Chapter 1 - New World Beginnings, 33,000 b.c.e. - 1769 Flashcards
Old World
Refers to Asia, Africa, and Europe before European contact with the Americas
New World
Refers to the Americas and the Western Hemisphere due to the the lack of contact between Eurasia and the Americas.
Appalachian Mountains
Mountain range in the Eastern US that provided an effective barrier to European settlers’ expansion until after the French and Indian War.
Tidewater Region
Tidewater is a geographic area of southeast Virginia, Maryland, and northeastern North Carolina, part of the Atlantic coastal plain. The area is generally flat and low and composed of tidal marsh and large expanses of swamp
Rocky Mountains
Mountain range that runs along the Western edge of the Great Plains. They are a much younger range than the Appalachians.
Great Basin
Area between the Rocky Mtns on the East, and Sierra Nevada Mountains on the West. The Great Basin does not drain anywhere but into itself, so is home to many large inland lakes.
Great Lakes
Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. All were formed and filled by the receding glaciers at the end of the last ice age.
Missouri-Mississippi-Ohio River System
The drainage system for the enormous basin between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mtns.
Land Bridge
Appeared when much of the ocean water was locked into the ice caps and glaciers during the last Ice Age. Allowed people from Asia to walk across it, probably following migrating herds of animals, and eventually populate all the of the New World. The land bridge was closed as the glaciers melted and water levels rose.
Maize
Large grain plant domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mexico in prehistoric times about 10,000 years ago. This as the staple food source for most early Americans.
Aztecs
One of the Great 3 American civilizations, (along with the Incas and the Mayans) who dominated Central Mexico from the 1300s until they were destroyed by Hernan Cortez.
Incas
Largest of the Great 3 American civilizations, (along with the Aztecs and the Mayans). They dominated the area of modern day Peru and the Andes Mountains from the 1100s until they were destroyed by Francisco Pizarro.
Pueblo
Native American tribe from the American Southwest.
Mound Builder
Early native culture that was active before the arrival of Columbus in the New World. Lived from modern day Illinois to Ohio.
Three-sister Farming
The main agricultural crops of the North American native groups: squash, maize (corn), and beans.
Cherokee
Native American tribe living in the Georgia and the Carolinas. Were considered one of the “Five Civilized Tribes” due to their adoption of agriculture.
Iroquois
Powerful Northeastern Native American tribe. Led the Iroquois Confederacy during the colonial era.
Caravel
a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean.
Bartolomeu Dias
Portuguese explorer. He sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, reaching the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic, the first European known to have done so.
Vasco da Gama
He was the first European to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by an ocean route.
Ferdinand and Isabella
Spanish monarchs that paid for the expeditions of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Explorer credited with “discovering” the New World in 1492.
Corn
Staple food of the New World. Crossed the Atlantic in the Columbian Exchange.
Potatoes
Staple food of the New World. Crossed the Atlantic in the Columbian Exchange.
Sugar
Old World food that was transplanted to the New World. Became an enormous moneymaker in the New World climate, and dominated the African Slave Trade.
Horses
Introduced to the New World by Europeans conquistadors.
Smallpox
Old World disease that wreaked havoc on the New World. Estimates range from 50-90% of the total population of the Americas died in a the first century after the arrival of the Europeans.
Treaty of Tordesillas
Agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus and other late 15th-century voyagers. All lands to the east of the Treaty line would be controlled by Spain. Left basically Brazil as the only part that Portugal controlled.
Vasco Nunez Balboa
Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513
Ferdinand Magellan
First explorer to circumnavigate the globe….but he actually died in the Philippines. His ship and a few of his crew did make it all the way though.
Juan Ponce de Leon
Spanish conquistador who explored the Florida peninsula.
Francisco Coronado
Spanish conquistador who explored the American southwest. Was the first European to see the Grand Canyon.
Francisco Pizarro
Conquistador responsible for defeating the Incan empire.
Encomienda
The encomienda system was created by the Spanish to control and regulate American Indian labor and behavior during the colonization of the Americas. Natives could be given to people who had promised to convert them to Christianity. Slavery by another name.
Hernan Cortes
Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Spain in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Tenochtitlan
Capital city of the Aztec Empire. Site of the decisive battle that ended their empire.
Montezuma
Aztec king.
Mestizos
People of mixed Native and European heritage.
John Cabot
first European exploration of the mainland of North America since the Norse Vikings’ visits to Vinland in the eleventh century.
Giovanni da Verazano
Charted the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor in 1524.
Jacques Cartier
Known chiefly for exploring the St. Lawrence River and giving Canada its name. … His exploration of the St. Lawrence River allowed France to lay claim to lands that would become Canada
St. Augustine
The oldest European city in the United States. Located in Florida.
New Mexico
Spanish colony in the same location as present day New Mexico. “Converted” huge amounts of native people. Treated its native populations horribly.
Pope’s Rebellion
Uprising in New Mexico that killed 400 Spanish settlers, and drove the other 2000 out of the province.
Mission Indians
Large group of Californian natives who were taught Christianity and European ideas in missions. Most lost their culture and died from diseases.
Black Legend
The idea that the conquistadors did nothing more than torture and kill the natives, take their gold, and give them diseases.
