AP World History Americas Region Flashcards

9851357413	Meso-America	area extending from Mexico to Costa Rica it is the land of Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs	0
9851357414	Maize	native crop from Mesoamerica it is the ancestor of today's corn. It was harvested along with beans, potatoes, peppers, and pumpkins in the new world for food	1
9851357415	Chavin Civilization	prehistoric civilization that developed in the Andean highlands in Peru from 1000 BCE to 200 BCE. They lived in mountain valleys with terrace farming and drainage systems. The grew quinoa as a grain and had metallurgy to develop gold, silver, and copper	2
9851357416	Olmec	earliest known civilization in Mexico dating to 1500 BCE whose culture became the influence for future Mesoamerican civilizations such as Aztec and Maya. They traded heavily and carved giant heads out of stone. They developed calendars, giant earth pyramids, and a form of hieroglyphic alphabet.	3
9851357417	Easter Island	Island in Chile with massive stone heads from an ancient Pacific peoples civilization which got its name from Dutch settlers on the day they arrived. The ancient civilization might have died or left due to deforestation of the island.	4
9851357418	Moche	The civilization before the Inca and after the Chavin which was a group of different people with similar cultures in the Peru area. The Moche built two massive temples and a fortified city around the temple. They used irrigation networks to bring water to their fields. Religious rituals included worshiping many gods and occasional human sacrifice	5
9851357419	Huaca del Sol	a temple of the sun built by the Moche it was a administrative building and burial mound named after the sun which was pillaged and looted by the Spanish.	6
9851357420	Huaca de la Luna	temple of the moon built by the Moche it was smaller than its counterpart and focused more around religious practices.	7
9851357421	Allyus	In Moche civilizations they were families who shared a common mythical ancestor and they all worked together	8
9851357422	Teotihuacan	in central Mexico it was "the city of gods" at one point having hundreds of thousands of residents. It had three large ceremonial pyramids connected by a long road. Their society had priests and nobles on top with peasants and artisans living at the bottom. The city was surrounded by fertile fields and traded obsidian, a hard black glass volcanic rock.	9
9851357423	Maya	Possible descendents of the Teotihuacan. This Mesoamerican Civilization is known for its mathematics and calendars which left behind pyramids and temples that they looked as if they were suddenly deserted. They had over 40 independent city-states from the Yucatan Peninsula in Southern Mexico to Guatemala. They used slash and burn agriculture to grow the three sisters of corn, bean, and squash. Sometimes they fought each other for tribute. They used hieroglyphics to make their recordings.	10
9851357424	Caracol	Mayan Pyramid and observatory built in the Mayan city of Chichen Itza which they used to calculate lunar phases and celestial movements to create a calendar with mathematics.	11
9851357425	Mississippian Mound Building Civilization	mound building Native American culture from 800 CE to 1600 CE in North America surrounding the Mississippi River. They built massive earth mounds and some reached a 100 feet tall. They practiced animism. They had a hierarchy of priests and nobles on top with farmers, hunters, workers, and merchants at the bottom. They had a matrilineal society.	12
9851357426	Cahokia	the largest of the Mississippi mound builder city-states. It is in Southern Illinois	13
9851357427	Great Sun	A chief in of a Mississippi culture city-state. When he died his title was passed to his sister's son or the next matrilineal heir.	14
9851357428	Toltec	People in central Mexico before the Aztecs which originally created the Aztec capital City. They descended from the Mayans. Their capital of Tula had Mayan architecture.	15
9851357429	Aztec	Hunter gatherers who eventually migrate to central Mexico to build Tenochtitlan which will have 200,000 people. They conquered the surrounding peoples to great their empire 100 years before Hernan Cortes	16
9851357430	Great Speaker	In Aztec society he was the political ruler and speaker for the gods. He was on top of the social hierarchy.	17
9851357431	Inca	People of the sun and empire in Peru know for it extensive road building and cities among the mountains. They used the mita system for corvee labor to build projects. They also had a form of socialism in which all farmers had to submit their harvest to a minister who will then apportion some of the harvest to the government. Records for this were kept on a quipu knot system.	18
9851357432	Pachacuti	transformer and shaker of the earth who turned the Incas into an empire with his military conquering of the local populations	19
9851357433	Yupanqui	Son of Pachacuti who expanded the conquests of Pachacuti's Inca empire.	20
9851357434	Huayna Capac	Son of Yupanqui. He consolidated his father's empire turning into a strong empire based on Inca culture.	21
9851357435	Lake Texcoco	lake on the site of Temochtitlan on which Aztecs built an ancient MesoAmerican civilization built a city on	22
9851357436	Chinampas	Raised mud fields constructed in lakes to increase agricultural yields used by the Aztecs in Lake Texcoco to supplement farms nearby.	23
