WHAP Unit 4 Vocab

Reconnaissance

Refers to collecting preliminary information or research to support future exploration

Caravel

Small Spanish or Portuguese vessel of the Middle Ages with lateen sails that is used for reconnaissance at the beginning of the Age of Exploration

Carrack

European ship during the Age of Exploration that carried more cargo for trade and included weapons

Fluyt

Dutch trading vessel that was designed specifically for trade, as it carried much more cargo at a cheaper construction price (carries twice the cargo with half the crew)

Galleons

Sleek, fast, heavily armed Spanish ship capable of carrying large cargoes of silver and other commodities between the Philippines and the western coast of Mexico

Bullion

Bulk gold or silver that is used to make coinage

Inflation

Decline in the value of money, which causes prices to increase / Often caused by too much money in circulation

Mercantilism

Economic theory that a 'mother country' can obtain wealth by forming and using colonies to extract raw materials and form markets for finished products (European nation wants to obtain large amounts of gold and silver by selling more goods than they bought)

Joint-stock company

Refers to a group of people who invest their money in an exploration or commercial venture to make huge profits with little risk

Monopoly

Occurs when the sale of a specific product (such as tea or oil) is controlled by a single company or entity / One can only purchase Product X from that company, which usually results in a price increase

VOC

Refers to the Dutch East India Company, a joint-stock company that monopolized the spice trade with Indonesia (a Dutch colony at the time)

Commodity

Raw material or agricultural product that can be bought and sold and is usually in high demand (ex. oil)

Chattel slavery

Ownership of human beings as legal property that can be bought and sold / Marks a change from previous time periods where enslaved people were not considered property

Maroons

Term referring to the runaway slaves in the Caribbean

Encomienda

System that gives Spanish settlers in New Spain/the Caribbean the right to compel the indigenous people of the Americas to work in mines or fields

Hacienda

Large Latin American estates that the Spanish settlers run where indigenous people are forced to work

Indentured labor

A worker bound by a voluntary agreement to work for a specific time period in exchange for free passage to the New World and land at the end of their service period, often used by the English

Peninsulares

People born in Spain who move to the Americas in the Age of Exploration; they constitute the highest social class in New Spain

Creole

Social class in the New World comprised of the children of people born in Spain/Portugal. Creoles have European blood but are born in America. They are the second highest class in the hierarchy.

Mestizo

Refers to a mixed race in Spanish and Portuguese controlled lands in the New World, with one parent from Spain or Portugal and the other parent indigenous to the Americas / This class constitutes the middle of the social hierarchy

Zambo

Latin American term for individuals born of indigenous and African parents

Hegemony

Refers to leadership or domination of one nation over others

Triangular trade

Trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas that featured finished products from Europe, slaves from Africa, and American products bound for Europe

Middle Passage

Trans-Atlantic journey abroad filthy and crowded slave ships

Engenho

Brazilian sugar mill, which symbolizes the entire complex world related to sugar production

Indulgences

A pardon from one's sins that one purchases from the Catholic church

Vernacular

Refers to language or dialect spoken by the typical, ordinary people (ex. German), rather than the highly educated (ex. Latin)

Catholic

Predominant branch of Christianity influencing Europe (France, Spain, Italy), led by a pope, and characterized in a belief in salvation through good works, such as making donations and attending mass/confession

Protestant

Umbrella term for all the new branches of Christianity that emerged in the 1500s and reject some Catholic church teachings

Jesuit

Order of highly educated priests founded by Ignatius Loyola who engage in missionary activity in the Americas, Africa, and Asia to combat the spread of Protestantism