Video Notes: European Exploration, Trade, and the Commercial Revolution

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, the slave trade, and the Commercial Revolution as presented in the lecture notes.

Mercantilism

Economic policy that emphasizes accumulating wealth through trade, colonies, and government regulation to increase national power.

Columbian Exchange

Global transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and ideas between the Old World and the Americas after 1492.

Encomienda system

Spanish land grants that granted settlers labor and tribute from Indigenous people; led to coerced Native labor and abuses.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish missionary who advocated for better treatment of Native Americans and the end of the encomienda system.

Line of Demarcation

1493 division of newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal; later revised by other treaties.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement moving the demarcation line to favor Portugal, affecting territorial claims.

New Monarchs

Rulers who centralized power, stabilized kingdoms, standardized taxation and currency, and funded exploration.

Northwest Passage

Hypothetical sea route through North America to Asia, sought by explorers like John Cabot.

Christopher Columbus

Navigator who landed in the Americas in 1492 while seeking a westward route to Asia.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztec Empire in 1519.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in 1533.

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who reached India by sailing around Africa, establishing a sea route.

Ferdinand Magellan

Led the first circumnavigation of the globe; completed voyage via Elcano after Magellan's death.

John Cabot

English explorer who claimed parts of North America, seeking the Northwest Passage.

Potatoes

New World crop introduced to Europe, contributing to population growth and food supply.

Tomatoes

New World crop introduced to Europe as part of the Columbian Exchange.

Cacao bean

Cocoa beans from the Americas; a valuable colonial commodity used to make chocolate.

Plantation Economy

Large-scale agriculture in the Americas using enslaved labor to produce export crops.

Enslaved Africans

Africans forcibly transported to the Americas to work on plantations; central to the slave trade.

Middle Passage

The brutal sea voyage transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Triangular Trade

Trade system linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas with goods, enslaved people, and commodities.

Price Revolution

Period of rising prices in Europe due to increased money supply and agricultural commercialization.

Portolani

Nautical charts used by navigators during the Age of Exploration.

Compass

Navigational instrument used to determine direction at sea.

Sternpost Rudder

Rudder mounted on the stern that improved steering and maneuverability at sea.

Astrolabe

Instrument used to measure celestial altitude to determine latitude.

Quadrant

Navigational tool used to measure angles for latitude positioning.

Repartimiento

Labor system that replaced encomienda, regulating Native labor under new terms.

Peninsulares

Spaniards born in Spain who held top administrative positions in colonies.

Creoles

Spaniards born in the Americas, often landowners and officials under Peninsulares.

Mestizos

People of mixed Spanish and Native American descent.

Guns and Gunpowder

Military technology that aided European conquest and control in the Americas.