History Who

Tupi

Indigenous peoples of coastal Brazil.

Mayas

Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples who developed sophisticated civilizations.

The Aztecs

The Mexican people and imperial allies who dominated central Mexico.

The Incas

An Indigenous Andean civilization governed by an imperial elite.

Tenochtitlan

The Mexica (Aztec) people who founded and governed the city.

Cuzco

The Incas, who established Cuzco as their imperial capital.

Iberians

The Spanish and Portuguese peoples.

Encounter

Indigenous Americans, Europeans, and Africans.

Reconquista

Christian Iberian kingdoms fighting against Muslim-ruled territories.

Prince Henry the Navigator

A Portuguese prince and patron of maritime exploration.

Hernán Cortés

A Spanish conquistador.

Malinche

An Indigenous Nahua woman also known as Malintzin or Doña Marina.

Moctezuma

Moctezuma II, ruler of the Aztec Empire.

Bartolomé de las Casas

A Spanish Dominican friar and former encomendero.

Virgin Soil Epidemics

Indigenous American populations exposed to infectious diseases introduced from the Old World.

Encomienda

Spanish conquistadores and settlers called encomenderos, along with Indigenous communities placed under their authority.

Hegemony

Colonial ruling elites, including Spanish and Portuguese officials, landowners, and the Catholic Church.

Transculturation

Indigenous Americans, Africans, Europeans, and their descendants.

Caste System

Peninsulares, Creoles, Mestizos, Mulattos, Indigenous peoples, Africans, and other colonial populations.

Patriarchy

Men and women living within male-dominated colonial institutions and households.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

A Mexican Catholic nun, poet, playwright, and intellectual.

Virgin of Guadalupe

The Virgin Mary, traditionally believed to have appeared to the Indigenous convert Juan Diego.

Hacienda

Wealthy colonial landowners, Indigenous laborers, peasants, and tenant farmers.

Plantation

European colonial landowners and enslaved African laborers.

Engenho

Portuguese plantation owners known as senhores de engenho and enslaved African workers.

Fringes of Empire

Indigenous communities, colonial settlers, cattle herders, missionaries, and frontier populations.

Bandeirantes

Portuguese Brazilian frontier explorers, raiders, and Indigenous slave hunters, primarily based in São Paulo.

Xica da Silva

An Afro-Brazilian woman who rose from enslavement to wealth and social prominence.

Capoeira

Enslaved and free Afro-Brazilian communities.

Palmares

Communities of formerly enslaved Africans, free Black residents, and some Indigenous people, including leaders such as Zumbi.

Gaspar Yanga

An African leader of a community of formerly enslaved people in colonial Mexico.

Yerba Mate

The Guarani people and later Jesuit missionaries, colonial settlers, and gaucho communities.

Candomblé

Enslaved and free Afro-Brazilian communities descended from Africans, especially those from West and Central Africa.

Guarani

Indigenous peoples of southern South America.

Gauchos

Horse-mounted cattle herders of diverse backgrounds, including mixed Indigenous and European ancestry.

Manumission

Enslaved Africans and their descendants, along with slave owners and colonial legal authorities.

Creoles and Peninsulares

Creoles were American-born people of Spanish ancestry, while Peninsulares were born in Spain.

Tupac Amaru II

José Gabriel Condorcanqui, an Indigenous nobleman who claimed descent from Inca royalty.

João VI

The Portuguese prince regent who became King João VI, father of Pedro I.

Miguel Hidalgo

A Creole Catholic priest and early leader of Mexican independence.

Grito de Dolores

Father Miguel Hidalgo and his parishioners.

José María Morelos

A Mexican Catholic priest and revolutionary military leader.

Nativism / Americanos

American-born Creoles, Mestizos, Indigenous peoples, and Afro-descendant populations.

Simón Bolívar

A Venezuelan Creole military and political leader known as El Libertador.

José de San Martín

An Argentine military general and independence leader.

Angostura Address

Simón Bolívar.

Pedro I

The son of Portuguese King João VI and the first emperor of independent Brazil.

Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero

Agustín de Iturbide was a conservative Creole military officer, while Vicente Guerrero was a revolutionary insurgent leader.

Liberalism

Latin American intellectuals, merchants, political reformers, and landowners who supported liberal ideas.

Costumbrismo

Latin American artists, writers, and intellectuals.

Caudillo

Powerful military leaders and regional political strongmen.

Antonio López de Santa Anna

A Mexican general, politician, and caudillo who repeatedly served as president.

Juan Seguín

A Tejano military and political leader born in San Antonio.

Las Gorras Blancas

Hispanic land defenders and rural activists in New Mexico.

Mexican-American War

The United States and Mexico.

Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary

US Presidents James Monroe and Theodore Roosevelt.

Benito Juárez

A Zapotec Indigenous Mexican lawyer, liberal reformer, and president.

William Walker

An American adventurer, filibuster, and supporter of slavery.