Unit 4 Vocab AP World History

African Diaspora

Africans living outside of Africa (usually as slaves) who retained some aspects of their culture

Asante Empire

African kingdom on the Gold Coast that expanded rapidly after 1680

Capitalism

The economic system of large financial institutions- banks, stock exchanges, investment companies- that first developed in early modern Europe. Commercial capitalism, the trading system of the early modern economy, it is often distinguished from industrial capitalism, the system based on machine production

Cartography 

The practice of mapmaking

Cash Crop

Sellable crop that is grown and gathered for the market such as sugar and tobacco

Charter Companies

Groups of private investors who paid an annual fee to France and England in exchange for a monopoly over trade to the West Indies colonies

Chattel Slavery

A system where individuals were considered property to be bought and sold

City of Potosi

Located in Bolivia it was one of the richest silver mining centers and most populous cities in colonial Spanish America

Christopher Columbus

Navigator who explored the Americas under the flag of Spain

Colony

A territory that is controlled by a foreign power, established for the economic benefit and expansion of the colonizing nation

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus’s voyages

Commerical Economy

An economic system focused on the exchange of goods and services, driven by trade and markets rather than subsistenceComme farming

Commercial Revolution

Transformation to a trade-based economy using gold and silver

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers who conquered parts of the Americas in the 16th century

Creole

West African language mixed with European languages

Dutch East India Company

(1602) A mercantile company chartered by the Dutch to conduct trade missions throughtout the East Indies

Dutch West India Company

(1621-1794) Trading company chartered by the Dutch government to conduct its merchants’ trade in the Americas and Africa

Encomienda

A grant of authority over a population of Amerindians in the Spanish colonies that provided the grant holder with a supply of cheap labor and periodic payments of goods by the Amerindians. It obligated the grant holder to Christianize the Amerindians

Engenhos

Portuguese sugar plantations called “engines” because of the amount of sugar they processed. The working conditions were horrible, and the labor force suffered greatly

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima

Galleons

Spanish trading ships that made round-trip sailing voyages once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean

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

Hispaniola

Name Columbus gave to the island that is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Indentured Servant

A migrant to British colonies in the Americas who paid for passage by agreeing to work for a set term ranging from four to seven years

Jamestown

English colony in Virginia that was England’s first successful colony in the Americas

Joint-Stock Companies

Businesses that sold shares to individuals to raise money for its trading enterprises and to spread the risks and profits among many investors

Limited Liability Company

A type of business structure that protects owners’ personal assets from company debts

Maratha Empire

Indian power that existed from 1674-1818 and ruled over a large area of the Indian subcontinent; credited with ending Mughal reign in India

Maritime Empires

Empires such as Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, France, and Holland that were based upon sea travel

Maroon Wars

Slaves in the Caribbean and former Spanish territories in the Americas fought to gain freedom

Mercantilism

European government policies of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries designed to promote overseas trade between a country and its colonies and accumulate precious metals by requiring colonies to trade only with their motherland country

Mestizos

The term used by Spanish authorities to describe someone of mixed Amerindian and European descent

Middle Passage

The part of the Atlantic Circuit involving the transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas

Ming Dynasty

(1368-1644) Empire based in China that Zhu Yuanzhang established after the overthrow of the Yuan Empire. The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He. The later years of the Ming saw a slowdown in technological development and economic decline

Mit’a System

Labor obligation in Peru that required a percentage of the adult male Amerindians to work for two to four months each year in mines, farms, or textile factories

Monopolies

Granted certain merchants or the government itself the exclusive right to trade

Mulatto

Term used in Spanish and Portuguese colonies to describe someone of mixed African and European descent

New Spain

Colony established by Cortes after overthrowing the Aztecs in Mexico

Northwest Passage

A route through or around North America that would lead to East Asia and the trade there

Peninsulares

Those who were born on the Iberian Peninsula and stood at the top of the social pyramid in Latin America

Plantation Economy

An agricultural system that relies on large-scale production of cash crops, such as cotton, sugar, or tobacco, for export, historically driven by the forced labor of enslaved people

Plantations

The labour-intensive agricultural centers of the new world which were implemented by Spain, Britain, and Portugal

Quebec

French trading post established in 1608

Royal African Company

A trading company chartered by the English government in 1672 to conduct its merchants’ trade on the Atlantic coast of Africa

Smallpox

Disease brought to the Americas by way of Europeans that was deadly to the native populations

Subsistence Economy

A system where community produces only enough to meet its basic needs for survival, such as food, shelter, and clothing, rather than producing goods for a market

Tariff

A tax on imported goods, used by governments to regulate trade, protect domestic industries, and generate revenue

Trading Post Empire

Empire based on small outposts rather than control of large territories

Transatlantic Slave Trade

Africans captured and sold in the Americas as slaves

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 treaty in which Spain and Portugal divided the Americas between them

Triangular Trade

Atlantic trading system that had three segments which enslaved Africans were part of

Vasco Da Gama

Landed in India in 1498 and claimed territory for Portugal’s empire

Viceroyalty

The highest-ranking Spanish officials in the colonies who enjoyed broad power but also faced obstacles to their authority in the vast territories they sought to control