Unit 3 Latin American Cultures/European Exploration

Innovation

Introduction of new ideas or something new

Navigation

To sail or travel over a large stretch of water or land

Consolidate

To join or combine together into one thing

Conquistadors

Spanish and Portuguese explorers sent out to conquer new territory

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus' voyage

Empire

A group of nations or peoples under one ruler or government

Colonization

The act of sending settlers to a new place to take political control over the land and the people living there

Colony

An area controlled politically by a more powerful country

Mercantilism

Economic practice where governments use their economies to increase their power; benefits the mother country, but not the colony

Casta System

System of racial categories with legal and social consequences; was the organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule

Plantation

Large farm used for growing food or cash crops

Cash Crops

A crop that is grown to be sold on the market

Encomienda System

A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the use of indigenous laborers on it

Middle Passage

The route in between Western ports of Africa to the Americas that carried enslaved Africans

Triangular Trade

A name for the flow of trade to and from the Americas, Europe, and Africa