APUSH

• The Columbian Exchange, starting in 1492, was the movement of goods, people, diseases, and ideas between the Old World, Europe, and the New World, the Americas, after Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of America.
• The Columbian Exchange included crops such as corn, potatoes, and tobacco being introduced to Europe and Africa, and wheat, sugar, rice, and certain livestock animals (including horses) being introduced to the Americas.
• The spread of diseases such as smallpox, measles, and malaria wiped out up to 90% of the Native American populations due to the Columbian Exchange.
• The Treaty of Tordesillas divided Central and South America between Spain and Portugal in 1494.
• Following Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the Americas, both Spain and Portugal were hungry for land and riches such as gold and silver.
• The majority of land went to Spain, but Portugal claimed most of what is present-day Brazil and was given land in Africa and Asia.
• The Encomienda system was set by the Spanish in Mexico and Peru to essentially enslave native groups and justify it by trying to turn the Natives into Christians.
• The Spanish put the Encomienda system in place to build up their colonies and obtain wealth (silver and gold) from the land and the people there.
• The Encomienda system provided the Spanish with “free” labor while breaking down the civilizations built by the native people.
• The Encomienda system was a very controversial system and eventually led to the execution of some Spanish conquerors and the freeing of some indigenous people.
• Hernán Cortés was a sailor who, in 1519, left Cuba for Mexico, only to be rescued by a Mayan-speaking Spanish castaway and to later stumble upon a Mayan and Nahuatl-speaking Native slave.
• Hernán Cortés learned of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, and brought a huge force of troops to Tenochtitlán, in which the Spaniards’ desire for gold led to a takeover of the city.
• The Aztecs were initially peaceful and believed Cortés to be their God, but the Aztecs attacked in 1520, and the combination of smallpox and Spanish power led to the destruction of Tenochtitlán and millions of deaths.
• Mexico City was built on top of Tenochtitlán, and the temples were replaced by Christian cathedrals.
• The Conquistadors, from 1519 to 1540, were Spanish conquerors (including Cortes and Pizarro) who pushed into the Americas, taking over land from Colorado to Argentina.
• The Conquistadors claimed the land and people that the Aztec and Incan empires were built upon.
• About half of the Conquistadors were soldiers and sailors, whereas the rest were mostly peasants, artisans, and a few of the middle/upper class.
• The Halfway Covenant was an arrangement for determining church membership in 1662.
• Indentured Servants in America were often workers from England who would sign contracts to work for Chesapeake masters in exchange for passage to America and “freedom dues”, which included an ax, hoe, corn, clothes, and possibly land.
• By 1700, Penn’s colony was third in terms of population and wealth, with the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies being ahead.
• Penn notably treated the native peoples very well but tensions grew as more Europeans immigrated over.
• The Headright System allowed and encouraged indentured servants to gain land.
• Rhode Island established itself with a charter from Parliament in 1644.
• William Penn was given Pennsylvania, which was well advertised to other Europeans and brought people in with its liberal land policies.
• William Penn was a Quaker from England who founded Pennsylvania.
• King Philip's War (1675-1676) was a war started by Metacom, a Wampanoag chief whom the English named King Philip, against the English colonists.
• Williams built a Baptist church in Rhode Island that allowed for complete religious freedom and didn’t force church attendance or taxes for churches.
• There were up to a hundred thousand indentured servants brought over by the Chesapeake planters by 1700.
• The Pequot War in 1637 saw the English brutally kill the Pequot tribe.
• Penn was arrested for treason a few times before dying.
• Each colony in the New England Confederation was given two votes, despite their differences in population.
• Quakers, also known as the Religious Society of Friends, were a group of protestants who resisted many rules set by authorities.
• For the next 40 years, the English would attempt to convert Natives to Christianity.
• Metacom led these attacks, destroying Puritan towns and killing many colonists and Natives.
• The New England Confederation worked together on problems such as their enemies (Natives, French, Dutch), and finding runaways.
• The New England Confederation was the union of four colonies in 1643: the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Massachusetts Colony at Plymouth, the Connecticut New Haven Colony, and the various Connecticut Valley colonists.
• Penn had only spent about four years in Pennsylvania and had demanding yet incompetent governors.
• The Bacon's Rebellion took place in 1676 when Nathaniel Bacon led about a thousand Virginians in a rebellion.
• Williams fled to Rhode Island in 1636, with the help of friendly Natives.
• The war slowed New England’s expansion and heavily impacted the number of Natives.