Chapter 1 Flashcards
First part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level.
Canadian Shield
Highly advanced South American civilization that occupied present-day Peru until it was conquered by Spanish forces under Francisco Pizarro in 1532. They developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as terrace farming, in order to sustain large, complex societies in the unforgiving Andes Mountains.
Incas
Native American empire that controlled present-day Mexico until 1521, when they were conquered by Spanish Hernán Cortés. They 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, as well as their use of human sacrifices in religious ceremonies.
Aztecs
The term commonly describes those societies in which political legitimacy and authority overlay a large degree of cultural commonality.
nation-states
Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as twenty-five thousand Native Americans.
Cahokia
Agricultural system employed by North American Indians as early as 1000 c.e.; maize, beans, and squash were grown together to maximize yields.
three-sister farming
Small regular vessel with a high deck and three triangular sails. These 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.
caravel
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.
plantation
The transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between New and Old World societies after 1492.
Columbian exchange
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.
Treaty of Tordesillas
Spanish government’s policy to “commend,” or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them. Part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indian tribes in the West Indies and on the North American mainland.
encomienda
“Sad night,” when the Aztecs attacked Hernán Cortés and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochittlán, killing hundreds. Cortés laid siege to the city the following year, precipitating the fall of the Aztec empire and inaugurating three centuries of Spanish rule.
noche triste
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 vast bullion deposits, helped bring about Europe’s transition to capitalism.
capitalism
People of mixed Indian and European heritage, notably in Mexico.
mestizos
Sixteenth-century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztec and Incan empires.
conquistadores
