amstud u1 voocab

Adena-Hopewell

a culture centered in what is now Ohio; famous for their large earthen mounds they created that were as large as 300 feet long

Algonquian

a Native American language group located in the Northeast

Asiento System

the Spanish had to pay a tax on every West African slave they brought to the New World

Aztecs

powerful empire in central Mexico that formed after the Mayans declined; the capital had a population equivalent to one of the largest cities in Europe

Bartolome de Las Casas

Spanish priest who was an advocate for the rights of Native Americans and who eventually got Spanish monarchs to pass the New Laws of 1542.

Christopher Columbus

an explorer funded by Spain who believed he had found a new path to Asia, but had really found a New World, the Americas

Compass

a technological improvement--adopted from Arab merchants who learned about it from the Chinese--that made New World exploration possible.

Conquistadores

Spanish explorers and conquerors who conquered the New World

Corn/Maize

crops cultivated by the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs that provided a stable food supply

Disease

one thing exchanged between the Europeans and Native Americans; the Europeans contracted syphilis, while the Native Americans contracted smallpox and measles, which was detrimental to native populations

Encomienda System

a system where the Native Americans provided labor for the Spanish who got rich off of it and in return they would get "care" from their masters.

Ferdinand and Isabella

monarchs of an emerging nation-state, Spain; funded Columbus

Francisco Pizarro

lead the conquest of the Incas in Peru and secured Spain's initial supremacy in the Americas

Henry Hudson

an English sailor hired by the Dutch who found a river that was later named after him; this exploration laid Dutch claim to New Amsterdam aka New York

Henry the Navigator

monarch of Portugal that helped spread maritime technology

Hernan Cortes

lead the conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico

Hokokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos

tribes located in dry regions such as Arizona and New Mexico that were supported by farming with irrigation systems

Horses

introduction of this animal radically changed the way of life for most Great Plains Indians

Incas

a civilization based in Peru that developed a vast South American empire

Iroquois Confederation

a political union of five tribes who lived in the Mohawk Valley of New York and were a powerful against rival tribes and Europeans alike

Jacques Cartier

French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence River

John Cabot

an Italian sea captain who sailed under contract to England's King Henry VII; explored Newfoundland in 1497

Juan Gines de Sepulveda

a Spanish priest who argued that Indians were less than human and they benefited from the encomienda system

Lakota Sioux

Great Plains tribes who moved from farming to hunting when horses were introduced; hunted buffalo and lived in teepees; commonly nomadic

Land Bridge

land that connected Siberia and Alaska that is now underwater; used by the now Native Americans to get to the Americas

Longhouses

Iroquois houses that were up to 200 feet long

Mayas

around between 300 and 800A.D. they built remarkable cities in rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula

Nation-State

countries in which the majority of people shared both a common culture and common loyalty toward a central government

New Laws of 1542

laws put in place by the Spanish monarchs with the lobbying of Bartolome de las Casas who was an advocate of the American Indians' rights; ended Indian slavery and forced Indian labor and began to end the encomienda system

Printing Press

a technological advancement that came around in the 1450s that aided the spread of knowledge across Europe

Protestant Reformation

when Christians revolted against the pope's authority leading to a series of religious wars

Roanoke Island

a failed English settlement in the New World led by Sir Walter Raleigh

Samuel de Champlain

the "Father of New France" who established the first permanent French colony at Quebec in 1608

Siouan

a Native American language group located in the Great Plains

Slavery

people were taken from other countries typically to work without pay to make their slave owners money

Slave Trade

West African people were brought to different places for free labor

Treaty of Tordesillas

established a vertical line that split the New World in half, granting the west to Spain and the east to Portugal

Valladolid Debate

a formal argument over whether Indians were human and were therefore entitled to human rights. There was no winner to the debate

Woodland Mound Builders

people who built timber and bark lodgings along rivers

triangular trade

A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Africa sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa

three sister farming

Agricultural system employed by North American Indians as early as 1000 A.D.; maize, beans and squash were grown together to maximize yields.

columbian exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

mestizos

A person of mixed Native American and European ancestory

mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought