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U.S. History

Key Terms

U.S. HistoryKey Terms
Beringia
an ancient land bridge linking Asia and North America
Black Death
two strains of the bubonic plague that simultaneously swept western Europe in the fourteenth century, causing the death of nearly half the population
chasquis
Incan relay runners used to send messages over great distances
chattel slavery
a system of servitude in which people are treated as personal property to be bought and sold
chinampas
floating Aztec gardens consisting of a large barge woven from reeds, filled with dirt and floating on the water, allowing for irrigation
Crusades
a series of military expeditions made by Christian Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries
feudal society
a social arrangement in which serfs and knights provided labor and military service to noble lords, receiving protection and land use in return
Inquisition
a campaign by the Catholic Church to root out heresy, especially among converted Jews and Muslims
Koran
the sacred book of Islam, believed by Muslims to be the word of God, dictated to Muhammad through an angel, in the seventh century
matriarchy
a society in which women have political power
mita
the Incan labor tax, with each family donating time and work to communal projects
polygyny
the practice of taking more than one wife
quipu
an ancient Incan device for recording information, consisting of variously colored threads knotted in different ways
Reconquista
Spain’s nearly eight-hundred-year holy war against Islam, which ended in 1492
serf
a peasant tied to the land and its lord
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