Time Period 1 APUSH

1. Beringia – The land bridge that connected Asia and North America during the Ice Age, allowing people to migrate to the Americas.

2. Geographic Characteristics by Region:

   - Northeast: Forests, rivers, and moderate climate (e.g., New York, New England).

   - Northwest: Coastal, wet climate, dense forests, and access to the ocean (e.g., modern-day Oregon, Washington).

   - Atlantic: Coastlines, fishing, and trade routes (e.g., New England, the Carolinas).

   - Midwest: Fertile plains, rivers (e.g., Ohio River Valley, Great Lakes region).

   - Great Plains: Flat, grassland, semi-arid (e.g., Kansas, Nebraska).

   - Southwest: Desert, arid climate, Native American populations (e.g., Arizona, New Mexico).

3. French Exploration/Settlement – French explorers (like Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain) focused on the fur trade and building alliances with Native Americans in Canada and the Mississippi Valley.

4. The Valladolid Debate: A 1550 debate between Juan de Sepulveda (proponent of Spanish colonialism and the subjugation of Native peoples) and Bartolomé de las Casas (critic of the mistreatment of Native peoples).

5. Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing the New World into spheres of influence, with Spain getting the west and Portugal the east.

6. Spanish Casta System: A racial classification system that categorized people in Spanish colonies based on race, ancestry, and social status.

7. Encomienda System: A system where Spanish settlers were granted land and Native laborers in exchange for protecting and converting them to Christianity