Ap World Unit 4 Sea Based Empires

Audencias

High royal courts in the Spanish colonies

Chattel Slavery

a brutal system where people are treated as personal property (chattel) that can be bought, sold, inherited, and traded like livestock, stripping them of all rights, autonomy, and identity, becoming a lifelong and generational condition central to plantation economies in the Americas

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World following Columbus's voyages.

Criollos

Individuals of Spanish descent born in the Americas, who often held positions of power but were distinct from those born in Spain.

Encomienda

a labor system in Spanish America where landowners were granted the right to demand labor from Indigenous peoples in exchange for protection and Christianization.

Galleons

Large sailing ships used primarily for transporting goods and treasure across the seas during the Age of Exploration, particularly by Spain.

Hacienda

A large estate or plantation with a dwelling house, common in Spanish-speaking regions, often combining agricultural production with a sense of social status and economic power.

Indentured Servitude

A labor system where individuals contract to work for a specific period, usually 4-7 years, often in exchange for passage to the Americas, food, shelter, and eventual freedom dues.

Joint Stock Company

a business where multiple investors buy shares (stock) to fund large, risky ventures like overseas exploration and colonization, sharing both profits and potential losses

Limited Liability

A legal shield where owners/shareholders only risk the money they put into the business, not their personal wealth (house, savings).

Maroons

descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped bondage in the Americas and formed independent, self-governing communities in remote areas (forests, mountains, swamps) to resist slavery and colonialism

Mercantilism

an economic theory where national power depends on wealth (gold/silver), achieved by maximizing exports, minimizing imports, and acquiring colonies for raw materials and markets, all through strong government control to benefit the mother country

Mestizos

people of mixed European (primarily Spanish/Portuguese) and Indigenous American ancestry who became a significant demographic in colonial Latin America

Penninsulares

people born in Spain who held the highest social, political, and economic status in Spain's American colonies

Plantation

a large estate growing single, valuable cash crops (like sugar, tobacco, cotton) for export, heavily relying on coerced labor, typically enslaved people

Primogeniture Laws

historical inheritance law where the eldest child receives the entire family estate or title, keeping wealth concentrated and preventing land fragmentation

Santeria

religion that mixes African spiritual beliefs with Catholic Christianity

The middle passage

the brutal, forced sea voyage of enslaved Africans from West Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas as the middle leg of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Viceroy

a high-ranking official appointed by a monarch (like the Spanish or British crown) to govern a large colony or province, acting as the king's direct representative with extensive executive, military, and judicial powers to enforce laws, collect taxes, and manage local administration

Vodun

a West African-derived religion that blended traditional spiritual practices, ancestor worship, and nature reverence with Catholicism and Taíno beliefs