Global Studies Chapter 20 Flashcards: The Atlantic World (1400–1800)

What is an astrolabe?

An ancient navigational tool used by sailors to determine their latitude by measuring the position of the stars.

What is a caravel?

A small, fast, and highly maneuverable Spanish or Portuguese sailing ship used during the Age of Exploration.

What is a cartographer?

A person who creates or draws geographical maps.

What does it mean to circumnavigate?

To sail completely around the entire world.

Who was Christopher Columbus?

an Italian explorer who sailed for Spain and initiated European colonization of the Americas in 1492.

Who was Prince Henry the Navigator?

Portuguese royal who financed voyages, founded a navigation school, and spurred the Age of Discovery.

Who was Ferdinand Magellan?

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer whose expedition became the first to circumnavigate the globe.

What is a Boer?

A Dutch colonist or farmer who settled in South Africa.

What is capitalism?

Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of property and the investment of wealth for profit.

What is a conquistador?

A conquistador is one of the Spanish conquerors who claimed lands in the Americas during the 16th century.

What is a creole?

A creole is a person of European descent who was born in Spain's American colonies.

What was the encomienda system?

The encomienda system was a Spanish colonial labor system that granted conquerors the right to force Native Americans into labor.

What is a pilgrim?

A person who undertakes a religious journey, such as the English settlers who founded the Plymouth Colony.

What is a tariff?

A tariff is a tax imposed by a government on goods imported from other countries.

What is a viceroy?

A viceroy is a regal official who runs a country, colony, or city in the name of and as the representative of the monarch.

What is a mestizo?

A person of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.

What was the Middle Passage?

The Middle Passage was the brutal voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies.

What is inflation?

An economic situation characterized by a general increase in prices and a fall in the purchasing value of money.

Who was Bartolomé de Las Casas?

Bartolomé de Las Casas was a Spanish priest who famously protested against the cruel treatment of Native Americans under the encomienda system.

Who was Samuel de Champlain?

A French explorer who founded New France and Quebec in modern-day Canada.

Who was Moctezuma?

The Aztec emperor who was overthrown and killed during the Spanish conquest by Hernando Cortés.

What was the primary economic activity of New France?

Establishing a highly profitable fur trading network.

What historical feat is associated with Hernando Cortés?

Was the Spanish conquistador who marched inland and conquered the Aztec Empire.

Why did Europeans turn to African slavery in the New World?

Because millions of Native Americans died from diseases and overworked labor.

What was the purpose of joint-stock companies during this era?

Joint-stock companies allowed multiple investors to pool their wealth to fund expensive colonial expeditions while minimizing individual risk.

What did the encomienda system provide for Spanish colonists?

Provided Spanish colonists with cheap, forced native labor for agriculture and mining.

What was a major motivation behind Christopher Columbus's voyages to America?

Christopher Columbus sought an alternative, direct sea route westward to Asia to access trade wealth.

What was the Columbian Exchange?

The global transfer of plants, animals, foods, human populations, and diseases during the colonization of the Americas.

What distinguished the Dutch settlement in America?

Focused heavily on establishing commercial trading posts, such as New Amsterdam, to boost maritime trade.

What was the Atlantic Slave Trade?

The Atlantic Slave Trade was the forced migration of millions of Africans across the ocean to work on colonial plantations.

What was the Triangular Trade?

A transatlantic trading network that exchanged European manufactured goods, enslaved Africans, and American raw materials.

What characterized the experience of enslaved people on the Middle Passage?

Extreme overcrowding, disease, cruelty, and high mortality rates aboard slave ships.

Why was the sugar trade so critical to colonial powers?

Was highly lucrative and drove European powers to expand massive, labor-intensive plantations in the Caribbean and Brazil.

Which European nation colonized Brazil?

Portugal colonized Brazil and developed it into a major global center for sugar production.

What political shift resulted from the Treaty of Paris in 1763?

The Treaty of Paris forced France to cede nearly all of its North American territories to Great Britain.

How was the social structure of the Spanish colonies organized?

A strict racial hierarchy based on birth, with European-born peninsulares at the top and Native Americans and Africans at the bottom.

Was the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and Incas motivated purely by wealth?

While finding gold and silver was the primary economic driver, Spanish conquerors also sought political empire expansion and religious converts.

How did the Catholic faith play a role in the Spanish conquest of the Americas?

The Spanish used the spread of the Catholic faith to justify their conquests and aggressively converted native populations to European traditions.

What economic factors motivated European exploration during the Age of Exploration?

European nations wanted to bypass Ottoman trade monopolies and gain direct access to Asian spices, gold, and luxury goods.

What role did religion play in motivating European exploration?

European monarchs sought to spread Christianity and compete against rival nations for spiritual dominance across the globe.

What was the primary purpose of the Treaty of Tordesillas?

The Treaty of Tordesillas was created to prevent war by dividing newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal.

What line did the Treaty of Tordesillas establish to divide colonial claims?

Drew an imaginary Line of Demarcation through the Atlantic, giving Spain lands to the west and Portugal lands to the east.

What was the most catastrophic impact of European exploration on Native Americans?

European diseases like smallpox decimated indigenous populations, wiping out up to ninety percent of their people due to a lack of immunity.

How did European exploration change indigenous societies socially and politically?

Native populations suffered the collapse of their empires, forced conversion to Christianity, and total subjugation under European colonial labor systems.

What was the main purpose behind the founding of early English colonies like Jamestown?

English colonies like Jamestown were founded by joint-stock companies seeking commercial profit through cash crops like tobacco.

How did English religious motives shape the settlement of the Americas?

Pilgrims and Puritans established colonies in New England to escape persecution and practice their faith freely.

How did the Treaty of Paris of 1763 change French power in North America?

ended French colonial power in North America by forcing France to give up Canada and all lands east of the Mississippi to Britain.

How did the Treaty of Paris of 1763 affect Great Britain's global standing?

Established Great Britain as the dominant naval and colonial power in North America.

What was the demographic impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on African societies?

Tore apart millions of families and depleted generations of the youngest, strongest individuals from African communities.

How did the Atlantic Slave Trade affect political stability within Africa?

The introduction of European firearms in exchange for captives escalated warfare, violence, and instability among rival African kingdoms.

How did Columbus's voyages physically link distant parts of the world?

Columbus's voyages permanently connected the Eastern and Western hemispheres, allowing for the continuous movement of goods and people between continents.

What major agricultural shift happened because of the Columbian Exchange?

American crops like potatoes and corn spread to Europe and Asia, revolutionized agriculture, and triggered rapid global population growth.

What were the primary goods sent from the Americas to Europe?

Agricultural goods like tobacco, sugar, corn, and potatoes, along with vast amounts of silver and gold.

What crucial items were brought from Europe and Africa to the Americas?

Europe introduced livestock like horses and cattle, manufactured goods, and devastating diseases, while Africa provided the forced labor supply of enslaved peoples.

How did the influx of American gold and silver affect European economies?

Caused widespread inflation and raised the cost of living across Europe.

What new economic system grew in Europe as a result of global colonial trade?

Global trade led to the rise of commercial capitalism, mercantilist government policies, and the growth of wealthy merchant classes.