Chapter 1 Flashcards
Tribute
The practice of collecting goods from conquered peoples. The Aztecs and Incas relied on systems of tribute before they were conquered by Spain; after the conquest, Spanish officials adapted indigenous tribute systems to their own needs by binding Indian labor to powerful men through the encomienda and mita systems.
Matriarchy
A gendered power structure in which social identity and property descend through the female line.
Animism
spiritual beliefs that center on the natural world. Animists do not worship a supernatural God; instead, they pay homage to spirits and spiritual forces that they believe dwell in the natural world.
Patriarchy
A gendered power structure in which social identity and property descend through the male line and male heads of family rule over women and children.
Primogeniture
The practice of passing family land, by will or by custom, to the eldest son.
Peasants
The traditional term for farmworkers in Europe. Some peasants owned land, while others leased or rented small plots from landlords.
Republic
A state without a monarch or prince that is governed by representatives of the people.
Civic Humanism
The belief that individuals owe a service to their community and its government. During the Renaissance, political theorists argued that selfless service to the polity was of critical importance in a self-governing republic.
Renaissance
A cultural transformation in the arts and learning that began in Italy in the fourteenth century and spread through much of Europe. Its ideals reshaped art and architecture and gave rise to civic humanism.
Guilds
Organizations of skilled workers in medieval and early modern Europe that regulated the entry into, and the practice of, a trade.
Christianity
A religion that holds the belief that Jesus Christ was himself divine. For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church was the great unifying institution in Western Europe, and it was from Europe that Christianity spread to the Americas.
Heresy
A religious doctrine that is inconsistent with the teachings of a church.
Islam
A religion that considers Muhammad to be God’s last prophet. Following the death of Muhammad in A.D. 632, the newly converted Arab peoples of North Africa used force and fervor to spread the Muslim faith into sub-Saharan Africa, India, Indonesia, Spain, and the Balkan regions of Europe.
Crusades
A series of wars undertaken by Christian armies between A.D. 1096 and 1291 to reverse the Muslim advance in Europe and win back the holy lands where Christ had lived.
Predestination
The Protestant Christian belief that God chooses certain people for salvation before they are born. Sixteenth-century theologian John Calvin was the main proponent of this doctrine, which became a fundamental tenet of Puritan theology.
Protestant Reformation
The reform movement that began in 1517 with Martin Luther’s critiques of the Roman Catholic Church and that precipitated an enduring schism that divided Protestants from Catholics.
Counter-Protestant Reformation
A reaction in the Catholic Church triggered by the Reformation that sought change from within and created new monastic and missionary orders, including the Jesuits (founded in 1540), who saw themselves as soldiers of Christ.
Trans-Saharan Trade
The primary avenue of trade for West Africans before European traders connected them to the Atlantic World. Controlled in turn by the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires, it carried slaves and gold to North Africa in exchange for salt and other goods.
Reconquista
The campaign by Spanish Catholics to drive North African Moors (Muslim Arabs) from the European mainland. After a centuries-long effort to recover their lands, the Spaniards defeated the Moors at Granada in 1492 and secured control of all of Spain.
Where did the majority of Native American live?
South America. Mesoamerica
How can you describe the first ancestors of the Native American peoples?
from asia - came through a channel between alaska and siberia (russia) that eventually got bigger
How can you describe the first people who migrated to the Americas?
cut off from the rest of the world. hunter gatherer based clans
What allowed the major Native American civilizations to survive and prosper?
dense populations, productive agriculture, and aggressive bureaucratic state
How can you describe the Maya?
lived in Mexico of the Yucatan Peninsula. conquered by Cortez. made calendar system
How can you describe the Aztec?
dominated mesoamerica and the andes; aggressive
What happened to the Hohokams, Mogollon, and Anasazi peoples?
many moved away due to drought, but those who stayed when the Europeans arrived were then called Pueblo Indians bc of their building style
What characteristic do both the Mississippian and Pueblo peoples share
grew maize and created elaborate ceremonial urban sites
Which people built hundreds of miles of roads to facilitate trade?
