AP World History Modern Unit 4 1450-1750 (Maritime Empires)

Flashcards covering key concepts, terms, and definitions from AP World History Modern Unit 4, focusing on Maritime Empires.

Charters

Documents granting the right to organize settlements in an area.

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by strictly regulating the economy to obtain large amounts of gold and silver by selling more goods than they bought and utilizing colonies.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation at Sagres and directed voyages that spurred the growth of Portugal's colonial empire.

Ming Dynasty

The peak of Chinese civilization marked by 300 years of peace and prosperity, including improvements to the Grand Canal and major contributions to exploration.

Portuguese Empire

An empire that took an early lead in European exploration, establishing trading posts in West Africa, East Africa, and India for spice trade.

Maritime

Related to or located on the sea.

Global Silver Trade

The silver trade between the Americas and Europe that significantly impacted the world economy from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Spanish Empire

A global empire made up of territories and colonies in Europe, Africa, and Asia, ruled from Spain and marked by the conquests led by Christopher Columbus.

Plantation Agriculture

A production system based on large estates owned by an individual, family, or corporation, organized to produce a cash crop.

Cash Crop

A crop produced for its commercial value rather than for use by the grower.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The forced migration of between 12 - 15 million people from Africa to the Western Hemisphere from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century.

Indigenous

Native to a certain area.

Encomienda System

A system granting settlers the right to tax local Native Americans or make them work, with the expectation of protecting them and converting them to Christianity.

Tokugawa Shogunate

A semi-feudal government of Japan that unified the country under one family's rule and isolated Japan from foreign influences.

Closed Country Edict

A document that restricted Japanese contact with the outside world to certain times.

Syncretic Religion

A religious system that combines elements of two or more religious traditions.

Dutch East India Company

A government-chartered joint-stock company that controlled the spice trade in the East Indies.

British East India Company

A company that established trading posts in India in the 1600s, marking the start of British economic interests there.

Joint-stock Company

A business that sold shares to individuals to raise money for trading enterprises and to spread risks and profits among investors.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

Smallpox

A highly contagious viral disease responsible for numerous Native American deaths.

Coercive Labor

Any labor system that involves force, such as slavery and serfdom.

Aztec Empire

An empire in Central America that expanded greatly during the 15th century.

Inca Empire

An empire in Peru conquered by Pizarro in 1535.

Voodoo

A syncretic belief system blending traditional African religious beliefs with Christianity.

Santeria

A Cuban religion combining Catholic and West African beliefs.

Candomble

An African religious practice particularly among the Yoruba people in Brazil.

Maroon Societies

Communities formed by escaped slaves in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Slave Rebellions

Resistance by slaves, including notable uprisings like the German Coast Rebellion of 1811.

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for Atlantic exploration.

Kongo

A Central African state that began trading with the Portuguese around 1500.

Asante Kingdom

A kingdom that emerged in the 1700s in present-day Ghana and was active in the slave trade.

Compass

An instrument showing the direction of magnetic north.

Creoles

Term for people of European descent born in the New World.

Mestizos and Mulattoes

People of mixed European and Latin American or African descent.