Native American Societies, European Conquest, and Colonial Slavery

Wampanoag

The Algonquian people who interacted with the Pilgrims in Plymouth.

Massasoit

Their leader was Massasoit.

Native American Religion

Generally animistic, believing that spirits could be found in all aspects of nature.

Iroquois Confederacy

A powerful league of five Native American nations in the Northeast.

Matrilineal Society

Known for their matrilineal society and longhouses.

Native American Women

Held significant power and influence in many societies, particularly in matrilineal ones like the Iroquois.

Agriculture and Family Lineage

They were often responsible for agriculture, property, and family lineage.

Native Americans in Southwest and Northeast

Southwest: Settled agriculturalists (Pueblo) who used irrigation. Northeast: Practiced a mix of agriculture and hunting (Iroquois, Algonquian).

Puritans and Pilgrims

Puritans wanted to 'purify' the Church of England; Pilgrims were Separatists who broke away.

Prayer Towns

Villages established by Puritans for Native American converts to Christianity.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Old World and the New World.

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers and explorers who led the conquest of the Americas.

Hernando Cortez and Francisco Pizarro

Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico; Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incan Empire in Peru.

Encomienda

A Spanish labor system that granted conquerors the labor of particular groups of Native Americans.

Aztecs and Incas

Aztecs: The powerful empire in central Mexico conquered by Cortez. Incas: A vast empire in the Andean region of South America conquered by Pizarro.

African Slave Trade

The process of enslaving and transporting Africans to the Americas to provide labor for plantations.

Indentured Servitude

A labor contract where a person worked for a fixed term (4-7 years) in exchange for passage to the colonies.

Society with Slaves

A society where slavery is one of multiple labor systems, but not the dominant one.

Polygenesis

A theory of human origins which posits that human races are of different origins.

Slave Society

A society where slavery is the dominant economic and social institution.

Slavery in the Chesapeake Colonies

A system where slavery was based on tobacco plantations, with enslaved people often working alongside white overseers on smaller farms.

Slavery in Low Country Colonies

A system of slavery in the Carolinas based on large-scale rice and indigo plantations.