APUSH Unit 1: 1491-1607 Review

Comprehensive practice questions and answers covering the major themes of AP US History Unit 1, including indigenous societies, European motivations, the Columbian Exchange, and colonial labor systems.

What are the chronological bookends for APUSH Unit 1?

The period from $1491$, one year before Columbus's arrival, to $1607$, the founding of Jamestown.

What primary factor determined the diversity and development of indigenous populations in the Americas?

Geography played a significant role in the development of varied and diverse native societies.

Where and when was maize first cultivated in the Americas?

It was first cultivated in southern Mexico by at least $5,000$ B.C.E.

What were the four primary effects of maize cultivation on indigenous societies?

Economic development, permanent (sedentary) settlements, advanced irrigation techniques, and social diversification.

Which massive Aztec capital city was made possible by maize cultivation?

Tenochtitlan.

How did the Iroquois of the Northeast adapt their infrastructure to their forested environment?

They built longhouses, which could house multiple generations of a family, sometimes up to $200$ people.

What does it mean that many indigenous cultures, such as the Cherokee, were matrilineal?

Power and possessions were passed down through generations on the mother's side rather than the father's side.

What was the largest Mississippian settlement near the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys?

Cahokia, which had a population of between $10,000$ and $20,000$ people.

How did indigenous groups like the Ute in the Great Basin and Great Plains regions adapt to their dry climate?

They developed nomadic lifestyles, lived in mobile shelters like animal skin teepees, and hunted buffalo.

Why were societies like the Chinook and Chumash in the Northwest able to establish sedentary lifestyles without agriculture?

They had access to abundant food resources from the ocean and the surrounding environment.

What were the three primary categories of motivation for European exploration?

Gold (economic), God (religious), and Glory (political).

Why did Europeans seek sea routes to Asian markets starting in the mid-15th century?

In $1453$, the Ottoman Empire gained control of land routes, requiring Europeans to find a way to bypass middlemen.

What were two key maritime technologies that aided European navigation during the Age of Exploration?

The magnetic compass and the astrolabe.

What was the caravel?

A fast, highly navigable Portuguese ship that used the Latin sail to take wind from both directions.

What was the purpose of a joint stock company?

To fund exploration by pooling wealth from several investors, which shared the risk and the potential profit.

What type of empire did Portugal establish under Prince Henry the Navigator?

A trading post empire, which focused on controlling strategic posts along the African coast and Indian Ocean rather than large colonies.

What significant economic shift occurred in Europe due to the influx of wealth from the Americas?

The transition from feudalism, where wealth was based on land, to capitalism, where wealth was based on capital and means of production.

Define the Encomienda system.

A system of coerced labor where the Spanish crown granted land to colonists (encomanderos) who then used the indigenous people on that land for plantation agriculture and mining.

What was the Spanish casta system?

A race-based social hierarchy that organized society according to a person's perceived racial purity, with Spaniards at the top and indigenous or African people at the bottom.

What event in $1517$ split the Christian church in Europe and fueled religious competition for colonies?

The Protestant Reformation, started by Martin Luther.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494$)?

An agreement between Spain and Portugal that used a line of demarcation to divide New World territories between them.

By approximately what percentage were some indigenous populations reduced due to European diseases by $1600$?

$90$ \%.

Which animal introduced by the Spanish had the most significant impact on Great Plains indigenous groups like the Apache and Comanche?

The horse, which fundamentally altered hunting and warfare.

How did European and indigenous worldviews differ regarding land use?

Europeans believed in individual land ownership as a commodity, while indigenous people viewed land as a communal resource with spiritual value.

What was the Taino Rebellion of $1511$?

A military resistance by the native people of Puerto Rico against the brutal conditions of the Encomienda system and forced Christian conversion.

Who were the primary opposing figures in the Valladolid debates regarding the treatment of indigenous people?

Bartolome de las Casas, who advocated for their humanity, and Juan Gines de Sepulveda, who argued they were less than human and benefited from service.

What was the 'Curse of Ham' argument used for?

A biblical justification used by some Christians to support the brutal treatment and enslavement of Africans based on the mark of dark skin.