Key Terms
What was the Columbian Exchange; Explain the 4 main effects?
Disease
Food
Animals
Minerals
Name some of the indigenous tribes and a bit about their societies?
Aztecs
Incas
Iroquois
Explain Noche Triste (June 30, 1520)?
“Sad night”, when the Aztecs attacked Hernán Cortés and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochitlán, 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
Who was Christopher Columbus, and what did he think he "discovered"?
An Italian explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean opened the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas.
Looking for a new route to Asia, he believed he had reached the East Indies, that's why he called the people there the Indians.
What did the Treaty of Tordesillas do?
The Treaty signed by Spain and Portugal that divided territories in the New World. Spain got a lot of territories in the Americas, and Portugal received more land titles in Africa and Asia
What were the three main reasons for exploration? Explain.
Gold, God, Glory
What was Pope’s Rebellion?
A Pueblo Indian rebellion that drove Spanish settlers from New Mexico
Who was Hernan Cortes (1485–1547) and what did he do?
A Spanish conquistador best known for leading the expedition that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire and the colonization of large parts of Mexico.
Explain the three-sister farming method?
Agricultural system employed by North American Indians as early as 1000 AD, maize, beans, and squash were grown together to maximize yields
Explain the Encomienda system?
Spanish government’s policy to “commend” or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christanize them. Part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indian tribes in the West Indies and on the North American mainland
What was the Battle of Acoma?
Fought between Spaniards under Don Juan de Oñate and the Pueblo Indians in present-day New Mexico. Spaniards brutally crushed the Pueblo people and established New Mexico in 1609.
Who was Francisco Pizarro(1478-1541), and what was his relation to the Native Americans?
Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador, led expeditions to conquer the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, he became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas.
What issue with trade prompted the search for a passage to Asia?
Europeans wanted to eliminate the Muslim middlemen controlling most of the trade routes (like the Silk Road)
What are some of the exploration innovations?
The caravel - small regular vessel w/ a high deck and 3 triangular sails. They could sail more closely into the wind, allowing sailors to explore the western shores of Africa
The mariner’s compass
Who was Bartholome de las casas?
A Dominican friar renowned for his critical analysis of Spanish colonization's treatment of indigenous peoples, especially with the encomienda system. [His influential work, "A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies," criticized the encomienda system and advocated for indigenous rights reform]
Explain the casta system and what were the 5/6 hierarchies?
1. Peninsulares at the top - Spain-born Spanish
2. Criollos - American-born Spanish
3. Mestizos - Spanish and Native American ancestry
4. Mulattoes - Spanish and African ancestry
5. Africans/ (6.) Native Americans
Who was John Cabot (1450-1499), and what was the significance of his exploration?
An Italian explorer known for his 1497 voyage to North America, often credited as the first European exploration of the mainland of North America since the Viking expeditions
His journey opened the door for later English claims to territories in the Americas and Canada, significantly influencing both European exploration and the transatlantic trade that followed.