Chapter 1 Flashcards
Christopher Columbus
An Italian explorer sailing in Spain. He found the land in the Caribbean, Bahamas of the New World in 1492. He helped encourage people to sail and created awareness of the Western Hemisphere.
Treaty of Tordesillas
It was made between the Spaniards and the Portuguese leaders. It divided up the lands of the New World with Portugal most land went to Spain but Portugal did get land in Africa, Asia, and Brazil, which secured Columbus’ discovery in 1494. It helped Spain to become a dominant exploring and colonizing power.
Marco Polo
Italian explorer who returned from “China” in 1295 reporting the vast riches he came upon on his twenty year expedition. He is thought to be the first European to stumble upon the Americas (after the Norse explorers in the 1000’s).
Francisco Pizzaro
Destroyed the Incan civilization of Peru in 1532. He gained many riches for his home country, Spain.
Juan Ponce de Leon
Spanish explorer who came upon the “island” of Florida in 1513 and again in 1521 seeking gold. Died after being shot with an Indian arrow in 1521.
Hernando de Soto
Took 600 men on a gold-seeking expedition to Florida & westward. Crossed the Mississippi. Died of injuries acquired in a brutal battle with local Indians. Disposed of in the Mississippi so the Indians could not mistreat his remains.
Montezuma
Was the leader of the Aztecs at the time of Cortés’ invasion. Believed that Cortés was the god, Quetzalcoatl, returning from the Eastern seas.
Hernán Cortés
Set sail from Cuba in 1519 with horses and hundreds of men. Gathered interpreters before landing in present-day Peru in the Aztec Empire. He was looking for gold and attained a large sum of it from the hospitable Aztecs. He was thought to be an Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl, returning from a journey in the Eastern Sea. On June 30, 1520, the Aztecs drove the gold-hungry Spaniards out in a remarkable bloody manner.
Francisco Coronando
explored Arizona and New Mexico from 1540-1542. Stumbled upon the Grand Canyon and a herd a buffalo, two never before seen sights for the Spanish conquistador and his men.
Father Junipero Serra
led missionaries in 1769 to found missions such as San Diego and twenty others. Christianized and “civilized” many Indians.
Renaissance
period of European history where countries flourished and changed in the first half of the second millennia.
Mestizos
offspring with both Indian and European lineage. Created when Cortés intermarried with Indians.
Three Sister Farming
manner of farming where beans grow on trellises and corn and squash grow in the soil below.
The Great Ice Age
Period of time, approximately 2 million years ago where ice covered most of the land on Earth.
Mound-Builders
native inhabitants of the Ohio River Valley in the first millennia A.D. but mysteriously disappeared in about 1300.
