Category 1: Societies of the Americas to 1492
Early nomadic hunters are believed to have first crossed into the Americas from Asia via this ancient, frozen pathway.
What is the Bering Land Bridge?
Founded in Arabia in 622 by the Prophet Muhammad, this monotheistic religion spread rapidly across North and West Africa.
What is Islam?
Meaning "rebirth," this cultural awakening in Europe led to a renewed interest in classical learning, art, and global exploration.
What is the Renaissance?
The primary motivations for European exploration and conquest are often summarized by these three "G"s.
What are God, Gold, and Glory?
Meaning "conquerors," this term refers to the Spanish explorers and soldiers who claimed vast new American colonies for Spain.
What are conquistadors?
The transition from hunting these massive, Ice Age animals to developing agriculture allowed early American societies to settle in one place.
What is big game / big game hunters?
Dominating the West African savanna in the 1400s, this powerful empire controlled the trans-Saharan trade routes under leaders like Sunni Ali.
What is Songhai?
European society was organized according to this strict social structure, with monarchs and nobles at the top and peasants at the very bottom.
What is a hierarchy?
The global transfer of living things, including plants, animals, and diseases, between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres is known by this term
What is the Columbian Exchange?
In 1521, this ambitious Spanish explorer and his native allies successfully conquered the mighty Aztec Empire.
Who is Hernán Cortés?
These two early Southwestern Native American groups were highly skilled in desert farming and known for their impressive cliff dwellings and irrigation systems.
Who are the Hohokam and Anasazi?
Located deep in the forests of the Niger Delta, this kingdom became famous for its masterful metalworkers and beautiful bronze sculptures.
What is Benin?
This Portuguese royal, famously known as "the Navigator," sponsored early voyages of exploration and founded a prominent navigation school.
Who is Prince Henry?
Christopher Columbus mistakenly gave this name to the indigenous Taino people because he believed he had landed in the East Indies.
What are "Indians"?
After destroying the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the Spanish built Mexico City and named their newly established American empire this.
What is New Spain?
Along with the Mayans and the Incans, this fierce Mesoamerican empire built a massive civilization in Central Mexico before the Spanish arrived.
Who are the Aztecs?
Arising on the lower Zaire River, this kingdom consisted of a series of smaller states ruled by a single leader called the Manikongo.
What is Kongo?
Adopted from Arab shipbuilders, this lighter, faster sailing ship featured triangular sails that allowed Europeans to sail against the wind.
What is a caravel?
Signed in 1494 to prevent conflict, this treaty drew an imaginary line dividing the Western Hemisphere between Spain and Portugal.
What is the Treaty of Tordesillas?
Under this harsh labor system, Spanish authorities granted colonial landlords the right to force Native Americans to farm, ranch, or mine for them.
What is the encomienda system?
By exchanging goods across elaborate networks spanning the continent, this activity brought diverse Native American tribes and cultures together.
What is trade?
Empires like the Songhai dominated this geographic zone, defined as a dry grassland dotted with trees and bushes found in sub-Saharan Africa.
What is a savanna?
Europeans sought new ocean routes to bypass middlemen and access Asian trade goods that traditionally traveled overland via this famous ancient route.
What is the Silk Road?
Because they lacked this biological defense, Native American populations were decimated by the diseases brought over by European colonizers.
What is immunity?
Hernán Cortés and his conquistadors laid siege to and destroyed this magnificent island city, the capital of the Aztec Empire.
What is Tenochtitlán?