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AMSCO US History Chapter 1 Terms

The vocabulary terms for Chapter 1 of the AMSCO US History book.

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437388646Native AmericansThe first people to live in America. Their culture was influenced by their environments and they caught diseases by Europeans through the Columbian Exchange
437388647Land BridgeA strip of land connecting two continents
437388648SiouxNative Americans whose traditional lands were located in the northwestern parts of present day US and Canada (including North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska)
437388649PawneeNative American tribe of present day Kansas and Nebraska first visited by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541. Nothing much is mentioned of them until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when successive incursions of Spanish, French and English settlers attempted to enlarge their possessions. The tribes however tended to make alliances as and when it suited them. Believed to have numbered over 10,000 in 1780, by 1900 only 600 remained due to war, smallpox and cholera.
437388650PuebloA member of any of about two dozen Native American peoples called pueblos by the Spanish because they live in villages built of adobe and rock
437388651AdenaA mound builder society that was centered in the Ohio River Valley and flourished from about 700 B.C. to A.D 100
437388652HopewellNative American culture which centered in the Ohio valley from 200 to 500 C.E.; known for earthen burial and defensive mounds. (snake mound in Illinois)
437388653Mississippianthe last and most complex of the mound builder societies, inhabiting the ohio and the mississippi river vallies from about AD 700 into the 1500s.
437388654Iroquoisany member of the warlike North American Indian peoples formerly living in New York state
437388655MayasA Native American people, living in what is now Mexico and northern Central America, who had a flourishing civilization from before the birth of Jesus until around 1600, when they were conquered by the Spanish. They are known for their astronomical observations, accurate calendars sophisticated hieroglyphics, and pyramids.
437388656IncasA Native American people who built a notable civilization in western South America in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The center of their empire was in present-day Peru. Francisco Pizarro of Spain conquered the empire.
437388657AztecsThe Azetcs were a Native American Empire who lived in Mexico. Their capital was Tenochtitlan. They worshipped everything around them especially the sun. Cortes conquered them in 1521.
437388658Renaissancethe period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the modern world
437388659Technologythe practical application of science to commerce or industry
437388660Compassnavigational instrument for finding directions
437388661Printing PressA mechanical device for transferring text or graphics from a woodblock or type to paper using ink. Presses using movable type first appeared in Europe in about 1450.
437388662SpainCountry that funded Columbus' voyages. One of the first two countries to lay claim to lands in the Americas.
437388663Moorsthe group of Muslims from North Africa who conquered Spain in the eighth century
437388664Ferdinand and IsabellaThe King and Queen of Spain during Columbus' voyages. They are the ones who funded him.
437388665Protestant Reformationa religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches
437388666Tradeexchange or give (something) in exchange for
437388667PortugalCountry to the west of Spain; ruled by Henry the Navigator. One of the first two countries to lay claim to lands in the Americas.
437388668Henry The Navigator(1394-1460) Portuguese prince who promoted the study of navigation and directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa.
437388669Nation StatesGroup of people united under one independent government. These formed out of nationalism.
437388670Christopher ColumbusItalian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)
437388671New Worldthe name given by Europeans to the Americas, which were unknown in Europe before the voyages of Christopher Columbus
437388672Amerigo VespucciThe Italian sailor who corrected Columbus's mistake, acknowledging the coasts of america as a new world. America is named after him.
437388673Papal Line of Demarcationline drawn by the Pope dividing the land in the New World into 2 parts, with Portugal being granted the East and Spain being granted the West
437388674Treaty of Tordesillasa 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.
437388675Vasco Nunez de BalboaSpanish explorer who became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean in 1510 while exploring Panama
437388676Ferdinand MagellanPortuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world.
437388677Hernan CortesSpanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of Aztec Mexico in 1519-1521 for Spain.
437388678Francisco PizzaroSpanish conquistador who conquered the Incas.
437388679ConquistadoresSpanish 'conqueror' or soldier in the New World. They were searching for the 3-G's: gold, God, and glory.
437388680Ecomienda Systema kind of feudalism granting Spanish colonists control of conquered lands and obliging the Indians to provide forced labor and a fixed portion of their harvests
437388681Asiento SystemSystem that took slaves to the New World to work for the Spanish. Required that a tax be paid to the Spanish ruler for each slave brought over.
437388682John CabotItalian-born navigator explored the coast of New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Gave England a claim in North America.
437388683Giovanni de VerrazanoItalian navigator, who was commissioned by France to find a Northwest Passage leading through the Americas to Asia; explored part of North America's eastern coast, including New York harbor (France)
437388684Jacques CartierFrench explorer who explored the St. Lawrence river and laid claim to the region for France (1491-1557)
437388685Samuel de ChaplainFounded the cities of Quebec and Montreal called the father of New France
437388686Father Jacques MarquetteFrench missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan. Along with Louis Jolliet were the first non-native american to see and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River.
437388687Robert de la SalleFrenchman who followed the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the region for France and naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV
437388688Henry HudsonDiscovered what today is known as the Hudson River. Sailed for the Dutch even though he was originally from England. He was looking for a northwest passage through North America.
437388689Joint Stock CompanyA company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts.
437388690Father Junipero SerraFounded a chain of 21 missions along the California coast
437388691Virginia CompanyJoint-Stock Company in London that received a charter for land in the new world. Charter guarantees new colonists same rights as people back in England.
437388692JamestownThe first successful settlement in the Virginia colony founded in May, 1607. Harsh conditions nearly destroyed the colony but in 1610 supplies arrived with a new wave of settlers. The settlement became part of the Virginia Company of London in 1620. The population remained low due to lack of supplies until agriculture was solidly established. Jamestown grew to be a prosperous shipping port when John Rolfe introduced tobacco as a major export and cash crop.
437388693Captain John SmithEnglish explorer who helped found the colony at Jamestown, Virginia
437388694John RolfeHe was one of the English settlers at Jamestown (and he married Pocahontas). He discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export, which made Virginia an economically successful colony.
437388695Pocahontasdaughter of powhatan, acted as an intermediary between settlers and Indians
437388696Royal ColonyA colony under the direct control of a monarch
437388697PuritansProtestant sect in England hoping to "purify" the Anglican church of Roman Catholic traces in practice and organization.
437388698Plymouth ColonyColony founded by the Separatist Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower. Located in New England.
437388699SeparitistsGroup that wanted to separate from the Church of England.
437388700PilgrimsGroup of English Protestant dissenters who established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620 to seek religious freedom after having lived briefly in the Netherlands.
437388701Mayflowerthe ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from England to Massachusetts in 1620
437388702Mayflower CompactThis document was drafted in 1620 prior to settlement by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay in Massachusetts. It declared that the 41 males who signed it agreed to accept majority rule and participate in a government in the best interest of all members of the colony. This agreement set the precedent for later documents outlining commonwealth rule.
437388703Massachusetts Bay ColonyOne of the first settlements in New England; established in 1630 and became a major Puritan colony. Became the state of Massachusetts, originally where Boston is located. It was a major trading center, and absorbed the Plymouth community
437388704John Winthrop1588-1649 First governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.
437388705Great Migrationmovement of over 300,000 African American from the rural south into Northern cities between 1914 and 1920
437388706Virginia House of Burgesses1619. First elected legilative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia. Served as an early model of elected government in the New World.

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