Chapter 13: Worlds Entangled, 1600-1750 CE Vocab Flashcards
mercantilism
Economic theory that drove European empire builders. In this economic system, the world had a fixed amount of wealth, which meant one country’s wealth came at the expense of another’s. Mercantilism assumed that colonies existed for the sole purpose of enriching the country that controlled the colony.
chartered companies
Private firms that were awarded monopoly trading rights over vast areas by European monarchs (for example, the Virginia Company and the Dutch East India Company).
Little Ice Age
A period of global cooling—not a true ice age—that extended roughly from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The dates, especially for the start of the period, remain the subject of scientific controversy.
Mamluks
(Arabic for “owned” or “possessed”) Military men who ruled Egypt as an independent regime from 1250 until the Ottoman conquest in 1517.
Manchus
Descendants of the Jurchens who helped the Ming army recapture Beijing in 1644 after its seizure by the outlaw Li Zicheng. The Manchus numbered around 1 million but controlled a domain that included perhaps 250 million people. Their rule lasted more than 250 years and became known as the Qing dynasty.
Qing dynasty
(1644–1911) Minority Manchu rule over China that incorporated new territories, experienced substantial population growth, and sustained significant economic growth.
Canton system
System officially established by imperial decree in 1759 that required European traders to have Chinese guild merchants act as guarantors for their good behavior and payment of fees.
Tokugawa shogunate
Hereditary military administration founded in 1603 that ruled Japan while keeping the emperor as a figurehead; it was toppled in 1868 by reformers who felt that Japan should adopt, not reject, western influences.
Muscovy
The principality of Moscow. Originally a mixture of Slavs, Finnish tribes, Turkic speakers, and many others, Muscovy used territorial expansion and commercial networks to consolidate a powerful state and expanded to become the Russian Empire, a huge realm that spanned parts of Europe, much of northern Asia, numerous North Pacific islands, and even—for a time—a corner of North America (Alaska).
Thirty Years’ War
(1618–1648) Conflict begun between Protestants and Catholics in Germany that escalated into a general European war fought against the unity and power of the Holy Roman Empire.
enclosure
A movement in which landowners took control of lands that traditionally had been common property serving local needs.
absolute monarchy
Form of government in which one body, usually the monarch, controls the right to tax, judge, make war, and coin money. The term enlightened absolutist was often used to refer to state monarchies in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe.
Seven Years’ War
(1756-1763) Also known as the French and Indian War; worldwide war that ended when Prussia defeated Austria, establishing itself as a European power, and when Britain gained control of India and many of France’s colonies through the Treaty of Paris.
