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The American Pageant: Chapter 1 Flashcards

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411189888The AztecsNative Americans who that lived in what is now Mexico and routinely offered their gods human sacrifices, these people were violent, yet built amazing pyramids and built a great civilization without having a wheel.
411189889The Mound BuildersIndians of the Ohio River Valley.
411189890The Mississippian settlementAt Cahokia, near present-day East St. Louis, Illionis, was home to about 40,000 people in at 1100 A.D.
411189891HiawathaThis was legendary leader who inspired the Iroquois, a powerful group of Native Americans in the northeaster woodlands of the U.S.
411189892The NorseThese Vikings discovered America in about 1000 A.D., when they discovered modern-day Newfoundland. They abandoned it later due to bad conditions.
411189893Marco PoloItalian adventurer who supposedly sailed to the Far East (China) in 1295 and returned with stories and supplies of the Asian life there (silk, pearls, etc...)
411189894Bartholomeu DíasA Portuguese sailor, he was the first to round the southernmost tip of Africa, a feat he did in 1488.
411189895Vasco da GamaIn 1498, he reached India and returned home with a small but tantalizing cargo of jewels and spices.
411189896Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of CastileThe wedded king and queen of Spain, their marriage united the previously non-existing country.
411189897Christopher ColumbusAn Italian seafarer who persuaded Spain to give him three ships for which to sail west to look for a better route to India, he "discovered" America in 1492
411189898Vasco Nuñez BalboaDiscoverer of the Pacific Ocean in 1513.
411189899Ferdinand MagellanIn 1519, his crew began a voyage and eventually ended up becoming the first to circumnavigate the world, even though he died in the Philippines. The sole surviving ship returned to Europe in 1522.
411189900Ponce de LeónIn 1513 and 1521, this Spanish Explorer explored Florida, searching for gold (contrary to the myth of his seeking the "Fountain of Youth").
411189901Francisco CoronadoFrom 1540 to 1542, he explored the pueblos of Arizona and New Mexico, penetrating as far east as Kansas. He also discovered the Grand Canyon and enormous herds of bison.
411189902Hernando de SotoFrom 1539 to 1542, he explored Florida and crossed the Mississippi River. He brutally abused Indians and died of fever and battle wounds.
411189903Francisco PizarroIn 1532, he crushed the Incas of Peru and got lots of bounty.
411189904Bartolomé de Las CasasA Spanish missionary who was appalled by the method of encomienda, calling it "a moral pestilence invented by Satan."
411189905Hernán CortésAnnihilator of the Aztec in 1519.
411189906MalincheA female Indian slave who knew Mayan and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec.
411189907MontezumaThe leader of the Aztecs at the time of Cortés' invasion who believed that Cortés was the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl.
411189908Giovanni CabotoAKA John Cabot, he explored the northeastern coaster of North America in 1497-98.
411189909Giovanni da VerranzoAn Italian explorer dispatched by the French king in 1524 to probe the eastern seaboard of U.S.
411189910Don Juan de OñateLeader of a Spanish group that traversed parts of Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in 1598, he and his men proclaimed the province of New Mexico in 1609 and founded its capital, Santa Fe.
411189911Robert de La SalleSent by the French, he went on an expedition down the Mississippi in the 1680s.
411189912Juan Rodriquez CabrilloHe explored the California coast in 1542 but failed to find anything of interest.
411189913Father Junipero SerraThe Spanish missionary who founded 21 missions in California, in 1769, he founded Mission San Diego, the first of the chain.
411189914maizethe Indian word for corn
411189915Conquistadoresthe Spanish word for "conqueror," these explorers claimed much of America for Spain, slaughtering millions of natives in the process
411189916encomiendaa euphemism for slavery in which Indians were given to colonists to be "Christianized."
411189917Día de la RazaSpanish for Columbus Day.
411189918Lake Bonnevillemassive prehistoric lake, all of which remains today in the form of the Great Salt Lake.
411189919Treaty of Tordesillastreaty that settled Spanish and Portuguese differences in the Americas, Portugal got modern-day Brazil; Spain got the rest.
411189920Popé's Rebellionrevolt in which Indians took over New Mexico and held control for nearly half a century.
411189921TimbuktuCapital of the West African kingdom of Mali, a place located in the Niger River Valley.
411189922Madeira, the Canaries, São Tomé, PricipeRegions where sugar plantations were established by Portugal then Spain where African slaves were forced to work.
411189923PotosíA rich silver mine in Bolivia that enriched Spain with lots of wealth.
411189924nation stateThe modern form of political society that combines centralized government with a high degree of ethnic and cultural unity. "No dense concentrations of population or complex nation-states...existed in North America...."
411189925matrilinearthe form of society in which family line, power, and wealth are passed primarily through the female side. "...many North American native peoples, including the Iroquois. developed matrilinear cultures...."
411189926confederacyAn alliance or league of nations or peoples looser than a federation. "The Iroquois Confederacy developed the political and organizational skills...."
411189927primevalConcerning the earliest origin of things. "...the whispering, primeval forests...."
411189928sagaA lengthy story or poem recounting the great deeds and adventures of a people and their heros. "...their discovery was forgotten, except in Scandinavian saga song."
411189929middlemenIn trading systems, those dealers who operate between the original buyers and the retail merchants who sell to consumers. "Muslim middlemen exacted a heavy toll en route."
411189930caravelA small vessel with a high deck and three triangular sails. "...they developed
411189931plantationA large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crop and usually employing coerced or slave labor. "They build up their own systematic traffic in slaves to work the sugar plantations...."
411189932ecosystemA naturally evolved network of relations among organisms in a stable environment. "Two ecosystems...commingled and clashed when Columbus waded ashore."
411189933demographicConcerning the general characteristic of a given population, including such factors as numbers, age, gender, birth and death rates, and so on. "... a demographic catastrophe without parallel in human history."
411189934conquistadorA Spanish conqueror or adventurer in the Americas. "Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) fanned out across...American continents."
411189935capitalismAn economic system characterized by private property , generally free trade, and open and accessible markets. "...the fuel that fed the growth of the economic system known as capitalism."
411189936encomiendaThe Spanish labor system in which persons were help to unpaid service under the permanent control of their masters, though not legally owned by them. "...the institution known as encomienda."
411189937mestizoA person of mixed Native American and European ancestry. "He intermarried with the surviving Indians, creating a distinctive culture of mestizo...."
411189938provinceA medium sized subunit of territory and governmental administration within a larger nation or empire. "The proclaimed the area to be the province of New Mexico...."

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