Unit 1: European Encounters in the Americas ($$1491$$-$$1607$$)

Vocabulary flashcards covering the context, environmental interactions, and cultural consequences of European exploration in the Americas between $$1491$$ and $$1607$$.

Maize

A crop grown in land with fertile soil, highly cultivated by the Mayas and Aztecs, which prompted economic growth and the development of irrigation systems.

Columbian Exchange

The biological and cultural exchange of animals, plants, and germs between the Americas and Europe following Columbus' voyages.

Land bridge

A connection once existing between Siberia and Alaska that indigenous Americans crossed about $10,000$ to $40,000$ years ago.

Mayas

A highly developed civilization in Guatemala known for organized societies, trade, scientific calendars, and maize cultivation.

Aztecs

A major civilization in Mexico that developed organized social structures and cultivated maize.

Incas

A highly developed civilization in South America that cultivated potatoes and created complex societies.

Hohokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos

Groups in the dry regions of Arizona and New Mexico who evolved into multifaceted societies living in caves or multi-storied buildings.

Totem poles

Created by people along the Pacific coast to remember stories, legends, and myths.

Tepees

Easily disassembled and transportable dwellings used by nomadic tribes in the Great Plains to follow buffalo.

Adena-Hopewell culture

A Woodland American Indian culture located in Ohio, famous for its large earthen mounds.

Iroquois Confederation

A group of several tribes living near the Great Lakes and in New York who battled rival Indians and Europeans.

Renaissance

A period of religious zeal and conflict characterized by improvements in shipbuilding, mapmaking, and the printing press.

Protestant Reformation

A movement leading to religious wars that motivated Catholics and Protestants to spread their versions of Christianity globally.

Nation-states

Political structures that replaced small kingdoms and multiethnic empires, where monarchs used trade to bring in revenue.

Treaty of Tordesillas

An agreement that moved the Pope's line of demarcation, allowing Spain to claim the rest of the Americas.

Joint-stock company

A business owned by many investors that reduced individual risk and promoted economic growth through sea exploration.

Encomienda system

A Spanish labor system where Native Americans were tied to a Spaniard and forced to work on farms or in mines.

Asiento system

A requirement for Spanish colonists to pay a tax to the king on each enslaved person imported to the Americas.

Middle Passage

The journey across the Atlantic Ocean during which $10\%$ to $15\%$ of enslaved Africans died.

Caste system

A social hierarchy created by the Spanish to define status by heritage, with pure Spaniards at the top and Africans or Native Americans at the bottom.

Bartolome de Las Casas

A European advocate for better treatment of Indians who persuaded the king to pass the New Laws of $1542$.

New Laws of $1542$

Legislation aimed at ending Indian slavery, though parts were later repealed by the Spanish king.

Valladolid Debate

A formal debate in $1550$-$1551$ regarding the human rights of Native Americans, featuring Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

A Spaniard who argued that Native Americans were less than human during the Valladolid Debate.