AP Euro Topic 1.7 Rivals World Stage Terms and Names (Amsco Bolded),

Christopher Columbus

Mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.

West Indies

Caribbean Islands

Treaty of Tordesillas

set the boundary established in 1493 to define Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Americas.

Amerigo Vespucci

A mapmaker and explorer who said that America was a new continent, so America was named after him.

New World

the name given by Europeans to the Americas, which were unknown to most Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus

conquistadors

Spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

Aztec Empire

Central American empire constructed by the Mexica and expanded greatly during the fifteenth century during the reigns of Itzcoatl and Motecuzoma I.

New Spain

Spanish colonial possessions in Mesoamerica; included most of central Mexico;

encomienda

a grant by the Spanish Crown to a colonist in America giving them the right to demand tribute and forced labor from the Indian inhabitants of an area.

Bartolome de las Casas

Dominican priest who spoke out against mistreatment of Native Americans

asiento

a slave trade treaty between other countries and Spain which allowed other countries to supply slaves to Spanish colonies

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Spanish explorer who discovered the Pacific Ocean

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru

Inca Empire

The vast and sophisticated empire in modern day Peru, South America, that was at its peak from 1438 until 1532 when the Spanish defeated it

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese explorer who found a sea route to the Spice Island by sailing around the American continent. His crew was the first to circumnavigate the world.

Spice Islands

Europeans' name for the Moluccas, islands rich in cloves and nutmeg-- modern day Indonesia south of Asia.

New Amsterdam

Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. This later became "New York City" when the British took it over.

John Cabot

1497 claimed Canada for England

Jacques Cartier

French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence river and laid claim to the region for France (1491-1557)

Samuel de Champlain

Founded Quebec

New France

French colony in North America, with a capital in Quebec, founded 1608. New France fell to the British in 1763.

War of the Spanish Succession

a conflict, lasting from 1701 to 1713, in which a number of European states fought to prevent the Bourbon family from controlling Spain as well as France.

Seven Years' War

worldwide struggle between France and Great Britain for power and control of land in North America and India.

coercion

the use of force to get others to do what you want