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Ch. 1 Study Guide- New World Beginnings 33,000 B.C.E. - 1680 C.E.
Vocabulary terms
Mound Builders
The Mound Builders were a Native group located in the Ohio River Valley. One major settlement was at Cahokia in Mississippi, with a central mound 100ft. tall and spanning 16 acres. They created mounds of earth which could be used as temples/burial sites/town squares, earning them their name. They began disappearing between 1100 CE and 1300 CE. Reasons for disappearance could be climate change or deforestation. They are the likely ancestors of the Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee tribes and provide a significant amount of information for archaeologists. They were a major civilization and contributed to the development of later tribes in the area.
Cahokia
A major settlement of the Mound Builders located in Mississippi, it had a central mound that was 100 ft. tall and spanned an area of 16 acres at the base. It was home to up to 25,000 people.
Three sister farming
A farming method that grew three important crops (corn, beans, and squash) together. The beans used the corn stalks as trellises and the squash acted as ground cover to retain water moisture. Some groups that used this method were the Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee tribes. This was significant because it allowed more food to be produced and created some of the highest population densities in North America.
Haudenosaunee Confederation (Iroquois)
The Haudenosaunee Confederation/Haudenosaunee League/Iroquois were inspired by Hiawatha and are the North American version of the empires located in Mexico and Peru. They had significant military alliances. The Iriquois relied on agriculture for food and lived in sedentary, permanent villages. They had a matrilineal culture and participated in trade with other native groups. The Iroquois would become even more significant later on due to their interactions with European explorers and settlers.
Hiawatha
A legendary figure that inspired the Haudenosaunee Confederation.
caravel
A caravel is a type of ship developed by Portuguese mariners which could sail closely into the wind. This was significant as it allowed a new way to return to Europe from Africa using westward wind.
plantation agriculture
Plantation agriculture is large-scale commercial agriculture relying heavily on slave labor. This would become a major part of the European colonization of the Americas.
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was when Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492. This would bring the Americas into the worldview of Europe and Africa. Columbus was an Italian seafarer sponsored by Spain. He originally believed he was in the “Indies”, leading him to call the Native people Indians. This completely changed the international economy as well as the European diet. Plants native to the Americas like tomatoes, maize, beans, sugarcane, and potatoes would be added to the world’s diet. Europeans brought to the Americas cattle, swine, and horses as well as European crops. Native groups did adopt the use of horses. They also brought diseases (smallpox, malaria, yellow fever) with them that decimated Native populations with up to 90% of Native Americans dying from disease, violence, and enslavement.
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty was written in 1494 and divided the New World between Spain and Portugal. While Spain received most of the Americas, Portugal got more land in Africa and Asia as well as what would become Brazil.
Doctrine of Discovery * (not in text)
The Doctrine of Discovery gave European, Christian explorers the ability to claim any land not inhabited by Christians. Since the Native Americans weren’t Christian, Europeans could freely claim the land, giving them full freedom to colonize and do as they wished.
Encomienda
This was a technique that would “commend” (give) Indians colonists who would try to Christianize them. It was slavery. Bartolome de Las Cases (Spanish Missionary) called it “a moral pestilence invented by Satan.”
de Las Casas
Bartolome de Las Casas was a Spanish missionary who disapproved of the encomienda system and called it “a moral pestilence invented by Satan.”
noche triste
June 30, 1520 - The Aztecs attacked the Spanish conquistadores, driving them from Tenochtitlan. Cortes then laid siege to the city and it surrendered on August 13, 1521. Later that year a smallpox epidemic occurred and the Aztec were rendered helpless.
mestizo
A word used to describe the children of Spanish conquistadors and Native women.
conquistadores
Spanish conquistadores (conquerors) participated in the exploration of the Americas. They claimed for their church and crown large portions of the Americas. They destroyed the Aztec and Incan empires. They used swords and had various motivations, but all wanted gold.
Battle of Acoma
1599 - The Spanish sentenced the Indian survivors to twenty years of servitude and cut off one foot of any men over the age of 25. They called the area the province of New Mexico in 1609 and created its capital at Santa Fe the year after.
Pueblo Revolt aka Pope’s Rebellion
1680 - The missionaries' attempt to convert Natives to Christianity and suppress native customs led to the Revolt. The Pueblo rebels destroyed all of the Catholic churches in the province and killed the priests and settlers. They built a kiva (ceremonial religious chamber) on the former Spanish plaza. It took almost fifty years for the Spanish to regain control of New Mexico.
Junipero Serra
In 1769 Serra led Spanish missionaries to the southern California coast where they would build 21 missions. The missions went from San Diego to Sonoma. They worked to Christianize them and taught horticulture and crafts. They did adopt Christianity but much of their own culture was lost.
