Period 1 Flashcards
Recorded history began 6,000 years ago. It was ___ years ago that Europeans set foot on the Americas to begin colonization
500
The theory of _____ exists suggesting that the continents were once nestled together into one mega-continent. They then spread out as drifting islands.
Pangaea
Geologic forces of continental plates created the ________ and ______ _________
Appalachian and Rocky Mountains.
The _____ ___ ___ thrust down over North America & scoured the present day American Midwest
Great Ice Age
As the Great Ice Age diminished, so did the glaciers over ______ _______.
North America
The theory holds that a Land Bridge emerged linking ____ & ____ ______ across what is now known as the Bering Sea. People were said to have _____ across the “bridge” before the sea level rose and sealed it off; thus populating the Americas.
Asia & North America; walked
(The Land Bridge Theory)
Many peoples
Those groups that traversed the bridge spread across ____, _______, and ______ ________.
Countless tribes emerged with an estimated _____ languages.
North, Central, and South America; 2,000
The Land Bridge is said to have occurred an estimated _____ years ago.
35,000
Yucatan Peninsula, with their step pyramids
Mayas
Peru, with elaborate network of roads and bridges linking their empire
Incas
Mexico, with step pyramids and huge sacrifices of conquered peoples
Aztecs
Development of corn or maize around ______ __ in Mexico was revolutionary in that: Then, people didn’t have to be _________; they could settle down and be farmers. Gave rise to towns and cities..
5,000 B.C. ; hunter-gatherers
Corn arrived in the present day U.S. around ______
1,200 B.C.
The _____ were the 1st American corn growers.
Pueblos
They lived in ____ houses (dried mud) and Pueblos (“villages” in Spanish). Pueblos are _____ of cubicle shaped adobe houses, stacked one on top the other and often beneath cliffs.
adobe; villages
They had elaborate _______ _______ to draw water away from rivers to grown corn
irrigation systems
these people built huge ceremonial and burial mounds and were located in the Ohio Valley.
Mound builders
near East St. Louis today, held _____ people.
Cahokia; 40,000
Eastern Indians grew corn, beans, and squash in ____ _____ ______
three sister farming
This group likely had the best (most diverse) diet of all North American Indians and is typified by the ______, _____, _______, and _______
Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw (South) and Iroquois (North).
was the legendary leader of the Iroquois Confederation
Hiawatha
a group of 5 tribes in New York state
The Iroquois Confederation
The Iroquois were matrilineal as ______ and possessions passed down through the _____ line.
authority, female
Native Americans had a very different view of things as compared to _______
Europeans;
• Native Americans felt no man owned the land, the tribe did. (Europeans liked private property)
• Indians felt nature was mixed with many spirits. (Europeans were Christian and monotheistic)
• Indians felt nature was sacred. (Europeans felt nature and land was given to man by God in Genesis to be subdued and put to use).
• Indians had little or no concept or interest in money. (Europeans loved money or gold)
The 1st Europeans to come to America were the
Norse (Vikings from Norway).
Around 1000 AD, the Vikings landed, led by ____ ___ ____ and Leif Erikson.
Erik the Red
The vikings landed in
Vinland or Newfoundland
The vikings left with no _____ _______, therefore got no credit
written records
The _____ ______ of Middle Ages fought in Palestine to regain the Holy Land from Muslims. This mixing of East and West created a sweet-tooth where Europeans wanted the ____ of the exotic East.
Christian Crusaders; spices
traveled to China and stirred up a storm of European interest.
Marco Polo
…. an East to West (Asia to Europe) trade flourished but had to be overland, at least in part. This initiated new exploration down around Africa in hopes of an easier (all water) route.
because of a desire for spices
started a sailing school to find better ways to get to the Spice Islands, eventually rounding Africa’s southern Cape of Good Hope.
