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| 10687631011 | Canadian Shield | First part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level. | 0 | |
| 10687631012 | Incas | Highly advanced South American civilization that occupied present-day Peru until it was conquered by Spanish forces under Francisco Pizarro in 1532; developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as terrace farming, in order to sustain large, complex societies in the unforgiving Andes Mountains. | 1 | |
| 10687631013 | Aztecs | Native American empire that controlled present day Mexico until 1521, when they were conquered by spaniard Hernan Cortes; maintained control over their vast empire through a system of trade and tribute; came to be known for their advances in mathematics, writing, and their use of human sacrifices in religious ceremonies. | 2 | |
| 10687631014 | Nation-States | The term commonly describes those societies in which the political legitimacy and authority overlay a large degree of cultural commonality. | 3 | |
| 10687631015 | Cahokia | Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as twenty-five thousand Native Americans. | 4 | |
| 10687631016 | Three-Sister Farming | Agricultural system employed by North American Indians as early as 1000 CE; maize, beans, and squash were grown together to maximize yields. | 5 | |
| 10687631017 | Middlemen | In trading systems, those dealers who operate between the original producers or goods and the retail merchants who sell to consumers; after the 11th century, European exploration was driven in large part by a desire to acquire alluring Asian goods without paying heavy tolls to Muslim middlemen. | 6 | |
| 10687631018 | Caravel | Small vessel with high decks and three triangular sails; could sail more closely into the wind, allowing European sailors to explore the western shores of Africa. | 7 | |
| 10687631019 | Plantation | Large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor. | 8 | |
| 10687631020 | Columbian Exchange | The transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between the New and Old World societies after 1492. | 9 | |
| 10687631021 | Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) | Signed by Spain and Portugal, it divided the territories of the New World; Spain received the bulk of territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with titles to lands in Africa and Asia. | 10 | |
| 10687631022 | Encomienda | Spanish government's policy to "commend" or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them. | 11 | |
| 10687631023 | Noche Triste (June 30th, 1520) | "Sad Night" when the Aztecs attacked Hernan Cortes and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, killing hundreds; Cortes laid siege to the city the following year, precipitating the fall of the Aztec empire and inaugurating three centuries of Spanish rule. | 12 | |
| 10687631024 | Capitalism | Economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets. | 13 | |
| 10687631025 | Mestizos | People of mixed Indian and European heritage, notable in Mexico. | 14 | |
| 10687631026 | Conquistadors | 16th century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztec and Inca empires. | 15 | |
| 10687631027 | Battle of Acoma (1599) | Fought between Spaniards under Don Juan de Onate and the Pueblo Indians in present day New Mexico; Spaniards brutally crushed the Pueblo peoples and established the territory as New Mexico in 1609. | 16 | |
| 10687631028 | Pope's Rebellion (1680) | Pueblo Indian rebellion that drove Spanish settlers from New Mexico. | 17 | |
| 10687631029 | Black Legend | False notion that Spanish conquerors did little but butcher the Indians and steal their hold in the name of Christ. | 18 | |
| 10687631030 | Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516) | Spanish monarch who, along with his wife Isabella of Castile, who funded Christopher Columbus' voyage across the Atlantic in 1492, which led to his discovery of the West Indies. | 19 | |
| 10687631031 | Isabella of Castile (1451-1504) | Spanish monarch who, along with her husband Ferdinand of Aragon, who funded Christopher Columbus' voyage across the Atlantic in 1492, which led to his discover of the West Indies. | 20 | |
| 10687631032 | Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) | Genoese explorer who stumbled upon the West Indies in 1492 while in search of a new water route to Asia; Columbus made three subsequent voyages across the Atlantic and briefly served as a colonial administrator on the island of Hispaniola, present day Haiti. | 21 | |
| 10687631033 | Francisco Coronado (1510-1554) | Spanish explorer who ventured from western Mexico through present day Arizona and up to Kansas in search of fabled golden cities. | 22 | |
| 10687631034 | Francisco Pizarro (ca. 1475-1541) | Spanish conquistador who crushed the Incas in 1532 and founded the city of Lima, Peru. | 23 | |
| 10687631035 | Bartolome de Las Casas (1484-1566) | Reform minded Spanish missionary who worked to abolish the Encomienda system and documented the mistreatment of Indians in the Spanish colonies. | 24 | |
| 10687631036 | Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) | Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztec empire and claimed Mexico for Spain. | 25 | |
| 10687631037 | Malinche (Dona Maria) (ca. 1501-1550) | Indian slave woman who served as an interpreter for Hernan Cortes on his conquest of the Aztecs; later married one of Cortes' soldiers, who took her with him back to Spain. | 26 | |
| 10687631038 | Moctezuma (1466-1520) | Last of the Aztec rulers, who saw his powerful empire crumble under the force of the Spanish invasion led by Hernan Cortes. | 27 | |
| 10687631039 | Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) (ca. 1450-1498) | Italian explorer sent by England's King Henry VII to explore the northeastern coast of North America in 1497 and 1498. | 28 | |
| 10687631040 | Robert de La Salle (1643-1687) | French explorer who led an expedition down the Mississippi River in the 1680's. | 29 | |
| 10687631041 | Father Junipero Serra (1713-1784) | Franciscan priest who established a chain of missions along the California coast, beginning in San Diego in 1769, with the aim of Christianizing and civilizing peoples. | 30 |