9851357437	Cuzco	Capital of the Incas in modern Peru. Location of the Temple of the Sun where sun worshipping and ancestor veneration ceremonies were done as a core of the Inca religion.	24
9851357438	Carpa Nan	massive roadway built during Inca rule stretched 25,000 miles. It helped the Incas maintain their empires, but was also used by Pizarro to conquer the Incas more easily.	25
9851357439	Great Pyramid	a great administrative and religious center built in Tenochtitlan built by Aztecs	26
9851357440	Quechua	language of the Inca which all of the conquered peoples of the Inca were forced to learn along with the Inca culture.	27
9851357441	Inti	the sun god of the Incas	28
9851357443	Quipu	system of knots used for record keeping by the Incas	29
9851357444	Waru waru	raised beds with channels that capture and redirect rain to avoid erosion during floods and also stored water in aquifers during dry periods.	30
9851357445	Pochteca	Merchant class in Aztec society who traveled on foot and traded goods and relayed information across the empire.	31
9851357446	Great Peace of Montreal	Treaty the Iroquois Nations and the French settlers of New France which cemented the Iroquois' alliance with France against the encroaching demands of the English settlers.	32
9851357447	Hernan Cortes	Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztecs and founded New Spain	33
9851357448	Francisco Pizzaro	Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas	34
9851357449	Atahualpa	Last Inca Emperor who was captured by Pizarro and held ransom for gold. He was killed anyway.	35
9851357450	Treaty of Tordesillas	Portugal and Spain treaties negotiated with the Pope to divide the Spanish and Portuguese settlement boundaries around the world. Essentially the treaties drew a line dividing the world between Spanish and Portuguese claims.	36
9851357451	Viceroys	the monarch of Spain appointed government ministers who will rule a colony on behalf of the monarch.	37
9851357452	Jacques Cartier	French explorer who searched for the North-West passage which was a water route around North America and into the Pacific Ocean. He never found and instead found New France (Canada)	38
9851357453	Samuel de Champlain	starts settling in lands found by Cartier to look for rich furs and other goods.	39
9851357454	Quebec	First permanent French settlement in North America and one of the oldest European settlements in North America. Founded by Samuel de Champlain. One of the prettiest cities in North America.	40
9851357455	John Cabot	1497 sent by the English to explore Columbus's claims and look for a Northwest Passage but instead finds Newfoundland	41
9851357456	Jamestown	First English colonial settlement in the colony of Virginia. It was started by the London Company. It almost failed and many of the settlers died. The local Powhatan Indians donated food to the settlers to keep them alive.	42
9851357457	Henry Hudson	Explorer sent by the Dutch who was also trying to find Northwest Passage. The Dutch use his claims to declare Hudson River Valley and New Amsterdam as colonies. Both were eventually lost to the English.	43
9851357458	Smallpox	a highly contagious viral disease that was the main cause of why so many Native Americans died during the time of European conquest and not actual fighting.	44
9851357459	Potosi	A massive silver mine found by the Spanish in Inca territory that will eventually make Spain the wealthiest country in the world in the 1500's. Thousands of native laborers died digging out the silver.	45
9851357460	Northwest Passage	A water route around northern America to the Pacific Ocean.	46
9851357461	Columbian Exchange	The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and people between Eurasia & Africa and the Americas	47
9851357462	Tainos	First people in the Americas to come in contact with the Spanish. They lived in the Caribbean and treated the Spanish as merchants and traders.	48
9851357463	Florentine Codex	study in Mesoamerica by a Spanish priest Bernardino de Sahagun. It was a history of the Aztecs before and after the Spanish conquest. It is one of the few written sources that exist trying to tell the history of pre-Columbian Native Americans.	49
9851357464	Virgin of Guadalupe	Mary mother of god was seen in Mexico but the vision of Mary was seen by local natives who imagined her much darker than European complexions. The vision has been repeatedly seen at the site and miracles have been known to happen at the site. The site was already of religious importance to the Aztecs.	50
9851357465	Voodoo (Vondun)	a syncretic religion of West African traditional animistic religions with Catholicism practiced in the Caribbean	51
9851357466	Santeria	Afro-Cuban religion mixing Catholicism and West African religions using animism and saint worshipping similar to Vondun.	52
9851357467	Candomble	Brazilian religion practiced by slaves mixing Christiantity and African religions which focuses on ritual dancing.	53
9851357468	Mit'a system	Used as a corvee labor system by the Incas it was later used by the Spanish conquerors to force native laborers in their encomienda system	54
9851357469	Transatlantic slave trade	The forced movement of Africans to the New world colonies as slaves to work in the plantations. Over 50% would not survive the voyage from Africa to their eventual destination in a colony.	55
9851357470	The poet Jose Hernandez	argentine poet best known as the author of Martin Fierro which romanticed the Argentine gaucho (cowboy). This romantized Argentine life and culture.	56
