Chapter 16 Key Terms Flashcards
Christopher Columbus
an Italian explorer who made 4 voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic monarchs, opening way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas.
Conquistadores
explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadores sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, Oceania, Africa, and Asia, colonizing and opening trade routes.
Aztec Empire
an alliance of three Nahua city-states: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan
Inca Empire
the largest empire in Pre-Columbian America, it rose from the Peruvian Highlands sometime in the early 13th century
Hernán Cortés
a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico under the rule of the king of Castile in the early 16th century.
Francisco Pizarro
a Spanish conquistador, best known for for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Treaty of Tordesillas
divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire, along a meridian off the west coast of Africa.
Jacques Cartier
a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River
Samuel de Champlain
a French explorer who made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, and founded Quebec, and New France
New France
the territory colonized by France in North America
Jamestown
the first permanent English settlement in the New World
Henry Hudson
an English sea explorer and navigator, best known for for his explorations of present day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States
Caravel
a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean
smallpox
one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity and caused millions of deaths before it was eradicated. It is believed to have existed for at least 3000 years.
Hispaniola
the name Colombus gave to the island now occupied by Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Columbian Exchange
swap of Old and New World germs, animals, plants, peoples, and cultures
Mit’a system
a colonial system in Peru by which the Spanish government required Indians to perform periodic forced labor, especially in the mines.
Transatlantic slave trade
the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas
Indentured Servitude
someone who was under contract to work for an employer without pay for a set number of years in exchange for passage to America
Creoles
people of European descent who were born in the Americas
Peninsulares
pure blood, white Spaniards who were born in Spain but had moved to live in the Spanish colonies
Castas
the social organizing system that attempted to ascribe social status based on a person’s socio-cultural lineage
Mestizos
a person of mixed European and indigenous non-European ancestry in the former Spanish empire
Mulattoes
a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to offspring of a Spaniard and an African
Zambos
a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry
colonies
claimed land settled by immigrants from the home country
New Spain
the colony that Hernán Cortés formed after taking down the Aztec Empire
Tenochtitlan
the Aztec Empire’s capital
Mexico City
the capital of New Spain, which the Spaniards built on the ruins of the Aztec Empire
Atahualpa
the ruler of the Inca Empire who was captured by the Spanish
Lima
where the Spanish built their colonial capital after conquering the Incas
Viceroys
administrators and representatives of the Spanish Crown
Audiencias
royal courts where Spanish settlers could appeal viceroys decisions or policies
Quebec
a town and trading post established by the French in 1608
John Cabot
an explorer sent to North America by the English King to find a northwest passage
Virginia
where the English established Jamestown
New Amsterdam
a port town settled by the Dutch that they used as an important node in their transatlantic trade network
Potosí
a thriving center of silver mining in the Andes mountains in modern day Peru
Galleons
heavily armed Spanish ships that made their way across the Pacific Ocean to East Asia
sugarcane
a species of grass that is used for sugar that was grown in Brazil
Northwest passage
a route through or around North America that would lead to East Asia and was searched for by French English and Dutch explorers
Taínos
a group of Arawaks native to the Caribbean
Nahuatl
the language of the Aztec
Florentine Codex
one of the most widely cited sources about Aztec life before and after conquest created by a Spanish priest
Virgin of Guadalupe
a cult was created around her and Mexicans believed she could perform miracles
Vodun
a religion that is a descendant of West African animist traditions, practiced mainly in Haiti and includes elements of Catholicism
Santeria
a Cuban religion that combines Christianity and the traditions of the Aja people in Africa
Candomble
a Brazilian religion that combines Christianity with the traditions of the Yoruba in modern day Nigeria
Encomienda
a Spanish labor system used to gain access to gold and other resources where they compelled indigenous people to work for them in exchange for food and shelter
Encomenderos
landowners who compelled indigenous people to work for them in exchange for food and shelter
Engenhos
what sugar plantations were called when they were processing mass amounts of sugar. (this translates to “engine”)
cash crop
crops that are grown for sale rather than subsistence, such as sugar and tobacco
London Company
a joint-stock company headquartered in England that owned Jamestown
Tobacco
a native plant grown by several tribes of American Indians that proved profitable for Jamestown
