Lecture Notes: European Colonization and the Atlantic World (Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, English)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on European colonization, trade, and early American history.

Alta California

Upper California; part of the Spanish empire with presidios and missions; Franciscans established missions to convert Indigenous peoples, often with brutality, leading to Indigenous resentment; 18th–19th centuries.

Presidios

Spanish military forts on the frontier designed to protect missions and settlements.

Missions (California)

Franciscan missions established to convert Indigenous peoples; often involved coercive labor and harsh treatment; part of Spanish colonial strategy.

Franciscans

Catholic religious order running the California missions; played a key role in missionization.

Baja California

Lower California; part of what became Mexico.

Northwest Passage

A hypothesized sea route through North America to Asia; a major motivation for French exploration.

Saint Lawrence Seaway

Water route connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic; used by French explorers and fur traders.

Great Lakes (Erie, Ontario, Michigan, Superior, Huron)

Five large freshwater lakes crucial to French exploration and the fur trade network.

Jesuit missionaries

Catholic priests who lived among Indigenous peoples in New France; emphasized accommodation and formed the “middle ground.”

Middle Ground

A zone of exchange and diplomacy where European traders and Indigenous peoples interacted; trust and alliances formed with some tribes.

New France

French colonial empire in Canada and the Mississippi basin; focus on fur trade and relatively limited settlement.

Champlain

Samuel de Champlain; founded Quebec in 1608; established alliances with Indigenous peoples and explored the Great Lakes.

Quebec (1608)

Permanent French settlement founded in 1608; center of New France.

New Netherland

Dutch colony in North America including New Amsterdam (Manhattan) and Fort Orange (Albany); built fur-trade networks with Indigenous peoples.

Peter Minuit

Dutch director who purchased Manhattan from Indigenous peoples; emblematic of Dutch trading approach.

Fort Orange

Dutch fort on the Hudson River near present-day Albany; key fur-trading hub.

Wall Street

Defensive wall built by the Dutch at New Amsterdam; later became the symbol and center of New York’s finance industry.

Dutch West India Company (1621)

Dutch trading company that established New Netherland and promoted fur trade; introduced the patron system.

Patron system

Dutch colonial system where wealthy landholders recruited founders and leased land to tenants, creating large estates.

Indigo

Dye crop cultivated in the colonies; an important export commodity.

Tobacco (Virginia)

Cash crop that became Virginia’s economic backbone; seeds reportedly introduced from Trinidad in 1616; helped relieve farm labor pressures.

Puritans

English reformers who sought to purify the Church of England; settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s.

Pilgrims

Separatists who left England for religious freedom; established Plymouth Colony; associated with the Mayflower Compact and Thanksgiving.

Mayflower Compact

Early self-government agreement drafted aboard the Mayflower; foundational step toward colonial self-rule.

Roanoke Colony

English attempt at colonization on Roanoke Island; vanished; Croatoan carved on a tree as a mysterious marker.

Elizabeth I (1558–1603)

Queen whose reign marked the English Renaissance and a period of exploration and cultural flowering; victory over the Spanish Armada contributed to expansion.

Spanish Armada (1588)

Spanish fleet defeated by England; ended Spain’s naval dominance and enabled later English colonization efforts.

Joint Stock Company

English corporate model that pooled capital to fund colonization; investors shared risks and profits; early form of incorporation.

Amistad case

Supreme Court case (1841) in which enslaved Africans aboard the Amistad were granted freedom; argued by John Quincy Adams.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Constitutional provision counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation in Congress.

Louisiana (colonial history)

Territory that changed hands among Spanish, French, and then American control; illustrates competition and transfer of colonial holdings.

Caribbean salt trade

Dutch and other powers used Caribbean islands like Aruba, Curacao, and Saint Martin for salt production to preserve fish for shipping; tied to slave trade and market networks.

Atlantic slave trade (Caribbean & Brazil)

Enslaved Africans were central to sugar plantations in the Caribbean and Brazil; Brazil had among the highest slave mortality rates but also the largest enslaved population in the Americas.

Anglo-English colonization motives

English sought raw materials, trade goods, and markets; colonization offered opportunities, religious freedom, and escape from economic disruption at home.