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3 Gs of exploration

God, Gold, Glory

Northwest Passage

A hoped-for shortcut to Asia through North America (never found)

Astrolabe

An instrument that measures latitude using the stars.

Caravel

A small, fast ship that could sail long distances.

Zheng He

Chinese explorer during the Ming Dynasty who sailed massive treasure ships to show Chinese power.

Portugal's exploration efforts

Explored around Africa and set up trading posts.

Spain's exploration efforts

Sent Columbus west, conquered the Americas, and built a large empire.

Treaty of Tordesillas

An agreement by the Pope to split the world between Spain (Americas) and Portugal (Africa/Asia).

Columbian Exchange

The global swap of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds.

European goods to Americas

Horses, pigs, wheat, smallpox.

American goods to Europe

Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate.

Effects of the Columbian Exchange

Native population declined, European population rose, new foods became global.

Mercantilism

Economic system where colonies provide raw goods and buy finished products from the mother country.

Mother country

The European power that controlled colonies.

Colony

A territory controlled by a mother country.

Cash crops

Crops grown for money, not food, such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton.

Encomienda system

Spanish system forcing natives to work in return for 'protection' and Christianity.

Consequences of the encomienda system

Native population decline, economic exploitation, switch to African slaves.

Triangular Trade

A three-part Atlantic trade system: Europe → Africa (goods), Africa → Americas (slaves), Americas → Europe (raw goods).

Middle Passage

The brutal slave journey from Africa to the Americas.

Reasons for enslaving Africans

Native populations died out; Africans were resistant to disease and knew farming.

Assimilation

Forcing people to adopt the culture of another group.

Social hierarchy in the New World

Peninsulares → Creoles → Mestizos → Natives + Africans.

Peninsulares

Spanish-born people living in the Americas; top of society.

Creoles

People of European descent born in the Americas.

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry.

Role of missionaries

Spread Christianity, especially in colonies.

Economic result of silver mining

Massive inflation in Spain due to too much silver.

Potosí

A major silver mine in Peru worked by natives under brutal conditions.

Dutch East India Company

A powerful Dutch trading company that dominated trade in Asia.

Impact of the Columbian Exchange on Europe

Better diets, population growth, more wealth.

Impact of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas

Disease, population decline, social structure changes.

Impact of the Columbian Exchange on Africa

Population loss, destabilization of coastal kingdoms due to slave trade.

China's response to European traders

Took silver, limited European trade to specific ports.

Japan's response to European traders

Closed borders, only traded with the Dutch.

Staple crops in Meso and South America before colonization

Corn, potatoes, beans, squash.

Effects of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Population loss in Africa, rise in plantation economies in the Americas.

Cause of inflation in Spain

Over-supply of silver from the Americas, especially Potosí.

Smallpox

A deadly disease brought by Europeans that killed millions of Indigenous people.

Maritime

Related to the sea.

West Indies

Caribbean islands colonized by Europeans for sugar plantations.

Hispaniola

Island in the Caribbean where Columbus first landed; now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Significance of Columbus

His voyages began European colonization of the Americas.