workers. It shaped the economies and societies of the regions where it was practiced.

What caused Spain to expand? ⭐️

They became united in the late fifteenth century which had been the result of the marriage of two sovereigns. With their sudden strength, they were eager to outstrip their Portuguese rivals, who controlled the south and east. Thus, Spain looked westward.

What was Christopher Columbus looking for originally? ⭐️

He was looking for a new water route to the fabled Indies, making his journey one of the most successful failures in history.

Columbian exchange ⭐️

The ___________ refers to the widespread exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres following Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492.

What from the Americas revolutionized the international economy? ⭐️

The Native New World plants such as tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, and especially the potato. Today three-fifths of the crops cultivated around the globe today originated in the Americas. Even the introduction into Africa of New World foodstuffs like maize, manioc, and sweet potatoes may have fed an African population boom that numerically, though not morally, more then offset the losses inflicted by the slave trade.

What did the Europeans introduce to the Americas? ⭐️

Old World crops and animals such as horses, sugar cane, language and laws, customs and religions, and even created a new culture of mestizos as they intermarried with the surviving Indians, and finally they brought organisms in the dirt on their boots and dust on their clothes, such as the seeds of Kentucky bluegrass, daisies, dandelions, and worst of all, they carried germs that caused smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) ⭐️

The _______ signed in 1494, divided newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal. It established a line of demarcation, giving Spain rights to territories west of the line and Portugal rights to territories east of the line. This prevented conflicts over expanding colonial empires.

Encomienda ⭐️

Gave the government the right to “commend”, or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to try to Christianize them. In all but name, it was slavery.

Hernan Cortes ⭐️

Traveled in 1519 and rescued a Spanish castaway who had been enslaved for several years by the Mayan-speaking Indians and then rescued a female Indian slave named Malinche, who knew both Mayan and Nahuatl, the language of the powerful Aztec rulers. Thus, he now had the ability to communicate through both languages through the two interpreters. He was then able to lay siege on August 13 1521 to the Aztecs after the **noche triste**, winning since that year they had suffered from a smallpox epidemic.

Noche triste ⭐️

Happened on June 30, 1520, when the Aztecs attacked, driving the Spanish down the causeways from Tenochtitlan in a frantic, bloody retreat.

Franciso Pizarro ⭐️

Was a Spanish conquistador who is best known for leading the expedition that conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. He established the city of Lima and played a significant role in the Spanish colonization of South America.

What did the ballooning European money supply lead to with the increased consumer costs being as much as a 500% increase? ⭐️

This led to the economic system known as capitalism which is an economic system characterized by private ownership of resources and means of production, where individuals and businesses operate for profit in a competitive market. It is based on the principles of free markets, supply and demand, and limited government intervention.

Conquistadores (conquerors) ⭐️

Were Spanish conquerors who explored and colonized the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries. They sought wealth, power, and to spread Christianity. Some famous ______ include Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and Juan Ponce de León.

Nunez Balboa ⭐️

Was hailed as the European discoverer of the Pacific Ocean, and had waded into the foaming waves and boldly claimed for his king all the lands washed by that sea.

Ferdinand Magellan ⭐️

Started his trip in 1519 with five tiny ships, and was slain by the inhabitants of the Philippines. His one remaining vessel creaked home in 1522, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.

Juan Ponce de León ⭐️

In 1513 and 1521 he explored Florida which he had first thought was an island and sought gold and probably not the mythical “fountain of youth” but instead was killed by an Indian arrow

Francisco Conronado ⭐️

From 1539-1542 he wandered through Arizona and New Mexico, discovering two natural wonders, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River and enormous herds of buffalo (bison)

Hernando de Soto ⭐️

Undertook a massive gold-seeking expedition from 1539-1542 with six hundred armored men and instead he discovered and crossed the Mississippi River. However, after brutally mistreating the Indians (going so far as to put them in iron collars and harass them with fierce dogs), he died of fever and wounds. Because of the way he treated the Indians, his troops had to secretly dispose of his remains at night in the Mississippi so the Indians wouldn’t abuse their abuser’s corpse.

Giovanni da Verrazano ⭐️

Sent by the French King who explored the eastern seaboard in 1524

Jacques Cartier ⭐️ & 🚀

Searching for a route to Asia, in 1534 he journeyed hundreds of miles up the St. Lawrence River and along the shore of eastern Canada. Though his attempt to plant a settlement along the St. Lawrence failed he nonetheless claimed Canada for France.

Battle of Acoma (1599) ⭐️

This battle was caused by the Spaniards cruelly abusing the Pueblo people they encountered, yet when the battle took place, the Spaniards won, sentencing the young Indian survivors to twenty years of servitude and the severing of one foot of males over 25 years of age. The victors then declared the area to be the province of New Mexico in 1609 and founded its capital at Santa Fe the following year (1610)

Pueblo Revolt of 1680 ⭐️

This started because the Spaniards made the Roman Catholic Church the main institution in colonial New Mexico until the missionaries’ efforts to suppress native religious customs provoked an Indian uprising. The rebels destroyed every Catholic church in the province and killed a score of priests and hundreds of Spanish settlers. The Indians then rebuilt a kiva on the ruins of the Spanish plaza. It would take nearly half a century for the Spanish to fully reclaim New Mexico.

