APWorld Unit 4 Vocabulary

African Diaspora

Africans living outside of Africa (usually as slaves) who retained some aspects of their cultures.

Akbar the Great

Ruler from 1556-1605 known for military successes and administrative achievements in the Mughal Empire.

Amur River

This river valley was a contested frontier between northern China and eastern Russia until the settlement was arranged in Treaty of Nerchinsk.

Ana Nzinga

Ruler of Ndongo in south-central Africa who allied with Portugal to stop Portuguese slave raids.

Asante Empire

African kingdom on the Gold Coast that expanded rapidly after 1680.

Astronomical Chart

A map of stars that improved navigation.

Atlantic Circuit

The network of trade routes connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas that underlay the Atlantic system.

Aztec Empire

An empire in Mexico that was overthrown by Cortes in 1521.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

(1474-1566) First bishop of Chiapas who protected Amerindian peoples from exploitation.

Bartholomew Diaz

Sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 into unknown waters.

Bight of Biafra

Area where slave trade expanded in the 18th century; slaves were collected at fairs in large numbers.

Boyars

Russian landholding aristocrats; possessed less political power than their western European counterparts.

Capitalism

The economic system of large financial institutions developed in early modern Europe.

Carolina Fur Trade

(1600's) English fur traders who competed with French trading networks.

Chattel Slavery

A system where individuals were considered property to be bought and sold.

Christopher Columbus

Navigator who explored the Americas under the flag of Spain.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world.

Commercial Revolution

Transformation to a trade-based economy using gold and silver.

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers who conquered parts of the Americas in the 16th century.

Creole

West African languages mixed with European languages.

Dahomey

West African kingdom that became strong through exploitation of the slave trade.

Dutch East India Company

A mercantile company chartered by the Dutch to conduct trade missions.

Engenhos

Portuguese sugar plantations called “engines” because of the amount of sugar they processed.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in Peru and founded Lima.

Galleons

Spanish trading ships that made round-trip sailing voyages across the Pacific Ocean.

Glorious Revolution

Overthrow of King James II of England by English Parliamentarians and William III of Orange-Nassau.

Gloucester County Rebellion

First recorded slave revolt in Virginia in 1663.

Henry Hudson

Dutch explorer who sailed up the Hudson River seeking a northwest passage.

Hidalgos

Lesser Spanish nobles of the New World.

Indentured Servant

A migrant to British colonies in the Americas who worked for a set term to pay for passage.

Iroquois Confederacy

Alliance of five northeastern Amerindian peoples that made decisions through a council.

Jacques Cartier

French explorer who claimed part of Canada for France in 1535.

Jamestown

England’s first successful colony in the Americas, located in Virginia.

Jesuit Missionaries

Missionaries from the Society of Jesus who attempted to spread Christianity.

Joint-Stock Companies

Businesses that sold shares to individuals to raise money for trading enterprises.

Ming Dynasty

(1368-1644) Empire based in China established after the overthrow of the Yuan Empire.

Mit’a System

Labor obligation in Peru requiring adult male Amerindians to work for a set time each year.

Mulatto

Term used in Spanish and Portuguese colonies for someone of mixed African and European descent.

New Amsterdam

Dutch settlement in the Hudson River Valley that is present-day New York City.

Omani-European Rivalry

Trade rivalry between Omani and European traders over the Indian Ocean Trade Route.

Plantations

Labor-intensive agricultural centers of the New World implemented by colonial powers.

Plantocracy

The wealthy landowners in the West Indies who owned most of the slaves and land.

Price Revolution

The high rate of inflation in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Primogeniture Laws

European law that required estates to be passed down to the eldest son.

Pueblo Revolt

Revolt in 1860 of the Pueblo and Apache against the Spanish in New Mexico.

Quebec

French trading post established in 1608.

Royal African Company

Trading company chartered by the English in 1672 for trade on the Atlantic coast of Africa.

Russian Serfdom

In Russia, serfs worked as laborers and artisans in factories; practice abolished in 1861.

Samuel de Champlain

French navigator who founded New France and Quebec City.

Sea Beggars

Dutch pirates who utilized gunpowder in their endeavors.

Smallpox

Disease brought to the Americas by Europeans that devastated native populations.

Syncretism

The combining of different religious practices and beliefs.

Treaty of Nerchinsk

Treaty made in 1689 that fixed the border along the Amur River.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 treaty in which Spain and Portugal divided the Americas.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

The trade of Africans who were captured and sold as slaves in the Americas.

