Unit 2: Age of Discovery

Age of Discovery/Exploration

time period when Europe explored the world trying to find a new way to trade with Asia

Indigenous People

People whose ancestors were the original inhabitants of the area

Silk Road

a network of trade routes that stretched from China all the way across Asia to Europe and Africa.

Precolumbian

Time period in the Americas before Columbus arrived

Christopher Columbus

explorer hired by the Spanish to find a new way to Asia. Found the Americas which helped lead to Europeans coming to the Americas

Colony

territory controlled by another nation and used for their natural resources

Circumnavigation

To travel all the way around (ex: the Earth)

New World

The part of the world that was unknown to the Europeans before the Age of Exploration (the Americas)

Old World

The part of the world that was known to the Europeans (Europe, Africa, and Asia)

Columbian Exchange

the exchange of ideas, people, plants, food, animals, technology, and diseases between the Old World (Europe, Asia, and Africa) and the New World (the Americas)

Smallpox

The disease that wiped out the majority of Native Americans during the Age of Exploration

conquistadors

Spanish explorers/conquerors

Colonization

Act of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area

Drastic

Extreme

Mansa Musa

an African king who was the richest man to ever live

Trans-Atlantic slave trade

trade of enslaved peoples from Africa that were sent to the Americas for labor.

human trafficking

term for modern day slavery

Accountable

required to justify actions or decisions

Globalization

spread of technology, goods, services, info, and interaction across the world

Assimilation

forced adoption of a different culture. Ex: Native Americans forced to adopt European culture