The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492 (Flashcards)

Flashcards covering key people, places, and concepts from The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492, including civilizations (Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Inca, Pueblo, Cahokia), exploration motives, slavery, and major events."

Which 1507 map is credited as the first to incorporate the word 'America' and who produced it?

The Waldseemüller map created by Martin Waldseemüller and Matthais Ringmann.

What term did early Europeans use for the inhabitants of the newly encountered lands, mistakenly believing they had reached the East Indies?

Indians.

What is globalization, and how did it relate to European exploration in this period?

Globalization is the increasing interconnectedness of the world, which accelerated as western Europeans discovered the riches of the East.

What trade route did Europeans seek to bypass the overland Silk Road, leading to the Atlantic World?

A direct sea route to Asia by sailing west.

What is Beringia?

An ancient land bridge that connected Asia and North America, enabling migration to the Americas.

Which civilization is considered the mother of Mesoamerican cultures and produced colossal head sculptures?

The Olmec.

Which major Mesoamerican city near modern Mexico City contains the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon?

Teotihuacan.

Which civilization created the only known written language in the Western Hemisphere and developed a calendar in Mesoamerica?

The Olmec.

What was the Aztec capital located on an island in Lake Texcoco and home to over 200,000 people by 1519?

Tenochtitlán.

What was the Aztec ritual practice aimed at sustaining the sun?

Daily human sacrifices, including removing the beating heart with obsidian blades.

Which Inca device was used to record information with knots and colored strings?

Quipu.

What was the Inca mita?

The labor tax requiring peasants to work on public projects for the ruler.

What Inca city, built around 1450 CE and rediscovered in 1911, is renowned for its architecture?

Machu Picchu.

Which North American center along the Mississippi River had more than 10,000 residents around 1100 CE and featured numerous earthen mounds?

Cahokia.

Name the three West African empires discussed in the notes.

Ghana, Mali, and Songhai (with Timbuktu as a major center).

Which West African empire surpassed Ghana by around 1200 CE and had a Muslim-leaning court under Sundiata Keita?

The Mali Empire.

Which West African empire eclipsed Mali by 1500 CE and featured rulers like Sonni Ali, with Gao as a center?

The Songhai Empire.

What marked the beginning of the European slave trade with Africans and Madeira in 1444?

The transport of enslaved Africans to work on Madeira sugar plantations began, marking the start of the European slave trade.

Why did New World slavery become permanent and race-based?

Because labor demands on plantations combined with racial categorization created a permanent, hereditary system of slavery tied to skin color.