Period 1 APUSH

Atlantic Seaboard

The east coast of North America where Native groups mixed farming and hunting. Think of people living near the ocean, planting crops but also fishing and hunting.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

A Spanish priest who said, “Stop being so cruel to the Natives!” He wrote about how badly the Spanish treated them and wanted better treatment.

Capitalism

A system where people can own businesses and make money for themselves. Imagine opening a lemonade stand—you keep the profit instead of giving it all to the government.

Caste System

A social “ladder” in Spanish colonies. Where you were born and your race decided your place—like who’s at the top (Spaniards) and who’s at the bottom (Natives and enslaved Africans).

Christopher Columbus

 An Italian sailor who sailed for Spain in 1492. He thought he found Asia but landed in the Americas instead. He brought big changes but also hurt Native people badly.

Columbian Exchange

The giant swap of things between the Old World (Europe, Africa, Asia) and the New World (Americas) after 1492. Crops, animals, diseases, and ideas all moved across the ocean.

Conquistadors

Spanish “conquerors” who went to the Americas, fought Native groups like the Aztecs and Incas, and took over their land.

Encomienda System

Spain’s system where colonists got Native workers in exchange for promising to “take care of them” and convert them to Christianity. In reality, it was basically slavery.

Feudalism

Old European system: kings gave land to nobles, nobles let peasants live there if they worked. Everyone owed loyalty to the person above them.

Great Basin

 A dry, desert-like area in today’s Nevada, Utah, Arizona. Native people there moved around a lot to find food because farming was tough.

Great Plains

The flat grasslands (think bison roaming). Native groups hunted buffalo and later used horses to follow them.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who took down the Aztec Empire in Mexico around 1519. He got help from Native allies and became very powerful.

Joint-Stock Company

Like a group project for money. Lots of people put in money to fund a colony or trade voyage, and they all shared profits (or losses).

Maize

Another word for corn. Native Americans grew it—it was super important for survival.

Mississippi River Valley

An area where Native groups farmed corn, beans, and squash (“three sisters”) and built giant dirt mounds for ceremonies and burials.