Unit 4 World History

Moluccas

an island chain in present-day Indonesia, which Europeans in the 1400s called the Spice Islands because it was the chief source of spices

Cartographer

a person who makes maps

Line of Demarcation

line set by the Treaty of Tordesillas dividing the non-European world into two zones, one controlled by Spain and the other by Portugal

Treaty of Tordesillas

treaty signed between Spain and Portugal in 1494, which divided the non-European world between them

Circumnavigate

to travel completely around the world

Cape Town

the first permanent European settlement in Africa, established by the Dutch in 1652

Mughal Empire

Muslim empire that ruled most of northern India from the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s; also known as the Mogul empire

Goa

a coastal city seized in 1510 that became the commercial and military base of Portugal’s India trade

Malacca

city located on the Malay Peninsula near the strategic Straits of Malacca

Outpost

a distant military station or a remote settlement

Dutch East India Company

a trading company established with full sovereign powers by the Netherlands in 1602 to protect and expand its trade in Asia

Sovereign

having full, independent power

Sepoy

Indian soldier who served in an army set up by the French or English trading companies

Manchus

people originally from Manchuria, north of China, who conquered the Ming dynasty and ruled China as the Qing dynasty from the mid-1600s to the early 1900s

Qing

dynasty established by the Manchus in the mid-1600s that lasted until the early 1900s; China’s last dynasty

Tokugawa

shoguns, descended from Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616) who were supreme military leaders; ruled Japan from 1603 through 1869; reunified Japan and reestablished order following a century of civil war and disturbance

Nagasaki

Japanese city; on an island in its harbor, the Tokugawa shoguns in the 1600s permitted one or two Dutch ships to trade with Japan each year

Conquistador

“conqueror” in Spanish; a leader in the Spanish conquests of America, Mexico, and Peru in the sixteenth century

Tenochtitlan

capital city of the Aztec empire, on which modern-day Mexico City was built

Alliance

formal agreement between two or more nations or powers to cooperate and come to one another’s defense

Moctezuma

Moctezuma (Moctezuma II, 1466–c. June 30, 1520) was the last Aztec emperor, who mistakenly thought that the conquistador Cortés might be the god-king Quetzalcoatl. He was defeated by Cortés and forced to sign over his land and treasure. He was taken prisoner and killed as the Aztecs attempted to drive the Spanish from Tenochtitlán.

Civil War

a war fought between groups of people in the same nation

Viceroy

representative of the king of Spain who ruled colonies in his name

Encomienda

the right, granted by Spanish monarchs to conquistadors, to demand labor or tribute from Native Americans in a particular area

Peon

a worker forced to labor for a landlord to pay off a debt that is impossible to pay off in his or her lifetime, which is incurred by food, tool, or seeds the landlord has advanced to him or her

Creole

in Spanish colonial America, an American-born descendant of Spanish settlers

Mestizo

in Spanish colonial America, a person of Native American and European descent

New France

French possessions in present-day Canada from the 1500s to 1763

Pilgrim

English Protestants who rejected the Church of England

French and Indian War

war between Britain and France in the Americas that happened from 1754 to 1763; it was part of a global war called the Seven Years’ War

Treaty of Paris

treaty of 1763 that ended the Seven Years’ War and resulted in British dominance of the Americas

Plantation

large estate run by an overseer and worked by laborers who live there

Missionary

someone sent to do religious work in a territory or foreign country

Triangular trade

colonial trade routes among Europe and its colonies, the West Indies, and Africa in which goods were exchanged for enslaved people

Middle Passage

the leg of the triangular trade route on which slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas

Asante Kingdom

kingdom that emerged in the 1700s in present-day Ghana and was active in the trade in enslaved people

Monopoly

complete control of a product or business by one person or a group

Columbian Exchange

the global exchange of goods, ideas, plants and animals, and disease that began with Columbus’s journey to the Americas

Commercial Revolution

A period of European economic expansion, colonialism, and mercantilism which lasted from about the 1500s until the early 1700s. It included the growth of capitalism, banking, and investing.

Inflation

economic cycle that involves a rapid rise in prices linked to a sharp increase in the amount of money available

Price Revolution

period in European history when inflation rose rapidly

Capitalism

economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit

Free Enterprise System

An economic system, also known as capitalism, in which private businesses are able to compete with each other with little control by government. Products, prices, and services are driven by free market laws of supply and demand rather than government regulations.

Entrepreneur

person who organizes and manages his or her own business

Mercantilism

policy by which a nation sought to export more than it imported in order to build its supply of gold and silver

Tariff

tax on imports or exports

Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama (c. 1460–1524) was a Portuguese explorer and navigator who in 1498 was the first person to directly reach India by sailing around Africa. He returned to India in 1502, fought Arab Muslim ships along the way, and established trading posts along the East African coast. After serving as an advisor to Portugal’s king for 20 years, he returned to India in 1524 with the title of viceroy, but fell ill and died soon after arriving.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) was an Italian explorer and navigator who went on Mediterranean and Africa expeditions, thought up a plan to sail west to reach India and China, and found support from the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1492, he sailed west from Spain and reached the Caribbean Islands, which he mistakenly thought were the Indies of Asia. He made other voyages, but strained relations with the Spanish royal officials led to his arrest and dismissal as governor of the settlements on the island of Hispaniola.

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) was a Portuguese navigator and explorer who as a young man went on Portuguese expeditions to India and Africa, and later won Spanish support for his September 1519 expedition to sail west to reach the Moluccas. Beginning with five ships and a crew of 270, the long voyage through unknown waters encountered rough weather, scurvy, starvation, and eventual mutiny. Magellan was killed in 1521 during a battle in the present-day Philippines, and only one of his ships, carrying spices and 18 of the original crew, circumnavigated the world and at last returned to Spain in September 1522.

Afonso de  Albuquerque

Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515) was a Portuguese admiral who helped found Portugal’s trade empire in the East. He captured and built strategic forts at Goa, Calicut, Malacca, and Hormoz; reconstructed other forts; set up shipbuilding and other Portuguese industries in India; and built churches.

Hernan Cortes

Hernán Cortés (c. 1485–1547) was a Spanish landowner in Cuba and conquistador who in 1518 led an expedition to Mexico. Allied with some Native American groups, he conquered the Aztec empire, including its capital Tenochititlán in 1521. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1522 appointed him governor of New Spain, but Cortés was eventually removed from power and retired to Spain in 1540.

Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier (1491–1557) is credited with naming Canada. He is also recognized for his limited exploration of the St. Lawrence River, stopped short by severe weather and hostile Iroquois Indians.