AP WORLD MODERN ERA VOCAB

Indulgence

Indulgence

A document whose purchase was said to grant the bearer the forgiveness of sins

Mercantilism

A European economic policy of the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries that held that there was a limited amount of wealth available, and that each country must adopt policies to obtain as much wealth as possible for itself; key to the attainment of wealth was the acquisition of colonies

Scientific revolution

A European intellectual movement in the seventeenth century that established the basis for modern science

Parliamentary monarchy

A government with a king or queen whose power is limited by the power of a parliament

Northwest passage

A passage through the North America Continent that was sought early by explorers to North America as a route to trade with the east

Enlightenment

A philosophical movement in eighteenth century Europe that was based on reason and the concept that education and training could improve human society

Viceroyalty

A political unit ruled by a viceroy that was the basis of organization of the Spanish colonies

Encomienda

A practice in the Spanish colonies that granted land and the labor of Native Americans on that land to European Colonists

Devshirme

A practice of the Ottoman empire to take Christian boys from their home communities to serve as Janissaries

Protestant reformation

A religious movement began by Martin Luther in 1517 that attempted to reform the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; it resulted in the formation of new Christian denominations

Caravel

A small, easily steerable ship used by the Spanish and Portuguese in their explorations

Nation‐state

A sovereign state whose people share a common culture and national identity

Creoles

A term used in colonial Spanish America to describe a person born in the Americas of European parents

Empirical research

A way of gaining knowledge by means of direct observation or experience.

Taj Mahal

A white marble mausoleum built at Agra, India, by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan (fl. 1628‐58) for his favorite wife

Factor

An agent with trade privileges in early Russia

Laissez‐faire economics

An economic concept that holds that the government should not interfere with or regulate business and industries

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and opportunity for profit‐making

Northern Renaissance

An extension of the Italian Renaissance to the nations of northern Europe; the northern Renaissance took on a more religious nature than the Italian Renaissance

Philosophes

French Enlightenment social thinkers

Mulato

In the Spanish and Portuguese colonies a person of mixed African and European descent

Repartamiento

In the Spanish colonies, a replacement for the encomienda system that limited the number of working hours for laborers and provided fair wages

Mestizos

In the Spanish colonies, persons of mixed European and native descent

Peninsulares

In the Spanish colonies, those who were born in Europe.

Qing dynasty

Manchurian rule of China beginning in 1644 and lasting until 1914

Janissaries

Members of the Ottoman army, often slaves, who were taken from Christian lands

Jesuits

Members of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic missionary and educational order founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534

Manchus

Peoples from northeastern Asia who founded China's Qing dynasty

Natural laws

Principles that govern nature

Absolute monarchy

Rule by a king or queen whose power is not limited by a constitution

Mughal dynasty

Rulers who controlled most of India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Boyars

Russian Nobility

Cossacks

Russians who conquered and settled Siberia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Sovereignty

Self‐rule

Treaty of Tordesillas

The 1494 treaty in which the pope divided unexplored territories between Spain and Portugal

Divine right

The belief of absolute rulers that their right to govern is granted by God

Predestination

The belief of Protestant reformer John Calvin that God had chosen some people for heaven and others for hell

Glorious revolution

The bloodless overthrow English King James I and the placement of William and Mary on the English Throne

Hagia Sophia

The church in Constantinople that was converted to a mosque after the Ottoman conquest

Deism

The concept of God common to the scientific revolution; the god was believed to have set the world in motion and then allowed it to operate by natural laws

Heliocentric revolution

The concept that the sun is the center of the solar system

Triangular trade

The eighteenth century trade network between Europe, Africa, and the Americas

Columbian exchange

The exchange of food, crops, livestock, and disease between Eastern and Western hemispheres after the voyages of Columbus

Commercial revolution

The expansion of trade and commerce in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Tokugawa Shogunate

The feudal rulers of Japan who moved the capital to Edo. They ruled from 1603 to 1868

Purdah

The Hindu custom of secluding women

Middle passage

The portion of the trans‐Atlantic trade that involved the passage of Africans from Africa to the Americas

Excommunication

The practice of the Roman Catholic and other Christian churches of prohibiting participation in the sacraments to those who do not comply with church teachings or practices

Reconquista

The recapture of Muslim‐held lands in Spain by Christian forces; it was completed in 1492

Catholic reformation

The religious reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church that occurred in response to the Protestant reformation. It reaffirmed Catholic beliefs and promoted education

Estates‐general

The traditional legislative body of France

Dutch learning

Western learning embraced by some Japanese in the eighteenth century

Ninety‐five Theses

Work by Martin Luther where he laid out his arguments against the Roman Catholic Church