Packet 8 - AP World - European Colonization

Maritime Empires (Colonies, Europe)

Overseas empires established by European states through naval power and colonization.

Colony (Colonies, Europe)

Territory claimed and ruled by a foreign power for economic and political benefit.

Hispaniola (Colonies, Latin America)

First island colonized by Spain in the Caribbean, center of sugar plantations and slavery.

Jamestown (Colonies, North America)

First permanent English settlement in North America founded in 1607.

Aztec Empire (Colonies, Latin America)

Powerful Mesoamerican state conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1521.

Incan Empire (Colonies, Latin America)

Andean civilization conquered by Francisco Pizarro in the 1530s.

Cuzco (Colonies, Latin America)

Capital city of the Incan Empire in the Andes.

Llama (Colonies, Latin America)

Domesticated pack animal of the Andes used for transport and wool.

New Spain (Colonies, Latin America)

Spanish colonial territory in the Americas including Mexico and Central America.

Tenochtitlan (Colonies, Latin America)

Aztec capital city, later destroyed and rebuilt by Spaniards as Mexico City.

Mexico City (Colonies, Latin America)

Spanish colonial capital built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

Lima (Colonies, Latin America)

Spanish colonial capital of Peru established after the conquest of the Incas.

Guangzhou (Colonies, East Asia)

Chinese port city central to European trade during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Nagasaki (Colonies, East Asia)

Japanese port city where limited European trade was allowed under the Tokugawa shogunate.

Goa (Colonies, South Asia)

Portuguese trading colony on India’s western coast.

Seville (Colonies, Europe)

Spanish port city designated as the center of trade with the Americas.

Vera Cruz (Colonies, Latin America)

Spanish colonial port city in Mexico central to transatlantic trade.

Acapulco (Colonies, Latin America)

Spanish Pacific port city that linked Manila and the Americas through the galleon trade.

Amsterdam (Colonies, Europe)

Dutch commercial hub that became a global trade and finance center.

Treaty of Tordesillas (Colonies, Europe)

1494 agreement dividing the Americas between Spain and Portugal.

Bartolomé de Las Casas (Colonies, Europe)

Spanish priest who criticized abuses of Indigenous peoples under colonial rule.

Florentine Codex (Colonies, Latin America)

Anthropological record of Aztec culture compiled under Spanish supervision.

Viceroys (Colonies, Latin America)

Spanish royal officials governing colonies in the king’s name.

Viceroyalties (Colonies, Latin America)

Large administrative divisions of Spanish America overseen by viceroys.

Audiencias (Colonies, Latin America)

Colonial courts that checked the power of viceroys in Spanish America.

Haciendas (Colonies, Latin America)

Large estates producing crops for local consumption and profit using coerced labor.

Rio de Janeiro (Colonies, Latin America)

Portuguese colonial capital in Brazil and important port city.

New Amsterdam (Colonies, North America)

Dutch colony on Manhattan Island later taken by England and renamed New York.

Manila (Colonies, Southeast Asia)

Spanish colonial port in the Philippines central to the transpacific galleon trade.

Boers (Colonies, Africa)

Dutch settlers in South Africa who established farming communities.

Cape Colony (Colonies, Africa)

Dutch settlement at the southern tip of Africa that became a key resupply station.

Sociedad de castas (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Latin America)

Racial and social hierarchy in Spanish America based on ancestry.

Elites (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Europe)

Upper social classes who held political, economic, and cultural power.

Creoles (Criollos) (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Latin America)

Spaniards born in the Americas, often wealthy but excluded from top offices.

Peninsulares (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Europe)

Spaniards born in Spain who occupied the highest colonial offices.

Mestizos (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Latin America)

People of mixed Indigenous and European descent in Spanish America.

Mulattoes (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Latin America)

People of mixed African and European ancestry in colonial societies.

Zambos (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Latin America)

People of mixed African and Indigenous ancestry in the Americas.

African Diaspora (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Africa)

Dispersal of African peoples across the Atlantic through the slave trade.

Vodun (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Africa)

West African–derived religion blending African spiritual practices with Catholicism in the Americas.

Cult of Saints (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Latin America)

Catholic devotion to saints that incorporated local and Indigenous practices.

Virgin of Guadalupe (Social and Religious Systems of Colonization, Latin America)

Mexican Catholic icon blending Indigenous and Spanish religious traditions.