the age of discovery Flashcards
conquistador
one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century
colony
a group of people who leave their native country to form in a new land a settlement subject to, or connected with, the parent nation.
mercantilism
mercantile practices or spirit; commercialism
balance of trade
the difference between the values of exports and imports of a country, said to be favorable or unfavorable as exports are greater or less than imports
the compass
A compass is an instrument used for navigation and orientation that shows direction relative to the geographic “cardinal directions”, or “points”.
joint stock company
an association of individuals in a business enterprise with transferable shares of stock, much like a corporation except that stockholders are liable for the debts of the business.
triangular trade
American History. a pattern of colonial commerce in which slaves were bought on the African Gold Coast with New England rum and then traded in the West Indies for sugar or molasses, which was brought back to New England to be manufactured into rum.
columbian exchange
The Columbian Exchange, or Grand Exchange, was the widespread transfer of animals, plants, culture, human populations, communicable diseases, technology and ideas between the American and Afro-Eurasian hemispheres in the 15th and 16th centuries, after Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage.
middle passage
the part of the Atlantic Ocean between the west coast of Africa and the West Indies: the longest part of the journey formerly made by slave ships.
treatry of tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed at Tordesillas on June 7, 1494, and authenticated at Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa.
henry the navigator
1394–1460, prince of Portugal, noted for his patronage of Portuguese voyages of exploration of the W coast of Africa
christopher columbus
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean.
vasco de gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and, in this way, the West and the Orient.
hernan cortes
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century.
zheng he
Zheng He, formerly romanized as Cheng Ho, was a Hui court eunuch, mariner, explorer, diplomat, and fleet admiral during China’s early Ming dynasty. Born Ma He, Zheng commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433.