Essay on AP U.S. History Terms and People

Submitted By Cartergrupp98
Words: 1156
Pages: 5

Tribute: The practice of collecting goods from conquered peoples. Primarily used by the Aztecs and the Incas as a form of trade.

Matriarchy: A gendered power structure in which social identity and property inherited through the female lines.

Animism: Spiritual beliefs centered on the natural world. Animists do not worship a supernatural god however they payed homage to spirits and spiritual forces.

Patriarchy: A gendered power line in which property and social identity descend through the male lines thus the males rule over children and women in the family.

Primogeniture: The practice of passing on family owned land to the eldest son.

Peasants: The term for farmworkers located in Europe. In 1450 majority of Europeans were peasants who lived in a cooperative village.

Republic: A state without a monarch or prince that is governed by representatives of the people.

Civic Humanism: The belief that citizens owe a service to their community and its government. An ideology that praised public virtue and service to the state.

Renaissance: A cultural transformation in the arts that began in Italy in the fourteenth century and spread through much of Europe. Reshaped art and architecture and gave rise to civic humanism.

Guilds: Organizations of workers who practiced a certain skill or trade in medieval and modern day Europe.

Christianity: A religion that holds the belief that Jesus Christ was divine. Christianity spread from Europe too the Americas.

Heresy: A religious belief that is inconsistent with the teachings practiced in church. People who spread heresies were seen as the tools of Satan.

Islam: A religion that considers Muhammad to be God’s last prophet. Following the death of Muhammad in A.D. 632 the Arab people of North Africa used force to spread the Muslim faith into sub-Saharan Africa, Indonesia, India, Spain, and the Balkan regions of Europe.

Crusades: A series of wars undertaken by the Christian armies in A.D. 1096-1291 to reverse the Muslim advance in Europe and win back the holy lands in which Christ had lived.

Predestination: The protestant Christian belief that God chooses certain people for salvation before they are born. John Calvin was the main proponent of this doctrine.

Protestant Reformation: A reform movement that began in 1517 with Martin Luthers critiques of the Roman Catholic Church dividing Protestants from Catholics

Counter Reformation: A reaction in the Catholic Church triggered by the Reformation.

Trans-Saharan Trade: The primary avenue of trade for West Africans before the Europeans connected them to the Atlantic trade world.

Reconquista: The campaign by Spanish Catholics to drive Muslim Arabs from European mainland. In 1492 they defeated the Muslim Arabs and thus secured control of all of Spain

Hiawatha: A Mohawk Indian man who lost his family in Indian tribal wars. Overwhelmed with grief he met a spirit who taught him rituals of peace and power which he shared with his peoples.

Martin Luther: A German monk and professor who took up the cause of reform in the Catholic Church. The word Lutheran comes originates from the last name Luther.

Mansa Musa: The 10th Emperor of Mali was a devoted Muslim famous for his grand construction projects. In 1326 he embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca passing through Egypt.

Vasco De Gama: A Portuguese explorer who reached East Africa in 1497 and India later on. He returned to India in 1502 with 21 fighting vessels which outgunned the Arab fleets.

Christopher Columbus: An ambitious and daring mariner from Genoa. In 1492 went on a grueling journey of 3,000 miles he landed in the Bahamas which he thought was Asia at the time. Claimed several Caribbean islands for Spain.

Hernan Cortes: Leader of the Spanish invasion of Tenochtitlan. Captured the city and emperor Moctezuma ending the Aztec empire.

Moctezuma: Powerful emperor of the long lasting Aztec Empire. Held captive by Hernan Cortes.

Pedro