03 Contact, Colonization, and the Atlantic World Free Online FlashCards

What motivated European Atlantic expansion?

European expansion pursued wealth, political power, religious conversion, and strategic advantage, aided by improved ships, navigation, and mapmaking.

What did the Treaty of Tordesillas do?

The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided much of the non-European world between Spain and Portugal without Indigenous peoples participating.

Why was Hispaniola important to Spain?

Hispaniola became an early Spanish center for administration, mining, ranching, sugar production, and further expeditions into the Americas.

Why did Cortés defeat the Mexica Empire?

Cortés exploited opposition to Mexica rule, formed Indigenous alliances, and benefited from steel, horses, firearms, and epidemic disease.

What was the encomienda system?

Encomienda granted a Spaniard the right to demand Indigenous labor or tribute in exchange for supposed protection and Christian instruction.

What was the Columbian Exchange?

The Columbian Exchange was the large-scale transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, technologies, and cultural practices across the Atlantic after 1492.

Why were epidemic diseases so destructive in the Americas?

Smallpox, measles, influenza, and typhus caused severe Indigenous population losses because many communities lacked previous exposure to these Eurasian diseases.

How did Indigenous peoples resist colonization?

Indigenous resistance included warfare, refusal of labor or tribute, migration, religious and linguistic preservation, diplomacy, legal petitions, and revolt.

Why did some Indigenous nations ally with Europeans?

Indigenous leaders formed alliances with Europeans to pursue their own rivalries and political goals; such cooperation did not necessarily mean accepting European rule.

What characterized French colonization?

France emphasized the fur trade, missionary work, and Indigenous alliances, with fewer permanent settlers than English colonies.

What connected the Atlantic slave trade?

The Atlantic slave trade connected European merchants, African states and traders, American colonies, and plantation economies through the forced movement of Africans.

How should colonial-era sources be evaluated?

A source evaluation should examine its creator, date, purpose, audience, assumptions, and omissions, including whose voices or evidence are absent.