Black Legend
A concept popularized by Spain’s Protestant rivals that the conquistadors simply tortured and killed the Natives, gave them diseases, and stole their gold. While they did kill, enslave, and infect many native people, they also created an empire that mixed the cultures, laws, religion, and language that would create many of the Spanish speaking nations.
Important People
Bartolomeu Dias
A Portuguese explorer who was the first to round the southern tip of Africa in 1488.
Vasco de Gama
A Portuguese explorer who was the first to reach India through the water route (giving the name Indes to all the lands of the Orient) and returned with jewels and spices in 1498.
Hernan Cortes
A Spanish explorer who left Cuba in 1519 to sail for Mexico. On Cozumel he rescued a Spanish castaway who was enslaved by Mayan speaking Indians and Malinche, a female Indian slave who spoke Mayan and Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs). He explored and conquered the Valley of Mexico and successfully conquered the Aztec civilization.
Francisco Pizarro
A Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in Peru in 1532.
Juan Ponce de Leon
A Spanish explorer who explored through Florida in 1513 and 1521, looking for gold (not the fabled fountain of youth).
Hernando de Soto
An explorer searching for gold, he instead found the Mississippi River north of its junction with the Arkansas River traveling westward from Florida in 1539-1542. He was particularly horrible to Native people, to the point that after his death his troops put his corpse into the river so it wouldn’t be mutilated by the Indians.
Francisco Coronado
An explorer who was searching for legendary gold cities and instead found adobe pueblos, Coronado explored Arizona, New Mexico, and Kansas. He discovered the Grand Canyon and the buffalo herds of the plains. He explored from 1540-1542.
Robert de La Salle
A Spanish explorer who traveled through down the Mississippi River in the 1680s.
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Cabrillo explored the California coast in 1542 but completely missed San Francisco Bay or anything that would have been interesting. Therefor, California’s Native people were undisturbed for another 200 years until Fr. Juniper Serra arrived.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Balboa was the European explorer who discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513 and claimed all lands it touched for his king.
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
A Spanish explorer who explored around the Gulf of Mexico, reaching Tampa Bay in 1528.
Jacques Cartier
A French navigator who explored the northern part of North America in 1534. He had three voyages.
John Cabot
AKA Giovanni Caboto. Cabot was sent by England to explore the northeastern coast of North America in 1497 and 1498.
Ch. 1 Study Guide- New World Beginnings 33,000 B.C.E. - 1680 C.E.
Vocabulary terms
Mound Builders
The Mound Builders were a Native group located in the Ohio River Valley. One major settlement was at Cahokia in Mississippi, with a central mound 100ft. tall and spanning 16 acres. They created mounds of earth which could be used as temples/burial sites/town squares, earning them their name. They began disappearing between 1100 CE and 1300 CE. Reasons for disappearance could be climate change or deforestation. They are the likely ancestors of the Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee tribes and provide a significant amount of information for archaeologists. They were a major civilization and contributed to the development of later tribes in the area.
Cahokia
A major settlement of the Mound Builders located in Mississippi, it had a central mound that was 100 ft. tall and spanned an area of 16 acres at the base. It was home to up to 25,000 people.
Three sister farming
A farming method that grew three important crops (corn, beans, and squash) together. The beans used the corn stalks as trellises and the squash acted as ground cover to retain water moisture. Some groups that used this method were the Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee tribes. This was significant because it allowed more food to be produced and created some of the highest population densities in North America.
Haudenosaunee Confederation (Iroquois)
The Haudenosaunee Confederation/Haudenosaunee League/Iroquois were inspired by Hiawatha and are the North American version of the empires located in Mexico and Peru. They had significant military alliances. The Iriquois relied on agriculture for food and lived in sedentary, permanent villages. They had a matrilineal culture and participated in trade with other native groups. The Iroquois would become even more significant later on due to their interactions with European explorers and settlers.
Hiawatha
A legendary figure that inspired the Haudenosaunee Confederation.
caravel
A caravel is a type of ship developed by Portuguese mariners which could sail closely into the wind. This was significant as it allowed a new way to return to Europe from Africa using westward wind.
plantation agriculture
Plantation agriculture is large-scale commercial agriculture relying heavily on slave labor. This would become a major part of the European colonization of the Americas.
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was when Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492. This would bring the Americas into the worldview of Europe and Africa. Columbus was an Italian seafarer sponsored by Spain. He originally believed he was in the “Indies”, leading him to call the Native people Indians. This completely changed the international economy as well as the European diet. Plants native to the Americas like tomatoes, maize, beans, sugarcane, and potatoes would be added to the world’s diet. Europeans brought to the Americas cattle, swine, and horses as well as European crops. Native groups did adopt the use of horses. They also brought diseases (smallpox, malaria, yellow fever) with them that decimated Native populations with up to 90% of Native Americans dying from disease, violence, and enslavement.
