Vocabulary #5 - AP World History: Modern

Alhambra Decree

Edict issued in 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon) ordering the expulsion of practicing Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and its territories and possessions. As a result over 200,000 Jews converted to Catholicism and between 40,000 and 100,000 were expelled.

Carrack

Premier merchant sailing ship of Mediterranean powers during the 14th-17th centuries that was usually built with three masts, the mainmast and foremast being rigged with square sails and the mizzenmast rigged with a fore-and-aft triangular lateen sail.

Cassava

Woody shrub that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrate.

Catholic Reformation

Movement within the Catholic Church that occurred in response to the Protestant Reformation. It reaffirmed Catholic beliefs and promoted education

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of food crops, livestock, and disease (& people) between the Eastern and Western hemispheres after the voyages of Columbus.

Council of Trent

Meeting of Roman Catholic leaders, called by Pope Paul III to rule on doctrines criticized by the Protestant Reformers.

Deism

The concept of God common to the scientific revolution; the deity was believed to have set the world in motion and then allowed it to operate by natural laws.

Empirical Research

Research based on the collection of data.

Encyclopedie

Encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1766 by some of the most prominent philosophers. It originally consisted of 28 volumes and covered everything then known about the sciences, technology, & history. It criticized the Church and government and praised religious tolerance.

Enlightenment

A philosophical movement in eighteenth-century Europe that was based on reason and the concept that education and training could improve humankind and society.

Fluyt

Dutch sailing vessel designed as a cargo vessel to facilitate transoceanic delivery with the maximum of space and crew efficiency. The ship became a significant factor in the 17th-century rise of the Dutch seaborne empire.

Gujarat

Region of western India famous for trade and manufacturing; its inhabitants exported cotton textiles and indigo to the Middle East and Europe in exchange for gold and silver. They eventually traded eastward to Malacca and helped spread Islam among East Indian traders.

Gutenberg Bible

A printed version of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible that was printed by Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany in the fifteenth century.

Heliocentric Theory

The concept that the sun is the center of the universe.

Huguenots

Any of the Protestants (French Calvinists) in France in the 16th and 17th centuries, many of whom suffered severe persecution for their faith. The Edict of Nantes (1598) granted them tolerance in France and ended the French civil wars of religion.

Indulgence

A document whose purchase was said to grant the bearer the forgiveness of sins.

Maratha Revolts

Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's conflict with forces led by the Hindu warrior Shivaji from 1659-1680. Shivaji was successful in establishing a strong Maratha empire in the Deccan region of India using guerilla tactics and flanking attacks to gain weapons, forts, and territory.

Mercantilism

A European economic policy of the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries that held that there was a limited amount of wealth available, and that each country must adopt policies to obtain as much wealth as possible for itself; key to the attainment of wealth was the acquisition of colonies.

Morocco-Songhai conflict

Invasion of the Songhai Empire by Morocco (in an attempt seize gold deposits) in 1590 that culminated with the Battle of Tondibi (1591). Moroccan forces won despite being outnumbered due to their use of gunpowder and harquebuses.

Natural Laws

Principles that govern nature.

Ninety-five theses

(from 31 October 1517) The Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, that challenged the teachings of the Church on the nature of penance, the authority of the pope and the usefulness of indulgences. They sparked a theological debate that would result in the Reformation and the birth of the Lutheran, Reformed, and Anabaptist traditions within Christianity.

Northwest Passage

A passage through the North American continent that was sought by early explorers to North America as a route to trade with the east.

Predestination

The belief of Protestant reformer John Calvin that God had chosen some people for heaven and others for hell.

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement begun by Martin Luther in 1517 that attempted to reform the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church; it resulted in the formation of new Christian denominations.

Scientific Revolution

A European intellectual movement in the sixteenth century that established the basis for modern science.

Swahili Arabs

Merchants who contributed to the commercial expansion of the city-states of the east African coast and its related Indian Ocean trade. They dealt in cotton cloth and beads from India; spices from SE Asia; horses from Arabia and Ethiopia; pearls from the Red Sea; slaves, gold, and ivory from Ethiopia; and grain, opium, and dyes from Aden.

Thirty Years War

War from 1618 to 1648 between German Protestants and their allies against the Holy Roman emperor and Spain; caused great destruction. It reduced the German population by almost 60% and German prosperity and power for a full century. The treaty that ended the conflict granted political independence to the Protestant Netherlands. The war established the principle of territorial toleration.

Caravel

A small, easily steerable ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in their explorations.

Northern Renaissance

An extension of the Italian Renaissance to the nations of northern Europe; the Northern Renaissance took on a more religious nature than the Italian Renaissance.

The Fronde

Series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, during the minority of Louis XIV. It was in part an attempt to check the growing power of royal government; its failure prepared the way for the absolutism of Louis XIV's personal reign.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 treaty in which the pope divided enxplored territories between Spain and Portugal.

Conquistador

Any of the leaders in the Spanish conquest of America, especially of Mexico and Peru, in the 16th century. They considered themselves the new nobility, but given more to fighting and the search for gold than to governance, they were quickly replaced by administrators and settlers from Spain.

Middle Passage

The portion of the trans-Atlantic trade that involved the transportation of Africans from Africa to the Americas.

Triangular Trade

The eighteenth-century trade network between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Indentured servitude

System of labor that was an arrangement through which servants were contracted to work for a specified period of years in exchange for passage to the Americas.