AP World Period 2 Vocab

What is an astrolabe?

Ancient astronomical instrument, improved by Muslim navigators in 12th century, allowed sailors to determine latitude

Who was Bartolomeu Dias?

Portuguese navigator and explorer who led the first European expedition to round the Cape of Good Hope (1488), opening the sea route to Asia via the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Who was Christopher Columbus?

Italian master navigator and admiral whose four transatlantic voyages opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas, known as the "discoverer" of the New World

What is a joint-stock company?

Legal entities usually created by royal charter that allowed investors to pool resources in order to share profits and risks among many individuals and businesses

What was the Seven Years' War?

A global conflict that took place from 1756 to 1763. It involved most of the great powers of the time, including Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, and Spain. The war was fought in Europe, North America, and India. It was sparked by territorial disputes between Prussia and Austria over the province of Silesia. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which saw Great Britain emerge as the dominant colonial power in North America.

Who was Martin Luther?

German monk, theologian and religious reformer who was excommunicated for his words and opinions, was the catalyst of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation

Who was Johannes Gutenberg?

German craftsman and inventor who originated a method of printing from movable type, created the Gutenberg printing press and Gutenberg Bible

What was the Protestant Reformation?

Religious revolution that took place in the Western church in the 16th century, greatest leaders were Martin Luther and John Calvin, basis for the founding of Protestantism, posed to be a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in part posed a challenge to papal authority

What was the Council of Trent?

19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, held in three parts from 1545-1563, responded emphatically to the issues at hand and enacted the formal Roman Catholic reply

What was the Thirty Years' War?

In European history, series of wars fought for various reasons, including religious, dynastic, territorial, and commercial rivalries, lasted from 1618-1648

What was the Spanish Inquisition?

Judicial institution that lasted between 1479 and 1834. Its ostensible purpose was to combat heresy in Spain, resulted in consolidating power in the monarchy of the newly unified Spanish kingdom, punished anyone who wasn't Catholic through brutal methods

What was the Glorious Revolution?

Events of 1688-89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of his daughter Mary II and her husband, permanently established Parliament as ruling power of England, shift from absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, James II was unpopular due to him being a Catholic in a Protestant majority

What is absolutism?

The political doctrine and practice of unlimited centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, as vested in a monarch or dictator

Who was Louis XIV?

Grand Monarch, Sun King, ruled France (1643-1715), during one of the most brilliant periods and remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age, created a centralized and powerful France

Who was Peter the Great?

Tsar of Russia who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682-96) and alone thereafter (1696-1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor, was one of the country's greatest statesmen, organizers and reformers, modernized Russia

Who was Catherine the Great?

German-born empress of Russia (1762-96) who led her country to full participation in the political and cultural life of Europe, reorganized the administration and law of the Russian Empire and extended territory, championed the arts

What is capitalism?

Dominant in Western world since breakup of feudalism, most means are privately owned and production is guided and income distributed largely through the operation of markets

What was serfdom?

Condition in medieval Europe in which a tenant farmer was bound to a hereditary plot of land and to the will of his landlord, majority of serfs obtained their subsistence by cultivating that plot of land

What was the Scientific Revolution?

Period of drastic change in scientific thought that took place during the 16th and 17th centuries, replaced the Greek view of nature that dominated science, transformed the views of society about nature, resulted in developments in math, physics, astronomy, biology and chemistry

Who was Nicolaus Copernicus?

Polish astronomer who proposed that the planets have the Sun as the fixed point to which their motions are to be referred (heliocentric system)

Who was Isaac Newton?

English physicist and mathematician who was the culminating figure of the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century, known for discoveries in optics, calculus and physics, especially gravity

What was the Encomienda?

A system where Spanish adventurers and settlers were granted the legal right to extract forced labor from indigenous tribal chiefs in the Americas colonies of the Spanish empire

What is indentured labor?

A form of labor where an individual is under contact to work without a salary to repay an indenture or loan within a certain timeframe

Who is the Virgin of Guadalupe?

In Roman Catholicism, the Virgin Mary in her appearance before St. Juan Diego in a vision in 1531, patron saint in Mexico, also refers to Marian apparition itself, national symbol of Mexico

Who was Queen Nzinga?

17th century African ruler of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms of the Mbundo people in Angola, fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in Central Africa

What is triangular trade?

Three-legged economic model and trade route that was predicated on the transatlantic slave trade, flourished from early 16th century to mid 19th century during era of Western colonialism, three markets are Europe, western Africa, New World

What is the African diaspora?

The worldwide collection of communities descended from Native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas

What is Voudou/Vodun?

