Columbian Exchange and Global Maritime System - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture on the shift to a global maritime system, the Columbian Exchange, and their social, political, and ecological implications.

Columbian Exchange

The bidirectional transfer of flora, fauna, diseases, people, and ideas between the Old World (Europe, Asia, Africa) and the New World (the Americas) beginning with Columbus’s voyages in 1492.

Old World

Europe, Asia, and Africa—the regions that domesticated many animals and crops and carried diseases to the Americas during the Columbian Exchange.

New World

The Americas and surrounding regions encountered by Europeans after 1492, dramatically reshaped by the Columbian Exchange.

Literal state

A state that has a coastline and access to maritime trade; the United States is described as a literal state.

Freedom of navigation

The principle of free and open access to the world’s oceans for trade and military movement; a core national security objective tied to coastal port access.

Choke point (global maritime)

A narrow sea passage that can constrain global shipping; key examples include Panama Canal, Strait of Gibraltar, Cape of Good Hope, Bosphorus, Bab el Mandeb, Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz, and Strait of Malacca.

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable sailing ship used by Iberian explorers to undertake long ocean voyages.

Maritime system

The global network of sea routes and ports that enables the movement of goods and people across the world’s oceans.

Great dying

The massive mortality of Indigenous peoples in the Americas caused by Old World diseases after 1492, estimated at a large majority of communities in some regions.

LiDAR

Light Detection and Ranging; drone-based laser scanning technology that penetrates canopy to reveal ground features and archaeological sites.

Gaucho

A skilled horseman and rancher from Argentina’s pampas, central to the development of ranching culture.

Vaquero

A horse-mounted livestock herder in Northern Mexico and the southwestern United States; a predecessor to the American cowboy.

Cowboy

A ranch worker on horseback who tends cattle; a major cultural symbol in the United States tied to ranching expansion.

Pampas

The vast grasslands of Argentina (and surrounding regions) ideal for cattle ranching and gaucho culture.

Sugarcane

A high-value Old World crop whose production expanded in the Caribbean and Brazil, transforming global trade and diets.

Old World crops

Crops domesticated in Europe, Asia, or Africa and introduced to the Americas (e.g., wheat, barley, oats, citrus, sugarcane, soy).

New World crops

Crops originating in the Americas and later widespread in the Old World (e.g., maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cacao).

City on a Hill

John Winthrop’s 17th-century sermon envisioning the New World as a moral exemplar and a fresh start for humanity.