AP REVIEW: 1 & 2 Flashcards
Pre-Columbian Era
The period before Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the “New World”
Where did the Native Americans come from?
Asia, they walked across an ice sheet from Siberia to Alaska when the planet was significantly colder
Population of Native Americans when Columbus arrived
1 - 5 million in modern Canada and United States
20 million in Mexico
Tenochtitlan
More populous than any city in Europe, occupied by the Aztecs and the Maya
Maize
aka Corn, its domestication began in Mexico and it was the staple crop of much of North America. Created the transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculture society
Columbian Exchange
Europe sustained contact with the Americas and introduced a widespread exchange of many things
Who colonized America first?
Spain (coonsquistadors)
Spanish Armada
Spain’s navy, very strong, kept other countries from establishing colonies in the Americas
Jamestown
- funded by the Virginia Company
- half dead in three months
- during winter, 90% of survivors perished, with some resorting to cannibalism
- eventually learned to grow tobacco, made lots of money
Reasons for migrating to Chesapeake
- Overpopulation in England
- Indentured servitude (free passage and small property for seven years of labor)
- Mostly men who migrated
Headright System
To attract new settlers to the region, it gave new settlers about 50 acres of land for farming
House of Burgesses
Allowed any property holding, white male to vote. All decisions had to be approved by the Virgina Company
Four main colonizing powers
- Spain
- France
- England
- Netherlands
Mayflower Separatists
Puritan group called the pilgrims, their ship was originally headed for Virgins but landed in Massachusetts. They established a settlement called Plymouth
Massachusetts Bay
Its establishment created The Great Puritan Migration, lead by John Winthrop