American history Unit 1/8 Flashcards
Aztecs
Conquered nearby tribes Three city-states Strong military Polytheistic (Many gods) Advanced civilization with a ruler Almost 5 million citizens
Tenochtitlan
40,000-200,000 people
Built-in the middle of a lake
canals
A giant marketplace where up to 60,000 people traded goods.
Hernan Cortes
Spanish conquistador Conquered Cuba Became mayor of Santiago lead expedition to Mexico Rejected order not to go Responsible for the downfall of the Aztecs
Burning the Ships
Emperor Montezuma the II welcomed Cortes and believed he was Quetzalcoatl
Cortes’ men were afraid of the Aztecs and wanted to mutiny
Cortes burned ships
Fall of the Aztec Empire
Cortes captured the emperor and and attacked the city. Smallpox killed off half the population.
Close call but Spanish won.
Rebuilding of Mexico
King of Spain made Cortes governor of Tenochtitlan
Called the area New Spain
Cortes rebuilt cathedrals and public areas
Franciscan Friars tried to spread the Catholic faith
Inca Empire
2,500 miles from Quito, Equidor to Santiago, Cille Had a ruler between 10 and twelve million citizens Highway connected empires Runners went 150 miles per day. founded in 1438 and conquered in 1533
Hernando de Soto
Conquistador Explored Florida, Georgia, and Alabama to search for Gold. Discovered the Mississippi River Spread the Gospel died of a Fever
Seven cities of Cibola
Cities of Gold in southwest
Shipwrecked sailors rumored to have found them
Francisco Coronado from Mexico
Searched for said cities
First European to have seen the Grand Canyon
Addressed the City of Gold as a myth.
St. Brendon
Sailed to the land of the promised (The new word)
Possibly a myth
Christopher Columbus
Italian Navigator who thought it possible to reach China and India by sailing West.
Due to the expansion of the Ottoman empire, they needed a new way to go east.
After being rejected by Portugal he received three ships from King Ferdinand and King Isabella of Spain
(Pinta, Nina, Santa Maria)
Vikings
Lived in Iceland
Erik the Red
Red hair and beard
Lived in the Viking settlement of Iceland
Banished for killing two men sailed and found Greenland
Leif Erickson
Helped bring Christianity to Greenland
Set sail to find mythical Bjarni land west
Landed in Newfoundland (Canada)
Built Stone Houses
Vineland
First settlement established by Thorfinn Karlsefni
150 men and 5 women
Traded with the native whom they called Skraelings
War broke out and the Vikings were forced to return to Greenland
Juan Ponce Leon
First Expedition to Florida
Searched for the fountain of youth
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
First Expedition across Central America to the Pacific
Amerigo Vespucci
Italian Explorer
Discovered the New World
It was not Asia but the new continent
America was named after him