Anasazis
How can you describe the Cahokia?
center of Mississippian culture w/ population of 10,000 at its peak. held surrounding areas under its government and built over 120 mounds to be used as burial sites, had powerful ruling class that worshipped the sun then declined rapidly bc of warfare
How can you describe the peoples east of the Mississippi River?
practiced maize agriculture. Algonquin and Iroquois ppls shared languages and ways but were divided into many societies. set fire to forests. no elaborate style of gov. mostly chiefdoms
What did the Aztec, Maya, and Inca all have in common?
had large empires, died out quickly. farming practices
What was family like for Native Americans?
women tended to domestic issues like agriculture (food) and societal affairs and men took care of issues outside like hunting and warfare. kinship bonds that were sometimes more important than biological family
How can you describe the Native North Americans’ spiritual views and practices?
animists, which was where they paid tribute to spirits and other natural things
What was the status of European monarchs around 1450?
they were often challenged by local powerful nobles
How can you describe the social order in Europe around 1450?
hierarchical and authoritarian
What did the Europeans, Mayans, and Aztec all have in common?
they all built strong empires and showed no mercy
What happened when a typical English woman married in the 15th century?
she took her husband’s name and gave him her land. if he died and she became a widow, she only was able to keep part of the land he owned
How was property inherited in Europe?
usually it was left for the eldest son to have (primogeniture)
What were the majority of men in Europe around 1450?
peasants/ farmers
How did Western Europeans live on the eve of colonization?
lived in small, relatively isolated rural communities that would soon expand and become broader and more populated
Where did the European Renaissance begin?
Italy. about 1300-1700
Which ideology celebrated public virtue and service?
civic humanism
Which European nation was the first to set out?
Portugal was first w/ overseas expansion and trade but Spain undertook Europe’s first conquests in the Americas
Which country made inroads in the Arab-dominated trade routes?
Portugal
Where did the power shift to with the rise of commerce in Europe in the 15th century?
merchants
Who was represented by guilds?
organizations of skilled workers. peasants and merchants. business class basically
How did Catholicism contend with pre-Christian festivals?
they changed holidays to represent christian beliefs (winter solstice became christmas)
Why were the Crusades significant?
exposed Europeans to outside world and more trade, killed lots of Muslims, Christian identity in European society. Europe now wants more control
What were the results of the Crusades?
exposed new, foreign goods to Europe, such as silk. intensified European Christianity and led to the persecution of Jews. introduced Western European merchants to new trade routes. sugar
What were the ideas of Martin Luther?
95 thesis. downplayed role of clergy and said that Christian must look at the Bible, not the church as the authority of faith. translated Bible to German
What did John Calvin stress?
predestination, or the idea that God knew from the beginning of time who would be saved and who would not. human weakness and God’s supremacy
What did the Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, and Songhai Empire have in common?
they were all derived from the Sudanic peoples of West Africa. they all took part in the “trans-Saharan trade” monopoly.
What type of people live in West Africa when European trade started?
small farmers living in extended families
What prevented Europeans from seeking to conquer territory in Africa?
coastal kingdoms were well defended, native diseases quickly struck down Europeans who spent time in interior West Africa
How can you describe the connection between the Portuguese and slavery?
they started it with their sugar plantations
Why was the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella significant?
they unified 2 Christian kingdoms. also financed Columbus and did Inquisition
Where did Columbus land?
Bahamas
Why was Columbus’ death not a big deal?
he didn’t find golden treasures or great kingdoms
What drove the conquistadors to follow Columbus to the Americas?
rumors of rich Indian kingdoms and Spanish monarchs offered successful conquistadors noble titles, vast estates, and Indian laborers
What helped the Spanish conquer the Aztecs?
disease and better weapons
What were the impacts of the Columbian Exchange?
extended slavery in the Americas. brought new stuff to both Americas and Europe
What happened to the Native American population after European contact?
many died out from disease like smallpox, influenza, measles
Who were the explorers and where did they explore?
Juan Ponce de Leon explored Florida and gave it its name. Balboa crossed isthmus of Panama and became 1st European to see Pacific Ocean. Vasco de Gama reached east Africa and India. Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovered Brazil
Why were Mexico and Peru the most significant of Spain’s conquest?
Spain was now the master of the wealthiest and most populous regions of the Western Hemisphere
Where did the Reformation see the most success?
Germany
What was the legacy of Spain’s conquests of the Americas?
changed life forever. disease and war wiped out like all Indians in Hispaniola, Peru and Mesoamerica
What was the wealthiest European nation during this period?
Spain
How did Pizarro conquer the Incas?
he took advantage of their internal conflict, he then killed the emperor
