European Exploration in the Americas and Columbian Exchange (Notes 5–11)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, and the rise of capitalism as described in the notes.

A rebirth of classical learning in 15th–16th century Europe, leading to artistic and scientific growth.

Renaissance

Powder invented in China; its use spread to Europe and changed warfare and exploration.

Gunpowder

Navigation instrument adopted from Arab traders who learned from the Chinese.

Sailing compass

Invention in the 1450s that aided the rapid spread of knowledge across Europe.

Printing press

The transfer of plants, animals, and germs between the Old World and the New World after 1492.

Columbian Exchange

A New World crop introduced to the Old World during the Columbian Exchange.

Beans

A staple crop from the Americas that spread globally after 1492.

Corn (maize)

New World crops introduced to the Old World, boosting nutrition and populations.

Sweet potatoes and white potatoes

A New World crop that spread to the Old World after 1492.

Tomatoes

A New World crop that Europeans adopted and spread widely.

Tobacco

A crop learned about in the Americas; later produced on plantations using enslaved labor.

Sugar cane

Plant introduced to the Americas as part of the Columbian Exchange.

Bluegrasses

Domesticated animals introduced to the Americas from Europe.

Pigs

Equines introduced to the Americas from Europe, transforming some societies.

Horses

Technology introduced to the Americas, expanding transport and tools.

Wheel

Iron tools and weapons introduced to the Americas.

Iron implements

Firearms introduced by Europeans to the Americas.

Guns

A deadly disease brought by Europeans that devastated Native American populations.

Smallpox

A contagious disease that spread to the Americas via the Columbian Exchange.

Measles

A disease Europeans contracted as part of the exchange.

Syphilis

Medieval system where monarchs granted land to nobles in exchange for military service.

Feudalism

Economic system where control of capital and trade, not land, drives wealth; rise linked to increased commerce.

Capitalism

Business owned by many investors; reduced individual risk and funded voyages.

Joint-stock company

Papal boundary dividing the world: lands west went to Spain and east to Portugal.

Line of Demarcation

1494 agreement moving the line west; Brazil to Portugal, rest to Spain.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Spanish monarchs who funded Columbus and unified Spain by conquering Granada.

Isabella and Ferdinand

Last Moorish stronghold in Spain, captured in 1492; symbol of Christian reconquest.

Granada

Muslim rulers in North Africa whose presence in Iberia was reduced by conquest.

Moors

First European to reach India by sea (1498) around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

Vasco da Gama

Southern tip of Africa, a critical route for sea travel to Asia.

Cape of Good Hope

Portuguese prince who sponsored early Atlantic exploration.

Henry the Navigator

English explorer who claimed parts of North America ( Newfoundland, 1497).

John Cabot

English queen who challenged Spanish shipping in the 1570s–1580s.

Elizabeth I

English sea captain who raided Spanish ships and settlements in the Americas.

Francis Drake

English explorer who attempted Roanoke Colony (1587).

Sir Walter Raleigh

Italian navigator who explored parts of North America's east coast seeking a Northwest Passage.

Giovanni da Verrazzano

French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence River and claimed parts of Canada.

Jacques Cartier

French Protestants whose conflicts with Catholics affected French involvement in the Americas.

Huguenots

Feudalism to Capitalism transition

Shift in Europe from a land-based feudal system to an economy driven by capital and trade.

Portuguese islands where sugar plantations used enslaved labor.

Madeira and Azores

Portuguese and other Europeans traded enslaved Africans; enslaved labor supported plantation economies.

Slavery in the Atlantic world

A rebirth of classical learning in 15th–16th century Europe, leading to artistic and scientific growth.

Renaissance

Powder invented in China; its use spread to Europe and changed warfare and exploration.

Gunpowder

Navigation instrument adopted from Arab traders who learned from the Chinese.

Sailing compass

Invention in the 1450s that aided the rapid spread of knowledge across Europe.

Printing press

The transfer of plants, animals, and germs between the Old World and the New World after 1492.

