Unit 1 of APUSH A New World of Many Cultures, 1491-1607

Practice vocabulary flashcards covering the pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas, the age of exploration, and the subsequent biological and cultural exchanges during Period 1 (1491-1607).

Christopher Columbus

An Italian-born navigator who, with the backing of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain in $1492$, successfully reached lands on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, initiating permanent interaction between people from all over the globe.

Columbian Exchange

A trans-Atlantic transfer of plants, animals, and germs—such as beans, corn, potatoes, horses, and smallpox—resulting from the contact between Europeans and the original inhabitants of the Americas.

Mayas

A highly developed civilization that built remarkable cities in the rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula between A.D. $300$ and $800$ and cultivated corn (maize) as a stable food supply.

Aztecs

A powerful empire from central Mexico whose capital, Tenochtitlan, had a population of about $200,000$, equivalent to the largest cities of Europe.

Incas

A South American civilization based in Peru that developed a vast empire and provided a stable food supply through the cultivation of potatoes.

corn (maize)

A staple crop cultivated by the Mayas and Aztecs that provided a stable food supply and slowly spread northward from Mexico to North America, influencing the size and sophistication of native societies.

Algonquian

One of the largest American Indian language families, primarily located in the Northeast region of North America.

Siouan

One of the largest American Indian language families, primarily located on the Great Plains.

Hokokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos

Southwest settlement groups in the dry region of present-day New Mexico and Arizona who evolved multifaceted societies supported by farming with irrigation systems and lived in multistoried buildings or caves.

Lakota Sioux

A Great Plains tribe that used horses acquired from Spanish settlers in the $17\text{th}$ century to move away from farming to hunting buffalo.

Adena-Hopewell culture

A Midwest settlement culture centered in present-day Ohio famous for creating large earthen mounds, some as large as $300$ feet long.

Iroquois Confederation

A political union of five independent tribes—the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk—who lived in the Mohawk Valley of New York and were a powerful force from the $16\text{th}$ century through the American Revolution.

Renaissance

A rebirth of classical learning in Europe during the $15\text{th}$ and $16\text{th}$ centuries that prompted artistic and scientific activity, including technological advances like the sailing compass and printing press.

Protestant Reformation

An early $1500\text{s}$ revolt by Christians in northern European countries against the authority of the pope in Rome, adding a religious motive for exploration and colonization.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A $1494$ agreement between Spain and Portugal that moved the pope's line of demarcation a few degrees to the west, establishing Portugal's claim to Brazil.

Encomienda system

A labor system in which the king of Spain gave grants of land and natives to individual Spaniards, who used the natives for farming or mining and claimed the fruits of their labor.

Asiento system

A system requiring the Spanish to pay a tax to their king on each enslaved person they imported to the Americas from West Africa.

Conquistadores

Spanish explorers and conquerors, such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, whose victories and wealth acquisition from the Americas made Spain the richest nation in Europe.

New Laws of 1542

Legislation persuaded by Bartolome de Las Casas that ended Indian slavery, halted forced Indian labor, and began the process of ending the encomienda system.

Valladolid Debate

A formal debate in $1550-1551$ where Bartolome de Las Casas argued for the humanity and equality of Indians while Juan Gines de Sepulveda argued they were less than human and benefited from service to Spaniards.

Bartolome de Las Casas

A Spanish priest who became an advocate for better treatment of Native Americans and established basic arguments on behalf of justice for Indians.

Juan Gines de Sepulveda

A Spanish priest who argued that Indians were less than human and benefited from serving the Spaniards in the encomienda system during the Valladolid Debate.

St. Augustine

A permanent settlement established by the Spanish in $1565$, which today is the oldest city in North America founded by Europeans.

Quebec

The first permanent French settlement in America, established by Samuel de Champlain in $1608$ on the St. Lawrence River.

New Amsterdam

The area surrounding the Hudson River claimed by the Dutch following Henry Hudson's $1609$ expedition, eventually granted to the Dutch West India Company.

Nation-states

Countries where the majority of people share both a common culture and common loyalty toward a central government, emerging in $15\text{th}$ century Europe.

Cahokia

One of the largest Midwest settlements near present-day East St. Louis, Illinois, which housed as many as $30,000$ inhabitants.

Henry the Navigator

The Portuguese prince whose sponsorship of voyages succeeded in opening up a long sea route around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

Bering Sea

The body of water that now submerges the land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska, which Asian migrants crossed to settle in North America.

Jacques Cartier

A French explorer who extensively explored the St. Lawrence River between $1534$ and $1542$, forming basis for French territorial claims.

John Cabot

An Italian sea captain who sailed under contract to England's King Henry VII and explored the coast of Newfoundland in $1497$.