Ch. 1: Indigenous America

the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the Americas for thousands of years before European arrival, developing diverse societies, cultures, languages, and economies

a period when massive glaciers covered large portions of the Earth, lowering sea levels and exposing a land bridge between Asia and North America

an archaeological site in present-day Chile containing evidence of human settlement at least 14,500 years ago, supporting the idea that people arrived in the Americas earlier than once believed

people who survive by hunting animals, fishing, and gathering wild plants rather than relying primarily on agriculture

the development of farming that allowed people to cultivate crops, establish more permanent settlements, and support larger populations

a cultural region extending from central Mexico into Central America, where societies developed agriculture, cities, and complex political and religious systems

a crop domesticated in Mesoamerica that became a staple food and supported the growth of many Indigenous civilizations

a region of eastern North America where Indigenous peoples combined farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering, often living in settled communities

the agricultural combination of corn, beans, and squash, which supported one another's growth and provided a nutritious diet

social systems in which family relationships, descent, or inheritance are traced through the mother's line

the belief that people could use land and its resources without necessarily claiming permanent individual ownership of the land itself

communication methods used by the Ojibwe, including birchbark scrolls and pictorial symbols that recorded information and conveyed knowledge

an Andean recording system that used knotted cords to store and communicate numerical information and other records

an important Ancestral Puebloan center in present-day New Mexico, known for monumental buildings, roads, trade, and ceremonial life

a massive Ancestral Puebloan great house in Chaco Canyon that served as an important residential, political, economic, and ceremonial center

a circular, often partly underground room used by Puebloan peoples for ceremonies and community activities

Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest who developed societies adapted to the region's environments, including mobile lifeways and varied forms of agriculture and trade

a major Mississippian urban center near present-day St. Louis that flourished around 1050-1350 CE and featured large earthen mounds, extensive trade, and a large population

the largest earthen structure at Cahokia, demonstrating the community's ability to organize large-scale labor and construct monumental architecture

the practice of holding captives or enslaved people in some Indigenous societies, often through warfare; its forms and purposes varied among communities and differed from later racialized Atlantic chattel slavery

rivers that connected Indigenous communities, serving as transportation routes and supporting trade, communication, agriculture, and political relationships

communities of the Lenape people in the Mid-Atlantic region, organized around kinship, agriculture, hunting, fishing, and local political leadership

a leader or chief in certain Northeastern Indigenous communities, including the Lenape, who helped guide political and community affairs

Indigenous peoples of the Mississippi River Valley and surrounding regions who developed agricultural societies, large settlements, trade networks, and monumental earthworks

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest who relied heavily on salmon and other abundant resources and developed complex communities, trade, and ceremonial traditions

a ceremonial gathering among some Pacific Northwest peoples involving feasting, gift-giving, and the distribution of wealth to establish relationships and social status

large houses built from wooden planks by some Pacific Northwest peoples, often housing extended families

carved wooden poles created by some Northwest Coast peoples to represent family histories, ancestors, important events, and cultural identities

a Norse explorer traditionally associated with a voyage to North America around 1000 CE, centuries before Columbus

the monarchs of Spain who completed the Reconquista in 1492 and sponsored Christopher Columbus's first transatlantic voyage

a Portuguese royal prince who supported maritime exploration and helped encourage Portuguese voyages along the coast of Africa

a navigational instrument used by sailors to estimate latitude by measuring the position of celestial bodies

a relatively small, maneuverable sailing ship used by Portuguese and Spanish explorers during the Age of Exploration

a Portuguese explorer who reached India by sailing around the southern tip of Africa in 1498, helping establish a direct European sea route to Asian trade

a highly profitable crop that required intensive labor and suitable tropical conditions; its production on Atlantic islands helped expand plantation slavery

the system in which people are held in bondage and compelled to labor; European colonial expansion expanded the Atlantic slave trade and plantation slavery

traders who established commercial relationships along the African coast and purchased enslaved Africans to labor on Atlantic island plantations

an Italian-born sailor sailing for Spain who crossed the Atlantic in 1492 and reached the Caribbean while mistakenly believing he had reached islands near Asia

Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, including communities encountered by Columbus; many were subjected to Spanish demands for labor, tribute, and conversion

a Spanish Dominican priest who condemned the brutal exploitation of Indigenous peoples and urged the Spanish Crown to protect them

a Spanish colonial system that granted colonists the right to demand tribute and labor from Indigenous communities, supposedly in exchange for protection and Christian instruction

a colonial labor draft system that required Indigenous communities to provide workers for Spanish projects under regulated terms, though it remained coercive and exploitative

a group of Mesoamerican societies known for sophisticated writing, mathematics, astronomy, monumental architecture, and city-states

a powerful Mesoamerican people whose empire was centered in the Valley of Mexico and whose capital was Tenochtitlan

the capital of the Aztec Empire, built on an island in Lake Texcoco; it was a large, sophisticated city with markets, temples, causeways, and canals

artificial agricultural plots constructed in shallow lake areas, allowing the Aztecs to grow large quantities of food near Tenochtitlan

a Spanish soldier and chronicler who participated in the conquest of Mexico and later wrote an account of the expedition

the Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that allied with Indigenous enemies of the Aztecs and conquered Tenochtitlan in 1521

an Indigenous woman who served as an interpreter and intermediary for Hernán Cortés, helping facilitate communication and alliances during the Spanish conquest

the Aztec ruler who encountered Cortés and the Spanish expedition during the early stages of the conquest of the Aztec Empire

the Spanish retreat from Tenochtitlan in 1520 after an uprising against Spanish forces and their Indigenous allies, during which many Spanish soldiers and allies died

the people of the Andean region who built a vast empire centered in the Andes, connected by roads and administered through organized political and labor systems; Quechua remains an important language of the region

the Spanish conquistador who invaded the Inca Empire and captured Cuzco in 1533, helping establish Spanish control over the region

the Spanish colonial social hierarchy that classified people according to ancestry and perceived racial background, shaping access to status and opportunity

people born in Spain who lived in the Spanish colonies and generally held the highest colonial political and administrative positions

people of Spanish ancestry born in the Americas, who could possess wealth and influence but were often disadvantaged relative to Peninsulares in colonial government

people of mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry who occupied varied social positions in Spanish colonial society and often faced legal and social discrimination

marriage between people classified as belonging to different racial or ethnic groups; in Spanish America, such marriages contributed to the growth of mixed-ancestry communities

the idea of purity of ancestry, used to distinguish people considered to have untainted Spanish or Christian lineage and to justify social privileges and discrimination

the process and cultural outcome of racial, familial, and cultural mixing among Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and others in the Spanish colonies

a Spanish conquistador who explored Florida in 1513 while seeking wealth and enslaved laborers

a Spanish explorer whose expedition to Florida ended in shipwreck and whose subsequent journey took him across the Gulf Coast and Texas into Mexico

a Spanish settlement founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565; it is the oldest continuously occupied European-founded settlement in what is now the United States