Vasco Da Gama

Navigator who landed in India in 1498 and claimed territory for Portugal.

Viceroyalty

The highest-ranking Spanish officials in the colonies with broad power but faced obstacles.

Yemelyan Pugachev

Cossack who led a peasant rebellion against Catherine the Great in 1774.

Zambos

Those of mixed indigenous and African ancestry in the Americas.

Ashkenazi Jews

Jews from central and eastern Europe.

Barbary Pirates

Those who plied the seas near North Africa along the Barbary Coast and captured other European slaves in the Mediterranean and then sold them to the sultan or other high-ranking officials.

Cartography

The art of mapmaking.

Cash Crop

Sellable crop that is grown and gathered for the market such as sugar and tobacco.

Charter Companies

Groups of private investors who paid an annual fee to France and England in exchange for a monopoly over trade to the West Indies colonies.

City of Potosi

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

Cossack

Peoples of the Russian Empire who lived outside the farming villages, often as herders, mercenaries, or outlaws. They led the conquest of Siberia in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Criollos

Those of European ancestry who were born in the Americas.

Dutch West India Company

(1621-1794) Trading company chartered by the Dutch government to conduct its merchants' trade in the Americas and Africa.

Engenhos

Portuguese sugar plantations called 'engines' because of the amount of sugar they processed. The working conditions were horrible and the labor force suffered greatly.

Encomienda

A grant of authority over a population of Amerindians in the Spanish colonies that provided the grant holder with a supply of cheap labor and periodic payments of goods by the Amerindians.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world.

Japanese Trade Decrees

(1633-1639) Series of decrees designed to keep Christianity from resurfacing and sharply curtailed trade with Europe.

Li Chengdong

During the Qing Dynasty, he orchestrated three massacres in the city of Jaiding against Han who refused to assimilate to Qing practices.

Maroon Wars

Slaves in the Caribbean and former Spanish territories in the Americas fought to gain freedom.

Manumission

A grant of legal freedom to an individual slave; more common in Brazil, Spanish, and French colonies than in English colonies.

Mestizos

The term used by Spanish authorities to describe someone of mixed Amerindian and European descent.

Metacom’s War

Also called King Philip’s War, where English colonists used underhanded tactics to control Native American lands.

Monopolies

Granted certain merchants or the government itself the exclusive right to trade.

New Spain

Colony established by Cortes after overthrowing the Aztecs in Mexico.

Northwest Passage

A route through or around North America that would lead to East Asia and the trade there.

Oyo

African empire that became rich by selling its captives to Europeans.

Peninsulares

Those who were born on the Iberian Peninsula and stood at the top of the social pyramid in Latin America.

Port of Luanda

Founded by the Portuguese in 1575, became the center of the slave trade in Brazil.

Puritans

English Protestant dissenters who believed that God predestined souls to heaven or hell before birth.

Sephardic Jews

Jews who trace their heritage back to Spain.

Time of Troubles

The time in the early 17th century when Swedish and Polish forces occupied Moscow; it marked the end of the Muscovite rulers.

Trading Post Empire

Empire based on small outposts rather than control of large territories.

Triangular Trade

Atlantic trading system that had three segments within which enslaved Africans were part.

Viceroyal

Henry the Navigator

Prince of Portugal who significantly advanced the nation's maritime exploration and sponsored numerous expeditions along the African coast during the 15th century.

McCartney Missions

British diplomatic missions to China in the late 18th century aimed at expanding trade relations and opening Chinese markets to British goods.

Maratha Empire

A power that rose in India in the 17th century, known for its military prowess and territorial expansion against Mughal authority.

Matteo Ricci

An Italian Jesuit priest known for his missionary work in China and for introducing Western science and technology.

Japanese Trade Decrees

(1633-1639) Series of decrees designed to keep Christianity from resurfacing and sharply curtailed trade with Europe.

Manchus

People from Manchuria who established the Qing Dynasty in China, ruling

Ashkenazi Jews

Jews from central and eastern Europe.

Carolina Fur Trade

(1600's) English fur traders pushed into the interior to compete with French trading networks based in New Orleans and Mobile.

The Great Northern War (1700-1721)

War between the Russians and the Swedish which was long and costly for both sides, but resulted in Russian control of the Baltic Sea.

Hispaniola

Name Columbus gave to the island that is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Japanese Trade Decrees

(1633-1639) Series of decrees designed to keep Christianity from resurfacing and sharply curtailed trade with Europe.