Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: Chapters 12 and 13

Little Ice Age

A severe drop in global temperatures from 1620 to 1680.

Mercantilism

Economic theory assuming world wealth is fixed; colonies exist to enrich the motherland.

Canton system

Qing decree in 1759 requiring European traders to use Chinese guild guarantors.

Dutch East India Company (VOC)

Chartered in 1602 to challenge Portuguese and Spanish trade in Asia.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Seized power in 1603 as shogun, establishing a unified Japanese shogunate.

Treaty of Westphalia

The 1648 treaty ending the Thirty Years' War in Europe.

Glorious Revolution

The 1688-1689 event establishing that English monarchs must rule with Parliament.

Seven Years' War

A 1756-1763 global conflict ending in a decisive British victory.

Encomienda

Spanish colonial system granting settlers the right to coerce Indigenous labor.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and peoples between biomes.

Martin Luther

German theologian who launched the Protestant Reformation in 1517.

Council of Trent

The 1545-1563 Catholic assembly that reaffirmed papal authority and reformed corruption.

Akbar the Great

Mughal emperor known for religious tolerance and administrative reforms.

Silver Flow

The global trade network funneling Spanish-American silver into Ming Dynasty China.

Middle Passage

The brutal sea journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean.

Louis XIV

French monarch who personified absolutism and built the Palace of Versailles.

Scientific Revolution

A 16th-17th century intellectual shift emphasizing empirical observation and natural laws.

Suleiman the Magnificent

Ottoman sultan who expanded the empire's territory into Europe and reformed law.

Devshirme

Ottoman system of recruiting Christian boys for imperial administration and the military.

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman infantry corps, recruited through the devshirme system.

Fall of Constantinople (1453)

The Ottoman capture of the Byzantine capital, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire.

Millet System

Ottoman administrative system allowing religious communities to rule themselves under their own laws.

Shah Abbas I

Safavid ruler who modernized the military and brought the empire to its peak.

Battle of Chaldiran

A 1514 battle where the Ottomans decisively defeated the Safavid Empire.

Isfahan

The capital city of the Safavid Empire, renowned for its spectacular Islamic architecture.

Babur

Founder of the Mughal Empire who defeated the Delhi Sultanate in 1526.

Aurangzeb

Mughal emperor who expanded the empire to its greatest extent but faced widespread rebellions.

Mansabdari System

Mughal administrative system that graded government officials and military commanders by rank.

Taj Mahal

A white marble mausoleum built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife.

Zheng He

Ming admiral who led seven massive naval expeditions across the Indian Ocean.

Ming Dynasty Collapse (1644)

Fall of the Ming due to economic crisis, peasant revolts, and Manchu invasion.

Emperor Kangxi

Qing emperor who expanded Chinese territory and compiled a famous dictionary.

Emperor Qianlong

Qing emperor who oversaw maximum territorial expansion and a height of cultural prosperity.

Banner System

Military and social organization used by the Manchus to conquer and rule China.

Sankin-kotai (Alternate Attendance)

Tokugawa policy requiring daimyo to live in Edo every other year.

Sakoku

Tokugawa foreign policy severely limiting outside contact and foreign trade.

Peter the Great

Russian tsar who modernized and westernized Russia's military, administration, and culture.

St. Petersburg

Russia's "Window to the West," built by Peter the Great as the new capital.

Catherine the Great

Russian empress who expanded Russia's borders and supported Western Enlightenment ideas.

Boyars

High-ranking members of the Russian aristocracy next in rank to the ruling princes.

Cossacks

Militaristic, self-governing communities of horsemen in the southern Russian and Ukrainian steppes.

Divine Right of Kings

Political doctrine asserting that monarchs derive their authority directly from God.

English Civil War

A 1642-1651 conflict between supporters of the King and supporters of Parliament.

Oliver Cromwell

Puritan military leader who ruled England as Lord Protector after Charles I's execution.

Thomas Hobbes

English philosopher who argued for absolute monarchy to prevent social chaos.

John Locke

English philosopher who advocated for natural rights of life, liberty, and property.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who sponsored early voyages of exploration along the African coast.

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who discovered the first direct sea route from Europe to India.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese explorer whose expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Agreement dividing newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal.

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish.

Astrolabe

An instrument used by sailors to determine latitude by measuring stars.

Potosí

A city in modern Bolivia famous for its massive Spanish colonial silver mine.

Mita System (Spanish Colonial)

Coerced labor system forcing Indigenous villages to send workers to silver mines.

Hacienda System

Large Spanish colonial estates utilizing debt peonage for agricultural production.

Castas System

Racial hierarchy in Spanish America based on ancestry and skin color.

Peninsulares

Spanish-born colonists living in the Americas, holding the highest social status.

Creoles (Criollos)

Spaniards born in the Americas, below peninsulares but above other social classes.

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in Spanish colonial society.

Mulattoes

People of mixed European and African ancestry in Spanish colonial society.

Triangular Trade

Transatlantic trade network carrying manufactured goods, enslaved people, and raw materials.

Kingdom of Dahomey

West African state that grew powerful by trading enslaved people for firearms.

Asante Empire

Wealthy West African empire that traded gold and enslaved people for European weapons.

John Calvin

French theologian who developed Calvinism, emphasizing predestination and divine sovereignty.

Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

Catholic religious order founded to combat Protestantism through education and missionary work.

Ignatius of Loyola

Spanish noble who founded the Jesuits during the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

Henry VIII

English king who broke with the Catholic Church to establish the Church of England.

Peace of Augsburg (1555)

Treaty allowing German princes to choose either Lutheranism or Catholicism for their lands.

Thirty Years' War

A devastating 1618-1648 European conflict fought over religion, power, and territory.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish astronomer who proposed the heliocentric theory placing the Sun at the center.

Galileo Galilei

Italian scientist who used a telescope to support the heliocentric model.

Isaac Newton

English scientist who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation.

Francis Bacon

English philosopher who pioneered the scientific method and empirical research.

René Descartes

French philosopher who emphasized rationalism and the use of deductive reasoning.

Sikhism

Syncretic religion founded in India, combining elements of Hinduism and Islam.

Guru Nanak

The founder of Sikhism and the first of its ten Gurus.

Vodou (Voodoo)

Syncretic religion developed by enslaved Africans in Haiti, blending West African and Catholic beliefs.

Santería

Syncretic religion developed in Cuba, blending West African Yoruba beliefs with Roman Catholicism.

Virgin of Guadalupe

Syncretic religious symbol in Mexico representing a blending of Indigenous and Catholic faiths.

Manila Galleons

Spanish trading ships linking the Philippines to Mexico, exchanging silver for Asian goods.