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AP US History AMSCO Guided Notes

1.4: Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest

AP US History
AMSCO Guided Notes
1.1 Contextualizing Period 1
1.2 Native American Societies Before European Contact
1.3 European Exploration in the Americas
1.4 Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest
1.5 Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System
1.6 Cultural Interactions in the Americas
1.7 Causation in Period 1

AP US History Guided Notes

AMSCO 1.4 - Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest

Learning Objectives

  1. Explain causes of the Columbian Exchange and its effect on Europe and the Americas during the period after 1492.
I. Christopher Columbus

1. What was Columbus's original goal in sailing westward in the 1490s?

2. What technological and economic improvements in Europe enabled exploration across the Atlantic?

A. Plans to Reach Asia

1. How did Columbus secure financial backing for his voyage, and what rewards did Isabella and Ferdinand promise him?

2. What did Columbus find on his first voyage and how did his subsequent voyages differ from his initial success?

II. The Columbian Exchange

1. What was the Columbian Exchange and what types of items were transferred across the Atlantic?

2. How did new crops from the Americas affect population growth in Europe, Africa, and Asia?

3. Why did Native American populations decline rapidly after European contact while populations in Europe and Asia grew?

III. The Rise of Capitalism

1. How did population growth and access to new resources from the Americas contribute to economic changes in Europe?

2. What was feudalism and how did capitalism replace it as the dominant economic system?

3. What was a joint-stock company and how did it encourage investment in ocean voyages?

IV. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: WAS COLUMBUS A GREAT HERO?

A. A Fortunate Navigator

1. What argument do some historians make about Columbus's role in European exploration of the Americas?

B. A Conqueror

1. How do revisionist historians characterize Columbus and what motivations do they attribute to him?

C. Response to the Critics

1. What arguments have historians made in defense of Columbus and his legacy?

2. Why is it difficult for historians to reach a definitive conclusion about Columbus's achievement?

Key Terms

Columbian Exchange

horses

diseases

smallpox

measles

capitalism

joint-stock company