Period 1- (1491-1607)- European Exploration and Colonization

AMSCO Chapter 1

Encomienda System

The King of Spain began granting land and natives to individual Spaniards. Basically giving people territory and slaves as gifts, showing the power of the Spanish Empire.

Asiento System

Same concept as the Encomienda System, except the enslaved Natives started to die from diseases, so Spaniards brought enslaved Africans over and had to pay a tax to the King for each enslaved person they brought.

Mayans/Aztecs/Incas

Three Civilizations in America before the Europeans arrived. Had agriculture, infrastructure, languages, and unique cultures.

Atlantic Slave Trade

As Native Americans died of European diseases, European colonizers sought enslaved peoples from Africa, spurring a slave trade across the atlantic ocean. This would lead to the creation of a slave-based economy in the Americas until well into the 19th century.

De Las Casas/”Black Legend”

European who resisted the Encomienda system and advocated for Native American Freedom, eventually succeeding in ending Native American slavery and forced labor.

Valladolid Debate

Debate over the role of Native Americans in the Spanish colonies. Could not determine whether Native Americans were human or less than human, but set the groundwork for justice of Natives and rights as a human.

Roanoke

Attempted English Settlement in the Americas that failed as all of the settlers mysteriously disappeared.

Francis Drake attacks St. Augustine

England, wanting the power that the Spanish were obtaining from the Americas, challenged them by attacking Spanish ships, like in this case, or even their settlements in the Americas.

Virginia Colony

First British colony in North America. Starting place of what would eventually become the United States of America.

Columbian Exchange

Idea of transferring plants, animals, and germs across the Atlantic between Europe and the Americas. The transfer of European diseases to Native Americans with no immunities resulted in the deaths of millions of Native Americans and the decline of their power and culture.

Protestant Reformation

European Christians revolted against Catholicism, refusing to follow the Pope. These new branches of Christianity sought to leave Europe rather than be persecuted in a religious war, influencing the drive to migrate to the Americas.

New Trade Routes

Trade Routes on land were slow and often blocked by middlemen, so European explorers set out to find water routes to Asia, influencing the “discovery” and migration to the Americas.

Ottoman Turks

Blocked land Routes for Europeans to Asia, prompting them to explore for water routes, leading to the exploration of the Americas.

Florentine Codex

An ethnographic research study created in Mesoamerica by a Spanish explorer. Includes depictions of Native American culture from the European perspective and interactions between Native Americans and European explorers.

Three Sisters

Adopted by Europeans, particularly in New England and the Chesapeake, which allowed them to stay alive. Three important foods- corn, beans, and squash in the Americas.

Introduction of European technology

Native Americans adopted these, including knives, pots, and weapons. Horses were a huge addition to Native American life, as they had not existed on the continent prior to the Europeans, allowing for greater hunting and migration.

Trade with natives

Native Americans prospered off of European goods by selling furs to them.

Iroquois Confederacy

Native American political union used the French/British feud to receive good trades. Powerful group against both rival Native Americans and Europeans in the NorthEast.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer who connected Europe and the Americas via his voyage in 1492 for Spain. Enslaved Native Americans after the model of African slavery from Portugal. Believed he had landed in India.

Moctezuma/Cortés

Native American that believed the European explorer was a G-d (Quetzlcoatl). Native Americans who believed this worshipped the Europeans, allowing the Europeans to manipulate the natives. Hernan Cortés would eventually conquer the Aztecs.

Francisco Pizzaro

Another conquistador like Hernan Cortés. Conquered the Incas in Peru.

Selling Land

Native Americans did not understand the concept of “selling land”, so believed the sale was temporary, though the Europeans insisted it was permanent, allowing them to take the land.

Joint-Stock Companies

Investors would buy shares of a company voyaging across the Atlantic to create settlements in North America. These investments allowed for the voyages to take place so that colonization of the Americas could happen.

Spanish Caste System

System of hierarchy in the Americas, where the pure

Conflicting Cultures

Native Americans lived very differently than Europeans. Europeans believed these ways to be barbaric, causing violence to ensue between them.

Integrating European Culture

Many Native Americans learned European languages and converted to Christianity, especially under the Spanish Empire.

Nation

States

Line of Demarcation

Line drawn by the Pope that gave Spain lands west of the line and Portugal lands east of the line. Meant to resolve the conflict between the Spanish and the Portuguese over who owned what land, though the Natives inhabiting that land were not considered.