AP World History - Vocabulary

imperial bureaucracy

imperial bureaucracy

vast organization where appointed officials carry out empire's policies

meritocracy

China's bureaucratic system

Grand Canal

inexpensive and efficient internal waterway that extended over 30,000 miles

Champa rice

fast-ripening & drought-resistant strain of rice

proto-industrialization

set of economic changes where rural areas make more than they sell

House of Wisdom

renowned center of learning in Baghdad

Bhakti Movement

development of a strong attachment to a particular deity - southern India

matrilineal society

social standing was determined by the women's side of the family

chinampas

floating gardens on Lake Texcoco

animism

belief that elements of the physical world could have supernatural powers

quipu

system of knotted strings used to record numerical info for trade, etc

trans-Saharan trade

network of trading routes across the great desert

Feudalism

decentralized political organization based on a system of exchanges of land for loyalty

Code of Chivalry

unwritten set of rules for conduct focusing on honesty, courtesy, and bravery

Estates-General

French body to advise king that includes representatives from 3 legal classes

lay investiture controversy

dispute whether secular leader invest bishops with symbols of office

Magna Carta

document that made king respect certain rights

Great Schism

division of Christian Church in Europe

Crusades

series of European military campaigns in the Middle East

humanism

focus on individuals rather than God

money economy

use money instead of bartering

flying cash

gov't developed a system of credit

bill of exchange

document stating holder was legally promised payment of a set amount on a set date

lateen sails

triangular sheets that allowed sailors to catch wind from all directions

stern rudder

gave more stability to ships and made it easier to maneuver

astrolabe

allowed sailors to determine how far north or south they were from the equator

diaspora

settlements of people away from their homeland

Black Death

major epidemic between 1347 and 1351

Gutenberg Printing Press

allowed things to printed faster with moveable type, increased literacy

Ottoman Empire

largest and most enduring of the great Islamic empires

Castes

strict social grouping designated at birth

Divine Rights of Kings

common claim from Middle Ages that right to rule was given to a king by God

English Bill of Rights

document signed by William and Mary which assured individual civil liberties

Absolute

directed by one source of complete power

intendants

royal officials

serf

peasants who received a plot of land and protection from a noble

vernacular

everyday common language

indulgences

granted people absolution from the punishments for sin

cartography

mapmaking

primogeniture laws

all of the estate goes to the eldest son

astronomical chart

map of stars & galaxies

mercantilism

idea that you sell more than you buy and have gold in reserve

Prince Henry the Navigator

1st European monarch to sponsor seafaring expeditions

Bartholomew Diaz

sailed around the southern tip of Africa in 1488

Vasco Da Gama

landed in India in 1498

trading post empire

empire based on small outposts

Ferdinand Magellan

1st to circumnavigate the globe

Manila

Spanish commercial center

galleons

heavy-armed Spanish ships

Northwest Passage

route through or around North America to East Asia

Jacques Cartier

sailed the Atlantic Ocean into the St. Lawrence River

Jamestown

1st successful English colony in the Americas

Columbian Exchange

linked indigenous America, Europe, and Africa - shared disease, foods, and animals

conquistadores

Spanish soldiers

cash crop

is grown for sale rather than subsistence

African Diaspora

dispersion of Africans out of Africa

Treaty of Tordesillas 1494

Spain and Portugal divide Americas

encomenderos

landowners

Middle Passage

journey the slaves took across the Atlantic Ocean

Commercial Revolution

transformation from trade-based economy using silver and gold

joint-stock company

owned by investors who bought stock in them

timar

system which the sultan granted land or tax revenues to those he favored

harem

residence where a powerful man's wives and concubines lived

Enlightenment

emphasize reason over tradition and individualism over community values

Nationalism

feeling of intense loyalty to others who share one's language and culture

Social Contract

by agreeing, people give up some rights to a strong central gov't in return for law and order

Empiricism

belief that knowledge comes from sensed experience, observations, and experiments

Laissez-faire

French phrase "leave alone"

Capitalism

economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit

Deism

belief that a divinity simply set natural laws in motion

Conservatism

belief in traditional institutions, favoring reliance on practical experience over ideological theories

Socialism

system of public or direct worker ownership of the means of production

Classical liberalism

belief in natural rights, constitutional gov't, laissez-faire economics, and reduced spending in armies & churches

Abolitionism

movement to end Atlantic slave trade and free all enslaved people

Zionism

desire of Jews to reestablish an independent homeland where their ancestors had lived in the Middle East

Anti-Semitism

hostility toward Jews

creoles

born of European ancestry in the Americas

mestizos

born of European and Indian parents

peninsulares

colonists born in Spain or Portugal

mulattoes

African and either European or indigenous ancestry

Ottomanism

movement that aimed to create a more modern, unified state

industrialization

increased mechanization of production

specialization of labor

each worker could focus on one type of task

Mamluks

formerly enslaved Turks who formed a military class

labor union

organizations of workers that advocated for the right to bargain with employers and put agreements in contracts

Bushido

code of conduct in Japan

slums

areas of cities where low-income families were forced to live

mass production

made goods cheaper, more abundant, and more accessible to more people

imperialism

desire for economic wealth, a sense of religious duty, and a belief they were biologically superior

Social Darwinism

theory of biological evolution to society

East India Company

royal charter in 1600 giving it a monopoly on England's trade with India

Dutch East India Company

a monopoly on trade between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan

quinie

medicine that treats malaria

Scramble for Africa

competing efforts of Europeans to colonize Africa

Berlin Conference

meeting of European powers to provide for the orderly colonization of Africa

King Leopold II

oversaw the invasion and pacification of the Congo

concentration camp

settlements which were segregated by race

spheres of influence

European nations carved out China with exclusive trading rights access to natural resources

Treaty of Waitangi

guaranteed the rights of the original Maori inhabitants would be protected under the British crown

Trail of Tears

forced migration of Native Americans where they died from exposure, malnutrition, and disease