AP United States History (APUSH): Unit 1 Homework Notes

These notes answer questions related to Chapter 1 of the textbook, America's History, For the AP® Course 8th Edition, designed for Unit 1 of AP United States History (APUSH). I deeply explain how the environment affected various Native American cultures, including those of the Mississippi Valley, Eastern Woodlands, Great Lakes, Great Plains, and the Rockies, Southwest, and Pacific Coast. I explain why Europe's desire for an ocean route to Asia led to contact with Africa, especially in the case of Portuguese exploration (Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama are highlighted). The beginnings of the African slave trade are explained. The focus then shifts to how Spanish exploration affected Native American populations, including in the cases of Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes. The importance of trade and empire is highlighted, as well as how Spanish diseases affected Native American populations. Furthermore, the economic and social structure of new Spanish colonies is explained, including through encomiendas and the Columbian Exchange. The movement of crops and how they affected the New World are explained.