Period 1, ch 1 APUSH vocab

Cahokia – Large Mississippian city near present-day St. Louis; known for its mound structures and trade networks.

Anasazi – Ancient people of the Southwest; built cliff dwellings and used irrigation farming.

Matrilineal – System where family lineage and inheritance are traced through the mother.

Columbian Exchange – Transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Old and New Worlds after 1492.

Bartolomé de las Casas – Spanish priest who criticized the mistreatment of Native Americans and advocated for their rights.

Mulattos – People of mixed African and European ancestry in the Spanish colonies.

Creoles – Spaniards born in the Americas; second in social status below Peninsulares.

Zambo – People of mixed Native American and African ancestry.

Iroquois Confederacy – Alliance of Native tribes in the Northeast that formed a powerful political and military union.

Pueblo – Native peoples of the Southwest who built adobe homes and practiced dryland farming.

Mestizos – People of mixed European and Native ancestry in the Spanish colonies.

Mercantilism – Economic system where colonies exist to benefit the mother country by providing raw materials and markets.

Northwest Passage – Mythical sea route through North America connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans sought by explorers.

“Gold, God, and Glory” – Main motivations for European exploration: wealth, religious conversion, and national prestige.

Christopher Columbus – Italian explorer funded by Spain; reached the Americas in 1492 and initiated European colonization.

Hernán Cortés – Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

Francisco Pizarro – Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in Peru.

Primogeniture – Inheritance system where the eldest son receives all property; led younger sons to seek fortunes elsewhere.

Reconquista – Christian reconquest of Spain from Muslim control, completed in 1492; inspired expansion overseas.

Roanoke – The “Lost Colony,” England’s first failed attempt at settlement in North America.

Peninsulares – Spanish-born settlers living in the Americas; top of the colonial social hierarchy.

El Requerimiento – Spanish declaration claiming divine right to rule the Americas and demanding Native submission.

Encomienda System – Spanish labor system granting colonists authority over Native labor in exchange for “protection.”

Hacienda – Large estates or plantations in Spanish America worked by Native or African labor.

Great Dying – Massive Native population decline due to European diseases like smallpox.

Valladolid Debate – 1550–1551 debate in Spain between Las Casas (defending Natives) and Sepúlveda (justifying conquest).

Would you like me to make a one-page study sheet (formatted for fast memorizing or printing)?