Era 1

It supported economic development, settlement, and the growth of large-scale, organized societies like the Aztecs and Pueblos.

Maize cultivation

The growing of corn, a staple crop that spread from Mexico northward.

Maize cultivation

Native American groups in the central part of North America who developed largely mobile, hunter-gatherer lifestyles in response to the region's arid grasslands.

Great Plains societies

A Spanish labor system that granted conquerors the right to the labor of specific groups of Native Americans. It was a form of coercive labor disguised as a system for protection and Christianization.

Encomienda system

A social hierarchy established by the Spanish in the Americas that organized society based on racial ancestry. It placed Europeans at the top and Africans and Native Americans at the bottom.

Caste system

Dry, permanent, maize

Southwest

Hunter-gatherers, coastal/fishing

Northwest

Hunter-gatherers, boar/grassland

Plains

Rich soil, permenant

Mississippi valley

Agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies, trees, fertile, Iroquois, permenant

Northeast

Europeans and Native Americans disagreed deeply on religion, gender roles, family structures, and land ownership

Social and cultural change

Spain created a strict caste system (castas) in its colonies to define the social status of Europeans, Native Americans, and enslaved Africans

Social and cultural changes

The Spanish used the encomienda system to force Native Americans to mine and farm, and they partnered with West African traders to start the transatlantic slave trade

Social and cultural changes

Finding wealth in the Americas sparked fierce political, religious, and economic rivalry among European nations like Spain, Portugal, France, and England

Political and economic changes

Influxes of gold and silver from the Americas helped shift Europe's economy away from feudalism and toward early capitalism

Political and economic changes

Gold, god and glory

Reasons for European expansion

Effects of Colombian exchange on Europe

vast geographic reach, aggressive extraction of wealth, and deep religious mission.

Characteristics of Spanish empire

leading to the collapse of indigenous empires, massive demographic shifts, and the creation of an entirely new colonial society.

Effects of Colombian exchange and Spanish power on the americas

Artificial systems built by native groups (like the Pueblo) to divert water to crops. This allowed societies to farm and build permanent villages in dry climates.

Irrigation

A vast, arid region in the western US (present-day Nevada/Utah). Lacking water and resources, the native groups here lived highly mobile, nomadic lifestyles.

Great Basin

A fertile region where advanced, sedentary native societies (like the Cahokia) built massive earthen mounds and large permanent settlements based on agriculture.

Mississippi River valley

The East Coast of North America. Societies here (like the Powhatan) combined hunting, fishing, and agriculture in permanent villages.

Atlantic seaboard

The initial meeting, interaction, and clash between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans beginning in 1492.

Contact

The massive transatlantic transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Colombian exchange

: A business where multiple investors pool their money to fund voyages and share profits/losses. This was a critical financial tool used by the British to fund colonies (like Jamestown) without relying on the king's money.

Joint-stock company

The act of bringing a group of people under complete control or enslavement through force.

Subjugation

A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease (like smallpox) that spreads rapidly through a population with no immunity.

Epidemic