9851357471	Miguel Hidalgo	a priest who started a failed rebellion for Mexican independence against the Spanish led by mestizos and natives. He was later betrayed by creole land owners.	57
9851357509	Bartolomes de las Casas.	"He is like the Lorax for the Native Americans" de las Casas was one of the first Spanish settlers of Cuba. He eventually grew to oppose the treatment of the Natives and advocated to the Spanish monarchs for better treatment of the Native Americans. Eventually laws were passed by King Ferdinand and King Charles V granting more rights to the Native Americans as subjects of Spanish rule.	58
9851357472	Caudillo	in Mexico it's a combination of political and military leadership akin to a dictatorship.	59
9851357473	Mexican-American War	starting with a border dispute with origins in a conflict with American settlers in the Mexican territory in Texas it eventually escalated into a full scale war which caused the Mexicans to lose almost half their lands to the United States from Texas to California.	60
9851357474	Benito Juarez and La Reforma	An Indian lawyer who became Mexico's president. He led a liberal revolt for a new constitution that granted less power to the influences of the army and the Catholic Church. He was later forced to flee Mexico by King Napoleon III who invaded in 1862. He organized a successful resistance and return to power in 1867	61
9851357475	Archduke Maximilian	An Austrian installed as Emperor of Mexico by Napoleon III during his invasion of Mexico to replace Benito Juarez. Eventually lost control to Juarez's supporters with American help. He was eventually captured and shot.	62
9851357476	Simon Bolivar	All over the world you will find statues of him on his horse. He is a creole leader who took advantage of Napoleon's invasion of Spain to launch a rebellion in the Viceroyalty of Granada. He was a liberal who hoped to create a new control under the model of the United States under Enlightenment ideals. His country of Gran Colombia today would span Ecuador, northern Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, and parts of Brasil. Imagine what that soccer team would look like? Instead separatist movements made them the independent nations they are now.	63
9851357477	Jose de Sa Martin	A creole military leader who led troops from Argentina to liberate Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and southern Peru from Spanish colonization.	64
9851357478	Dom Pedro I	His father King John VI of Portugal escaped to Rio de Janeiro with his court when Napoleon invaded Portugal. When he returned to Portugal he left his son in charge. When the Brasilians wanted independence the son did not object and instead became part of an independent constitutional monarchy in Brasil that will last from 1822 to 1899 when it was taken over by military coup.	65
9851357479	Toussaint L'Ouverture	leader of the first Haitian revolution. Led Maroons and slaves against the French and then later the Spanish when the French Republic abolished slavery. Later was captured by Napoleon's troops when his policy was to retake Saint Domingue. The next revolt led by his officer Desalines will lead to true Haitian independence.	66
9851357480	Open Door Policy	American policy in the late 1800's for protection and equal trading privileges in China just like the other European nations.	67
9851357481	Commodore Matthew Perry	US Navy sent him to go to Japan to negotiate a trade deal as America was trying to expand its markets and access to Asia across the Pacific. Japan's military technology was obsolete compared to US and Japan was forced it to open its doors to US and other nations.	68
9851357482	Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine	US will interfere in the affairs of its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere even militarily if the countries had difficulties running themselves to prevent European intervention.	69
9851357483	Monroe Doctrine	A declaration by the American president warning European countries not to interfere in the affairs of countries in the Western Hemisphere.	70
9851357484	Spanish American War	What started as wars of independence in Philippines and Cuba was eventually entered into by the US under the pretext of the Spanish exploding a US battleship in Habana harbor the USS Maine. In hindsight the ship most likely accidentally blew up due to sparks in its coal fuel storage. The US conquered and took the last Spanish colonies of Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico during McKinley presidency.	71
9851357485	Woodrow Wilson	American president during WW1 who proposed the 14 Points that would end future wars after WW1	72
9851357486	Lusitania	A British passenger ship that was probably carrying war supplies in its cargo hold. It was sunk off the coast of Ireland by a German U-boat with over a hundred American lives on board in addition to the European passengers. This event was used as a rallying cry against German war atrocities and to incite support for US intervention into WW1.	73
9851357487	Zimmerman Telegram	Secret diplomatic communication between Germany and Mexico in which Germany offered Mexico a military alliance if the United States entered the war against Germany. Germany promised to help Mexico gain territories it had lost 70 years earlier in the Mexican-American war.	74
