European Expansion

Endogenous vs. Exogenous Explanations

Historiographical debate regarding the "Rise of the West" in the 19th century. Endogenous factors focus on internal European shifts (Enlightenment, coal, state competition). Exogenous factors focus on external shocks (Black Death, Mongol collapse) and the exploitation of inter-societal linkages like American silver.

Terra Nullius

"Nobody's land." A legal concept used in the colonization of North America and Australia to justify land seizure by arguing that indigenous populations did not "improve" the land through European-style farming or fencing.

The Columbian Exchange

Post-1492. The massive transfer of plants, animals, culture, and diseases between the Americas and the Old World. It revolutionized diets (potatoes/corn to Europe) but caused a demographic catastrophe, killing up to 80% of indigenous Americans via disease.

Encomienda System

16th Century. A Spanish colonial labor system where indigenous people were forced to provide labor as a form of "tax." This brutal system fueled the early colonial economy and sparked debates over indigenous humanity.

Joint-Stock Company

17th Century (e.g., VOC 1602). A business entity where shareholders share profits and risks. Companies like the Dutch VOC and British EIC acted as pseudo-states with the power to wage war, mint money, and negotiate treaties.

Gunboat Diplomacy

19th Century. The pursuit of foreign policy goals through conspicuous displays of naval power. This was used by Western powers to force "closed" markets to open, notably in China (Opium Wars) and Japan (Matthew Perry).

Unequal Treaties

19th Century (e.g., Treaty of Nanking 1842). Treaties forced upon Asian states at gunpoint that granted benefits to Europeans (extraterritoriality, low tariffs) without reciprocation, eroding local sovereignty.

Scientific Racism / Social Darwinism

Late 19th Century. The misapplication of Darwin’s biological theories to human society. It provided a pseudo-scientific justification for colonialism, arguing Europeans were "fittest" and had a duty to rule "inferior" races.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494. An agreement between Spain and Portugal, arbitrated by the Pope, that drew a line through the Atlantic to divide newly discovered lands. It was an early attempt to solve political conflict through legal division.

Treaty of Zaragoza

1529. A follow-up to Tordesillas that extended the dividing line to Asia to resolve disputes over the Moluccas (Spice Islands), proving the primary goal of expansion was still Eastern wealth.

Valladolid Debate

1550–1551. A moral debate between Las Casas and Sepúlveda regarding indigenous rights. It was one of the first major discussions on international human rights and whether European law applied to other civilizations.

The Black Death

1346–1353. A pandemic that killed massive portions of Eurasia and disrupted the Pax Mongolica. The resulting collapse of Silk Road land routes drove Europeans to seek new maritime routes to the East.

Haitian Revolution

1791–1804. The only successful slave revolt in history, resulting in a state ruled by former captives. It challenged European narratives of racial superiority and terrified other slave-owning societies.

The Opium Wars

First (1839–1842)

The Opening of Japan

1853–1854. Commodore Matthew Perry used gunboat diplomacy to end Japan’s 220 years of isolation, leading to the collapse of the Shogunate and rapid modernization under the Meiji Restoration.

The Berlin Conference

1884–1885. A meeting where European powers regulated the "Scramble for Africa," drawing borders without indigenous input to avoid war among themselves.

Russo-Japanese War

1905. A conflict where Japan defeated Russia, marking the first time a non-Western power decisively defeated a Western Great Power in the modern era.

Vasco da Gama

Reached India in 1498. Portuguese explorer who established the first maritime route from Europe to Asia by rounding the Cape of Good Hope, bypassing Ottoman land routes.

Christopher Columbus

Reached Americas in 1492. Explorer whose voyages initiated the permanent European colonization of the Americas and the start of the Columbian Exchange.

Bartolomé de las Casas

16th Century (Valladolid debate 1550). A priest who advocated for the humanity of indigenous peoples and opposed their brutal treatment, though he is sometimes criticized for inadvertently encouraging the African slave trade.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

16th Century (Valladolid debate 1550). A scholar who argued that indigenous people were "natural slaves" and that conquest was justified to "civilize" them.

Matthew Perry

Arrived in Japan in 1853. US Navy Commodore who used "Black Ships" and gunboat diplomacy to force Japan to open its ports to American trade.

Leopold II

Berlin Conference 1884–1885. King of the Belgians who acquired the Congo Free State as his personal property through diplomatic maneuvering during the Scramble for Africa.

Charles Darwin

On the Origin of Species published 1859. His biological theories were misappropriated by imperialists to create "Social Darwinism," justifying the domination of "weaker" nations by "stronger" ones.

Pizarro and Cortés

Early 16th Century (1519/1533). Conquistadors who used indigenous alliances, superior technology, and the devastation of smallpox to conquer the Aztec and Inca empires.