Period 1 APUSH Vocab

Columbian Exchange

the bi-directional transfer of plants, animals, people, diseases, ideas, and technologies between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia following 1492.

Causes-

• European Exploration: Motivated by trade, wealth, and competition among Iberian states after technological advances in navigation.

• Imperial rivalry between Spain and Portugal; institutionalized by papal support (e.g., Treaty of Tordesillas)

Effects-

• Demographic collapse in the Americas due to disease (e.g., smallpox, measles, flu)

• Population growth in Europe and Americas due to improved agricultural productivity of calore-rich crops like potatoes and maize.

• Slavery Expansion

• Horses introduced to Native American tribes

Conquistadors

Spanish military adventurers who led the conquest of Indigenous empires in the Americas (e.g., Cortes, Pizarro)

Causes-

• God, Gold, Glory

• Crown-sanctioned expeditions by monarchs like King Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle of Spain.

Effects-

• Collapse of major Indigenous civilizations like the Aztecs and Incas to form tribute systems like the encomienda and mit’a system to exploit indigenous labor.

• Reordering of social hierarchies (casta system)

Aztec Empire

Mesoamerican empire centered in Tenochtitlan, with a militarized tribute system and rich cultural/religious life.

Causes (for rise)-

• Triple Alliance and warfare - a pact developed between Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan.

• Agrarian innovation: Chinampas, a form of farming developed by Aztecs, enable high yields and urban density.

Mayan Empire

Collection of Mesoamerican polities known for writing, math, astronomy, and architecture, which largely predated Spanish arrival.

• Contained numerous strong city-state rulers and priests that worshipped the gods and answered to a hierarchical political structure that required obedience to the ruling class.

Incan Empire

Andean empire with an advanced road network, administrative census system, and mit’a.

Causes (rise)-

• Centralized authority at Sapa Inca and quipu accounting

• Conquest and incorporation: multi-ethnic empire built through annexation.

Effects (fall)-

• Pizarro conquest

• Colonial labor shifts: Mit’a adopted by Spanish for mining

Pueblo Revolt

(1680) - Coordinated Indigenous uprising in present-day New Mexico led by Pope, expelling Spanish for over a decade.

Causes-

• Religious suppression and labor exploitation via encomienda system

Effects-

• Temporary Indigenous rule

• While Spanish did return, they held more religious accommodations and decreased coercion to minimize rebellion & violence.

Encomienda System

Royal grants to Spaniards of Indigenous labor and tribute, justified by responsibility to Christianize

Causes-

• Labor Needs in Caribbean/Mesoamerica

• Conquest ideology: rewarding conquerors while integrating Indigenous populations

Effects-

• Abuse and depopulation

• Reform movements : Advocacy by Las Casas and transition to African Slavery

Protestant Reformation

(16th century) religious upheaval beginning with Martin Luther and expanding with Calvinism and other forms of Christianity, and thus fracturing European theocracy.

Causes-

• Church corruption and doctrinal disputes

• Printing press

Effects-

• Religious pluralism (state churches) and conflict

• Colonization Patterns: multiple Protestant dissenters (puritans, separatists, Quakers)

St. Jean de Brebeuf

Jesuit missionary among Huron; emblematic of French Catholic missions in New France.

• Made the “Huron Carol”, as well as a Huron-French Dictionary

• Died amid Iroquois warfare in Beaver Wars

Iroquois Confederacy

League of Native American nations wielding major diplomatic and military power in the Northeast.

Roanoke

England’s first attempted colony (1585-1587) that disappeared, the “Lost Colony.” Sir Richard Grenville led the military expeditions, while Sir Walter Raleigh led the colony.

Valladolid Debate

(1550-1551) formal debate in Spain over the moral/legal status of Indigenous people

• Las Casas vs. Sepulveda positions

Bartolome de Las Casas

Dominican friar advocating for Indigenous rights and humane treatment; wrote “A Short Account of the Destruction of Indies.”

• Had firsthand experience of the encomienda abuses in Caribbean

Juan Gines de Sepulveda

Spanish scholar who argued that Indigenous peoples were “natural slaves” and conquest was justified to civilize them (father-son relationship)