A traditional Afro-Haitian religion, represents a syncretism of the West African Vodun religion and Roman Catholicism by descendants of the Dahomeyan, Kongo, Yoruba, other ethnic groups that were enslaved and sent to Saint Domingue (now Haiti)

What is a eunuch?

Castrated human male, employed in Middle East and China as guards and servants in harems or other women's quarters and as chamberlains to kings

What was the Ming Dynasty?

Succeeded the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty (1368-1644), was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, a Buddhist monk, last Chinese dynasty ruled by ethnic Han people, population doubled, trade expansion with West, exerted immense cultural and political influence on East Asia and the Turks to the west, as well as on Vietnam and Myanmar to the south, made Forbidden City, known for drama, literature and porcelain

What was the Qing Dynasty?

Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China, last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, 1644-1911/12, noted for its initial prosperity and tumultuous final years, only 2nd time China wasn't ruled by the Han people, most populous empire ever as population grew from 150 million to 450 million, territory expanded by triple, perfected the Chinese imperial system

What was the Tokugawa Shogunate?

A military government that ruled Japan from 1603-1868 during Edo period, established by Tokugawa Ieyasu, restored order and unity to Japan, a feudal, dynastic, hereditary military dictatorship, centralized the power of the nation's government and united its people

What was the Ottoman Empire?

Empire created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia (Asia Major) that grew to be one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries, spanned more than 600 years

What was the Mughal Empire?

Muslim dynasty of Turkic-Mongol origin that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to mid 18th century, continued to exist as a considerably reduced and powerless entity until mid 19th century

What was the Safavid Empire?

1501-1736, ruling dynasty of Iran, whose establishment of Twelver Shi'ism as the state religion of Iran was a major factor in the emergence of a unified national consciousness, revived Iran as a strong economic hold

What were Janissaries?

Members of an elite corps in the standing army of the Ottoman Empire from the late 14th century to 1826, respected for their military prowess in the 15th-16th centuries, used to garrison fortresses and for siege warfare

Who was Suleiman the Magnificent?

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520-1566 who not only undertook bold military campaigns that enlarged his reign, codified a legal system, built up Constantinople as the empire's capital, codified centralized legal system based on Sharia law, expanded the reign of land and revenue of the capital

What is the Taj Mahal?

Built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to immortalized his wife who died in childbirth, mausoleum complex in Agra, western Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, masterpiece of Mughal architecture and a symbol of love, reflection of the artistic and scientific achievements of a wealthy empire

What was Devshirme?

A system of tribute by which Christian youths were taken from the Balkan provinces, converted to Islam, and drafted into Ottoman Empire, created a faction of soldiers and officials loyal to the Sultan

Who was William Shakespeare?

English poet, dramatist, and actor often called the English national poet and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time, his works represent people and situations we recognize today, created hundreds of words and phrases that English speakers use today

What are indulgences?

A distinctive feature of the penitential system of both the Western medieval system of both the Western medieval and the Roman Catholic Church that granted full or partial remission of the punishment of sin, had a role in the Reformation, a way to reduce the length and severity of punishment that heaven would require as payment for sins

Who was Henry VIII?

King of England (1509-47), presided over beginnings of English Renaissance and English Reformation, broke with Roman Catholic Church, had Parliament declare him supreme head of Church of England

What was the Enlightenment?

A European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, etc. synthesized into a worldview that instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy and politics, French and American Revolution resulted, widespread education occurred

What was mercantilism?

Economic system where governments used their economies to augment state power at expense of other countries, exports should exceed imports, wealth is finite, trade is a zero-sum game, colonies benefitted the mother country, prevailing economic philosophy during Age of Exploration due to colonies

Who was Elizabeth I?

Queen of England (1558-1603), during a period, often called Elizabethan Age, when England asserted itself vigorously as a major European power in politics, commerce, and the arts, established Protestantism in England

Who was Ivan III?

Grand prince of Moscow (1462-1505) who subdued most of the Great Russian lands by conquest or by the voluntary allegiance of princes, won again parts of Ukraine, laid foundations of a centralized Russian state, reclaimed the principalities his forefathers had ruled over and united the Russian people for the first time, defied the Khanate

What is a caravel?

A light sailing ship of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, must-used by the Spanish and Portuguese for long voyages, excellent for capacity for sailing to windward, capable of remarkable speed

What is hegemony?

Leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others

What is chattel slavery?

Most common form of slavery known to Americans, system allowed people to be considered as legal property-to be bought, sold and owned, as well as inherited

What is Deism?

Belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who doesn't intervene in the universe, intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity, who interacts with humankind