Cause and Effect, Continuity and Change Over Time, and Causation APUSH Unit 1

Three Sisters

Causation: Need for sustainable agriculture led to this symbiotic planting. Effect: Population growth & settled societies. CCOT: Continuous Native practice for centuries. Change: European crops later competed. Comparison: Contrasts with European monoculture; shows advanced ecological knowledge.

Pueblo

Causation: Adaptation to arid SW environment led to irrigation & adobe homes. Effect: Created stable, sedentary villages. CCOT: Continuous cultural presence in the SW. Change: Spanish conquest disrupted their societies. Comparison: More settled and agricultural than nomadic Great Basin groups like the Ute.

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)

Causation: Agriculture (3 Sisters) allowed permanent settlements. Effect: Formed a powerful political confederacy. CCOT: Maintained matrilineal society through European contact. Change: European trade goods altered their warfare & economy. Comparison: Their confederacy was more politically organized than the dispersed Algonquian tribes.

Chinampas

Causation: Adaptation to swampy lake environment around Tenochtitlán. Effect: High crop yields supported large urban population. CCOT: Aztec innovation building on earlier Mesoamerican knowledge. Change: Spanish destruction disrupted this system. Comparison: A form of intensive agriculture unique to the Aztecs, unlike slash-and-burn.

Mississippian Culture

Causation: Maize agriculture led to surplus & population growth. Effect: Development of large chiefdoms & mound-building. CCOT: Built on earlier Hopewell culture traditions. Change: Declined due to Little Ice Age & disease before major European contact. Comparison: Only N. American culture to develop large-scale urban centers like Cahokia.

Tenochtitlán

Causation: Aztec prophecy & strategic location on lake. Effect: Became a major urban center & imperial capital. CCOT: Built on earlier Mesoamerican urban traditions. Change: Destroyed by Cortés and rebuilt as Mexico City. Comparison: Larger and more planned than most contemporary European cities.

Matrilineal

Causation: Social structures valuing women's agricultural & clan roles. Effect: Women held significant societal power (e.g., Iroquois). CCOT: A continuous feature of many Native societies. Change: European patriarchal norms challenged this. Comparison: Contrasted sharply with European patrilineal descent and inheritance.

Cahokia

Causation: Control of Mississippi trade & maize agriculture. Effect: Largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. CCOT: Peak of Mississippian culture. Change: Abandoned c. 1350 likely due to environmental strain. Comparison: Was a larger urban center than anything in colonial America until Philadelphia.

Aztecs (Mexica)

Causation: Seminomadic tribe that migrated into Valley of Mexico. Effect: Built a powerful empire based on tribute & terror. CCOT: Continued Mesoamerican traditions of pyramid-building & ritual. Change: Conquered by Spanish alliance with their enemies. Comparison: More militaristic and expansionist than the Maya.

Maya

Causation: Developed in Yucatan rainforests with advanced agriculture. Effect: Created city-states with writing, math, & astronomy. CCOT: Longevity; peaked 300-900 CE but culture persisted. Change: Many cities abandoned before Spanish arrival. Comparison: Had the only fully developed writing system in the Americas.

Incas

Causation: Rose from Andean highlands to unify region. Effect: Built vast empire with road network & terrace farming. CCOT: Continued Andean traditions of mountain worship. Change: Conquered by Pizarro using superior technology & internal strife. Comparison: Their centralized, bureaucratic state was unlike the Aztec loose hegemony.

Beringia

Causation: Lower sea levels during Ice Ages created land bridge. Effect: Enabled migration of peoples from Asia into Americas. CCOT: The continuous process of migration over millennia. Change: Rising seas submerged it, isolating hemispheres. Comparison: Unlike later European migration, this was a slow, natural process.

Columbian Exchange

Causation: 1492 contact reconnected hemispheres. Effect: Demographic catastrophe (Americas) & economic boom (Europe). CCOT: The most significant ecological exchange in history. Change: permanently altered global populations, diets, and economies. Comparison: Asymmetrical exchange; Americas lost people, Europe gained wealth.

Caravel

Causation: Portuguese need to sail into wind along African coast. Effect: Enabled long-distance ocean exploration. CCOT: Combined Arab lateen sail with European hull design. Change: Made transatlantic voyages like Columbus's possible. Comparison: More maneuverable than older European ships.

Astrolabe

Causation: Need for navigation out of sight of land. Effect: Allowed sailors to determine latitude at sea. CCOT: Adapted from ancient Greek & Arab instruments. Change: Key technology for Age of Exploration. Comparison: Less accurate than later sextants but revolutionary for its time.

