Civilization and Empires Lecture Notes

Flashcards summarizing key terms and concepts from the lecture on civilizations and empires.

What is a Janissary?

A soldier that was a guard to the Ottoman Turks.

Define Gunpowder Empire.

An empire formed by conquerors who unified their conquered regions.

What is a Sultan?

A higher authority in a political and military sense.

What does Isolationist mean?

A policy of national isolation from other international political and economic relations.

What are mainland states?

A part of a continent distinguished from peninsulas or offshore islands.

What is a Bureaucracy?

An organization that relies on nonelective officials.

Define Peninsulare.

Someone born on the Iberian Peninsula.

What is a Creole?

A person born in America of 100% European descent.

Who is a Mestizo?

Someone who is of European and Native American descent.

What is a Mulatto?

A person of European and African descent.

What does Appeasement mean?

Demands of reasonable dissatisfied powers to maintain stability and peace.

What is the United Nations?

A group of countries that work together to improve peace and people's lives.

What were some achievements of the Ming dynasty?

They overthrew the Mongols, extended their rule, constructed and strengthened the Great Wall, and renovated the Grand Canal.

How did the changing economy affect society during the Ming dynasty?

The Ming dynasty faced high taxes due to reduced crop fields from weather issues.

What geographical aspect made it easy for Japan to prohibit Europeans?

Japan is an island country, physically separated by ocean.

How did Japanese attitudes toward Europeans change?

They became more negative as Europeans began to push Christianity, which was seen as a threat.

What are the social class distinctions in Latin America?

Creoles (1st), Mestizos (2nd), and Mulattoes (3rd), created to show Spanish dominance and maintain social control.

How do historians define civilization?

A large number of people sharing common elements like cities, governance, religion, architecture, social structure, and writing.

What impact did the rise of the Ottoman Empire have on global trade?

It doubled in size, controlled trade routes, imposed taxes, and encouraged Europeans to seek new routes.