America a Narrative History Ch. 1 – Flashcards
Flashcard maker : Keisha White
Western Hemisphere
The part of the world consisting of North, Central, and South America.
Mesoamerica
The region of Central America where the Maya, the Aztecs and other ancient cultures existed.
Mayas
Ancient Mesoamerican civilization that thrived from about A. D. 300 to A. D. 900.
Aztecs
Mesoamerican civilization that thrived in the 14th and 15th Centuries A. D.
Adena-Hopewell culture
Northeastern culture that thrived from 800 B.C.-A.D. 600 in the Ohio Valley and surrounding areas of the current United States.
Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture of the central Mississippi River Valley of the current United States, which thrived from A. D. 600 to A. D. 1500.
Anasazi culture
Southwestern culture that began in the 5th B.C., elements of which continue today in Arizona, New Mexico. Colorado and surrounding areas.
Renaissance
Period in European history from 12th C AD through the 16th C AD distinguished by its spirit of inquiry and return to secular learning.
longitude
Navigational measurement dependant on accurate timepieces, and left to guesswork when sailing across the open sea prior to the 18th C. A. D.
Christopher Columbus
Self-taught Italian mariner who in the late 15th C A.D. sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of the Indies.
Treaty of Tordesillas
Treaty between Spain and Portugal defining the Spanish claim on exploration and settlement west of the Cape Verde Islands.
Amerigo Vespucci
Italian explorer who first suggested that South America was a new continent.
maize
Also called ‘Indian Corn’, maize was one of the staples of the New World.
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese seaman, who in the employ of Spain set out to find passage through or around South America, and consequently led the first voyage around the globe.
Hernando Cortes
Ruthless leader of the conquistadores, Spanish soldiers who invaded and eventually destroyed the Aztec culture.
encomienda
System used by the conquistadores, whereby favored officers became privileged landowners who controlled Indian villages or groups of villages.
Bartolomeo de Las Casas
Catholic missionary and Bishop in Mexico who wrote A Brief Relation of the Destruction of the Indies (1552),
hacienda
A great farm or ranch.
Spanish borderlands
Area of the southern United States formerly claimed by Spain.
Juan Ponce de Leon
Governor of Puerto Rico, and first known explorer of Florida.
St. Augustine
A Spanish outpost in Florida, it became the first European town in the present-day United States.
presidio
A fort where soldiers who were sent to protect Spanish missions were housed.
Juan de Onate
Founder of the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico.
mestizo
Sons of Spanish Fathers and native mothers.
Pope (Indian leader)
Pueblo leader who organized a rebellion, which resulted in driving the Spaniards out of New Mexico.
Reformation
European religious movement that challenged the Catholic Church and resulted in the beginnings of Protestant Christianity.
Martin Luther
German monk who protested abuses in the Catholic church by posing his ‘Ninety-five Theses.’ Founder of the Lutheran church.
Ninety-five Theses
Martin Luther’s criticisms of the Catholic church arguing against indulgences and for a direct relationship to God.
Calvinism
Religious movement founded by John Calvin, based on the doctrine of predestination.
Defender of the Faith
Title given by the pope to England’s Henry VIII prior to England’s break from the Catholic church.
Church of England
The Anglican church, which unites church and state under the monarchy.
Francis Drake
English privateer who led British fleet against the Spanish Armada.
galleon
Heavy ship used by the Spanish Armada.
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sponsor of an ill-fated expedition of colonists, who in 1587 settled Roanoke Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, also known as the ‘Lost Colony.’