Kiva ⭐️

A ceremonial religious chamber

Father Junipero Serra ⭐️

In 1769 he led Spanish missionaries to the first of twenty-one missions that wound up the coast as far as Sonoma (which was founded in San Diego). He and his brown-robed Franciscan friars toiled with zealous devotion to Christianize the 300,000 native Californians whom they taught horticulture and basic crafts. These Indians did adopt Christianity but also lost contact with their native cultures and often lost their lives due to the diseases the white men brought with them.

What happened in the 1680s with horses? ⭐️

By then the Indians had already started to breed and trade them. Over the next century traded as well as feral horses spread throughout the continent, forever altering many long-established native cultures.

the Black Legend ⭐️

The false concept popularized by Spanish Protestant rivals that the conquerors merely tortured and butchered the Indians stole their gold, infected them with smallpox, and left little but misery behind. (While this was true, the Spanish also erected a colossal empire, mingled their cultures, laws, religions, and language, with a wide array of native societies, laying the foundations for a score of Spanish-speaking nations.

Huguenots 🚀

French Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who followed the teachings of theologian John Calvin.

Edict of Nantes 🚀

In 1598 the crown of France granted limited tolerance to the French Protestants. Religious wars ceased and a new era dawned where France blossomed into the mightiest and most feared nation on the European continent.

Ferdinand of Aragon ⭐

Was the King of Spain at the time when Christopher Columbus founded the Americas. Helped unify Spain with their marriage to his wife with it then glorifying their strength and making their subjects eager to outstrip their rivals, the Portugues.

Isabella of Castile ⭐

Was the Queen of Spain at the time when Christopher Columbus founded the Americas. Helped unify Spain with their marriage to her husband with it then glorifying their strength and making their subjects eager to outstrip their rivals, the Portugues.

Incas ⭐

Was an empire in the Americas, with them presiding in Peru. Their empire then fell when Francisco Pizarro and the soldiers under him attacked.

Aztecs ⭐

Was an empire that presided in Mexico that was most known for its agriculture, art, architecture, and gold. They had a vast amount of land mostly from subjugating their rival city-states. They were eventually conquered after the nocte triste by Hernan Cortes as constant fighting and disease finally took its toll on them.

Christopher Columbus ⭐️

Was an explorer for Spain who had been looking for a new water route to the fabled Indies, until he accidentally found the Americas, leading to his journey becoming one of the most successful failures in history.

Francisco Coronado ⭐️

From 1539-1542 he wandered through Arizona and New Mexico, discovering two natural wonders, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River and enormous herds of buffalo (bison)

Bartolomé de Las Casas ⭐️

Was a Dominican friar who was a writer and activist who had long labored with the Native Americans and rebelled against the Spaniards treating them as beneath them and torturing them.

Malinche (Doña Marina) ⭐️

Was one of the interpreters for Hernán Cortés, and had been a Native American female slave before he rescued her. Later she became baptized under the Spanish name Doña Marina, but she knew both the Mayan and the Nahuatl languages (the Nahuatl language being the language of the powerful Aztec rulers). With her help, he was able to defeat the Aztecs. Her name became the word malinchista, or "traitor" in the Mexican language

Moctezuma ⭐️

Was the Aztec chieftain at the time of Hernán Cortés's arrival. In the beginning, he had believed that Cortés was the god Quetzalcoatl, whose return from the eastern sea had been predicted. Thus, he treated the Spaniards hospitably at first until the Spaniard's hunger for gold and power exhausted their welcome.

Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) ⭐️

Sent by the English, he explored the northeastern coast of North America in 1497 and 1498 and was the earliest known European exploration of coastal North America 

Robert de La Salle ⭐️

Was an explorer who floated down the Mississippi River to where it mingled with the Gulf and declared the great interior basin "Louisiana" after his sovereign Louis XIV

capitalism ⭐️

A combination of an economic and political system, in which both the country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. This system was created by the Europeans when the precious metals reached their economy, increasing consumer costs by as much as 500% and supplying the fuel that fed the growth of capitalism.

mestizos ⭐️

A new culture/ "race" was created as a result of Native Americans and Spaniards intermarrying.

Elizabeth I 🚀

Was the Queen of England who ascended to the throne in 1588 and made Protestantism the dominate religion in England.

Sir Francis Drake 🚀

Was an explorer or "sea dog" who sought to promote two goals of Protestantism and plunder by seizing Spanish treasure ships and raiding the Spanish settlements. He was so successful that his venture netted profits to his financial backers of about 4,600%, one of them secretly being Queen Elizabeth I, who then knighted him ibn the deck of his barnacled ship.

coureurs de bois 🚀

"runners of the woods" were French fur-trappers, runners of risks - two-fisted drinkers, free spenders, free livers and lovers.