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty was written in 1494 and divided the New World between Spain and Portugal. While Spain received most of the Americas, Portugal got more land in Africa and Asia as well as what would become Brazil.
Doctrine of Discovery * (not in text)
The Doctrine of Discovery gave European, Christian explorers the ability to claim any land not inhabited by Christians. Since the Native Americans weren’t Christian, Europeans could freely claim the land, giving them full freedom to colonize and do as they wished.
Encomienda
This was a technique that would “commend” (give) Indians colonists who would try to Christianize them. It was slavery. Bartolome de Las Cases (Spanish Missionary) called it “a moral pestilence invented by Satan.”
de Las Casas
Bartolome de Las Casas was a Spanish missionary who disapproved of the encomienda system and called it “a moral pestilence invented by Satan.”
noche triste
June 30, 1520 - The Aztecs attacked the Spanish conquistadores, driving them from Tenochtitlan. Cortes then laid siege to the city and it surrendered on August 13, 1521. Later that year a smallpox epidemic occurred and the Aztec were rendered helpless.
mestizo
A word used to describe the children of Spanish conquistadors and Native women.
conquistadores
Spanish conquistadores (conquerors) participated in the exploration of the Americas. They claimed for their church and crown large portions of the Americas. They destroyed the Aztec and Incan empires. They used swords and had various motivations, but all wanted gold.
Battle of Acoma
1599 - The Spanish sentenced the Indian survivors to twenty years of servitude and cut off one foot of any men over the age of 25. They called the area the province of New Mexico in 1609 and created its capital at Santa Fe the year after.
Pueblo Revolt aka Pope’s Rebellion
1680 - The missionaries' attempt to convert Natives to Christianity and suppress native customs led to the Revolt. The Pueblo rebels destroyed all of the Catholic churches in the province and killed the priests and settlers. They built a kiva (ceremonial religious chamber) on the former Spanish plaza. It took almost fifty years for the Spanish to regain control of New Mexico.
Junipero Serra
In 1769 Serra led Spanish missionaries to the southern California coast where they would build 21 missions. The missions went from San Diego to Sonoma. They worked to Christianize them and taught horticulture and crafts. They did adopt Christianity but much of their own culture was lost.
Black Legend
A concept popularized by Spain’s Protestant rivals that the conquistadors simply tortured and killed the Natives, gave them diseases, and stole their gold. While they did kill, enslave, and infect many native people, they also created an empire that mixed the cultures, laws, religion, and language that would create many of the Spanish speaking nations.
Important People
Bartolomeu Dias
A Portuguese explorer who was the first to round the southern tip of Africa in 1488.
Vasco de Gama
A Portuguese explorer who was the first to reach India through the water route (giving the name Indes to all the lands of the Orient) and returned with jewels and spices in 1498.
Hernan Cortes
A Spanish explorer who left Cuba in 1519 to sail for Mexico. On Cozumel he rescued a Spanish castaway who was enslaved by Mayan speaking Indians and Malinche, a female Indian slave who spoke Mayan and Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs). He explored and conquered the Valley of Mexico and successfully conquered the Aztec civilization.
Francisco Pizarro
A Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in Peru in 1532.
Juan Ponce de Leon
A Spanish explorer who explored through Florida in 1513 and 1521, looking for gold (not the fabled fountain of youth).
Hernando de Soto
An explorer searching for gold, he instead found the Mississippi River north of its junction with the Arkansas River traveling westward from Florida in 1539-1542. He was particularly horrible to Native people, to the point that after his death his troops put his corpse into the river so it wouldn’t be mutilated by the Indians.
Francisco Coronado
An explorer who was searching for legendary gold cities and instead found adobe pueblos, Coronado explored Arizona, New Mexico, and Kansas. He discovered the Grand Canyon and the buffalo herds of the plains. He explored from 1540-1542.
Robert de La Salle
A Spanish explorer who traveled through down the Mississippi River in the 1680s.
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Cabrillo explored the California coast in 1542 but completely missed San Francisco Bay or anything that would have been interesting. Therefor, California’s Native people were undisturbed for another 200 years until Fr. Juniper Serra arrived.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Balboa was the European explorer who discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513 and claimed all lands it touched for his king.
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
A Spanish explorer who explored around the Gulf of Mexico, reaching Tampa Bay in 1528.
Jacques Cartier
A French navigator who explored the northern part of North America in 1534. He had three voyages.
John Cabot
AKA Giovanni Caboto. Cabot was sent by England to explore the northeastern coast of North America in 1497 and 1498.
