APUSH Period 1 Flashcards
Aristocratic
Members of the highest social class, typically nobility, who inherited their ranks and titles
Astrolabe
a tool invented by Greek astronomers and sailors for navigation and astrological problems
Atlantic World
The interactions between the people from the land bordering the Atlantic Ocean — Africa, The Americas, Western Europe — beginning in the late 15th century
Aztecs
Spanish term for the Mexica, indigenous people who built an empire in present day Mexico in the centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards
Capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership of property and the open exchange of goods between property owners
Caravels
a small and swift sailing ship invented by the Portuguese during the 15th century
Columbian Exchange
The biological exchange between the Americas and the rest of the world in 1492 and the end of the 16th century. Although its initial impact was strongest in the Americas and Europe, it soon felt globally.
Conquistadors
Also known as encomenderos, Spanish soldiers who were central to the conquest of the civilizations of the Americas. Once conquest was complete, conquistadors often extracted wealth from the people and lands they came to rule.
Encomienda
System first established by Christopher Columbus by which Spanish leaders in the Americas received land and labor of all American Indians residing on it. For American Indians the encomienda system amounted to enslavement.
Feudalism
A social and economic system organized by a hierarchy of hereditary classes. Lower social orders owed loyalty to the classes above them, and in return, received protection and land.
Franciscan
Member of a Catholic religious order founded by St. Francis of od Assis in the 13th century.
Horticulture
a form of agriculture where people worked small plots of land with simple tools.
Incas
Andean people who built an empire in the centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards amid the fertile land of the Andes mountains along the pacific coast. Reaching the height of their power in the 15th century, the Incas controlled around 16 million people.
Inquisition
A religious judicial institution designed to find and eliminate that did not align with official Catholic practices. The Spanish Inquisition was first established in 1478.
Mariners
a term for sailors
Maya
People who established large cities on the Yucatán peninsula with strong irrigation and agricultural techniques. The civilization was strongest between 300 and 800 C.E.
Missionaries
People who travel to foreign lands with the intention of converting natives to a new religion
Maya
People who established large cities on the Yucatán peninsula with strong irrigation and agricultural techniques. The civilization was strongest between 300 and 800 C.E.
Missionaries
People who travel to foreign lands with the intention of converting natives to a new religion
Mission System
The system established by the Spanish in 1573 in which missionaries, rather than soldiers, directed all new settlements in the Americas.
Pueblo
American Indians who lived in present day New Mexico and Arizona and built permanent multi-story adobe dwellings
Renaissance
The cultural and intellectual flowering that began in 15th century Italy and then spread north throughout the late 15th and 16th centuries. During this time European rulers pushed for greater political unification of their states.
