Native American Societies
This agricultural staple, first cultivated in Mesoamerica, became a critical part of the diet for many Native American societies.
What is maize (corn)?
This Italian explorer, sponsored by Spain, is credited with "discovering" the New World in 1492.
Who is Christopher Columbus?
The arrival of Europeans introduced this disease to the Americas, leading to catastrophic population declines among Native American societies.
What is smallpox?
This term refers to the forced migration of millions of Africans to the Americas to work on plantations.
What is the transatlantic slave trade?
This deadly disease caused the greatest decline in Native American populations after European contact.
What is smallpox?
Known for their mound-building, this civilization thrived along the Mississippi River and built the large city of Cahokia.
Who are the Mississippians?
This term describes the transatlantic transfer of crops, animals, culture, and diseases between the Old World and the New World.
What is the Columbian Exchange?
This was the primary motivation for the Spanish crown’s continued interest in colonizing the Americas, particularly in Mexico and Peru.
What is the search for gold and silver (or precious metals)?
This was the primary cash crop grown on Spanish and Portuguese plantations in the Caribbean and Brazil, fueling the transatlantic slave trade.
What is sugar?
Enslaved Africans were transported to the New World to labor primarily in this industry.
What is plantation agriculture?
This confederation of five (later six) Native American tribes in the Northeast played a significant role in early colonial politics.
What is the Iroquois Confederacy?
The introduction of these animals to the Plains by Europeans revolutionized Native American life before 1800.
What are horses?
The Spanish crown granted this system, allowing colonists to demand labor or tribute from indigenous populations.
What is the encomienda system?
This term refers to the economic theory that colonies existed primarily to provide wealth to their mother country.
What is mercantilism?
This labor system, which exploited Native Americans, was replaced by African slavery in many Spanish colonies.
What is the encomienda system?
These were the large communal living structures used by Native American tribes in the Northeast and Great Lakes region.
What are longhouses?
This 1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal divided the non-European world between the two powers.
What is the Treaty of Tordesillas?
This term refers to a mixed European and African racial group in the Spanish colonies.
What are mulattoes?
This triangular trade route saw European goods exchanged for African slaves, who were then sent to the Americas, with American products sent back to Europe.
What is the Middle Passage?
The introduction of these crops to Europe from the Americas stimulated economies across the continent.
What are tobacco, coffee, sugar, and potatoes?
This Native American civilization in the Southwest was known for their cliff dwellings and advanced irrigation techniques.
Who are the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi)?
This Spanish explorer is credited with the conquest of the Aztec Empire in present-day Mexico.
Who is Hernán Cortés?
This term refers to people of mixed European and Native American ancestry in the Spanish colonies.
What are mestizos?
This precious metal, mined in the Americas, was a key factor in Spain’s wealth during the 16th century.
What is silver?
Bartolomé de Las Casas documented the Spanish exploitation of Native Americans in this region.
What is Hispaniola?