European and Asian Commerce, Silver, Fur, and Slave Trade Flashcards

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Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer whose deliberate 1498 voyage to India established direct European maritime access to Asian spice markets.

Asian Spices

Highly sought Eastern commodities including nutmeg, clove, pepper, and cinnamon that drove European entry into global commerce.

Muslim Middlemen

Islamic merchants controlling Mediterranean and overland trade routes, prompting Europeans to seek direct sea routes to Asia.

Alexandria

Egyptian port city to which Venetian merchants sent ships to purchase Eastern goods, maintaining a European trade monopoly.

Prester John

A mythical Christian monarch in Asia whom Europeans hoped to form an alliance with to combat Islamic rivals.

Trading Post Empire

Form of imperial power created by the Portuguese aimed at controlling commerce through armed force rather than ruling land or populations.

Cartaz

A mandatory pass and tax payment required by the Portuguese from merchant vessels trading in the Indian Ocean.

Carrying Trade

The business of offering shipping services rather than selling home-country goods, which the Portuguese adopted in Asia.

Mombasa

A Portuguese trading post base established by military force on the East African coast.

Hormuz

A strategic Portuguese base captured by force at the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

Goa

A Portuguese commercial and naval base established on the western coast of India.

Malacca

A key Portuguese trading base seized by military force in Southeast Asia.

Macao

A Portuguese settlement on the coast of China acquired through bribery of local officials rather than force.

King Philip II

The Spanish ruler after whom the Philippine Islands were named during Spanish colonial establishment.

Mindanao

A southern island in the Philippines where Islam served as a focal point of resistance against Spanish colonization.

Manila

The colonial capital of the Spanish Philippines, which attracted large numbers of Chinese and Japanese residents.

1603 Chinese Massacre

An event in the Philippines where Spanish colonists killed nearly the entire Chinese population of 20,000 after anti-conversion resistance.

Dutch East India Company

A private joint-stock enterprise chartered by the Dutch government to hold trade monopolies, make war, and govern conquered territories.

British East India Company

A private joint-stock trading enterprise focused on India with settlements at Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras.

Joint-Stock Companies

Commercial enterprises funded by private investors who purchase shares, limiting individual risk in business ventures.

Banda Islands

Nutmeg-producing islands where the Dutch killed or enslaved nearly the entire population of 15,000 to maintain a trade monopoly.

Nutmeg, Mace, and Cloves

Indonesian spices monopolized by the Dutch and resold in Europe at 14 to 17 times their Indonesian price.

French East India Company

A state-chartered trading company established in 1644 in the Indian Ocean basin to compete in Asian commerce.

Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras

Three primary coastal trading settlements established by the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent.

Mughal Empire

The dominant empire in India that required the British East India Company to obtain trade permission through payments and bribes.

Indian Cotton Textiles

Manufactured goods produced in Indian interior villages that became a central trade item for the British East India Company.

State of Siam

A Southeast Asian kingdom that successfully expelled French military forces and merchants in 1688.

Daimyo

Feudal lords in Japan who commanded samurai warriors and initially welcomed European traders and technology.

Shogun

The supreme military commander who unified Japan in the early 17th century and later expelled European merchants.

Japanese Christian Converts

A population of roughly 300,000 Japanese who converted to Christianity before the Shogunate forcibly suppressed the faith.

Deshima

The single Japanese port location where Dutch traders were uniquely permitted to trade due to their lack of proselytizing.

Rangaku (Dutch Learning)

The study of European technology, science, and medical knowledge in Japan via Dutch contact, aiding 19th-century modernization.

Tokugawa Shogunate

The military regime that maintained Japan's self-imposed isolation from European commerce between 1650 and 1850.

Southeast Asian Women Merchants

Local female traders who maintained a prominent long-standing role in domestic and international commerce across Southeast Asian port cities.

Armenian Christian Merchants

A commercial network linking trade routes across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, the Philippines, and Mexico.

Virji Vora

Head of a wealthy Indian merchant family firm that monopolized pepper and coral, charging European traders 12% to 18% interest on loans.

Silver Trade

The global commerce system powered by silver mines in Bolivia and Japan, creating the first direct economic link between the Americas and Asia.

Pacific Web

The trade network transporting Spanish American silver from Bolivia and Mexico across the Pacific Ocean to Manila to acquire Asian goods.

