7TH Grade U.S. History: Chapter 2 Study Guide
Terms: Explorers
Name / DescriptionHernando Cortes / -Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztecs
Francisco Pizarro / -Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas
Leif Erikson / Viking leader who most historians recognize as the first European to discover the Americas.
Christopher Columbus / First known European to land in the Americas. On the island of Hispaniola, he ordered his men to cut the hands off Natives if they did not produce gold.
Arawaks / Native Americans who were killed by Columbus and other conquistadors
Sir Francis Drake / English privateer, or pirate, who attacked Spanish ships filled with gold heading from the New World to Spain.
Jacques Cartier / He explored the St. Lawrence River Valley for France
Ponce de Leon / Spanish explorer who traveled to Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth
Ferdinand Magellan / Given credit for sailing around the world…even though he died near the Philippines before the journey was completed
Bartoleme de Las Casas / Spanish priest sympathetic to the horrible treatment of Native Americans at the hands of the conquistadors.
Early European Exploration
-Early European explorers came to the New World were looking for a Northwest Passage that would find a shorter trade route to Asia.
-Strong European nations develop in Europe: Spain, Portugal, England, France, Netherlands (Dutch)…all wanted more money and power… wanted ot find new land that would provide gold and spices
-New Technology: astrolab and compass
-Caravel: New chip that saied faster and carried more cargo
-Cartographers: better maps with more accuracy with latitude
-Renaissance/Enlightenment: “rebirth” of learning and rational thought… “land is not flat”
-Columbian Exchange: a global exchange of goods and ideas resulting from the encounter between the peoples of Europe and Africa and North and South America.
Examples: From America to Europe: Maize, potato, tomato, and cocoa
From Europe, Africa, and Asia to America: wheat, sugar, banana, rice
Spain Conquers the Aztecs and Incas: 1. Technology and horses, Spain had guns and cannons 2. Diseases- The Spanish brought over any diseases that the Natives weren’t immune to. 3. Natives believed Spanish were Gods 4. Spain made allies with Native American groups who were enemies of large tribes (Aztecs and Incas)
Law of the Indies: A plan for how the Spanish were going to organize/rule the New World. (Economically, socially, and politically)
Pueblos: towns, centers of farming and trade, had a plaza, or public square
Presidios: forts where soldiers lived, first presidio was built in St. Augustine, Florida
Missions: religious settlements run by Catholic priests and friars.
The Spanish believed they had a duty to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
Society in New Spain
-RACE determined where you were in the New Spain social pyramid
PeninsularesWhite people, born is Spain
Creoles
People born in America, but whose parents were Spanish born
Mestizos
People with one Spanish and one Native parent
Mulattos
One Spanish parent and one African parent
Full blooded Natives and Slaves
The Encomienda System (the Plantation System) : Spain wanted natural resources shipped back to Spain to make them wealthy: gold, tobacco, sugarcane, coffee. The Native Americans were first used as slave labor on the large farms (plantations)..but they started to die off due to disease. Then Africans were brought in instead – starting 400 years of African slave trade.
Legacy: something handed down from the past
The Spanish left a legacy in Latin American countries.
Example: Spanish language, foods, religion (Catholicism), architecture, culture, holidays
The French and the Dutch in the New World
French / Dutch-Saint Lawrence River Valley
-Fur trade
-Friendly/Business relationship
with Native Americans / -Hudson River Valley
-Fur Trade
New Netherlands (Manhattan- Vibrant Trading City)