Period 1 & 2 Flashcards
(37 cards)
Mayas
Civilization that built large cities in the rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula (present-day Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico), success partly due to the cultivation of maize.
Aztecs
Civilization beginning in Central Mexico that quickly grew into an empire that swept across Mexico and Central America. Highly developed technologically and culturally, success partly due to the cultivation of maize.
Corn (maize)
Crop cultivated in Central and South America who’s domestication allowed for the growth of large civilizations such as the Mayas and Aztecs.
Iroquois Confederation
A powerful political union of five independent tribes who lived in the Mohawk Valley of New York. The Confederation competed with other native groups and Europeans.
Treaty of Tordesillas
Agreement between Spain and Portugal that moved the Line of Demarcation previously dividing the Americas that established Portugal’s claim to Brazil
Roanoke Island
Unsuccessful English settlement attempt in the New World by Sir Walter Riley off the coast of North Carolina.
Protestant Reformation
Revolt by many Northern European countries against the authority of the Pope, both Protestant and Catholic missionaries sought new people to convert, adding a religious motive to the exploration of the New World.
Smallpox
European disease that decimated the Americas along with illnesses such as measles to which Natives had no immunity and died in droves as a result of.
Capitalism (revisit)
A system of economic production based on the private ownership of property and the contractual exchange for profit of goods, labor, and money.
Encomienda
System in which the Spanish king would give grants of land and people to individuals. Natives were forced to work in farms or mines, decimating their remaining population. Gave way to the Asiento System.
Conquistadores
Spanish explorers and conquerors who sent ships from the Americas back to their country loaded with gold and silver, making Spain the richest and most powerful nation in Europe.
Middle Passage (revisit)
Part of the Triangular Trade that describes the voyage the enslaved would embark on from Africa to the West Indies. The journey was often fraught with death and sickness.
Valladolid Debate
Debate in which Las Casas argued that Native Americans were equal to Europeans, while Juan Gines argued that they were less than humans. Las Casas was unable to gain equal treatment for Native Americans.
Joint-stock companies
Method for financing colonies while England’s economy suffered that pooled the savings of many investors, thereby spreading the risk.
Act of Toleration
Bill in which Cecil Calvert persuaded the Protestant-dominated Maryland assembly to grant religious freedom to all Christians, also called for the death of all non-Christians.
Holy Experiment
References William Penn’s strategy when developing his colony in North America. Settlers were promised freedom from religious persecution, a liberal government, and unrestricted immigration.
Jamestown
First permanent English colony in America. King James I chartered the Virginia Company to found the settlement. Poor decisions led to early struggles within the colony and conflicts with the natives, but the development of a new type of tobacco crop saved Jamestown.
Pilgrims
Known as separatists because of their wish to leave the Anglican Church, inspired by Calvinism, left England for Holland, many later decided to set out for the New World, faced early struggles but later prospered.
Virginia House of Burgesses
The first representative government in America, came about as a result of the Virginia Company’s decision to incentivize settlement in Jamestown through the promise of guaranteeing rights equal to those of British citizens.
Mayflower Compact
Document signed aboard the Mayflower by Pilgrims that pledged to make decisions by the will of the majority. Early form of colonial self-government.
Royal Colonies
Colonies under direct authority and rule of the king’s government. Notably included Virginia after 1624, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Proprietary Colonies
Colonies under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king, such as Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Virginia Company
A joint-stock company chartered by James I that founded the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown
Triangular Trade
Trade route that merchant ships regularly followed that connected North America, Africa, and Europe in various ways. Common pattern: Rum from NE-> Africa, Slaves from Africa-> West Indies, Sugar from WI-> NE.