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Who reached the Caribbean in 1492 sailing for Spain?
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All Flashcards in Topic 19.2
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19.2.112 cards
Who reached the Caribbean in 1492 sailing for Spain?
Christopher Columbus, who landed on Hispaniola and made three further voyages by 1504.
Encomienda
A Spanish colonial system granting a settler the labour of Indigenous people, justified as protection and religious conversion — in practice, forced labour.
Who led the Spanish conquest of Cuba from 1511?
Diego Velázquez.
How did French exploration in North America differ from British exploration?
France (Cartier) focused on the fur trade and partnership with Indigenous nations; Britain (Cabot, then Roanoke/Jamestown) aimed at permanent land settlement.
What four steps describe Cortés's defeat of the Aztecs?
1) Land and ally with the Tlaxcalans (1519) 2) Enter Tenochtitlan and take Moctezuma hostage 3) La Noche Triste — Aztec uprising drives the Spanish out (1520) 4) Siege and fall of Tenochtitlan, aided by smallpox (1521).
Name two reasons for Spanish success against the Aztecs.
Smallpox devastating the population with no immunity, and the Tlaxcalan alliance providing most of the actual fighting force (also: steel weapons/horses/guns, and political division under Aztec tribute rule).
What triggered the Inca civil war just before Pizarro's arrival?
The death of emperor Huayna Capac (likely from smallpox spreading ahead of the Spanish) led his sons Huáscar and Atahualpa to fight for the throne; Atahualpa won just before Pizarro landed in 1532.
What happened to Atahualpa after he paid a room of gold and silver as ransom?
The Spanish under Pizarro took the ransom in 1533 and executed him anyway.
Who was Manco Inca and what did he do?
The puppet emperor installed by Pizarro in 1533; he rebelled in 1536, besieged Cuzco, then retreated to Vilcabamba, sustaining Inca resistance until 1572.
Compare the fall of the Aztec and Inca empires.
Both: emperor captured/killed, smallpox weakened the population, technology gave a battlefield edge. Different: Aztecs fell mainly through the Tlaxcalan alliance against tribute-based resentment; Incas fell mainly through a pre-existing civil war (Huáscar vs Atahualpa).
Why shouldn't students describe the conquests as instant?
Because organised Indigenous resistance continued for decades — most clearly Manco Inca's Vilcabamba state, which survived until 1572, nearly 40 years after Cajamarca (1532).
What was the Reconquista and why does it matter for 1492?
Spain's decades-long campaign to recapture Spanish territory from Muslim rule, completed in 1492 — it freed up Spain's army and funds just in time to back Columbus's voyage.
19.2.212 cards
What is the Columbian Exchange?
The transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Americas and Europe/Africa following 1492 contact.
Name two major Spanish American silver sites and their discovery dates.
Potosí (1545, modern Bolivia) and Zacatecas (1546, Mexico).
What was the mita system?
An Inca-origin labour tax adapted by Spain, forcing indigenous communities to send workers (often to mines like Potosí) under brutal conditions.
What economic activity anchored the English colony of Virginia?
Tobacco farming and export to Europe.
What did the Laws of Burgos (1512) attempt to do?
Regulate treatment of indigenous peoples and ban outright cruelty under the encomienda system, though enforcement was weak.
Who was Bartolomé de las Casas and what did he do?
A former encomendero turned Dominican friar who campaigned against Spanish cruelty to indigenous peoples, notably in 'A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies' (1552), influencing crown policy.
What were the New Laws of the Indies (1542)?
Reforms aiming to phase out the encomienda system and stop indigenous labour grants being inherited; strongly resisted by colonists, including a rebellion in Peru.
What is the casta system?
A colonial social hierarchy ranking people by racial ancestry — peninsulares, then creoles, then mixed-race groups, then indigenous and enslaved African peoples.
What was the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?
A papally-brokered agreement drawing a line dividing New World land claims between Spain (west) and Portugal (east).
Why did the Treaty of Tordesillas fail to stop wider European rivalry?
It only bound Spain and Portugal; France and Britain were not signatories and explored/claimed land without regard to it.
Compare royal policy and colonial practice regarding indigenous treatment.
The Spanish crown passed reform laws (Burgos 1512, New Laws 1542) from Europe, but colonists on the ground, dependent on forced labour, often resisted or diluted enforcement.
What social outcome resulted from unions between Spanish men and indigenous women?
A growing mestizo population, which the casta system tried to categorize and rank within colonial society.
Topic 19.2 study notes
Full notes & explanations for European explorations and conquests in the Americas (c1492–c1600)
History exam skills
Paper structures, command terms & tips
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