Unit 4 (1450-1750) AP World History Modern

Olmec

First major Mesoamerican culture that led to many future cultures such Mayans & the people of Teotihuacan. Known for their giant basalt heads.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in the Yucatan Peninsula (2000 BCE - 1700 CE). Known for their calendars, practice of human sacrifice and the ball game.

Popol Vuh

A Maya myth of creation that tells how humans came from maize. Mayans believed that bloodletting would ensure successful harvests.

Temple of Giant Jaguar

Temple in Tikal - Mayan - Ritual of letting of blood done here to maintain cycle of life.

Mayan Calendar

Based on astronomy and moon cycles - combination of solar year (365 days) and ritual year (260 days).

Aztecs

A Mesoamerican civilization, once known as the Mexica, who created a strong empire that flourished between the 14th and 15th century. The arrival of Hernando Cortez and the Spanish Conquistadors ended their empire.

Huitzilopochtli

Patron deity of the Aztecs; identified as god of warfare

Chinampas

The floating gardens of the Aztec; a system of irrigated agriculture where beds of aquatic weeds, mud and earth were placed in frames and rooted in lakes to create floating gardens.

Aztec Government

Strong king who claimed to descend from the gods; no strong centralized government or bureaucracy; largest tribute system in Mesoamerica; honors military elites

Aztec Captial

Tenochtitlan

Inca Empire

An Andean empire stretching from Ecuador to Chile from 1200-1533; capital city of Cuzco. Conquered by Pizarro in 1533.

Vertical Economy

Exploiting environmental zones that contrast each other in altitude, rainfall and overall vegetation. Inca used vertical economy to harvest a variety of agricultural goods.

Quipu

a system of knotted cords used by the Incas as a kind of writing system which stored massive amounts of information important to their culture

Inti

Incan sun god

Viracocha

Diety in the Incan religion believed to have been responsible for the creation of civilization

Mita

Form of tribute to the Inca government, in the form of labor; Projects included road network and agricultural work. People required a number of days out of a year.

Reasons for Exploration:

Sea route to Indies (avoid land based routes), Gold ($$), God, Glory

Compass

an instrument containing a magnetized pointer that shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it - came from China

Volta Do Mar

A sailing strategy by "going with the wind" to catch trade winds; made oceanic travel faster, safer, more efficient

Caravel

A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.

Carrack

A three or four masted sailing ship developed in the 15th century Genoese for use in commerce

Fluyt

a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed as a dedicated cargo vessel.

Lateen Sails

A triangular sail attached to a short mast

Astrolabe

Instrument used to help sailors use sun and stars to find their distance from the equator

Cartography

Science or art of making maps

Bartolomeu Dias

Portugese explorer who rounded the southern tip of Africa in 1488.

Vasco De Gama

First person to sail from Portugal, round the Cape of Good Hope and reached India in 1498

Ponce de Leon

Spanish explorer who landed on the coast of modern-day Florida and claimed it for Spain

Amerigo Vespucci

The Italian sailor who corrected Columbus's mistake, acknowledging the coasts of America as a new world including a northern and southern continent

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese sailor who successfully lead an expedition around the world 1519-1522; Died in the Phillippines

Christopher Columbus

Credited with discovery of the "New World"; Died believing he found India by sailing West -financed by Ferdinand and Isabella

New World Crops

Maize, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, tobacco, cassava, avocados, beans, squash

Old World Crops

Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Bananas, Apple, Soy, Sugar, Rice, Coffee

Columbian Exchange

Exchange of food, animals, goods and diseases between Europe and the Americas; Brought about an increase in world population because of better nutrition

Hernando Cortes

Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the Spanish

Francisco Pizzarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas

Creole

A person born in Spainish American colonies to Spanish parents

Mestizo

People of mixed Spanish and Native American heritage

Peninsular

Member of the highest class in Spanish colonies - someone born on the Iberian peninsula and later came to the Americas

Mulatto

A person of mixed African and European descent

Zambo

A person of mixed African and Native American heritage

Encomienda

In the Spanish colonies, the grant to a Spanish settler of a certain number of Indian subjects, who would pay him tribute in goods and labor.

Viceroy

Representative who ruled one of Spain's provinces in the Americas in the king's name

Audiencias

Spanish lawyer/courts in Latin America; heard appeals against viceroys' policies and had right to address concerns directly to Spanish King

Haciendas

Large estates where natives were forced to work in the Americas

Repartimento

a colonial forced labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America that no longer gave settlers land and natives to work it but rather allotted natives to work for several weeks for settlers but retain some sort of freedom

Bartolome de Las Casas

Dominican priest who spoke out against mistreatment of Native Americans

Potosi

Mine located in upper Peru (modern Bolivia); largest of New World silver mines for the Spanish Empire

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line (including Brazil) would belong to Portugal.

Cash Crops in the Americas

Sugar, Coffee, Tobacco, Coffee

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade

Consisted of a trade triangle that brought slaves from Africa to the Americas, sugar and cotton from the Americas to Europe, and manufactured goods such as guns from Europe to Africa

Impacts from Slave Trade

12 million forced migrations Rise in port cities Decrease in urbanization by people Firearms used in African conflicts Male/Female ratio Emergence of racial stereotypes of Africans

Middle Passage

Name for the forced transport of slaves from Africa to America. Main point of triangular trade between Europe and Americas during 17th century.

Olaudah Equiano

also known as Gustavus Vassa, was one of the most prominent Africans involved in the British movement of the abolition for the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807.

Spanish Colonies

Peru, Mexico, Hispanola, Phillipines

French Colonies

Nova Scotia, Quebec, areas along Mississippi River

English Colonies

Jamestown, Massachusetts May, American East Coast

Dutch Colonies

Once had New York, later St. Croix, St. John, & St. Thomas

British East India Company

A joint stock company that operated in the Indian Ocean by the British, later influential in India

Dutch East India Company

Government-chartered joint-stock company that controlled the spice trade in the East Indies.

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining colonies, large amounts of gold and silver and by having more exports than imports.

Vodun

or voodoo is a New World syncretic faith that combines the animist faiths of West Africa with Roman Catholic Christianity

Santeria

Cuban religion that combines Catholic and West African beliefs