APUSH_Period_1_Review_Notes.docx

Three Sisters

Three staple crops (corn, beans, and squash) interdependently grown by many Native American tribes in North America.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, cultures, human populations, and technologies between the New World and the Old World, impacting both regions significantly.

Encomienda

A Spanish legal system where conquistadores extracted tribute from American Indians while teaching them the Roman Catholic faith, resembling a form of slavery.

Conquistadores

Soldiers and explorers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires who colonized Latin America in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries.

Virginia Company

Two joint stock companies chartered in 1606 by King James I to settle the eastern coastline of North America, with overlapping territorial claims.

First thing to know about Period 1

Before the Europeans arrived, there were many American Indian tribes scattered across North and South America. They had complex societies with unique religious, political, and cultural beliefs.

Second thing to know about Period 1

European countries sought to conquer the New World in order to gain wealth, military status, and to spread Christianity. European exploration often resulted in negative consequences for native populations, like widespread epidemics and forced labor systems, like the Spanish encomienda system.

3rd thing to know about Period 1

Relationships between the Europeans and American Indians were often fraught with misunderstandings and conflict regarding not only land and resources but also differing cultural beliefs.

4th thing to know about Period 1

The Columbian Exchange resulted in tremendous social, cultural, and political change for both the Europeans and the American Indians. New food crops and new sources of mineral wealth brought about extensive demographic, economic, and social change in Europe. The introduction of new food crops and animals also impacted the Americas.

5th thing to know about Period 1

As native populations dwindled, Europeans turned to Africa as a new source of forced labor, giving rise to the early plantation system and widespread system of slavery in the Americas