When Worlds Collide Vocabulary

Flashcards based on the 'When Worlds Collide' lecture transcript, detailing key historical terms, entities, and numerical specifics.

Mestizo / Mestizaje

Refers to mixed ethnicity or the mixing of ethnicities, combining European heritage with native Americas or African heritage.

Conventional Wisdom about the Americas

The pre-Conquest belief in Europe that the Americas were populated by "backwards" peoples who could easily be defeated by a vastly superior European power.

El equilibrio

The relationship of balance maintained between humans and Earth by the Inca peoples.

True Red

A rare and expensive dye in Europe—where most could only use a "dirty orange" dye—ranked economically $3\text{rd}$ by the Spanish behind silver and gold.

Los conversos

Converts to Christianity in Spain who were always viewed with suspicion and pushed to the fringes during the establishment of the Old World class system.

New World Food Transfer

Items transferred between Old and New Worlds including piña, plátano, maíz, jitomates, papas, pimientos, frijoles, chocolate, camotes, tabaco, and pintura.

Our Lady of Tonantzín

A figure who was both Catholic and indigenous, serving as a link so indigenous communities would identify with Catholicism.

Sistema de castas

The New World caste system placing "pure-blooded" Europeans at the top, castizas at the next level, and mestizas ($50\text{\%}$) below them.

Danzón

A music and dance form with roots in Africa that blossomed in the Caribbean and became fully Mexican.

Seville (Sevilla)

A city located $50\text{ miles}$ inland from the Atlantic on the Guadalquivir river; home to La Casa de Contratación and the drop-off point for all silver and gold from the New World.

Guadalquivir River

The only navigable river in Spain that ocean-going ships could follow all the way inland to Seville.

Bartolomé de las Casas

A Sevilla-born priest who realized the oppressive atrocities of Spanish occupation in the New World and told Charles V in 1541 that he would face "eternal damnation".

New Laws

Laws issued by Charles V in response to Bartolomé de las Casas stating that no cause shall justify slavery or abuse, effectively granting citizenship to indigenous peoples.

Bishop of Yucatán (de Landa)

A brutally repressive Inquisitorial official who tortured roughly $4,000$ indigenous people and tortured roughly $150$ of them to death.

Succession of Felipe II

The event in 1556 when Felipe II took over the reign from his father, Charles V (who was $56\text{ years}$ old, while Felipe II was $29\text{ years}$ old).

The Great Repression

Charles V's extremely costly "holy war" against Dutch Protestants in the Old World that ended in stalemates.

Potosí Mine

A mining boomtown in Bolivia at $13,000\text{ ft}$ altitude where $8,000,000$ forced indigenous workers died over a period of $300\text{ years}$.

Charango

A musical instrument constructed using the shell of an armadillo.

Defeat of the Spanish Armada

A military disaster where British fire-ships and gale-force winds in the English Channel caused $70$ Spanish ships to sink and $15,000$ men to die, initiating Spain's decline as a superpower.

Garcilaso, el Inca

Author of Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Perú who criticized the Conquest, stating it benefited foreign merchants rather than the Spanish people.