Period 1: 1497-1601

Across

4. A strip of land that connected Asia and North America during the last Ice Age. It is how the first people likely reached the Americas.
6. Mound-building cultures in the Ohio River Valley. They built burial mounds and traded goods over long distances.
7. Eastern peoples who built large earthen mounds for burials and ceremonies. Later groups, like the city of Cahokia, grew big by farming corn.
8. A large language group of Native peoples across the Northeast and Atlantic coast. Many were the first to meet English colonists.
11. Conquered the Inca Empire in the 1530s after capturing their leader, Atahualpa.
13. A movement that began in 1517 when Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church. It split Christianity and fueled rivalry between Catholic and Protestant countries.
14. Spanish priest who once held an encomienda, then spoke out against Spanish cruelty. He argued Native people had rights and deserved fair treatment.
17. Site of England's early colony off the coast of North Carolina. The settlers vanished by 1590, so it is known as the Lost Colony.
18. A country with a strong central government and a shared identity. Spain, Portugal, England, and France competed for wealth and power.
21. A crop first grown in Mesoamerica. It grew in many climates and fed growing populations, then spread to Europe, Africa, and Asia after contact.
22. Central Mexico empire with its capital at Tenochtitlan. Made other peoples pay tribute. Conquered by Cortes.
23. Southern Mexico and Central America civilization known for cities, a writing system, math, and a calendar.
24. Spanish colonists were given the right to Native labor and tribute. In return they were supposed to protect and convert Native people. In practice it was harsh forced labor.
25. A Native language group found mostly on the Plains and in parts of the Midwest and Southeast. The Lakota speak a Siouan language.
27. Smallpox, measles, and flu came with Europeans. Native peoples had no immunity, so millions died and conquest got easier.
28. Long bark-covered homes where several related Iroquois families lived together.
29. A league of Native nations in what is now New York, united under the Great Law of Peace. It was a major political and military power in the fur trade.
31. A machine from the 1400s that printed books fast and cheap. It spread news, maps, and ideas about exploration.

Down

1. Portuguese prince who sponsored voyages down the west coast of Africa in the 1400s. He set Portugal up as an early leader in exploration.
2. A 1494 deal where Spain and Portugal split newly claimed lands with a line on the map. Spain got most of the Americas and Portugal got Brazil.
3. Conquered the Aztec Empire from 1519 to 1521. He used Native allies who hated the Aztecs, plus the spread of disease.
5. A system where people are treated as property and forced to work. Spain used Native labor first, then more and more African labor.
9. Italian sailor who sailed for Spain and reached the Caribbean in 1492 while looking for a route to Asia. His voyages started lasting contact between Europe and the Americas.
10. Brought over by the Spanish. Plains peoples used them to change how they hunted, traveled, traded, and fought.
12. Rulers who united Spain and finished driving the Muslim kingdoms out in 1492. They paid for Columbus's voyage.
15. The forced shipment of millions of Africans across the Atlantic to work in the Americas. Portugal started it and other European countries joined.
16. Andes empire in South America ruled from Cuzco. Known for roads and terrace farming. Conquered by Pizarro.
19. Spanish contracts that let merchants bring enslaved Africans into Spain's colonies.
20. Plains people who became mounted bison hunters after getting horses from the Spanish.
26. Spanish soldier-explorers who conquered Native empires looking for gold, glory, and to spread Christianity.
30. A tool that shows direction. It let sailors travel the open ocean without staying near land.