The Early Modern World and the Era of Global Contact (1450-1750)

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing political structures, global trade networks, colonial impacts, and key figures during the Early Modern World (1450-1750).

Monarchy

The most common form of government prior to 1500 ('Mono = One'), characterized by single rulers and little to no concept of individual rights.

Land-Owning Elites (Nobles)

The social class that sat atop the social hierarchy in agrarian societies prior to 1500.

Rural Peasants

The class forming the largest part of the population prior to 1500 in agrarian societies.

Agrarian Economy

An economy centered on agriculture and farming where goods are produced by hand with little to no machinery.

Female Subordination

The social condition assumed to be natural prior to 1500, where women had little to no power, political pull, or opinion, and rulers were usually men.

Fifteenth Century Afro-Eurasian Trading World

A major trade system centered around the Indian Ocean involving China, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, with Europe on the periphery.

Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople (1453)

The 1453 event that restricted Northern Italian merchant trade in the eastern Mediterranean and motivated European efforts to find new trade routes.

Vasco da Gama

The Portuguese explorer who circumnavigated Africa to gain direct access to African gold and Asiatic luxuries.

Chris Columbus & Ferdinand Magellan

Spanish explorers who crossed the Atlantic Ocean aiming to secure direct trade access to Asia.

Spanish Conquest of the Aztec & Incan Empires

The 16th-century defeat and destruction of Native American civilizations using guns, germs, and warfare.

The Great Dying

The demographic collapse where 60% to 90% of the indigenous population in the Americas died due to disease and exploitation.

Silver Mining in South America & Mexico

The resource extraction industry in South America and Mexico from which Spain profited enormously.

Sugar Production in Brazil & Caribbean Islands

The agricultural industry in Brazil and the Caribbean that spurred the expansion and changes of the slave trade.

Trans-Saharan Slave Trade

The slave trade route maintained across North Africa by Muslims, operating alongside the Transatlantic slave trade.

Columbian Exchange

The enduring contact and exchange among five continents that introduced a wide variety of goods, plants, animals, and diseases to the global market.

Foundation for Europe's Industrial Revolution

The wealth generated by European domination of Atlantic trade zones and control over colonial territories.

Christian Missionaries in East Asia

Religious evangelists who attempted to convert populations in Asia but were eventually banned by China and Japan.

Political Fragmentation of Europe

The political structure of 15th and 16th-century Europe, consisting of distinct kingdoms (such as Portugal and Spain) rather than a unified empire.