Portugal
a ship with triangular sail that could better tack (zig-zag) ahead into the wind and thus return to Europe from Africa coast
Caravel
to determine direction
Compass
a sextant gizmo that could tell a ship’s latitude.
astrolabe
The 1st slave trade was across
the Sahara Desert and then across the West African Coast
Slave traders purposely busted up _____ and ______ in order to squelch any possible uprising.
tribes and families
Slaves wound up on _____ _______ the Portuguese had set up on the tropical islands off Africa’s coast
sugar plantations
Spain watched Portugal’s success with _______ and slaving and wanted a piece of the pie.
exploration
Christopher Columbus convinced _______ __ ______ to fund his expedition
Isabella and Ferdinand
His goal was to reach the ____ by sailing west, thus bypassing the around-Africa route that Portugal monopolized
East (East Indies)
He misjudged the size of the Earth though, thinking it ___ the size of what it was.
So, after __ ____ or so at sea, when he struck land, he assumed he’d made it to the East Indies and therefore mistook the people as “_______.”
1/3; 6 weeks; Indians
would provide the market, capital, technology
Europe
would provide the labor
Africa
would provide the raw materials (gold, soil, lumber)
The New World
Of huge importance was the biological flip-flop of Old and New Worlds. Simply put, we traded life such as plants, foods, animals, germs. The Fiora and the Fauna.
The Colombian Exchange
Corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, peppers, manioc, pumpkin, squash, tomato, wild rice, etc. also, syphilis.
From the New World (America) to the Old
cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage, citrus, carrots, Kentucky bluegrass, etc. ;devastating diseases (smallpox, yellow fever, malaria), as Indians had no immunities.
From the Old World to the New
Slave Labor
Africa
The ______ had no immunities in their systems built up over generations.
Indians
An estimated ___ of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to disease.
90%
Portugal and Spain feuded over who got what land. The Pope drew this line as he was respected by both.
Treaty Line of Tordesillas 1494
got everything east of the line (Brazil and land around/under Africa)
Portugal
got everything west of the line (which turned out to be much more, though they didn’t know it at the time)
Spain
“discovered” the Pacific Ocean across isthmus of Panama
Vasco Balboa (1513)
circumnavigates the globe (1st to do so)
Ferdinand Magellan (1510-1522)
touches and names Florida looking for legendary Fountain of Youth
Ponce de Leon (1513-1521)
enters Florida, travels up into present day Southeastern U.S., dies and is “buried” in Mississippi River
Hernando Cortes (1539-1542)
conquers Incan Empire of Peru and begins shipping tons of gold/silver back to Spain. This huge influx of precious metals made European prices skyrocket (inflation).
Francisco Pizzaro (1532)
ventured into current Southwest U.S. looking for legendary El Dorado, city of gold. He found the Pueblo Indians.
Francisco Coronado (1540-1542)
Indians were “commended” or given to Spanish landlords
The idea of the ______ was that Indians would work and be converted to Christianity, but it was basically just slavery on a sugar plantation disguised as missionary work. Bartolomé De Las Casas said it was a “moral pestilence”.
encomienda
conquered the Aztecs at Tenochtitlan. Went from Cuba to present day Vera Cruz, then marched over mountains to the Aztec capital.
Hernan Cortez
Aztec king, thought Cortez might be the god Quetzalcoatl who was due to re-appear the very year. He welcomed Cortez into Tenochtitlan.
Montezuma
The Spanish lust for ____ led Montezuma to attack on the “noche triste”, sad night. Cortez and men fought their way out, but it was ________ that eventually beat the Indians.
gold; smallpox
The Spanish then destroyed Tenochtitlan, building the Spanish ______ (____ ___) exactly on top of the Aztec city.
capital; Mexico City
A new race of people emerged, ______, a mix of Spanish and Indian blood
mestizos
Spanish society quickly spread through
Peru and Mexico
(an Italian who sailed for England) touched the coast of the current day U.S. (1497-1498)
John Cabot