Henry the Navigator

Causation: Portuguese desire to bypass Mediterranean trade routes. Effect: Sponsored voyages down African coast, founding the Age of Exploration. CCOT: Continued Crusading spirit in a new form. Change: His school developed new navigation technologies. Comparison: His systematic approach differed from ad-hoc explorers like Columbus.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Causation: Papal mediation of Spanish-Portuguese territorial disputes. Effect: Divided New World, giving Brazil to Portugal, rest to Spain. CCOT: Continued papal authority in secular matters. Change: Set precedent for European division of foreign lands without consent. Comparison: Other European nations (England, France) ignored it completely.

Christopher Columbus

Causation: Seeking westward route to Asia for Spain. Effect: Initiated sustained contact between hemispheres. CCOT: Continued European expansionist trends. Change: His voyages began the Columbian Exchange. Comparison: His accidental discovery differed from da Gama's deliberate route to India.

Three G's

Causation: European nationalism, religious fervor, & economic ambition. Effect: Driving ideology behind exploration & conquest. CCOT: A continuous motivator for European expansion. Change: Emphasis shifted from God to Gold over time. Comparison: Spain emphasized all three; England & France later emphasized commerce.

Line of Demarcation

Causation: Pope Alexander VI's decree to prevent war between Spain & Portugal. Effect: Established the principle of Papal authority over global division. CCOT: Continued medieval papal power over monarchs. Change: Was largely ignored by other European powers. Comparison: A unique moment of papal intervention in global geography.

Spanish Inquisition

Causation: Desire for religious unity after Reconquista. Effect: Expulsion of Jews & Muslims; created a culture of intolerance. CCOT: Continued medieval religious persecution. Change: Its methods were applied in the New World. Comparison: More systematic and state-driven than other religious persecutions.

Nation-State

Causation: Decline of feudalism & rise of powerful monarchs. Effect: Centralized power & resources to fund exploration. CCOT: Emerged from medieval kingdoms. Change: Became the primary actor in European politics. Comparison: Spain unified early; Germany & Italy unified much later.

Renaissance

Causation: Rebirth of classical knowledge & urban growth. Effect: Fueled curiosity, innovation, & desire for luxury goods. CCOT: A cultural change building on medieval foundations. Change: Helped spark the Age of Exploration. Comparison: More secular than the later Reformation period.

Missionary

Causation: Religious zeal from Reformation & Counter-Reformation. Effect: Justified conquest & attempted cultural conversion of Natives. CCOT: Continued Christian evangelism from Crusades. Change: Operated on a global scale for the first time. Comparison: Spanish missionaries were more coercive than French Jesuits.

Vasco da Gama

Causation: Portuguese quest for direct sea route to Indian spice trade. Effect: Opened lucrative trade route, making Portugal wealthy. CCOT: Culmination of decades of Portuguese exploration. Change: Broke Italian & Muslim monopoly on Asian trade. Comparison: His success was economic; Columbus's was territorial.

Great Dying

Causation: Introduction of Old World diseases to New World populations with no immunity. Effect: Catastrophic demographic collapse (up to 90%), enabling conquest. CCOT: The most dramatic demographic change in history. Change: Led to importation of African slaves as labor source. Comparison: Scale of disaster was far greater than Black Death in Europe.

Atlantic World

Causation: Columbian Exchange created biological & economic links. Effect: New network of trade, migration, and conflict. CCOT: A new framework replacing isolated continents. Change: Europe became the center of a global system. Comparison: The first truly "global" world system.

Smallpox

Causation: Brought by Europeans and Africans to the Americas. Effect: The primary agent of the Great Dying. CCOT: Existed in Old World for millennia. Change: Its impact in the Americas was catastrophic and unprecedented. Comparison: More devastating than the Black Plague in its mortality rate.

Conquistadors

Causation: Younger sons seeking wealth & status not available in Europe. Effect: Conquered empires (Aztec, Inca) through force, disease, and alliance. CCOT: Continued medieval knight-errant tradition. Change: Their actions created a new Spanish empire. Comparison: More successful than later English adventurers due to targeting rich empires.

Encomienda System

Causation: Spanish crown's need to reward conquistadors with labor. Effect: Brutal exploitation of Natives, leading to demographic collapse. CCOT: A feudal-like system transferred to the New World. Change: Replaced by African slavery as Native population declined. Comparison: Unlike slavery, it was justified as a tool for Christianization.

Inflation

Causation: Vast influx of Spanish silver from American mines. Effect: Prices rose across Europe, hurting wages and fixed incomes. CCOT: A continuous economic phenomenon. Change: The "Price Revolution" was unprecedented in scale. Comparison: Spain suffered worst, while Dutch & English economies adapted better.

