WHAP Unit 4 Vocab
Caravel
A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.
Fluyt
A Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed as a dedicated cargo vessel.
Encomienda
A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as laborers on it
Hacienda
Large, self-sufficient farming estates/plantations formed by Spanish colonists
Joint-Stock Company
A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts.
Vodun (voodoo)
African religious ideas and practices among descendants of African slaves in Haiti.
Santeria
Cuban religion that combines Catholic and West African beliefs
Mestizo
A person of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.
Mulatto
A person of mixed African and European ancestry
Creoles
In colonial Spanish America, term used to describe someone of European descent born in the New World.
Peninsulares
Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class.
British East India Company
A joint stock company that controlled most of India during the period of imperialism. This company controlled the political, social, and economic life in India for more than 200 years.
Dutch East India Company (VOC)
Government-chartered joint-stock company that controlled the spice trade in the East Indies.
Triangular Trade
A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Africa sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns, Rum and other finished goods to Africa.
Bullion
Gold and silver
Carrack
Large Portuguese ship used for ocean travel
Henry the Navigator
This Portuguese prince who lead an extensive effort to promote seafaring expertise in the 14th century. Sent many expedition to the coast of West Africa in the 15th century, leading Portugal to discover a route around Africa, ultimately to India.
Vasco de Gama
A Portuguese sailor who was the first European to sail around southern Africa to the Indian Ocean
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world.
Trading Post Empire
Form of imperial dominance based on control of trade rather than on control of subject peoples.
Columbian Exchange
The exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.
The Great Dying
Triggered by the arrival of Europeans and the introduction of new pathogens to the continent. Together, with warfare and slavery, there was an epidemic of diseases such as smallpox, measles, influenza and cholera. (**NOT ACTUAL DEFINITION - UNDERSTAND THIS ONE)
Chattel Slavery
A system of bondage in which a slave has the legal status of property and so can be bought and sold like property.
Indentured Servitude
A worker bound by a voluntary agreement to work for a specified period of years often in return for free passage to an overseas destination. Before 1800 most were Europeans; after 1800 most indentured laborers were Asians.
Casta system
Strict social hierarchy structured on racial components, designed to ensure Spanish-European dominance in new Spain
Kingdom of Kongo
Kingdom dominating small states along the Congo River that maintained effective, centralized government and a royal currency until the seventeenth century.
Asante
African kingdom on the Gold Coast that expanded rapidly after 1680. A major participant in the Atlantic economy, trading gold, slaves, and ivory.
Middle Passage
The route in between the western ports of Africa to the Caribbean, Brazil, and southern U.S. that carried the slave trade
Viceroy
A governor or ruler exercising authority on behalf of a sovereign in a province or colony
Audiencias
Courts appointed by the king who reviewed the administration of viceroys serving Spanish colonies in America.
Commerical Revolution
The transformation to a trade-based economy using gold and silver.
Maroons
Runaway slaves who gathered in mountainous, forested, or swampy areas and formed their own self-governing communities, raided plantations for supplies, had military skills from Africa.