Christopher Columbus
Italian explorer who sailed to the New World in 1492, beginning the era of European colonization.
Protestant Reformation
A religious movement initiated by Martin Luther in 1517 that challenged Roman Catholic beliefs and practices.
1/27
Vocabulary terms and definitions relevant to Period 1 (1491-1607) in AP U.S. History.
Name | Mastery | Learn | Test | Matching | Spaced |
---|
No study sessions yet.
Christopher Columbus
Italian explorer who sailed to the New World in 1492, beginning the era of European colonization.
Protestant Reformation
A religious movement initiated by Martin Luther in 1517 that challenged Roman Catholic beliefs and practices.
Hernán Cortés
Spanish Conquistador who led forces that defeated the Mexica people in 1521.
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish Conquistador who defeated the Inca Empire in 1532.
Bartolomé de Las Casas
A Spanish Dominican friar who authored 'A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies'.
Repartimiento
A system of labor reforms that began to replace the encomienda system in Spanish territories.
Roanoke
The 'lost' English colony established in the late 1500s.
Spanish Armada
The Spanish fleet defeated by the English in 1588, marking a significant naval conflict.
Juanillo's Revolt
A revolt in Florida led by Indigenous people against Spanish rule in 1597.
Acoma Pueblo Massacre
A violent incident that occurred in New Mexico in 1598, where Spanish forces attacked the Acoma Pueblo.
The Plains Indians
The Plains Indians are the native groups most commonly stereotyped in images of Indians in American popular culture. The stereotype often involves Plains Indians riding horses, wearing feathered headdresses, and hunting buffalo; however, the stereotype has little validity. Although many Plains Indian groups, especially those of the western Great Plains, did depend on hunting buffalo for survival, it was not until European contact that horses were introduced into Plains Indian cultures. Before that, many American Indian cultures of the Great Plains, such as the Sioux, the Blackfoot, the Arapaho, and the Cheyenne, hunted for buffalo on foot, maintaining a mobile lifestyle.
The Great Plains
The Great Plains refers to the vast stretch of land in the United States and Canada that stretches from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.
“Desert Culture”
Historians and archeologists refer to a "desert culture" that was common among most of the pre-contact American Indian tribes of the Great Basin. "Desert culture" was haracterized by seasonable mobility, as hunters and foragers searched for food throughout the ear. "Desert culture" peoples often developed basketmaking, whereas more sedentary groups often developed pottery.
Great Basin
The Great Basin refers to the 400,000-square-mile area between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The area has a great deal of environmental diversity but is characterized by a pronounced lack of natural resources.
Four Corners
A region of the Southwest where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. Ancestral Pueblo culture developed around the year 900 in the area that is now referred to as the our Corners region.
Pueblo People
The Pueblo people lived in areas that are part of the current southwestern United States. The Pueblo were named by the Spanish because many lived in small towns, or pueblos.
Maize
The peoples of the Southwest came to depend on the cultivation of maize (corn). Maize ration spread from present-day Mexico through the Southwest and across much of North rica. The cultivation of maize fostered economic development and social diversification among Native Americans.
The Algonquian People
The Algonquian language group included hundreds of American Indian tribes along the east coast of the present-day United States and in the interior of the continent, around the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes. The Atlantic coast and Algonquians hunted, fished, and grew corn. In northern New England and the upper Great Lakes region, the colder climate tended to make agriculture impractical, forcing Algonquians in these areas to rely on hunting and fishing
The Iroquois League
In present-day New York State, groups of Iroquoian-speaking peoples formed the Iroquois League, a confederation made up of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. (Later, in 1720, a sixth group, the Tuscaroras, joined the league.) The league formed in order to end infighting among the groups. Over time, the cohesion of the five nations grew, and the Iroquois League became one of the most powerful forces in the pre-contact Northeast
The Chinook People
In the Pacific Northwest, the Chinook people lived along the Columbia River in present-day Washington and Oregon. The Chinook consisted of several groups, all speaking related languages. These groups practiced foraging, hunting, and fishing and tended to live in settled communities.
The Crusades
The series of religious wars known as the Crusades shook the stability of European feudal society and whet the appetites of Europeans for foreign trade goods. The wars, with the goal of securing Christian control of the "Holy Land," occurred primarily in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
The Black Death
The Black Death, probably caused by a pandemic outbreak of bubonic plague in the fourteenth century, reduced the European population by 30 to 60 percent. Although the effects of the Black Death were devastating for Europe, the plague also opened up opportunities for the survivors. The Black Death also played an important role in undermining the stability of the feudal system.
The Impact of the Renaissance
The Renaissance spirit of curiosity about the world inspired people to explore and map new areas. Universities and scholarly books-also infused with the spirit of Renaissance humanism-spread knowledge of these new discoveries.
The Protestant Reformation
The most important religious movement during the sixteenth century was the Protestant Reformation. Theologians Martin Luther and John Calvin both led breaks with the Roman Catholic Church over church practices and beliefs. Both believed that the church had drifted from its spiritual mission.
The Catholic Counter-Reformation
The Catholic Church itself underwent a reform in the sixteenth century. This Counter-Reformation focused on a renewed sense of spirituality within the Catholic Church.
The “Colombian Exchange”
led to the introduction to Europe of crops and livestock that were native to the Americas in the 1500s. The list of organisms brought by Europeans back to the Old World included turkeys, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cacao (cocoa, supplematoes these foods revolutionized agricultural and culinary traditions in Europe and supplemented the meager diets of the European peasantry.
Technological Advances and a Revolution in Navigation
A series of developments in maritime technology encouraged exploration and transformed the global economy. The compass, the astrolabe, the quadrant, and the hourglass all aided navigation, helping sailors plot direction, determine speed, and assess latitude, Portulanos, detailed maps, also helped navigators find their way around the world, many sailing on Portugal’s maneuverable and sturdy ships called caravels
The Joint-stock Company
model was developed in Europe in the 1500g and became an important engine for exploration and colonization in the New World. In a joint-stock company, shareholders control part of the company in proportion to the number of shares they own.