Single Tax System (China)

Chinese imperial policy requiring all land taxes to be paid in silver, causing silver to flow into China's economy.

Silver Drain

The concept describing the ultimate siphon of the majority of global silver supplies into China and the rest of Asia.

Piece of Eight

The standard Spanish silver coin widely adopted globally as an international medium of exchange.

Potosi

A Bolivian city that grew to 160,000 people due to hosting the world's largest silver mining complex.

Potosi Businesswomen

Indian, mestiza, and European women in Potosi who ran taverns, bakeries, stores, and rented property in the mining economy.

Spanish Inflation

Economic decline in Spain triggered by an influx of silver, commercial monopolies, aristocratic preference for leisure, and religious uniformity.

General Crisis

A period of widespread political instability, global cold weather, and social rebellions during the 17th century.

Tokugawa Silver Management

The strategy by Japanese shoguns to use silver profits to defeat rivals, unify Japan, invest in agriculture, and protect forests.

Chinese Cash Crops

Agricultural specialization such as growing mulberry trees for silk, which led to the clearance of half of China's forests.

French Law of 1717

French legislation that banned wearing imported Indian cotton or Chinese silk to protect the domestic textile industry.

North American Beaver

An animal hunted to near extinction in North America due to intense European demand for fur pelts.

Little Ice Age

A period of global cooling that increased European demand and prices for warm furs, motivating transatlantic trade expansion.

St. Lawrence Valley

A North American river valley occupied by the French as a primary region for fur trade operations.

Hudson Bay

A northern region where British fur traders established operations to compete in pelt collection.

Hudson River

A river valley region occupied by Dutch traders to collect furs from Native American hunters.

Hurons

A Native American group that supplied 20,000 to 30,000 beaver pelts annually to the French before half their population died from disease.

Mourning Wars

Wars waged by Native American societies to capture people from other groups to integrate into communities reduced by disease.

Ginseng Root

A medicinal root harvested by the Iroquois and sold into global commercial markets destined for China.

Customary Restraint

The traditional Native American practice of hunting only what was needed, which broke down due to the European fur trade.

Alcohol in the Fur Trade

European trade goods including rum and brandy that produced severe addiction, binge drinking, and violence in Native communities.

Native Women in the Fur Trade

Indigenous women who married European men, serving as essential cross-cultural guides and interpreters in the pelt commerce.

Ojibwa Women's Economic Role

The transition of Native women toward processing furs while retaining trade authority over wild rice and maple syrup.

Soft Gold

A term for valuable Siberian animal furs that enriched the Russian state and drove eastward imperial expansion.

Siberian Fur Tax (Yasak)

A tax levied by Russia requiring native Siberian adult males to supply furs under threat of hostage execution.

Transatlantic Slave System

The human trade network that forcibly transported 12.5 million enslaved Africans to the Americas between 1500 and 1866.

Middle Passage

The oceanic voyage across the Atlantic in which 1.8 million enslaved Africans perished due to harsh conditions on slave ships.

African Diaspora

The global dispersal of African peoples and their cultural, religious, and culinary traditions across the Americas.

Old World Slavery

Slave trade practices prior to 1500 located in the Mediterranean and trans-Saharan regions, frequently relying on captives from southern Russia.

1565 Spanish Colonization

The establishment of Spanish colonial authority over the Philippine Islands using peaceful alliances, gifts, and favors to local chiefs.

1603 Manila Chinese Population

The Chinese merchant community of 20,000 living in Manila who were almost entirely killed by Spanish colonists in 1603.

1688 Expulsion of the French

The event in which the independent state of Siam successfully removed French forces from its territory.

500,000 Deer Pelts

The annual quantity of deerskins taken by hunters in southern British North American colonies for the English leather industry.

300,000 Japanese Converts

The peak size of the Christian population in Japan around 1650 before violent anti-Christian suppression by the Shogun.

85% of Global Silver

The proportion of the world's total silver supply produced by Spanish American colonies between 1450 and 1750.

12.5 Million Enslaved Africans

The total number of people shipped from Africa to the Americas during the history of the transatlantic slave trade.

1.8 Million Middle Passage Deaths

The estimated total number of enslaved Africans who died during the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

14 to 17 Times Spice Price

The price multiplier at which the Dutch East India Company sold monopolized Indonesian spices in European markets.