New worlds

• Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean


  1492
• Hernan Cortes conquered the Mexica (Aztec) Empire, leading to the Spanish colony of New Spain


  1521
• Taino


  Indigenous people of Ayiti and other islands in the Caribbean
• Aztec/Mexica


  The indigenous people of Mexico, who controlled an empire in central America
• Tenochtitlan


  Capital city of the Aztec empire, built on a lake and accessed by causeways
• Tribute


  Money and produce paid to the ruling Aztec/Mexica in Tenochtitlan by surrounding groups
• Tlaxcala


  A group who resented Aztec control and allied with Cortes to overthrow the empire
• Regions


  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Caribbean
  • North America
  • South America
  • West Africa
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indonesia (Spice Islands)
  • India
  • China
• Columbian Exchange


  The movement of people, goods, plants, animals and disease between continents following Columbus' arrival in the Americas
• Smallpox and measles


  European diseases which were deadly to indigenous peoples in the Americas; 50-90% died from these
• Crops and foods brought to Europe from the Americas

  • Sugar
  • Potatoes
  • Tomatoes
  • Chilli
  • Cocoa
  • Sweetcorn
  • Tobacco
• Plants and animals brought from Europe to the Americas

  • Bananas
  • Chickens
  • Cows
  • Sheep
  • Barley
  • Oats
  • Rice
  • Coffee
  • Olives
• Culture


  Language, religion, traditions and ways of life
• 'West Indies'


  The Caribbean, which Columbus thought was part of Asia
• Hispaniola


  Name given by Columbus to the island of Ayiti; part of it is now Haiti
• New Spain


  Colony created by Cortes in Mexico after conquering the Aztec empire
• Colony

  Territory ruled by another country; colonise - take control of and settle in someone else's territory
• encomienda


  Spanish settlers were granted the rights to the labour and tribute of indigenous people in an area of land
• Plantations


  Large farms growing one crop e.g. sugar, for profit
• Enslaved people


  Indigenous people and West Africans were forced to work for Europeans in the Americas