AP European History Unit 1: Renaissance & Exploration

Vocabulary flashcards covering the technological advances, major explorers, colonial systems, and economic impacts of European exploration from 1450 to 1648.

Cartography

The science of mapmaking; printing in the mid-$15\text{th}$ century made maps more accessible and accurate for exploration.

The Caravel

A smaller, faster ship developed by the Portuguese that provided more cargo space for overseas voyages.

The Lateen Sail

A triangular sail developed by Arab sailors that allowed more flexibility in sailing regardless of wind direction.

The Astrolabe

A navigation tool used to determine time, map the stars, and navigate the open seas.

The Quadrant

An instrument used to measure the angle of the North Star at night or the sun at noon to determine a ship’s latitude.

The Compass

A device used to determine cardinal directions ($North$, $South$, $East$, $West$) for navigation.

Mercantilism

An economic theory where a country’s power depends on its wealth ($gold$ and $silver$) and territorial expansion.

Prince Henry “The Navigator”

A Portuguese figure who invested heavily in sailing, exploration, and the establishment of trading posts in $India$ and $China$.

Bartolomeu Dias

The first European to sail the coast of the African continent in $1488$.

Vasco da Gama

The first European to sail around the African Continent to reach $India$ between $1497$ and $1499$.

Reconquista

The $1492$ reconquering of the Muslim empire in the South by the unified Spanish kingdoms of $Aragon$ and $Castille$.

Christopher Columbus

An explorer funded by $Queen Isabella$ and $King Ferdinand$ who reached the Eastern Bahamas in $1492$ while seeking an Atlantic route to the East.

Amerigo Vespucci

An explorer who recognized the "New World" (mundus novus) as a new territory distinct from $Asia$.

Martin Waldseemuller

A German cartographer who published a map in $1507$ labeling the new territory “America” based on the writings of $Amerigo Vespucci$.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A $1494$ agreement between $Portugal$ and $Spain$ that established a line of demarcation; land west of the line belonged to $Spain$ and land east belonged to $Portugal$.

Hernan Cortez

The Spanish explorer who defeated the $Aztec$ empire in $Mexico$ between $1519$ and $1521$.

Francisco Pizarro

The Spanish explorer who defeated the $Inca$ empire in $Peru$ in $1531$.

Encomienda System

A Spanish colonial labor system where landowners ($encomenderos$) forced indigenous people to work on plantations in exchange for food and shelter.

Bartolome de las Casas

A Spanish Dominican Catholic Priest who fought for the human rights of indigenous people and argued against the forced labor of the encomienda system.

John Cabot

An explorer who sailed across the North Atlantic in $1497$ and reached modern-day $Canada$ for the English crown.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in $North America$, established in $1607$ in $Virginia$.

Samuel de Champlain

The founder of the $Quebec$ colony in $1608$ which was sponsored by a fur trading company.

Metis

Children of mixed marriages between French colonists and Native American women.

Henry Hudson

An explorer funded by the $Dutch East India Company$ who sailed into New York Harbor in $1609$.

New Amsterdam

A colony built by the Dutch along the Hudson River that became a center of trade and commerce (later known as $New York City$).

Columbian Exchange

The transatlantic exchange of animals, plants, disease, technology, and people among $Europe$, the $Americas$, and $Africa$.

Triangular Trade

A transatlantic trading network along which enslaved people and goods were transported between $Europe$, $Africa$, and the $Americas$.

The Middle Passage

The specific leg of the Triangular Trade involving the forced migration of enslaved Africans to the $Americas$; approximately $13\%$ of captives died during the voyage.