Pre- Columbian
America
America
These kinship-based groups formed an important part of Mexica society.
Capulli
This enormous Mexica capital was built on an island in Lake Texcoco.
Tenochtitlan
Spain and Portugal are located on this European peninsula.
Iberia
This Spanish conquistador led the expedition that resulted in the fall of the Mexica Empire.
Hernán Cortés
This Spanish conquistador wrote an account known as The True History of the Conquest of New Spain.
Bernal Díaz
These artificial agricultural islands allowed the Mexica to produce food in the shallow lakes around Tenochtitlan.
The Inka called their vast empire this name, meaning roughly “the four parts together.”
Tawantinsuyu
This navigational instrument helped sailors determine latitude by measuring the position of celestial objects.
Astrolabe
This Mexica ruler encountered Cortés and the Spanish in 1519.
Moctezuma (II)
This Spanish Franciscan compiled the Florentine Codex, which incorporates substantial Indigenous testimony and perspectives.
Bernardino de Sahagún
The belief that pre-Columbian America was a sparsely populated, untouched wilderness is known by this term.
Pristine Myth
Rather than relying primarily on monetary taxes, the Inka required subjects to provide labor to the state through this system.
Mita
This business structure allowed multiple investors to pool capital and share the risks and profits of overseas ventures.
Joint-stock Company
This Indigenous woman served as an interpreter and important intermediary for Cortés.
La Malinche/Doña Marina
This visual historical source presents the Tlaxcalans as important participants and allies in the Spanish conquest.
Lienzo de Tlaxcala
Name two specific examples of Indigenous environmental or technological achievements discussed in this unit.
examples include: chinampas, agricultural terraces, roads, irrigation systems, large-scale urban development, pictographic writing/codices, quipu, etc
This Inka system used cords and knots to record information such as numbers and administrative data.
quipu
This treaty divided newly claimed overseas territories between Spain and Portugal.
The Treaty of Tordesillas
Name two major factors, besides Spanish military technology, that contributed to the Spanish conquest of the Mexica and Inca.
Possible answers: Indigenous alliances, internal political divisions, and epidemic disease.
Bernal Díaz described Tenochtitlan with considerable admiration. Why might emphasizing the city's sophistication have supported his account?
Model Answer: It could demonstrate the significance and difficulty of the Spanish conquest and elevate the achievements of the conquistadors by showing that they defeated a powerful and sophisticated civilization.
Alternative answer: To prove that he was writing an honest account.
What are the two theories about pre-Columbian indigenous populations presented in the article "1491"
1. Indigenous peoples had large populations
2. Indigenous peoples significantly transformed their environments.
chasquis
Name three major motivations for European oceanic exploration and expansion.
Possible answers: economic goals (wealth, profit, etc); political competition (glory, fame, power, etc), and religious motives
Explain how Indigenous peoples exercised agency during the Spanish conquest. Your answer must include one specific example.
Model Answer: Indigenous peoples were not simply passive victims. Groups such as the Tlaxcalans allied with Cortés against the Mexica because of their own political interests. Indigenous allies provided soldiers, intelligence, supplies, and local knowledge that were essential to the Spanish campaigns.
What are two types of evidence we can use (outside of Spanish textual sources) to try to get a clearer picture of the initial contact with and conquest of the Americas.
archaeological, forensic, visual and oral histories from indigenous populations