The Global Age

compass

navigational instrument for finding directions

Astrolabe

instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars

Caravel

A small, easily steerable ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in their explorations

Gunpowder

A mixture of powders used in guns and explosives

Christopher Columbus

He mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.

Hernan Cortes

Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of Aztec Mexico in 1519-1521 for Spain.

Francisco Pizzaro (Spain)

Spanish Explorer, conquered the Incas in Peru

Magellan, Ferdinand

Portuguese mariner who commanded the first European (Spanish) fleet to circumnavigate the globe.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Sent others to explore for him, made very first explorer school, first person to value exploring

Missionary

A person who spreads his or her religious beliefs to others

Indentured Servants

Immigrants who received passage to America in exchange for a fixed term of labor

Forced Migration

Human migration flows in which the movers have no choice but to relocate.

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

cartographer

a person who makes maps

Plantation

large estate farmed by many workers

Colonialism

The policy or practice of acquiring control over another country.

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought

Vasco da Gama

the first European to reach India by sea sailing around the tip of Africa.

John Cabot

English explorer who claimed Newfoundland for England while looking for Northwest Passage

Columbian Exchange

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

Triangular Trade

A system in which goods and slaves were traded among the Americas, Britain, and Africa

Ottoman Empire

A Muslim empire based in Turkey that controlled land-based trade between Europe and Asia beginning in the 1300s.

The Crusades

A series of holy wars from 1096-1270 CE undertaken by European Christians to reconquer the Holy Land from Muslim Empires.

Constantinople

A large and wealthy city that was the imperial capital of the Byzantine empire and later the Ottoman empire, now known as Istanbul

Potosi

Located in Bolivia, one of the richest silver mining centers and most populous cities in colonial Spanish America.

Inca

a member of a South American people living in the central Andes before the Spanish conquest.

Aztec Empire

Central American empire constructed by the Mexica and expanded greatly during the fifteenth century during the reigns of Itzcoatl and Motecuzoma I.

indigenous people

natives of an area who have been conquered or dominated by others who came later

The Great Dying

the devastation of American Indian populations by diseases brought over from Europe

Bartolome de Las Casas

Dominican priest who spoke out against mistreatment of Native Americans

Pachacuti

Ruler of Inca society from 1438 to 1471; launched a series of military campaigns that gave Incas control of the region from Cuzco to the shores of Lake Titicaca

Queen Nzinga

Leader who ruled in Angola and spent almost 40 years battling Portuguese slave traders

Atlantic Slave Trade

the buying, transporting, and selling of Africans for work in the Americas

Zheng He

Chinese admiral during the Ming Dynasty, he led great voyages that spread China's fame throughout Asia

Junk ship

An ancient Chinese sailing vessel design

Ming Dynasty

A major dynasty that overthrew the Mongols and ruled China from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century.

tribute system

payment made by one nation to another in acknowledgment of submission

Eunuch

A man who has been castrated to keep from reproducing and challenging government.

emissary

one sent on a special mission to show respect to a more powerful nation.

Reformation

A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches.

Martin Luther

a German monk who became one of the most famous critics of the Roman Catholic Chruch.

Printing Press

15th century invention which revolutionized the ability to print information which in turn affected the speed of the spread of information itself.

Protestant

a member of a Christian church founded on the principles of the Reformation

Indulgence

a pardon releasing a person from punishments due for a sin

Montezuma

Powerful Aztec monarch who fell to Spanish conquerors

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest.

Triple Alliance

Confederation of states making up the Aztec Empire.

Terrace Farming

Agricultural method used by Inca and other pre-Columbian civilizations to grow crops on sloped terrain, maximizing arable land.