Globalization IDs

Admiral Zheng He

Explored the Red Sea, east Africa, and the Indian Ocean for the ming dynasty from 1405-1433. Ran 7 different voyages using advanced compass tech and geographic map knowledge. if respect wasn’t given by those whom he visited he would attack and bring things back (giraffes, zebras, ivory, spices, etc.) Was originally from a muslim family, kidnapped by the ming empire and put to work as a high lvl civil servant.

The Golden Horde

1240s-1502. Powerful Mongol khanate that had the most contact with European + mediterranean life. Developed courts, roads, irrigation systems and merchant settlements. These merchant settlements were used to encourage euro merchants to stay.

Melaka

Was an exemplary entrepot (trading port) where merchants would visit to trade and wait out predictable monsoon storms. The Chinese were the largest group of merchants there, although it was overall diverse. Locals would often seek out relationships with the merchants. Bridged the Indian Ocean and South China Sea (Malaysia).

Constantinople

Was under Byzantine control until its fall to the Ottoman’s and Sultan Mehmed II on May 29, 1453. They used new cannon tech + janissaries to take it over after 53 days. Renamed to Istanbul, where its location allowed the Ottoman’s to take over Budapest and almost reach Vienna. Major eastern med. trade route, connecting east Europe + Asia

The Catholic monarchs

Ferdinand + Isabella. Marriage in 1469 unified the christian empires of Spain. were originally fine with muslims doing their own thing since they liked their labor. however, the ottoman’s expansion changed this sentiment.

The Alhambra Decree

Occurred in 1492. Was a direct order to Spanish jews to either convert to christianity via baptism or leave Spain. was ordered by the catholic monarchs. led to conversos (Iberian jews who converted in 1492) and Moriscos (Iberian muslims who were forced to convert in 1501, and eventually exiled anyway in 1609).

Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros

Archbishop of Toledo who led a violent approach to christianizing Grenada. Included book burnings, forced conversions and baptisms for muslims. led to the same offer jews received via the Alhambra Decree

Spices

native spices only grown/found in Southeast Asia + India. They were seen as an exotic good with growing demand from an uprise in the “well-off” merchant class. Provided the motivation for the EIC and the VOC. EIC visited batam + Sumatra for pepper, setting up factories. The VOC had a monopoly on pepper and cinnamon.

Cartazes

Something people needed to buy from the Portuguese or else their goods were taken, ships destroyed, and people were executed. Was a naval pass that allowed the Portuguese to control Indian Ocean commerce. also required ppl to pay customs at Portuguese feitorias.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Nicknamed “El-infante.” He sponsored voyages to African coasts and pioneered the caravel’s. He led a conquest to Ceuta in 1415 as well as Porta Santo and Madeira, mapping ocean currents and winds. He also received monopoly on navigation, war, and trade south of cape bojador in 1443. Overall initiated Portugal’s maritime expansion and early African slave trade involvement.

Madeira

One of the first sugar plantations/plantations with slaves. The indigenous people also didn’t have a religion. Used cash-crop agriculture + capital investment to scale this as a imperial laboratory that eventually played a pivotal role in the exportation of commodities to Brazil + carribean.

Treaty of Alcacoves

signed in 1479 by Spain (Ferdinand + Isabella) and Portugal (Afonso V) that ended war of Castilian succession. divided a line just south of Canary Islands, giving the islands to Spain and Cape Verde, Azores, madeira, and African coastal exploration to Portugal

line of demarcation

part of the treaty of tordesillas in 1494. was a vertical line that divided most of the world between Portugal and Europe. Spain got most of the americas. Portugal got the rest of the world, including Brazil.

Bartolomé de las Casas

helped start the new laws in 1542 (no enslavement). Helped abolish the encomienda system, stating that encomiendas couldn’t be passed down generations (this law only lasted a few years. In the Valladolid debate he stated that natives are fully human and shouldn’t be enslaved, instead, africans should be.

Potosí

discovered by Spanish in 1545 with help from the natives, in order to mine a ridiculous amount of silver. Was defined also by immense violence across all races

Manila

meeting nexus for the European and Chinese economies. Muslims had control over many trading ports, so Spanish had to trick them for their ports where they would kill them and burn them. Spanish wanted total control over Manila, eventually let the Chinese stay in the ghettos and convert them to christianity. the Chinese bolstered the economy as masters of all trades + being good workers. Manila was cut off from trade after china banned maritime expansion in 1638. Chinese silk was most popular export.

