chapter 1 Flashcards
(1.1) Portuguese Exploration
New technologies (caravel, compass, and quadrant) made Portuguese travel along the African coast possible
Maritime opportunity was key for a small country wedged between
The Portuguese established trading posts or “factories” along the western coast of Africa, colonizing Atlantic islands and established sugar plantations worked by slaves
Spanish exploration
In South America, Spanish used the Mita (Incan system of forced labor) to make people mine in Potosi one of the most productive mines
Silver allowed the Spanish empire and its merchants to trade with China who used it for the basis of its paper currency in a truly global economy
Few female colonists and many conquistadores and Peninsulares took native wives, leading to a large Mestizo population. Europeans born in the Americas are criollos.
Eastern Woodland Indians
Kinship-based networks (extended families & clans)
Women did agricultural work and raised children while men hunted and conducted war
Matrilineal societies
Personal property vs. land as property (only applies to ingroup)
Warfare a core part of life
Enslavement of enemies, sometime incorporation
THE MISSISSIPPIANS
Mississippian civilization grew along river valleys in the southeast prior to 1000 A.D.
Capital city of Cahokia with 10-30k people in was important trade and political center
Hierarchical civilization based on agriculture, trade, and warfare. Most complex in boundaries of the US
Corn was staple crop
Limited metalworking, innovations in weaponry
Collapses in the 1400s-1500s
ETOWAH INDIAN MOUNDS
Black legend
anti spanish anti catholic propoganda
COLUMBUS’ VOYAGES
Columbus lands in Hispaniola in 1492 & Amerigo Vespucci sails around South America
Spanish explorers into what is now the United States in search of gold; first was Juan Ponce de León in Florida (1513).
Large Spanish expeditions traveled through Florida, the Gulf of Mexico region, and the Southwest (1520s-1540s).
These expeditions spread deadly diseases and led to widespread death in North America
Aztecs and Cortes
Initial Spaniard force was less than 400 men, highly disciplined, with some firearms, horses, and cannon
Cortés Aided by Marina, La Malinche, princess from Tabasco who spoke Mayan, Nahua, and Spanish
Spaniards allied with several groups, particularly the Tlaxcalans as well as Chichimecatecle
Tenochtitlan ultimately blockaded and with the help of a smallpox outbreak and the construction of a small fleet, the Aztecs are toppled
spanish colonization
Initial Spaniard force was less than 400 men, highly disciplined, with some firearms, horses, and cannon
Cortés Aided by Marina, La Malinche, princess from Tabasco who spoke Mayan, Nahua, and Spanish
Encomienda system: forced labor grant allocated to conquistador, led to many abuses followed by creation of Repartimiento
In South America, Spanish used the Mita (Incan system of forced labor) to make people mine in Potosi one of the most productive mines
Few female colonists and many conquistadores and Peninsulares took native wives, leading to a large Mestizo population.
When American Indians encountered Europeans, what led to Old World diseases being so infectious?
Geographic isolation prevented American Indians from developing immunity.
What role did religion play in Columbus’s explorations?
Catholics in Spain supported his expeditions because they wanted to circumvent Muslim control of trade with Asia
American Indian life in North America was
included urban civilizations and cultures that revolved around agricultural villages.
Etowah Indians Mounds are an example of
the Mississippian culture.
Hernán Cortés defeated the Aztecs
by disciplined warfare and allying with other Nahua groups.
The Black Legend describes
Spain as the most brutal colonial power.
In New Spain, Mestizos
were persons of mixed European and American Indian origin who made up a large part of the urban populations
