Unit 1 - Interactions with North America

Question 1

Describe the significance of

Maize

*include important attributes of maize

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Answer 1

1. Domesticated by Natives -> population growth = more complex societies/societal structures
2. one of the few crops on trade routes
3. spread Northward = complex societies in North America w/ advanced irrigation systems
4. A cash crop throughout Columbian Exchange

Large grains, high yield crop w/ high cultural value in Mesoamerica

Question 2

Describe the significance of

Portuguese Exploration

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Answer 2

1. ventured around the Southern tip of Africa establishing trade-post empire = established European/African coastal trade posts and relationships that would run the African Slave Trade
2. Sailed the Atlantic, reached and colonized Brazil. Profited off of slave labor in sugar plantations, created plantation economy

Question 3

Define and explain the significance of the

African Slave Trade

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Answer 3

The African trade of slaves (war slaves, criminals or from conquered African civilizations) to the Europeans in exchange for goods like guns, rum, decor, etc.

1. shift to chattel slavery in the Americas
2. fueled plantation economies in South America, mining operations like the Spanish mita system in Potosi
3. main source of labor in Southern Colony plantations growing cash crops like tobacco, cotton

Question 4

Explain the origin and significance of

Christopher Columbus

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Answer 4

Italian voyager from Genoa
* desired to find the Indies for trade w/ Asia
* landed in modern-day Bahamas, voyage funded by Isabella and Ferdinand from Spain
* catalyst for European exploration, colonization, exploitation of the Americas

Question 5

Explain the significance of

Hernán Cortez

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Answer 5

Spanish Conquistador who conquered the Aztec and Inca Empires w/ the help of natives, horses, gunpowder weapons, disease (smallpox)
* the first ruler of New Spain’s original colony

Question 6

List the

New England Colonies

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Answer 6

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Conneticut, New Hampshire
* more religiously Anglican-based than Southern and Middle Colonies

Question 7

List the

Middle Colonies

and what is their label?

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Answer 7

New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Pennslyvania
* labeled the Bread Colonies bc of fertile land and consistently large production/exports of grains like oats, wheat
* more cosmopolitan than Northern and Southern colonies bc of “safe haven” colonies like Pennsylvania

Question 8

List the

Chesapeake Colonies

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Answer 8

Virginia, Maryland

Question 9

List the

Southern Colonies

and their economic focus

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Answer 9

North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia
* all they do is grow cash crops (tobacco mainly, also cotton and indigo) = their entire prosperity is based on slave labor on plantations

Question 10

Explain the significance of

Montezuma II

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Answer 10

The 9th Aztec King, in power when Cortez came to conquer. Invited Cortez and his army into Tenochtitlan to “welcome” them - it was a trap that backfired and resulted in Montezuma being captured, subsequently stoned by his own people, and dying.
His capture led to the disunification of the Aztec peoples under his rule and the ultimate fall of the Aztec Empire.

Question 11

Explain the significance of

Brazil Sugar Plantations

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Answer 11

The Portuguese developed these plantations to Brazil and the Caribbean after introducing sugar, a cash crop. They made their colonies wealthy and it served as a way to subjugate natives to Portuguese colonial authority, since they used slave/coerced labor to operate.

Very bad conditions including extreme heat and overworked laborers resulted in the death of many slaves.

Question 12

What are

encomiendas

and why are they important?

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Answer 12

Encomiendas were a part of a system where conquistadores would be assigned a group of natives to convert to Christianity and protect from pirates and warring tribed in exchange for their labor.

It paved the way for the repartamiento system and other forms of slavery while providing a source of free labor for cash crop plantations that allowed the Spanish to flourish.

Question 13

Explain the

Columbian Exchange

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Answer 13

It was the biological exchange of plants, animals, diseases and people between the New and Old World. Introduced new cultures, foods, and resulted in new social hierarchies and political dynamics.

Question 14

What is

bullion?

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Answer 14

precious metals; gold and silver

Question 15

Analyze the

Mississipian Culture

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Question 16

Analyze the

Ute Peoples

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Question 17

Analyze the

Chumash and Chinook Peoples

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Answer 17

Lived on the pacific coast of Northern America, where they lived off of fishing

Question 18

Analyze the

Pueblo Peoples

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Answer 18

• live in the southwest
• dependent on beans and maize
• complex irrigation systems, agricultural society
• forced to abandon their settlements due to drought and soil erosion