AP US History Period 1: Key Explorers, Systems, and Themes

Christopher Columbus

Christopher was an Italian explorer famous for his 1492 expedition to the new world in search for a new route to Asia but he found the Americas.

John Cabot

John Cabot was an Italian explorer and navigator who traded species plus other goods in the eastern Mediterranean. He was most known for his 1497 voyage to North America.

Ponce De Leon

Ponce De Leon was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who is most known for leading the first European expedition from Puerto Rico in 1508 and Florida in 1513.

Hernando De Soto

Hernando De Soto was known for his discovery of the Mississippi River and participated in the conquest of Central and South America.

Francisco Coronado

Francisco Coronado was a governor and Spanish explorer who led an expedition across North America from the years 1540-1542.

Bartolome de Las Casas

Bartolome de las Casas was a Spanish lawyer, clergyman, writer, and activist known for his work as a historian and a social reformer.

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian explorer from the Republic of Florence, who was the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between Florida and New Brunswick in the year 1524.

Don Juan de Onate

Don Juan de Onate is significant because he was the leader of the first European expedition to establish a permanent colony in New Mexico.

Robert de La Salle

Robert de La Salle was a French explorer and fur trader in North America between the years 1669-1687.

Treaty of Tordesillas

The Treaty of Tordesillas was an agreement in 1494 between Spain and Portugal to divide newly discovered lands of the world between them by a line of demarcation.

Mestizos

Mestizos were the mix between Native Americans and European colonists and settlers primarily Spanish.

Mound Builders

The 'Mound Builders' were Native American groups from pre-Columbian era (3500 BCE to the 16 century CE) who built thousands of earthen mounds for various purposes.

Cahokia

Cahokia was the largest pre-Columbian Native American city north of Mexico which flourished between 700-1400 CE near modern day St. Louis.

Conquistadores

Conquistadores were Spanish and Portuguese soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who sailed to the Americas and other parts of the world between the 15th-17th centuries.

Puebloans

Puebloans are Native Americans in the SW US who live in and around traditional, multi-story adobe or stone structures which are called pueblos.

Joint stock companies

A joint stock company is a business whose stock is owned jointly by the shareholders.

Hiawatha

Hiawatha was a pre-colonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Encomienda system

The encomienda system was a Spanish labor system which awarded conquerors with labor from the non-Christian people.