Columbian Exchange

A New World crop introduced to the Old World during the Columbian Exchange.

Beans

A staple crop from the Americas that spread globally after 1492.

Corn (maize)

New World crops introduced to the Old World, boosting nutrition and populations.

Sweet potatoes and white potatoes

A New World crop that spread to the Old World after 1492.

Tomatoes

A New World crop that Europeans adopted and spread widely.

Tobacco

A crop learned about in the Americas; later produced on plantations using enslaved labor.

Sugar cane

Plant introduced to the Americas as part of the Columbian Exchange.

Bluegrasses

Domesticated animals introduced to the Americas from Europe.

Pigs

Equines introduced to the Americas from Europe, transforming some societies.

Horses

Technology introduced to the Americas, expanding transport and tools.

Wheel

Iron tools and weapons introduced to the Americas.

Iron implements

Firearms introduced by Europeans to the Americas.

Guns

A deadly disease brought by Europeans that devastated Native American populations.

Smallpox

A contagious disease that spread to the Americas via the Columbian Exchange.

Measles

A disease Europeans contracted as part of the exchange.

Syphilis

Medieval system where monarchs granted land to nobles in exchange for military service.

Feudalism

Economic system where control of capital and trade, not land, drives wealth; rise linked to increased commerce.

Capitalism

Business owned by many investors; reduced individual risk and funded voyages.

Joint-stock company

Papal boundary dividing the world: lands west went to Spain and east to Portugal.

Line of Demarcation

1494 agreement moving the line west; Brazil to Portugal, rest to Spain.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Spanish monarchs who funded Columbus and unified Spain by conquering Granada.

Isabella and Ferdinand

Last Moorish stronghold in Spain, captured in 1492; symbol of Christian reconquest.

Granada

Muslim rulers in North Africa whose presence in Iberia was reduced by conquest.

Moors

First European to reach India by sea (1498) around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

Vasco da Gama

Southern tip of Africa, a critical route for sea travel to Asia.

Cape of Good Hope

Portuguese prince who sponsored early Atlantic exploration.

Henry the Navigator

English explorer who claimed parts of North America ( Newfoundland, 1497).

John Cabot

English queen who challenged Spanish shipping in the 1570s–1580s.

Elizabeth I

English sea captain who raided Spanish ships and settlements in the Americas.

Francis Drake

English explorer who attempted Roanoke Colony (1587).

Sir Walter Raleigh

Italian navigator who explored parts of North America's east coast seeking a Northwest Passage.

Giovanni da Verrazzano

French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence River and claimed parts of Canada.

Jacques Cartier

French Protestants whose conflicts with Catholics affected French involvement in the Americas.

Huguenots

Shift in Europe from a land-based feudal system to an economy driven by capital and trade.

Feudalism to Capitalism transition

Portuguese islands where sugar plantations used enslaved labor.

Madeira and Azores

Portuguese and other Europeans traded enslaved Africans; enslaved labor supported plantation economies.

Slavery in the Atlantic world

The pursuit of wealth (gold, silver, spices), new trade routes to Asia, spread of Christianity, and desire for glory and prestige (often summarized as 'God, Gold, Glory').

Motivations for European Exploration

Italian explorer who, funded by Spain, made landfall in the Americas in 1492, initiating widespread European exploration and colonization of the New World.

Christopher Columbus

Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth (1519-1522), although he died during the voyage.

Ferdinand Magellan

Spanish conquistador known for leading the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire (1521).

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Inca Empire (1532).

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish labor system in the Americas that granted Spanish settlers the right to demand labor and tribute from Indigenous people in a given area, ostensibly in exchange for protection and Christian instruction.

Encomienda System

A contract granted by the Spanish crown to private individuals or companies (often foreign) to provide enslaved Africans to the Spanish colonies in the Americas, a significant part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Asiento System

The forced transportation of millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries, exploiting them primarily for labor on plantations and in mines.

Transatlantic Slave Trade