chapter 1 // BOLDED Flashcards
Canadian Shield
First part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level
Incas
Highly advanced South American civilization that occupied present’day Peru until it was conquered by Spanish forces under Francisco Piazarro in 1532. The Incas developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as terrace farming, in order to sustain large, complex societies in the unforgiving Andes Mountains.
Aztecs
Native American empire that controlled present-day Mexico until 1521, when they were conquered by Spanish Hernana Cortes. The Aztecs maintained control over their vast empire through a system of trade and tribute. They came to be known for their advances in mathematics and writing and their use of human sacrifices in religious ceremonies.
nation-states
The term commonly describes those societies in which political legitimacy and authority overlay a large degree of cultural commonality.
Cahokia (ca. 1100 c.e.)
Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as twenty-five thousand Native
Americans.
three-sister farming
Agricultural system employed by North Americans Indians as early as 1000 c.e.; maize, beans, and squash were grown together to maximize yields.
middlemen
In trading systems, those dealers who operate between the original producers of goods and the retail merchants who sell to consumers. After the eleventh century, European exploration was driven in large part by a desire to acquire alluring Asian goods without paying heavy tolls to Muslim middlemen.
caravel
Small regular vessel with a high deck and three triangular sails. Caravels could sail more closely into the wind, allowing European sailors to explore the western shores of Africa, previously made inaccessible due to prevailing winds on the homeward journey.
plantation
Large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor. European settlers established plantations in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the American South.
Columbian exchange
The transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between New and Old World societies after 1492.
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
Signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing the territories of the New World. Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with titles to lands in Africa and Asia.
encomienda
Spanish government’s policy to “commend,” or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for their promise to Christianize them. Part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indian tribes in the West Indies and on the North American mainland.
noche triste (June 30, 1520)
“Sad night,” when the Aztecs attacked Hernan Cortes and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochittlan, killing hundreds. Cortes laid siege to the city the following year, precipitating the fall of the Aztec empire and inaugurating three centuries of Spanish rule.
capitalism
Economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets. European colonization of the Americas, and in particular, the discovery of deposits, helped bring about Europe’s transition to capitalism.
mestizos
People of mixed Indian and European heritage, notably in Mexico.
