First Americans & Geography
This theory says people first reached the Americas by crossing exposed land between Asia and North America.
What is the Land Bridge theory?
These Norse explorers reached North America around 1000 A.D., long before Columbus.
Who were the Vikings?
He sailed for Spain in 1492 and believed he had reached the East Indies.
Who was Christopher Columbus?
The first permanent English settlement in America, founded in 1607.
What is Jamestown?
These Separatists sailed on the Mayflower and settled at Plymouth.
Who were the Pilgrims?
This early crop, first grown in Mexico, allowed Native people to settle and form permanent villages.
What is corn (maize)?
This set of wars increased demand for Eastern spices and helped spark exploration.
What were the Crusades?
This transfer of plants, animals, and diseases connected the Old World and New World.
What is the Columbian Exchange?
He introduced strict discipline with his “no work, no food” rule.
Who was John Smith?
This agreement, signed before landing, created self-government in the Plymouth colony.
What is the Mayflower Compact?
These people of the Southwest built adobe homes and used irrigation to grow corn.
Who were the Pueblo Indians?
This explorer’s stories of China increased European interest in Asian goods.
Who was Marco Polo?
He conquered the Aztecs at Tenochtitlán with superior weapons and the help of smallpox.
Who was Hernán Cortés?
This crop, perfected by John Rolfe, became Virginia’s cash crop and shaped its economy.
What is tobacco?
This Puritan leader said Massachusetts Bay should be a “city upon a hill.”
Who was John Winthrop?
This farming technique combined corn, beans, and squash to maximize growth and nutrition.
What is “three sister” farming?
This new triangular-sailed ship helped the Portuguese sail against the wind.
What is the caravel?
This labor system “commended” Indians to Spanish landlords but became slavery.
What is the encomienda system?
Created in 1619, this was the first representative assembly in English America.
What is the House of Burgesses?
She challenged Puritan predestination with “antinomianism” and was banished.
Who was Anne Hutchinson?
This powerful alliance of 5 tribes in New York was matrilineal and led by Hiawatha.
What is the Iroquois Confederation?
This 1494 agreement divided new lands between Spain and Portugal.
What is the Treaty of Tordesillas?
This phrase claimed Spain only brought death and destruction, ignoring contributions like law and architecture.
What is the Black Legend?
Founded by Lord Baltimore, this colony was a refuge for Catholics and passed the Act of Toleration.
What is Maryland?
This man founded Rhode Island and supported religious freedom and fair treatment of Native Americans.
Who was Roger Williams?