Sir Walter Raleigh 🚀

Was a courtier of Queen Elizabeth who launched important colonizing failures in the New World. However, after secretly seducing and marrying one of Queen Elizabeth's maids of honor, he fell out of failure. However, he continued his colonial ventures but was ultimately beheaded for treason.

voyageurs 🚀

Were independent contractors, workers, or minor partners in companies involved in the fur business and would transport goods and passengers to and from trading posts.

James I 🚀

Was the King of England and gave the Virginia Company their charter, which gave the group of wealthy men the permission to start a colony in North America.

Protestant Reformation 🚀

Was the process where England left the Catholic church and the country became officially Protestant

Captain John Smith 🚀

Was an English explorer, soldier, colonial governor, and admiral of New England. He played an important role in establishing the colony at Jamestown Virginia, which was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Roanoke Island 🚀

Was an English colony first settled in 1585 but disappeared either because it was merged into other Native American tribes or for other reasons. This showed the vast contrast between the English's shameful failures and Spain's great success.

Powhatan 🚀

Was an enormous tribe presiding on the costal plain of Virginia of over a hundred villages comprising 24,000 people forming what would be called the Powhatan Confederacy.

Spanish Armada 🚀

Was amassed by Philip II of Spain, who was a self-anointed foe of the Protestant Reformation who then sent the "Invincible Armada" of ships to invade England in 1588. The English won with better ships and a devasting storm (called the "Protestant Wind") that scattered the wounded fleet. This loss marked the turning point of the Spanish Empire

Pocahontas 🚀

Was a Native American woman and the daughter of the Powhatan chief. At the beginning of their interactions with Jamestown, she was the intermediary between them, helping to preserve the shaky peace and helped the colonists by providing foodstuffs. In the end, the First Anglo-Powhatan War ended because of her marriage to the colonist John Rolfe. In the end, she died in England, preparing for her return to the Americas, but her infant son ultimately reached Virginia.

primogeniture 🚀

The laws of primogeniture stated that only the eldest sons were to eligible to inherit landed estates.

Lord De La Warr 🚀

Was the new governor of Jamestown in 1610 and destroyed the tenuous peace between the Powhatans as he used "Irish tactics" on them. These tactics were raiding their villages, burning their houses, confiscating provisions, and torching their cornfields. Ultimately him and his troops started the First Anglo-Powhatan War.

joint-stock company 🚀

A company whose stock was owned amongst shareholders

John Rolfe 🚀

Was an English explorer, farmer, and merchant. He's most known for helping to end the First Anglo-Powhatan War with his marriage with Pocahontas (the first interracial union in Virginia). He died during the Second Anglo-Pocahontas War when the Native Americans struck back against the land-hungry colonists.

Virginia Company 🚀

Was a joint-stock company from London that received a charter from King James I of England for a settlement in the New World (the company wanted gold). The company intended to endure for a few years and then liquidate it for profit, which in turn put a huge amount of pressure on the colonists (eg. were threatened to be left in the wilderness alone if they didn't strike rich on the company's behalf).

Hiawatha 🚀

Was the co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy who made this in the late 1500s along with Deganawidah, creating one of the most feared military powers in the Americas pre-colonialism.

charter 🚀

Is a written grant by a country's sovereign power, by which a body such as a company or a city is founded and its rights and privileges are defined. The charter of the Virginia Company was significant as it guaranteed overseas settlers the same rights as the English men at home.

Jamestown 🚀

On May 24th English colonists settled in the place they called Jamestown. Laws were strict, and out of the four hundred who made it to Virginia in 1609, only sixty survived the "starving time" winter of 1609-1610 (By 1625 Virginia only had 1,200 survivors of the nearly 8,000)

First Anglo-Powhatan War 🚀

When the English arrived in 1607 the land was dominated by the Powhatan natives who had the power of as many as a hundred villages comprising 24,000 people forming the Powhatan Confederacy. The tensions between the English and Powhatan were bad but worsened with the arrival of Lord De La Warr in 1610, and started using "Irish tactics" against the natives, burning and raiding villages, confiscating provisions, and torching their cornfields. This led to the war but was then settled in 1614 with a tenuous peace treaty because of the marriage between John Rolfe and Pocahontas.

Second Anglo-Powhatan War 🚀

The war started because the Powhatan were pressed by land-hungry colonists and were ravaged by diseases. It started in 1644 and was a last-ditch effort to get rid of the colonists, but it ultimately failed, making the peace treaty in 1646 favor only the colonists, with them essentially banishing the tribes from their ancestral lands.

New Netherland 🚀

Was established in the Hudson River area from 1623-1624 by the Dutch West India Company. Was named this until the colony was overtaken by the English and was renamed "New York" after Duke York.

Iroquois Confederacy 🚀

Was a Confederacy made up of five tribes (the Mohawk, Oveidas, Onondagas, Cayagas, and the Senecas) who all celebrated together and had the same common policy towards outsiders but remained independent of one another. Was vast and feared, expanding with periodic mourning wars to expand their population and fierce warriors and loyalty to one another.