The Great Conquests: European Expansion (1400 to 1700)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the scientific renewal, navigation, great explorations, and the economic and cultural impacts of European expansion between 1400 and 1700.

Geocentrism

The theory by Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century) that the Earth was the center of the Universe and stationary.

Nicolas Copernicus

A 16th century scientist who believed the Sun is the center of the Universe and that Earth rotates on its axis in $24$ hours and revolves around the Sun.

Heliocentrism

The scientific theory identifying the Sun as the center of the Universe.

Johannes Kepler

A 16th/17th century scientist who supported heliocentrism and added that planets move in ellipses rather than perfect circles.

Galileo

A 16th century scientist condemned to life imprisonment by the Catholic Church for supporting the theory of Copernicus.

Sir Isaac Newton

A 17th/18th century scientist who proved the theories of Copernicus and Kepler, and proved the theory of universal gravitation.

Caravel

An efficient sailing ship used by the Spanish and Portuguese that was maneuverable on both the ocean and rivers.

Astrolabe

One of the new instruments for navigation invented to improve sea travel during the scientific renewal.

Scurvy

A common health ailment developed by sailors due to the difficult conditions of sea work.

Muslims

The group whose presence in countries leading to India disrupted trade, forcing Europeans to find new sea routes to access luxury goods.

Bartholomeu Dias

The explorer who reached the Cape of Good Hope in $1488$.

Christopher Columbus

The navigator who arrived in the Caribbean in $1492$ with financing from Queen Isabella of Castile.

John Cabot

The explorer who reached Newfoundland in $1497$.

Vasco da Gama

The explorer who reached India via the Cape of Good Hope in $1498$.

Ferdinand Magellan

The explorer who attempted the first circumnavigation of the world in $1519$, with his crew completing it for him.

Jacques Cartier

The explorer who reached the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in $1534$.

Great Civilizations

The category of sedentary pre-Columbian peoples consisting mainly of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas.

Metropolis

The mother country, or colonizing European country, that annexes territories to use their resources for enrichment.

Colony

A new territory annexed to a metropolis, located in places such as the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

New France

A vast, sparsely populated territory in North America primarily of interest to Europeans for the fur trade.

New England (Thirteen Colonies)

A territory on the east coast of the present-day United States engaged in agriculture and important trade.

Triangular Trade

The exclusive trade between a metropolis and two of its colonies used to enrich the mother country through resources and slave labor.

Culture Clash

The unequal technological and military interaction between Europeans and indigenous peoples that led to displacement and the loss of traditional ways of life.

Indigenous Population Decrease

The result of contagious diseases brought by Europeans, causing a $75\%$ population drop in the Americas between $1500$ and $1600$.

Animistic Religions

A large number of traditional native belief systems that disappeared as Europeans converted inhabitants to Christianity.