APEH unit 4: Age of Exploration

Marco Polo

Traded for a passport, befriended Kublai Khan, and wrote about Chinese inventions, inspiring European exploration.

Causes of Exploration

Trade, Religion, Technology, and Wealth motivated European exploration in search of new routes and riches.

Colonization

Europe takes over colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, spreading culture, religion, and influencing global trade.

Conquistadors

Led by Hernan Cortes, they conquered the Aztec Empire, leading to the fall of Tenochtitlan.

Triangular Trade

Trade route involving Europe, Africa, and the Americas, exchanging goods, slaves, and raw materials.

Middle Passage

Route where slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas, enduring harsh conditions.

Columbian Exchange

Exchange of goods, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds after Columbus' discovery.

Commercial Revolution

Growth of trade, rise of capitalism, development of banking, and expansion of colonialism.

Encomienda

System where Spanish landlords collected money from natives in the colonies.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer hired by Isabella and Ferdinand (Spain) to find a route to Asia, discovers the New World in 1492

Alfonso de Albuquerque

Naval Officer who behaved like a pirate, while trading in the Indian Ocean

Hernan Cortes

leader of Conquistadors when conquering the Aztec Empire, relationship with La Malinche

Francisco Pizarro

leader of Conquistadors when conquering the Incan Empire

Atahualpa

emperor of the Incas

Vasco Da Gama

Portuguese explorer travels around the southern tip of Africa, into the Indian Ocean, allowing the Portuguese to establish a Trading Post Empire

Portolani

Flat, inaccurate map of Europe

Lateen Sail

Triangular sail that allowed for faster sailing

Moctezuma

Emperor of the Aztecs, killed by his own people throwing stones

Mercantilism

The belief that the worth of a nation is determined by how much gold or silver they have

Old World

New World

The Americas

Joint-Stock Company

A company that has share-holders or investors