Unit 1 Flashcards
What were the three major civilizations in Central and South America?
Aztecs, Maya, Inca
What did these three civilizations have in common?
-Large urban centers, complex political systems, and well-formed religions
-Maize
What was the capital of the Aztec Empire?
Tenochititlan, with a population of 300,000
What did Aztec priests do?
Upheld a cult of fertility for the land and people thorugh human sacrifice
Where were the achievements of the Mayans?
-Complex irrigation
-Water storage systems
-Built giant stone temples and palaces for their rulers, who their believed were descendants of the gods
What were the acheivements of the Incas?
-Cultivation of fertile mountain valleys
-Grew potatoes and other crops watered by elaborate systems of irrigation
Why was the cultivation of maize important?
-Supported economic development and the settlement of peoples
-Advanced irrigation and social diversification among societies
Who inhabited the Southwest of America?
The Pueblo people
What were the triats of the Pueblo people?
-Sedentary population
-Farmers of maize and other crops
-Built adobe and masonry homes
Who lived in the Great Plains and Great Basin regions?
Multiple tribes, but Utes are an example
What were the traits of the Great Plains Native Americans?
-Nomadic peoples
-Hunter-gatherer-type
-Needed a lot of land to do hunting and gathering because of the aridity of the region
Who lived in the Pacific Northwest?
Example would be the Chinook people
What were the traits of the Pacific Northwest peoples?
-Lived by the sea
-Settled into fishing villages
-Relied on elk
-Used the forest, cedar wood around them to construct plank houses
Who lived in the Mississippi River Valley?
More complex and larger tribe societies, like the Hopewell people
What were the traits of the Hopewell and Cahokia peoples?
-Traded extensively with other regions
-Government was led by powerful chieftains who centralized the government
Who lived in the Northeast?
Iroquois
Who lived in the Northeast?
Iroquis
What were the traits of the Iroquois?
-Grew maize, squash, and beans
-Built and lived in longhouses
Why did Europeans go exploring?
-Population increase (a rebound after the Black Plague)
-Political unification (the rise of nation-states and powerful monarchs)
-Agriculture and commercial profits gave rise to an upper clase that desired luxury goods
Why didn’t Europeans make us of land-based routes to Asia for their luxury, exotic goods?
These routes were dominated by the Muslims, so Europeans were unable to establish an exchange of goods with Asia on their own terms
What did Prince Henry the Navigator do?
Went around Africa in search for a passage to Asia and thus established a trading post empire, which allowed them gain lucrative profit from the Indian Ocean trade
What technology allowed the Europeans to explore?
-Caravels, used specifically for trade
-Improved navigation using astrolabe and stern-post rudder
Why did Spain explore?
For the same reasons as other European countries but also to spread Christianity
Why did the Spanish monarchs sponsor Colombus’ travel?
-Portugal controlled African routes
-Italian city states controlled Mediterranean routes
Where did Columbus land?
He thought he landed in the East Indies, but it was actually the island of San Salvador
Why did Spain continue its exploration of the Americas?
Because of the gold and possible native slaves Colombus found there
What was the Columbian Exchange?
Transfer of food, animals, minerals, people, and diseases between Africa, Europe, and the Americas
How did Hernan Cortes take down Tenochtitlan?
Disease, most notably smallpox
What was the Great Dying?
The way smallpox changed native societies;
In 1530, the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas had a combined population of 40 million;
150 years later, they had a combined total of about 3 million
What foods came from the Americas to Europe?
Maize, tomatoes, potatoes, cacao, and tobacco
What foods came from Europe/Africa to the Americas?
Rice, wheat, soybeans, lemons, and oranges
What animals did the Europeans introduce to the Americas?
Horses, pigs, cattle, and chickens
What is capatilism?
An economic system based on private ownserhip and the free and open exchange of goods between property owners
What people were exchanged in the Columbian Exchange?
Africans, who were packed into ships with unsanitary and inhumane conditions, forced to bypass the Middle Passage, and were sold into bondage for labor
How did the Spanish finance their expeditions?
Through their mercantilist economic policies
What was mercantilism?
The dominant economic system of Europe;
Depended on heavy governmental direction and intervention
What were Africans exchanged in slavery for?
Guns
What thought system was used to justify the purchasing of slaves?
Europeans postulated that Africans were descendants of Canaan, who has been cursed by Noah to be a slave his whole life, so they found their actions biblically justified
What was the encomienda system?
A system in leading men called encomenderos were granted a portion of land and all the natives who lived in that land became the coerced labor force
Why wasn’t the encomienda system working out for the Europeans?
The Great Dying;
The natives knew the land better than their captors, so they could escape
Why wasn’t the encomienda system working out for the Europeans?
The Great Dying;
The natives knew the land better than their captors, so they could escape
Why were Africans brought in to replace native labor?
-Had better immunity
-Knew the land less than the Spanish did
What was the caste system?
Used for tax purposes;
The lower on the hierarchy, the more the taxes
What is hegomony?
The domination of a nation or group by another nation or group
What was the mission system?
In which Spain sent missionaires to convert natives to Christianity
What tribe converted to Christianity but maintained worship of other gods?
The Pueblo people
What was the Pueblo Revolt?
In which the Pueblo people rose against their captors, killed Spanish colonizers, and burned churches, believing that the cause of their trouble was the Spanish and their Christ
What was the effect of the Pueblo Revolt and other revolts like it?
King Charles convened a group of priests, philosophers, and jurors to discuss the moral and legal fallout of Spanish conquest in the Americas
Who was Batolome de Las Casas?
Argued against brutality and killing of the Native Americans;
Suggested instead for Africans to replace native labor
