Unit 1: Early Human History and the Age of Exploration Flashcards

A comprehensive vocabulary review of Unit 1 covering historical methods, early human evolution, global exploration, colonization, and early modern economic systems.

historia

Greek for “to find out through inquiry”

history

A social science; the study and documentation of the human past

primary source

Recorded by someone who experienced an event as it happened

secondary source

Examples include textbooks and essays

Lucy

40% of skeleton discovered, insight to evolution of early human ancestors

agriculture

Led to control of food source and first human civilizations

GGG

Motivations for European exploration

Treaty of Tordesillas

Settled land disputes in the New World; the reason why Brazil speaks Portuguese

astrolabe, sextant, and caravel

Enabled European exploration of the New World

indigenous

The people and items in the New World before Columbus’s arrival

cultural genocide

The end result of residential schools and moving of natives to reservations

GGS

Methods of European conquest of the native populations in the Americas

Old World

Europe, Asia, and Africa

New World

The Americas and West Indies

capitalism

economic system emphasizing private individuals and wealth creation

joint-stock companies

Spread financial risk of European exploration

mercantilism

Exploitative economic system between colonies and mother country

favorable balance of trade

Exporting more than you import

triangular trade

Trade network between Europe, Africa, and the Americas

Atlantic Slave Trade

Transfer of West Africans to the Americas

middle passage

Inhumane journey that resulted in the death of ~20% who made the voyage

The Columbian Exchange

Transfer of goods, ideas, disease, and people between Old and New Worlds

civilization

Large, organized human societies with specialized labor and roles

raw materials

Found naturally, sent from the Americas to Europe

manufactured/finished goods

Created in Europe, sent to Africa and the Americas