APWH Vocab 4.3-4.4

4.3 Columbian Exchange 4.4 Maritime Empire Link Regions

Columbian Exchange

the exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Western (Americas) and Eastern (Afro-Eurasia) hemispheres through the voyages of Christopher Columbus; resulted in a growing global economy, changing population, and changes in biodiversity

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers and conquerers who played key roles in the colonization of the Americas in the 16th century

Small pox

contagious, respiratory disease spread by Europeans in the Americas; led to the deaths of millions of Native Americans in North and South America (natives were not immune as they had no previous exposure to European diseases)

Transatlantic Slave Trade

trading of slaves from Africa to the Americas by Europeans usually for forced labor

Engenhos

Portguese term used to refer to sugar plantations including African slaves who worked in sugar production; usually had horrible working conditions

Cash crops

crops produced in large quantities for the purpose of sale and profit, such as sugar and tobacco

African Diaspora

dispersion of Africans out of their African homelands, mostly from forced removal to the Americans by Europeans

Creole

A language that results from the mixing of a colonizer's language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated; many West Africans managed to combine European languages with their languages and grammar

Indentured servitude

a labor system where servants are contracted to work for a specified period of years in exchange for passage

Chattel slavery

a labor system where individuals were considered property that can be bought and sold, typically permanent and extreme

Asante Empire and Kingdom of the Kongo

African states that utilized the European maritime trade networks for growth, such as trading gold and enslaved people

East India Company (EIC)

a trading corporation established by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 that focused on British influence and control over India for trade, and eventually, political power

New Spain

a colony established after Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes and his forces overtook the Aztecs in 1521

Mexico City

capital of New Spain; built on the ruins of Tenochitlan, the former capital of the Aztecs

Treaty of Tordesailles

agreement between Portugal and Spain in 1494 that gave lands east of the line to Portugal (Brazil, Africa, and Indies) and lands west of the line to Spain (rest of Americas)

Hispaniola

name given by Columbus to the islands of Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, the first islands he discovered on his voyage westward

Encomienda

a labor system that granted Spanish settlers the right to demand labor or tribute from Native Americans in exchange for protection and religious instruction (Christianization)

Encomenderos

Spanish landowners under the ecomienda system, compelling indigenous people to work for them in exchange for food and shelter

Hacienda system

a Spanish labor system that consisted of landowners with large agricultural plantations (crops included wheat, fruit, vegetables, and sugar) and coerced labor including Natives and enslaved Africans

Middle Passage

a sea voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

Mit'a system

an Incan labor system that required communities to send workers for obligatory labor on public works projects; Spanish took advantage of this system and made it more extreme with increased coercion of labor