Demographic Collapse

Causation: Triple threat of disease, warfare, and forced labor. Effect: Near destruction of indigenous societies and cultures. CCOT: A rapid and catastrophic change. Change: Forced Spanish to seek new labor sources (Africans). Comparison: Unique in scale and speed in world history.

Cash Crops

Causation: European demand for sugar, tobacco, etc. Effect: Drove plantation economy and demand for slave labor. CCOT: Agriculture for profit, not subsistence. Change: Transformed American land use and economy. Comparison: Sugar was to Portugal as tobacco would be to England.

Triangular Trade

Causation: European demand for goods & colonial need for labor. Effect: Complex trade network linking Europe, Africa, and Americas. CCOT: Emerged from earlier bilateral trades. Change: Industrialized the transatlantic slave trade. Comparison: More complex and profitable than previous trade routes.

Feudalism

Causation: Need for local protection & organization after fall of Rome. Effect: Hierarchical social system based on land and loyalty. CCOT: The dominant European system for centuries. Change: Weakened by Black Death and New World wealth. Comparison: Less rigid than the later Spanish caste system.

Capitalism

Causation: Increased trade, price revolution, and influx of capital. Effect: Economic system based on private investment for profit. CCOT: Evolved from medieval merchant practices. Change: New World wealth accelerated its development. Comparison: More dynamic and growth-oriented than feudalism.

Requerimiento

Causation: Spanish need to justify conquest legally and theologically. Effect: Read to uncomprehending Natives to legitimize their enslavement. CCOT: Continued just war theory traditions. Change: A cynical legal fiction for conquest. Comparison: A unique and bizarre attempt to justify the unjustifiable.

Peninsulares

Causation: Spanish policy favoring European-born elites. Effect: Held all top political and religious positions in colonies. CCOT: Maintained a European ruling class. Change: Their privilege created resentment among Creoles. Comparison: Similar to British colonial governors sent from England.

Creoles (Criollos)

Causation: Spaniards born in the New World. Effect: Wealthy but excluded from highest office; led independence movements later. CCOT: Maintained Spanish identity but developed a new American one. Change: Their resentment grew over centuries. Comparison: Unlike British colonists, they were legally distinct from peninsulares.

Mestizo

Causation: Racial mixing between Spanish men and Native women. Effect: Created a large mixed-race population, often artisans. CCOT: A new social group that didn't exist before 1492. Change: Became the majority population in many areas. Comparison: The Spanish caste system had a category for them; British colonies had a stricter racial binary.

Hernán Cortés

Causation: Ambition for wealth and glory in the New World. Effect: Conquered the Aztec Empire through alliance, skill, and luck. CCOT: The most successful conquistador. Change: His conquest made Spain the richest nation in Europe. Comparison: More strategic and diplomatic than the brutal Pizarro.

Francisco Pizarro

Causation: Lust for gold and emulation of Cortés. Effect: Conquered the Inca Empire by exploiting a civil war. CCOT: Continued the conquistador pattern of violence. Change: Captured the largest silver mines in the world. Comparison: More brutally straightforward and less diplomatic than Cortés.

Malintzin (Doña Marina)

Causation: Enslaved and given to Cortés as a gift. Effect: Became translator, advisor, and strategist; essential to the conquest. CCOT: A symbol of the complex alliances that enabled conquest. Change: Her skills changed the course of history. Comparison: Her role was unique; few individuals had such a outsized impact on events.

Viceroyalty

Causation: Need to administer vast new territories. Effect: The largest administrative unit in the Spanish Empire. CCOT: A system of royal governors used since Roman times. Change: Applied on a transatlantic scale. Comparison: Spanish viceroys had more power than British royal governors.

Quinto Real (Royal Fifth)

Causation: Crown's need to profit from conquest. Effect: 20% tax on all precious metals, funding Spanish power. CCOT: A traditional royal claim on mineral wealth. Change: The scale of wealth was unprecedented. Comparison: A much heavier tax than anything imposed on British colonists.

New Spain

Causation: The conquest of Mexico required a new administration. Effect: The most important viceroyalty, center of Spanish power. CCOT: The first major European colonial administration in the Americas. Change: Model for later Spanish colonial government. Comparison: Richer and more populous than any English colony.

Tlaxcala

Causation: Their hatred for the Aztec Empire. Effect: Allied with Cortés, providing thousands of warriors crucial to victory. CCOT: Continued their long-standing resistance to Aztec rule. Change: Briefly gained privileged status under Spanish rule. Comparison: Their alliance was the key difference between Cortés's success and failure.

Potosí

Causation: Discovery of massive silver mountain. Effect: Became the world's largest silver mine, fueling global trade. CCOT: Continued Spanish extraction of mineral wealth. Change: Its immense output caused global economic shifts. Comparison: The source of Spain's wealth, unlike England's agricultural colonies.

