AP World Packet 8 - European Colonization

Maritime Empires (Europe)

Empires that gained power and influence primarily through naval strength, controlling sea-based trade routes, and establishing overseas colonies. (The Spanish, Portuguese, British, Dutch).

Colony (Europe)

A territory under the political and economic control of another country, often used for resources and settlement.

Hispaniola (the Caribbean)

The first island colonized by Spain in the Caribbean (modern Haiti and Dominican Republic).

Jamestown (North America)

The first permanent English settlement in North America, established in Virginia in 1607.

Aztec Empire (Mexico)

A powerful Mesoamerican empire in central Mexico, ruled by the Mexica and conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1521.

Incan Empire (South America)

A vast South American empire centered in the Andes, ruled by an Andean civilization and conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1533.

Cuzco (South America)

The capital city of the Incan Empire in present-day Peru.

Llama (Latin America)

A domesticated animal native to the Andes used for transport, wool, and food.

New Spain (Latin America)

The Spanish colonial territory in the Americas that included Mexico, Central America, and parts of the U.S. Southwest.

Tenochtitlan (Mexico)

The Aztec capital city built on Lake Texcoco, now Mexico City.

Mexico City (Mexico)

The capital of modern Mexico, built by the Spanish atop the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

Lima (South America)

Capital of Spanish Peru, founded by Francisco Pizarro; major administrative and trade center.

Guangzhou (Canton) (East Asia)

Chinese port city where European trade was restricted under the Canton System.

Nagasaki (East Asia)

Japanese port city opened to limited European trade by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Goa (South Asia)

A Portuguese colony in India that served as a major Asian trading base.

Seville (Europe)

Spanish port city that held a monopoly on trade with the Americas during the 1500s.

Vera Cruz (Mexico)

Main Spanish port on the Gulf of Mexico for trade between New Spain and Europe.

Acapulco (Acapulco)

Pacific port in New Spain where the Manila Galleons connected Asia and the Americas.

Amsterdam (Europe)

Capital of the Dutch Republic; center of banking and trade during the Dutch Golden Age.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) (South America)

Agreement dividing the New World between Spain (west) and Portugal (east).

Bartolomé de Las Casas (Europe)

Spanish priest who advocated for the rights of Indigenous peoples against mistreatment.

Florentine Codex (Latin America)

A 16th-century ethnographic record of Aztec culture created by Bernardino de Sahagún.

Viceroys (Europe)

High-ranking royal governors who ruled Spanish or Portuguese colonies as the king's representative.

Viceroyalties (Latin America)

The main administrative divisions of the Spanish colonies in the Americas, with each governed by a Viceroy (ex. New Spain, Peru, New Granada).

Audiencias (Latin America)

Spanish councils of judges in colonial courts that handled legal matters, and served as the highest judicial bodies within the Viceroyalties.

Haciendas (Latin America)

Large agricultural estates, or plantations in the Spanish American colonies that controlled large areas of land, and utilized indigenous labor.

Rio de Janeiro (South America)

Major Portuguese colonial port city and later the capital of Brazil.

New Amsterdam (North America)

Dutch colonial settlement that later became New York City.

Manila (Southeast Asia)

Spanish colonial capital of the Philippines; key link in trans-Pacific trade with Mexico.

Boers (Southern Africa)

Dutch settlers (farmers) in South Africa who established the Cape Colony.

Cape Colony (Southern Africa)

Dutch colony at the southern tip of Africa, used as a resupply station for ships to Asia.

Sociedad de castas (Latin America)

Rigid social hierarchy in Spanish America based on race and ancestry.

Elites (Europe)

The highest social class in colonial societies, often Europeans or wealthy Creoles.

Creoles (Criollos) (Latin America)

People of European descent born in the Americas; often landowners but below Peninsulares.

Peninsulares (Europe)

Spaniards born in Spain who held top political and church positions in colonies.

Mestizos (Latin America)

People of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry.

Mulattoes (Latin America)

People of mixed European and African ancestry.

Zambos (Latin America)

People of mixed African and Indigenous ancestry.

African Diaspora (Africa)

The forced spread of African peoples through the trans-Atlantic Slave trade across the Americas and Europe.

Vodun (Voodoo) (West Africa & Caribbean)

Syncretic religion combining West African beliefs with Christianity, found in the Caribbean (especially Haiti).

Cult of Saints (Latin America)

Catholic practice where local people merged indigenous beliefs with devotion to Christian saints.

Virgin of Guadalupe (Mexico)

A Roman Catholic title for the Virgin Mary, and is a syncretic religious symbol of Mexico blending Catholic and Indigenous traditions; seen as a unifying figure for Mexicans.