9851357488	New Deal	An American policy of direct aid and job creation policies to improve the country's conditions during the Great Depression. It also created social services for the country that expanded the federal government's powers and responsibilities such as social security (An old age pension fund), Medicare (medical treatment for the elderly), and minimum wage laws	75
9851357489	Dollar Diplomacy	a policy during Taft presidency in which the US would use financial investments to influence regional affairs instead of the military and gunboat diplomacy of his predecessor Roosevelt.	76
9851357490	Good Neighbor Policy	US policy by FDR in which the US will stop intervening in the affairs of nearby countries with their military.	77
9851357491	Porfirio Diaz	Mexican dictator and president who had allowed almost total foreign control of Mexico's resources and 97% of the land to be owned by the wealthiest 1% of Mexico. He was eventually over thrown y Francisco Madero and Pancho Villa.	78
9851357492	Emiliano Zapata	During the revolution against Porfirio Diaz this leader actually took land from wealthy land owners and redistributed them to peasants. He will eventually be betrayed by Pancho Villa and executed	79
9851357493	Lazaro Cardenas	Mexican president who was able to more successfully carry out land reforms during his presidency and nationalized Mexico's oil industry taking it out of foreign hands	80
9851357494	Augusto Sandino	Nicaraguan revolutionary leader who led a six year rebellion against US occupation of Nicaragua after US backed Nicaraguan leaders were about to lose power. He would lead guerilla troops in battles against the US Marines and their allies. He will be killed by Nicaraguan General Anastasio Somoza's troops whose family will lead Nicaragua as a dictatorship until 1979.	81
9851357495	W. E. B. Dubois	African American intellectual who strongly advocated for equal rights for black Americans and will eventually co-found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)	82
9851357496	Langston Hughes	American poet during Harlem Renaissance writing about the meaning of "blackness"	83
9851357497	Bay of Pigs	failed military invasion of Cuba by CIA trained Cuban exiles. Castro suppressed the invasion with modern Soviet warplanes and tanks. The US had to spend millions in food and medicine to get back the POW's from the invasion.	84
9851357498	Cuban Missile Crisis	It was the closest the US and USSR came to an open nuclear conflict. A 13 day confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union in 1962 when the USSR installed nuclear missiles in Cuba. Eventually Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to a deal where the Soviets withdraw their missiles in Cuba and US withdraws missiles in Turkey.	85
9851357499	Marshall Plan	US initiative to give financial aid to recovering European countries after WW2 if they reduce trade barriers between them and modernize business practices.	86
9851357500	Truman Doctrine	US policy to aid countries that were directly under threat by communism during the Cold War especially Turkey and Greece in an attempt to stop the spread of communism throughout Europe.	87
9851357501	NAFTA	a trade treaty modeling the European Union but for North America boost trade and unity between North American countries. It has been seen by some as a chance for American companies to take advantage of cheaper Mexican labor and weaker environmental regulations in Mexico at the expense of American workers.	88
9851357502	9/11	terrorist attack by Al Qaeda in which four passenger jet planes were hijacked mid-flight and successfully crashed into World Trade Center towers in New York and US Pentagon in DC. A fourth plane which may have been targeting White House or US Capitol was overtaken by passengers aboard the airplane, but the pilot crashed the plane into a field in Pennsylvania.	89
9851357503	Persian Gulf War aka Desert Storm	conflict triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and potential threat to US ally Saudi Arabia. US invades Iraq, but does not force Saddam Hussein to surrender and vacate power in Iraq not wishing to repeat mistakes made by US in Vietnam War	90
9851357504	Iraq War aka Operation Iraqi Freedom	Invasion of Iraq by a coalition of US troops and allies in 2003 which led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The cause for the war was claimed evidence of Saddam Hussein making nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons as well as aiding and abetting terrorists. Evidence of neither was found after the operation. US has had troops station in Iraq ever since.	91
9851357505	Invasion of Afghanistan aka Operation Enduring Freedom	In 2001 following September 11th attacks US and NATO invade Afghanistan to find Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists for Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The country's government was replaced with a republic which has had difficulty establishing itself. US has had troops station in Iraq ever since.	92
9851357506	Saddam Hussein	dictator of Iraq who started a war with Iran. Launched an invasion of Kuwait which was repelled by the United States in 1991 and in 2003 was removed from power by a US invasion.	93
9851357507	Osama Bin Laden	Founder and former leader of Al Qaeda who ordered several successful terrorist attacks on Americans both in the United States and abroad.	94
9851357508	Americanization	the influence of American culture on other countries as well as the effect on their culture and society.	95