Viceroy

Causation: King's need for a direct representative to rule colonies. Effect: Exercised vast executive, military, and judicial power. CCOT: A traditional imperial office. Change: Governed territories an ocean away from the crown. Comparison: Had far more autonomy than an English royal governor.

Valladolid Debate

Causation: Moral concerns over Spanish brutality in the New World. Effect: Limited reforms but ultimately justified continued conquest. CCOT: A unique moment of ethical self-reflection. Change: Established a legal framework for "just war" against Natives. Comparison: A debate about colonial ethics that no other empire held.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Causation: Witnessed and was horrified by the brutality of the encomienda. Effect: Became the "Defender of the Indians," arguing for their humanity. CCOT: Continued a Christian tradition of advocating for the oppressed. Change: His writings created the "Black Legend." Comparison: Initially advocated for African slavery to spare Natives, a position he later regretted.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

Causation: Aristotelian belief in "natural slaves." Effect: Argued that Spanish conquest and domination of Natives was justified. CCOT: Continued medieval scholastic debate techniques. Change: Provided a philosophical justification for imperialism. Comparison: His views represented the majority opinion among Spanish colonists.

Black Legend (Leyenda Negra)

Causation: The very real brutality of the conquest, amplified by Spain's rivals. Effect: Used by other European powers to justify their own colonization. CCOT: A persistent anti-Spanish propaganda narrative. Change: Shaped the historical view of Spanish colonization as uniquely cruel. Comparison: While other empires were brutal, Spain was successfully painted as the worst.

Mission System

Causation: 1573 shift from military to religious colonization. Effect: Forced assimilation, cultural destruction, and often disease. CCOT: Continued the goal of conversion. Change: Method changed from conquest to settled missions. Comparison: More coercive and sedentary than French Jesuit missions.

Pueblo Revolt

Causation: Spanish oppression, religious suppression, forced labor, and drought. Effect: Most successful Native uprising; killed 400 Spaniards and expelled them for 12 years. CCOT: Part of a long pattern of Native resistance. Change: Forced Spanish to be more tolerant upon their return. Comparison: Unique in its complete, though temporary, success in driving out Europeans.

Racial Justification for Slavery

Causation: Economic need for perpetual labor and the scale of the slave trade. Effect: Created the ideology of racism to legitimize brutal exploitation. CCOT: Evolved from earlier religious justifications for enslavement. Change: Hardened into a permanent, hereditary racial caste system. Comparison: Unlike earlier slavery, this was uniquely racial and perpetual.

"Sons of Ham"

Causation: Need to use the Bible to justify the enslavement of Africans. Effect: A powerful religious rationale for plantation slavery. CCOT: A misinterpretation of scripture used for new purposes. Change: Gave a divine sanction to the emerging racist ideology. Comparison: A specifically religious justification unlike later "scientific" racism.

Franciscans

Causation: The Spanish Crown's choice to use them for missionary work. Effect: The primary order running missions in the Spanish borderlands. CCOT: Continued their medieval role as a mendicant order. Change: Operated in a new cultural and geographic context. Comparison: More focused on settled mission towns than the itinerant Jesuits.

Santa Fe

Causation: Spanish desire to secure the northern frontier of New Spain. Effect: Became the capital and administrative center of the province. CCOT: A continuous seat of government since 1610. Change: Site of the Pueblo Revolt (1680) and reconquest (1692). Comparison: The oldest capital city in the present-day United States.

Cultural Assimilation

Causation: Spanish belief in the superiority of their culture and religion. Effect: Systematic destruction of Native languages, religions, and social structures. CCOT: A continuous goal of colonial powers. Change: The mission system was the primary instrument for this. Comparison: Spanish assimilation was more religiously focused, while later US policy was more focused on land ownership and education.

Tribute

Causation: Spanish feudal tradition and need to extract wealth. Effect: Impoverished Native communities by demanding goods and labor. CCOT: Continued the Aztec practice of demanding tribute. Change: The Spanish system was often more brutal and destabilizing. Comparison: A form of taxation that was more extractive than anything in the English colonies.

Perpetual Slavery

Causation: Economic need for a permanent, self-reproducing labor force. Effect: Defined slavery as a lifelong and inherited condition, based on race. CCOT: Broke from older traditions where slavery wasn't always permanent. Change: Created the brutal system of chattel slavery. Comparison: Defined the American system, unlike slavery in other times and places.

Gun-Slave Cycle

Causation: European demand for slaves and African demand for guns. Effect: Fueled intertribal warfare and destabilized West African societies. CCOT: A vicious cycle that intensified over time. Change: Transformed the nature of warfare and politics in Africa. Comparison: A unique feedback loop that did not exist before European coastal trading.