5. Crash Course European History: European Expansion and the Columbian Exchange

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on European expansion, conquest, and the Columbian Exchange.

Columbian Exchange

The transatlantic transfer of foods, crops, animals, people, diseases, and ideas between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia that began after 1492; it reshaped diets, populations, and ecosystems.

Encomienda

A Spanish labor system granting colonists the right to compel Indigenous labor on plantations and mines in exchange for supposed protection and Christianization.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish Dominican missionary who condemned brutal conquest, advocated for Indigenous rights, and argued for humane treatment of native peoples.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

A Marian devotion in New Spain depicting a brown-skinned Mary as Aztec imagery; promoted Christianization and Indigenous devotion; became a major shrine.

Juan Diego

Aztec convert who reported visions of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Tepeyac; associated with the miraculous cape and the Guadalupe story.

Francis Drake

English privateer who attacked Spanish ships, amassed wealth, and completed a circumnavigation; knighted in 1581.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese explorer whose expedition achieved the first circumnavigation of the globe; he died en route, and the voyage was completed by his crew.

John Cabot

Italian navigator sponsored by Henry VII; reached the North American coast near present-day Canada in 1497, fueling English claims in the region.

English East India Company

A 1600 chartered trading company that organized English trade, funded voyages, and sometimes used force to secure trading posts.

Dutch East India Company (VOC)

The 1602 chartered company that united Dutch trading ventures and became a major power in Asia and beyond.

Atlantic slave trade

The large-scale capture, transport, and enslavement of Africans across the Atlantic, expanding in the 17th–18th centuries.

Mercury amalgamation

A technique using mercury to extract silver and gold from ore; known in pre-Columbian Americas and adopted by Europeans, with significant environmental and health costs.

Black Legend

A propaganda idea that portrayed Spaniards as uniquely cruel and destructive; used by rivals to justify expansion and distort perceptions.

Taino

Indigenous Caribbean people who suffered catastrophic population losses due to disease and colonial violence after contact with Europeans.

Maize (corn)

A staple New World crop introduced to Afro-Eurasia; its spread dramatically increased calories and supported population growth.

Potatoes

A New World tuber that spread to Europe and other continents, boosting food security and nutrition.

Tomatoes

A New World fruit that transformed European and global cuisines after its introduction.

Sugar cane cultivation

Expansion of sugar production in the Caribbean and the Americas, driving deforestation, plantation labor, and economic growth.