Unit 1: State Building and Expansion - Key Terms (VOCABULARY Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture on state building, expansion, and early globalization in the age of exploration.

State (early modern Europe)

A centralized political unit (a kingdom or nation) whose government is organized to strengthen and project power; used to build strong states and expand beyond Europe.

Afro-Eurasia

The combined landmass of Africa, Europe, and Asia; the center of wealth and trade in the pre-Atlantic world.

Age of Expansion

The period (roughly 15th–17th centuries) when European kingdoms built strong states and expanded globally through exploration and colonization.

Mercantilism

Economic doctrine in which a nation seeks to accumulate wealth through a favorable balance of trade and government control of the economy; colonies exist to enrich the mother country.

Caravel

A fast, maneuverable Portuguese sailing ship with lateen sails, enabling extended ocean voyages.

Compass

Navigation instrument borrowed from China that improved long-distance sailing by indicating direction.

Gunpowder

Military technology originating in China; Europeans adopted and mounted cannons on ships, boosting naval power.

Northwest Passage

A hypothesized sea route through North America to Asia; sought by northern European powers as a shortcut to the East.

Trading Posts / Factory Towns

Coastal outposts established by European powers (especially Portugal) to control and facilitate trade; not full-scale colonies at first.

Gold and Silver from the Americas

Massive bullion extracted by Spain from the Americas; gold and silver shipments enriched Europe (e.g., ~0.5 million pounds of gold, ~35 million pounds of silver).

Seville

Spanish port city where American bullion was shipped to Europe.

Columbian Exchange

Two-way transfer of crops, animals, and diseases between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia after 1492.

Triangular Trade

Atlantic system linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas with manufactured goods, enslaved people, and cash crops.

Middle Passage

The brutal sea voyage transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas as part of the triangular trade.

Atlantic World

The interconnected Atlantic-based trading system linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Dutch East India Company (VOC)

The Dutch trading company that dominated Asian spice trade and grew into a vast enterprise; by 1700, the richest company in the world.

Jesuits

Catholic missionary order that sent priests to Asia (China, Japan) and the Americas; contributed to cultural exchange; later suppressed in some regions.

Closed Country Edict of Japan (Sakoku)

Policy restricting foreign contact; limited ports for trade and suppressing Western religious influence, especially Christianity.

Ming and Qing Dynasties

Chinese dynasties during this era; Ming allowed Jesuit contact temporarily; Qing later banned Christianity; China remained a major economic power.

New World / The Americas

Western Hemisphere lands encountered by Europeans; sources of resources like sugar, tobacco, gold; Indigenous populations were devastated by disease and displacement.

Coerced Labor / Encomienda Systems

Labor systems where Indigenous peoples and later Africans were forced to work on plantations and mines to support colonial economies.

Native Population Decline

Catastrophic demographic decline of Indigenous peoples in the Americas due to disease, conquest, and displacement after European contact.

Colonial Wars

Long-running European conflicts over territories and trade in the Americas and Asia as powers competed for colonies and resources.