European Exploration and Colonization Notes

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to European exploration and colonization in the Americas.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who sponsored explorations along the West African coast.

Cabral

Credited with discovering Brazil for Portugal.

Reconquista

The period of history when Spain recaptured territory from the Moors.

Ferdinand Magellan

Led the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the globe.

Conquistadores

Spanish conquerors who overthrew native empires in the Americas.

Requerimiento

A declaration of Spanish sovereignty over indigenous people and their lands.

Viceroyalty of New Spain

Territorial administrative district of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.

Viceroy

The chief representative of a monarch in the colonies.

Peninsulares

Spaniards born in Spain holding high social status in Spanish America.

Creoles

Spaniards born in the Americas to Spanish parents.

Mestizos

Individuals with one Spanish parent and one Indigenous parent.

Mulattoes

Individuals with one Spanish parent and one African parent.

Encomienda

System that granted land to Spanish settlers, including the labor of Indigenous peoples.

Bartolome de las Casas

Spanish priest who advocated for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Law of Burgos

Regulations to protect Indigenous people from abuse in the Spanish colonies.

Gold and Silver Consequences

The devastation of Indigenous populations and increased importation of African slaves.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing newly discovered lands.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, and diseases between the Americas and Europe.

Black Legend

The unfavorable portrayal of Spanish colonization as cruel and exploitative.

Puritans

English Protestants seeking religious freedom who established colonies in America.

Sir Walter Raleigh

Established the failed Roanoke Colony in 1585.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in America, established in 1607.

Powhatan Confederacy

A group of Native American tribes in Virginia with whom early English settlers interacted.

King Philip's War

A conflict between New England colonists and Native Americans in the 1670s.

Samuel de Champlain

Founded Quebec and is known as the 'Father of New France'.

Huguenots

French Protestants who faced persecution, impacting French colonization efforts.

Company of One Hundred Associates

A French trading company struggling to maintain its monopoly over fur trade.

Mississippi River Control

A key to success in the fur trade and strategic military advantages for France.

New Orleans

Founded in 1718, it became a vital port city in Spanish and French colonial history.

Louis XIV

The French king who exerted absolute control and centralized governance over New France.

Jesuit missionaries

Catholic priests who sought to convert Indigenous peoples in North America.

French and Indian War

Conflict between Britain and France in North America, part of the global Seven Years' War.

Protestant Reformation

Religious movement that led to the establishment of Protestant churches.

Joint stock companies

Businesses formed by groups of investors to fund colonial efforts and share profits.

Coureurs de bois

French fur traders who lived among and developed trade relations with Native American tribes.

Major Missions of New Spain

Efforts to spread Christianity and colonize through religious missions.

Spanish Armada

The fleet sent by Spain in 1588 to invade England, ultimately defeated.

Overpopulation in England

A factor encouraging younger sons to seek fortunes in the New World.

Virginia Company of London

The joint-stock company that established the Jamestown colony.

Starving Time

The winter of 1609-1610 when Jamestown settlers faced extreme food shortages.

Massasoit

Leader of the Wampanoag who allied with the Pilgrims.

Pequot War

Conflict between English settlers and Pequot Indians over land and trade.