AP Euro Topic 1.10 Commercial Revolution Terms and Names (Amsco Bolded)

Capital

money or property that is used for investment to make more money

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.

means of production

the factories, machines, tools, raw materials, land, and financial capital needed to make things

means

a way to get something accomplished

market economy

Economic decisions are made by individuals or the open market, rather than the government

Entrepreneur

A person who organizes, manages, and takes on the risks of a business.

Medici

A powerful Italian family of bankers and merchants whose members effectively ruled Florence for much of the 15th century

Fuggers

leading banking family of Germany during the 15th and 16th century

money economy

an economic system based on money rather than barter

barter economy

economic system in which one set of goods or services is exchanged for another

double-entry bookkeeping

Bookkeepers record all transactions in two places so they can check one list of transactions against the other for accuracy.

joint-stock company

A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company, sharing the risk with others and receiving some share of the company's profits in exchange

stock

A share of ownership in a company

Dividends

payments of cash from a corporation to its stockholders

Dutch East India Company

a trading company established by the Netherlands in 1602 to protect and expand its trade in Asia

British East India Company

A joint stock company that controlled most of India during the period of imperialism. This company controlled the political, social, and economic life in India for more than 200 years.

Genoa

A seaport town in Italy

Amsterdam

Major trading port and financial center in the Netherlands

London

Capital of England and the center of Banking and Stock Exchange in England

commerce

the buying and selling of goods and services; trade

hierarchy

a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Manor

A large estate, often including farms and a village, ruled by a lord.

landlord

owner of rental property

Peasants

people who worked the land or served the nobles

Serfdom

Institution in which a peasant is attached to a feudal estate and is not free to leave

subsistence agriculture

Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family, rather than to sell in a market for profit

Little Ice Age

A century-long period of cool climate that began in the 1590s. Its bad effects on agriculture in northern Europe were notable.

Great Plague

Recurrence of the Black Death in England 1665-1666

open-field system

division of large fields into long, narrow strips that are each then farmed by individual peasants.

the commons

land or resources belonging to the whole of a community. Such as a grazing field for animals.

crop rotation

The planting of different crops in a field each year to maintain the soil's fertility.

two-field system

planting crops on only half of the cultivated land, leaving the other half to lie fallow (unplanted) for a year to recover its fertility

three-field system

A rotational system for agriculture in which one field grows grain, one grows legumes, and one lies fallow.

fallow

a plowed field that is not planted in order to let the soil "rest".

Inflation

A continuous rise in the price of goods and services

Price Revolution

increase in prices in 16th century-inflation-increased demand for goods-in part because of an influx of gold and silver from the Americas

Commercial Agriculture

Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm for a profit.

Enclosure Movement

practice of fencing or enclosing common lands into individual holdings, which happened in the 18th c in England.

agricultural commodities

staple crops and animals produced or raised on farms or plantations to be sold in the market for a profit

Migrants

people who leave their homes to work for a time in other regions or countries