Period 1 (1491–1607) Video Notes — Practice Flashcards

A set of practice flashcards covering key concepts from Period 1 (1491–1607) notes, including motives for exploration, Columbian Exchange, Native American societies, European imperial strategies, and early colonial systems.

What were the 'Three Gs' that motivated European exploration?

Gold, God, and Glory.

What is the Columbian Exchange?

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas and the Old World after Columbus's voyages.

What caused a dramatic population decline among Native peoples after European contact?

Germs/disease introduced by Europeans.

Name three major pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas and a key hallmark of each.

The Maya (city-building and calendars in Mesoamerica); The Aztecs (Tenochtitlan, large urban center in central Mexico); The Incas (vast empire in western South America with advanced roads and irrigation).

What does the Pizarro/Inca source excerpt illustrate about evaluating historical accounts?

It shows how European writers described indigenous religion and daily life, revealing bias and perspective in historical sources.

Describe Native American societies in North America before European contact in terms of mobility, governance, and language.

Some groups were nomadic, others sedentary; governance varied (tribal councils or chiefs); many distinct language families and no single written language.

Which region is known for totem poles and longhouses in pre-Columbian North America?

The Northwest Coast.

What were Cahokia and Adena–Hopewell known for?

Major mound-building societies in the Mississippi River Valley with large urban centers supported by surrounding agricultural hamlets.

Which confederation united several Northeast tribes into a powerful alliance?

The Iroquois Confederation (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Tuscarora).

Name a major Mesoamerican or Andean civilization and a notable achievement.

Maya (calendar and trade networks); Aztecs (Tenochtitlan as a major city); Incas (vast empire with sophisticated roads and irrigation).

What navigational technology aided European exploration in the Renaissance?

The caravel and other advances (improved sailing techniques, compass, etc.).

Who sponsored Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage?

Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (the Catholic Monarchs).

What two agreements divided newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal?

Line of Demarcation and the Treaty of Tordesillas.

What was the Encomienda System?

A Spanish royal grant giving land and Native labor to colonists, with natives forced to labor on land and in mines.

Name the major groups in the Spanish caste system.

Peninsulares, Criollos, Mestizos, Mulattos, Indios, Negros.

What was the Valladolid Debate about?

A formal discussion in Spain about Indian slavery, with Las Casas arguing for humane treatment and Sepúlveda arguing Indians were inferior and slave labor could be justified.

What policy changes did Bartolomé de Las Casas influence in the 1540s–1542?

The New Laws of 1542 aimed to end Indian slavery and curb forced labor.

How did English and French approaches to Native Americans differ in the Americas?

English pursued settlement and displacement of natives; viewed natives as savage and often sought removal; French focused on fur trading, alliances, and sometimes cooperation with Native groups and missionary efforts.

What impact did maize and other New World crops have on Europe via the Columbian Exchange?

They contributed to population growth in Europe due to new, calorie-rich foods like maize and potatoes.

What economic shift did the Rise of Capitalism and the Atlantic Economy describe?

Wealth shifted from land-based feudal power to money and merchants; increased cross-Atlantic trade and the development of capitalism; later supported by policies like the Navigation Acts.

What was the primary difference between the encomienda system and slave labor in the Spanish colonies?

Encomienda exploited Native American labor (land grants with coerced labor); slavery primarily exported Africans and established a race-based system of permanent bondage.

Which crops and animals moved from the Americas to Europe in the Columbian Exchange?

Crops like maize and potatoes; animals like horses and cattle; sugarcane and other goods also transferred.

What was the significance of sugar plantations depicted in the 1595 engraving?

They illustrate the plantation economy and the growing reliance on enslaved African labor in the Caribbean.

How did the spread of horses affect Great Plains Native American groups after contact with Europeans?

Horses enabled more mobile, horse-based economies and often diminished reliance on farming.

What was a key feature of the Great Basin and Great Plains economies?

Hunter-gatherer lifestyles with nomadic mobility and, later, horse-assisted mobility; buffalo as a central resource.