Native Americans within the boundaries of the present-dayUnited States(includingindigenous peoplesofAlaskaandHawaii) are composed of numerous, distincttribesandethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. The terms used to refer to Native Americans have beencontroversial

The caste system in India is a system ofsocial stratificationwhich historically separated communities into thousands ofendogamoushereditary groups calledjatis, usually translated into English as "castes". The jatis are thought of as being grouped into fourvarnas:Brahmins,Kshatriyas,VaishyasandShudras.

The Columbian Exchange or Grand Exchange refers to the widespread transfer of animals, plants, culture, human populations,communicable diseases, technology and ideas between theAmericanandAfro-Eurasianhemispheres in the 15th and 16th centuries, related to European colonization and trade (including African/American slave trade) afterChristopher Columbus' 1492 voyage

Conspicuous consumption is the spending of money on and the acquiring ofluxurygoods and services to publicly display economic powereither the buyer's income or the buyer's accumulated wealth

Bartolom de las Casas,O.P.(Seville, c. 1484 Madrid, 18 July 1566), was a 16th-centurySpanishhistorian, social reformer andDominicanfriar. He became the first residentBishopofChiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians".

Mestizo (;Peninsular Spanish: ,American Spanish: ) is a term traditionally used inSpainand Spanish-speaking America to mean a person of combinedEuropeanandNative Americandescent. The term was used as a racial category in thecastasystem that was in use during theSpanish Empire's control of their American colonies.

half-breed of white and Indian parents

The history of Spain's missions in the American South and Southwest reveals much about Spain's strategy, contributions, and failures in these regions. The expeditions of Francisco Vzquez de Coronado (1540 42) and Juan de Oate (1598) convinced Spanish authorities that no wealthy Indian empires like that of the Aztecs were to be found north of Mexico

Don Juan de Oate y Salazar (15501626) was a SpanishConquistador, explorer, andcolonial governorof theSanta Fe de Nuevo Mxicoprovince in theViceroyalty of New Spain. He led early Spanish expeditions to theGreat Plainsand LowerColorado RiverValley, encountering numerous indigenous tribes in their homelands there.

Portuguese discoveries (Portuguese: Descobrimentos portugueses) is the name given to the intensive maritime exploration by thePortugueseduring the 15th and 16th centuries.Portuguesesailors were at the vanguard of European overseas exploration, discovering and mapping the coasts of Africa, Asia and Brazil, in what became known as theAge of Discovery.

Juan Gins de Seplveda (1489/90 17 November 1573) was aSpanishhumanist,philosopherandtheologian.

Smallpox was aninfectious diseasecaused by either of twovirusvariants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by theLatinnames Variola or Variola vera, derived from varius ("spotted") or varus ("pimple"). The disease was originally known in English as the "pox" or "red plague"; the term "smallpox" was first used in Britain in the 15th century to distinguish variola from the "great pox" (syphilis). The last naturally occurring case of smallpox (Variola minor) was diagnosed on 26 October 1977.

The Great Basin is the largest area ofendorheic watershedsinNorth America. It is noted for both its arid climate and theBasin and range topographythat varies from the North American low point atBadwater Basinto the highest point of thecontiguous United States, less than away at the summit ofMount Whitney. The region spans severalphysiographicdivisions,biomes/ecoregions, anddeserts.

The East Coast of the United States is the easternmost coast of theUnited Statesalong theAtlantic Ocean. The states which haveshorelineon the East Coast are, from north to south, theU.S. statesofMaine,New Hampshire,Massachusetts,Rhode Island,Connecticut,New York,New Jersey,Delaware,Maryland,Virginia,North Carolina,South Carolina,Georgia, andFlorida.

The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was anorganized incorporated territory of the United States. It existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to theUnionas thestate of Ohio. Previously, it was part of theBritish Province of Quebec, and a territoryunder British ruleset aside in theRoyal Proclamation of 1763for use byNative Americans, which was assigned to the United States in theTreaty of Paris (1783).

The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade took place across theAtlantic Oceanfrom the 16th through to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of those enslaved that were transported to theNew World, many on thetriangular trade routeand itsMiddle Passage, wereWest Africansfrom the central and western parts of the continent sold by West Africans to Western European slave traders, or by direct European capture to theAmericas. The numbers were so great that Africans who came by way of the slave trade became the most numerous Old-World immigrants in both North and South America before the late 18th century.

The encomienda (Spanish pronunciation:[ekomjenda]) was a legal system that was used by the Spanish crown during the Spanish colonization of the Americas to regulate Native Americans and to reward individual Spaniards for services to the crown

The process of expanding theEuropean Union(EU) through the accession of newmember statesbegan with theInner Six, who founded theEuropean Coal and Steel Community(the EU's predecessor) in 1952. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-eight, with the latest member state beingCroatia, which joined in July 2013.

The exploration of North America by non-indigenous people was a continuing effort to map and explore the continent of North America. It spanned centuries, and consisted of efforts by numerous people and expeditions from various foreign countries to map the continent. The European colonization of the Americas followed.