AP World Vocab

Facilitation of Trade

The process of making trade easier and more efficient through regulations, agreements, or technologies that reduce barriers to commerce.

Royal Patronage

Support or funding provided by a monarch to artists, scholars, or businesses, often to boost culture and economy.

England

The nation that was a pivotal player in international trade, especially during the age of exploration and the Industrial Revolution.

Compass

A navigation instrument that shows direction relative to the Earth's magnetic poles, crucial for maritime exploration and trade.

Vasco da Gama

A Portuguese explorer who was the first to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia through the ocean, significantly enhancing trade routes.

Gunpowder

A chemical mixture used primarily for blasting and military applications, invented in ancient China and pivotal in warfare.

Portugal

A European country located on the Iberian Peninsula, known for its maritime history, exploration, and influence during the Age of Discovery.

Cartaz

A pass system used by the Portuguese during the Age of Exploration, allowing ships to operate in the Indian Ocean while regulating trade and navigation.

Riches

A term often associated with wealth, valuable possessions, or resources that can lead to economic prosperity.

Joint Stock

companies that allowed multiple investors to share in profits and risks, enabling the financing of large trade ventures during the Age of Exploration.

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.

Westerlies

Prevailing winds that blow from west to east between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, relied upon by navigators during the Age of Exploration to sail eastward across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Astrolabes

An instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets

Renaissance

A period of European cultural, artistic, and scientific rebirth from the 14th to the 17th century that marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity, fostering intellectual curiosity and technological innovations that helped fuel the Age of Discovery.

Feudal Ranks and Grants

A hierarchical socio-political system in which monarchs bestowed titles, land, and governing authority upon nobles in exchange for military service and allegiance, serving as a framework that influenced overseas colonial administration.

France

A major European power during the Age of Exploration that established colonial territories in North America (New France) and the Caribbean, developing lucrative overseas commerce through the fur trade and sugar plantations.

Netherlands

A European maritime and commercial power in the 17th and 18th centuries (Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections, 1450–1750) that built a massive global maritime trade empire

Henry the Navigator

(1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation at Sagres and directed voyages that spurred the growth of Portugal's colonial empire.

Trade Winds

Prevailing winds that blow northeast from 30 degrees north latitude to the equator and that blow southeast from 30 degrees south latitude to the equator

christian missionary work

Efforts to convert indigenous peoples to Christianity.

Portolan Maps

Maps with lines radiating from compasses that showed routes to important ports

Spain

one of the primary European maritime empires that established a massive transoceanic colonial empire in the Americas and the Philippines, driven by God, gold, and glory

Omani

A trade and maritime rivalry in the Indian Ocean between the Omani (from the Middle East/Oman) and European traders (such as the Portuguese and British) during the 16th century and later

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought

Imports

goods produced abroad and sold domestically

Pizarro

A Spanish conquistador who went to the Incas and took emperor prisoner and then killed him and took over the Inca empire

Shimabara

a major peasant and Christian uprising in southern Japan during the early Tokugawa Shogunate

National Isolation

a foreign policy of remaining apart from the political, economic, and military affairs, alliances, or interactions of other countries

Wheat

an Old World cereal grain that was part of the Columbian Exchange

Malay

a prominent Southeast Asian ethnic/cultural group and a vital regional trading language

Cortez

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

National Monetary surplus

accumulation of gold, silver, and other precious metals within a country's treasury, achieved by maintaining a favorable balance of trade where exports exceed imports

Encomienda

A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as laborers on it

Catholicism

the branch of Christianity headed by the Pope in Rome. During this era, it served as a primary religious and political driver of global expansion, state power, and cultural transformation

Tokugawa

the final feudal military government of Japan, ruling from 1603 to 1868

Columbian Exchange

An exchange of goods, ideas and skills from the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) to the New World (North and South America) and vice versa.

Encomienderas

a Spanish colonial labor system in which the Crown granted Spanish settlers (encomenderos) the right to demand forced labor and tribute from Indigenous peoples in the Americas and the Philippines

Corn

a staple cereal grain native to the Americas that became a major component of the Columbian Exchange

Sugar

a major cash crop whose cultivation and global demand drove European colonization, the Columbian Exchange, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and the rise of the plantation system

Charter Companies

groups of private investors who paid an annual fee to France or England in exchange for monopoly control over trade

Tobacco

A cash crop native to the Americas whose dried leaves were processed for smoking, chewing, or ceremonial use by Indigenous peoples.

Java

the most populous island in modern-day Indonesia, which became a prime target of European maritime expansion, colonization, and monopoly control—most notably by the Dutch

Spanish

he establishment of the Spanish maritime empire, colonial administration, coerced labor systems, and the new social hierarchy in the Americas

Exports

goods, raw materials, or agricultural products sent from one region or colony to another country or empire for sale