AP US History Unit 1 Review Flashcards

Flashcards covering the key vocabulary and concepts from the AP US History Unit 1 lecture, focusing on Native American societies before European contact, European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, early colonization, and the justification of exploitation.

Native Americans

The diverse groups of people inhabiting the American continent before European arrival, with varied societies adapted to different environments.

Pueblo People

Native American people of Utah and Colorado, known for farming (beans, squash, maize), advanced irrigation systems, and cliff dwellings.

Maize

A corn-like crop cultivated by the Pueblo people.

Ute People

Native American groups in the Great Basin and Great Plains regions, known for nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles, hunting buffalo, and organizing into egalitarian kinship bands.

Chumash People

Native American people along the Pacific Coast (e.g., California), who developed permanent settlements due to abundant resources and participated in regional trade networks.

Chinook Peoples

Native American people in the Pacific Northwest, known for building extensive plank houses for whole families and kinship groups.

Iroquois People

Native American people in the Northeast, known for farming and living communally in longhouses constructed from timber.

Cahokia

Native American people in the Mississippi River Valley, known for farming and trade along waterways; the largest group was the Cahokia.

Cahokia Civilization

A civilization in the Mississippi River Valley with a centralized government led by powerful chieftains.

European political unification

Political unification and strengthening of central governments ruled by monarchs in European kingdoms from the 1300s to 1400s.

Asian luxury goods

Luxury goods from Asia that Europeans desired.

Land-based trading routes

Muslims controlled these routes, hindering European trade with Asia.

Portugal

The leading European power in seeking sea-based routes for trade, establishing trading posts around Africa.

Trading Post Empire

A network of trading posts established by Portugal around Africa and in the Indian Ocean.

Maritime

Related to the sea.

Updated astronomical charts

charts that helped the Portuguese with their reckoning

Astrolabe

Instrument used by the Portuguese for navigation and reckoning.

New ship design

A smaller, faster ship design used by the Portuguese

Borrowed Technology

Sail and stern-post rudder are examples of this, helping ships navigate more accurately

Reconquista

The completion of the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the North African Muslim Moors by Spain.

Christopher Columbus

Italian sailor sponsored by Spain (Ferdinand and Isabella) to sail west to find new wealth in Asian markets.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of people, animals, plants, and diseases from the East to the West and from the West to the East following Columbus's arrival in the Americas.

New World crops

Foods like potatoes, tomatoes, and maize that crossed the Atlantic from the Americas to Europe.

Animals from the Americas

Animals like turkeys that traveled from The Americas to Europe during the Columbian Exchange

European crops

Things like wheat, rice and soybeans that traveled from Europe to The Americas during the Columbian Exchange

European Animals

Animals like cattle, pigs and horses that traveled from Europe to The Americas during the Columbian Exchange

Smallpox

A disease brought by Europeans to the Americas that decimated native populations due to their lack of immunity.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and free exchange, which began to replace feudalism due to the influx of wealth from the Americas.

Joint Stock Companies

Limited liability organizations in which investors pooled their money to fund exploration ventures, sharing profits if successful.

Encomienda System

An economic system whereby Spaniards forced natives to work on plantations and extract gold and silver; later replaced by African enslaved labor.

Casta System

system categorized people in the Americas based on racial ancestry introduced by the Spanish

Peninsulares

Spaniards born in Spain, at the top of the casta system.

Criollos (Creoles)

Spaniards born in the Americas.

Mestizos

Those born of Spanish and Native American blood

Mulatos

Those born of Spanish and African blood

Juan Guines de Sepulveda

Priests that argued that Native Americans were less than human.

Bartolome de las Casas

Priests who believed native humanity was worthy of defense