Explorers
Who is Hernán Cortés?
He led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire.
What is the encomienda system?
This system allowed Spanish settlers to demand labor from Indigenous people.
What is Tenochtitlan?
The capital of the Aztec Empire, now Mexico City.
Who are peninsulares?
People born in Spain who held top colonial government positions.
What is Spanish?
The most widely spoken language in former Spanish colonies in the Americas.
Who is Francisco Pizarro?
This explorer conquered the Inca Empire in Peru.
What are the Laws of the Indies?
Laws passed by the Spanish Crown to regulate the treatment of Indigenous people.
What is the Inca Empire?
The powerful empire in the Andes conquered by the Spanish.
Who are criollos (or creoles)?
Spaniards born in the Americas.
What is Roman Catholicism?
The dominant religion brought by the Spanish to the Americas.
Who is Vasco Núñez de Balboa?
He was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the New World.
What is reducciones?
This term refers to the Spanish system of forced relocation of Indigenous communities.
Who are the Maya?
This civilization developed in the Yucatán Peninsula and was known for astronomy and calendars.
Who are mestizos?
Mixed-race people of Spanish and Indigenous descent.
What is cultural syncretism?
The blending of Indigenous, African, and European cultures is called this.
Who is Francisco Vázquez de Coronado?
He searched for the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold" in the American Southwest.
What is adelantado?
This policy allowed private individuals to fund expeditions in exchange for land and riches.
What is smallpox?
Disease that devastated Indigenous populations after European contact.
What is the casta system?
The rigid structure that defined people’s social status by race.
What is mercantilism?
This major economic system, based on extracting wealth, guided colonial policies.
Who is Ferdinand Magellan?
His expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe, though he died in the Philippines.
Who is Bartolomé de las Casas?
He was a Dominican friar who fought for Indigenous rights in the colonies.
Who is La Malinche (Doña Marina)?
The Native American translator and intermediary for Hernán Cortés.
What is a hacienda?
This term described a large estate worked by Indigenous laborers.
What is the transatlantic slave trade?
A system of forced African labor used after Indigenous populations declined.