Native Cultures
This empire in modern-day Mexico developed advanced irrigation and a massive capital city, Tenochtitlán.
Aztecs
This explorer’s 1492 voyage for the Spanish crown began the era of European colonization in the Americas.
Columbus
This category of "exchange" was responsible for the death of up to 90% of the Native American population.
Disease (Smallpox)
This system granted Spanish settlers land and the right to use Native Americans as forced labor.
Encomienda
This specific crop became the foundation of the complex societies in Mexico and the American Southwest.
Maize (Corn)
Native groups in this region (like the Chinook) relied on the ocean and forests, leading to high population densities and complex social structures.
Northwest/Pacific Coast
This was the primary economic motivation for Spanish explorers (often summarized as one of the "Three Gs").
Gold (Wealth)
High-calorie crops like maize and potatoes from the Americas led to a population explosion in this continent.
Europe
This social hierarchy ranked people based on their racial ancestry (e.g., Peninsulares, Mestizos).
Casta system
Most Native American religions were __________, meaning they believed spiritual power existed in the natural world (animals, plants, etc.).
Animist
This culture was known for building large earthen mounds; their largest city was Cahokia.
Mississippian
This 1494 treaty divided the "New World" between Spain and Portugal.
Treaty of Tordesillas
This precious metal, mined heavily in the Americas, helped shift Europe from feudalism to capitalism.
Silver
This Catholic priest became a famous critic of the encomienda system and an advocate for Native American rights.
Bartolomé de Las Casas
In 1680, this event saw which indigenous tribe successfully (though temporarily) expel the Spanish from modern-day New Mexico.
The Pueblo
Tribes in the Great Plains (like the Sioux) became more mobile and efficient hunters after the introduction of this animal.
The Horse
This Spanish conquistador is known for the fall of the Aztec Empire.
Hernán Cortés
Name one major crop brought from the Old World to the New World that became a staple of the plantation system.
Sugar or Wheat
This term refers to people of mixed Spanish and Native American heritage.
Mestizos
This concept describes the false belief that Spanish conquerors were uniquely cruel and only brought "misery" to the New World.
The Black Legend
Explain how "Three-Sisters" farming contributed to the stability of Eastern Woodlands tribes like the Iroquois.
Corn, beans, and squash provided a balanced diet and soil fertility
This was the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States (founded in 1565).
St. Augustine.
Identify the "New World" disease that many historians believe was brought back to Europe by explorers.
Syphilis
This 1550 Valladolid Debate centered on whether Native Americans were "natural slaves" or human beings capable of becoming ___________.
Christians
Before the African slave trade grew, the Spanish used this system to "entrust" Native labor to settlers in exchange for Christianizing them.
Encomienda