Manila Galleon ships

3 month long journeys set out by Spain. if the ship got lost or sunk the entire trading season was done. one ship had 750 kilos of silver on a trip to Manila. the nuestra señora de Concepción hit a reef and sunk all goods. much corruption over undocumented goods to avoid taxes.

Encomiendas

land ownership granted by the Spanish crown, including the people whom were already on it. the purpose of it was to spread Christianity (ppl already on it), and also accumulate wealth, but in reality it was another form of slavery. the owners in practicality were meant to provide stability + general protection to the natives.

Asierto de Negros (1517)

Spanish crown couldn’t legally get slaves from Africa bc it was controlled by Portugal. so, foreign, typically Portuguese merchants supplied them. the foreign merchants would pay fees to the crown, provide the slaves, and receive exclusive benefits to Spanish markets (gold, silver) in return.

Repartimiento/mita system

prevalent in potosí. was the process of getting natives to the mines, where they would receive small compensation for their work. started off as voluntary but then became forced. would work for a set period of time then would be free.

letters of patent

Official legal charters issued by a European monarch or state conferring exclusive land titles, trade monopolies, or administrative privileges onto specific individuals or chartered corporations. They authorized private actors to explore, conquer, and settle foreign territories on behalf of the crown. These legal instruments lowered direct royal expenditures while delegating imperial expansion to joint-stock companies and private conquistadors. (Ex: given to joint stock companies that laid out titles and status, creating corporations and governing officers. Also awarded monopolies on trade)

engenho

sugar cane mills, the first one being in São Vincent in 1534. they were mostly privately owned. was a Portuguese term. integrated land ownership + technology (milling and boiling) in the sugar production, relying heavily on African labor. they were skilled workers/artisans (about 80-120 per engenho)

Lavradores de Cana

Sugarcane cultivators. They rented the land from the engenho’s, getting slaves to help them as well. This worked as an easy entry into the sugar economy, as they would also receive a portion of the refined sugar. They were good at what they did but lacked the capital (mill) to do their work, which is why they rented.

single whip tax

A Ming dynasty fiscal reform (Yitiao Bianfa) implemented in 16th-century China that consolidated various land taxes and labor service obligations into a single annual payment required in silver. By requiring over a hundred million citizens to pay taxes in silver, China created immense structural demand for the metal. This demand drew global silver flows from Spanish American mines like Potosí into the Chinese economy.

Caravels

A light, fast Portuguese sailing vessel developed in the 15th century featuring triangular lateen sails that allowed it to sail against the wind (tacking). Its shallow draft made it suitable for coastal exploration along the West African shoreline and open ocean navigation. It was a key maritime innovation that enabled Portuguese and Spanish transoceanic expansion.

Calicut

A major commercial city on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India, known as a primary node in the Indian Ocean spice trade. It was the arrival point of Vasco da Gama’s expedition in 1498, introducing direct European maritime involvement to the region (first euro to sail to India, so it developed the route). Portuguese efforts to control trade in Calicut disrupted existing free-trade networks maintained by local Hindu rulers (Zamorins) and Muslim merchants.

Calicos

A brightly printed, durable cotton cloth originating in Calicut, India. European chartered entities, such as the English and Dutch East India Companies, imported large volumes of calicoes to sell in Europe and use as currency in the West African slave trade. Its widespread trade reorganized global textile markets and influenced early European industrial developments. (heavy on EIC involvement)

Court of Committees

24 men. The executive governing board of directors of the English East India Company (EIC), elected by shareholders to oversee commercial operations. Operating from London, it made decisions regarding trade routes, cargo selection, factory deployments, and military defense in Asia. It illustrated the role of joint-stock governance in managing overseas commercial empires.

Cape coast castle

A fortified trading post (feitoria) on the Gold Coast (modern Ghana), controlled at different points by the Swedish, Dutch, and British. It served as a commercial hub and central holding dungeon for enslaved Africans prior to their forced transit across the Atlantic. It represents the militarized architecture of the transatlantic slave trade.

royal African company

An English chartered joint-stock enterprise established in 1672 by the Stuart monarchy with exclusive rights to trade along the West African coast. Headquartered at sites like Cape Coast Castle, it shipped more enslaved African men, women, and children to the Americas than any other single organization. It highlights how state-backed corporate monopolies systematically expanded the Atlantic slave economy.