World Exploration and Exchange

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, and empire building.

Columbus and Magellan

European explorers who traveled in the late 1400s and early 1500s, sponsored by European monarchs to find routes to the Indian Ocean.

Indian Ocean Trade Post Empire

Established by the Portuguese in the 1500s to make contact with Africa and Asia for trade.

North American Empire

Established by the Spanish, who also connected with The Philippines to trade silver with China.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia.

The Great Dying

Refers to the significant decline in Native American populations due to diseases introduced by Europeans; 50% died within fifty years, and 90% overall died from disease.

Cash Crop System

Arose due to the introduction of new foods and plants. This created opportunities for profit, based on crops.

Mercantilist System

An economic policy where colonies supply raw materials to the mother country, which then sells finished goods back to the colonies. It relies on coercive labor system.

Chattel Slavery

A system of forced labor where enslaved people are considered property and can be bought, sold, and inherited.

Comienda

A labor system used by the Spanish in the Americas, granting land and the labor of indigenous people to Spanish colonists.

British East India Company

A company that gained a monopoly over overseas trade and eventually took over India.

Dutch East India Company

A company that gained a monopoly over overseas trade and took over Indonesia.

Silver as a Global Commodity

Mined from South America, it enabled Europeans to trade with China and spread across the world, making it the first truly global commodity.

Syncretic Belief Systems

Blending of different religions or cultures, such as Virgin Guadalupe and Voodoo, that emerged in South America due to European colonization.

Anna Nzinga

An African ruler who resisted Portuguese slave trade and attempted to protect her people.

Maroon Societies

Communities formed by escaped slaves in the Americas, representing a form of resistance against slavery.

Casta System

A race-based class system in Latin America established by the Spanish colonizers.

Qing Dynasty Hairstyle

The leaders of the Qing dynasty forced Han men to wear a queue hairstyle to show Han people's subjugation to Qing rule.