Unit 4

Question 1

caravel

Answer 1

small, highly maneuverable ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic; used for long voyages at great speed from 15th - 17th centuries; used for exploration, not trade

Question 2

carrack

Answer 2

large trading merchant ship operating in European waters (especially by the Portuguese) 14th- 17th century

Question 3

fluyt

Answer 3

Dutch sailing vessel that allowed them to control the Baltic trade; designed to facilitate transoceanic delivery with max space and crew efficiency; used from 16th to 17th centuries

Question 4

Henry the Navigator

Answer 4

(1394-1460) Portuguese prince who promoted the study of navigation and directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa; sponsored seafaring expeditions to search for an all-water route to the east; imported enslaved Africans

Question 5

Vasco da Gama

Answer 5

Portuguese explorer.; 1497-1498 he led the first naval expedition from Europe to sail to India, opening an important commercial sea route for Europeans

Question 6

Ferdinand Magellan

Answer 6

Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world.

Question 7

trading post empire

Answer 7

imperial dominance based on control of trade rather than on control of subject peoples; practiced by Europeans in the Indian Ocean as they took over trade from Arab and Muslim merchants

Question 8

Christopher Columbus

Answer 8

Italian navigator who discovered the New World (in 1492) in the name of Spain while searching for a direct sea route to access Indian Ocean trade

Question 9

Columbian Exchange

Answer 9

exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus’ voyages.

Question 10

Mercantilism

Answer 10

economic system where nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold/silver and by exporting more goods than they imported; colonies were crucial in the accumulation of wealth; prevalent from 16th - 19th centuries.

Question 11

The Great Dying

Answer 11

the devastating demographic impact of European-borne epidemic diseases (like smallpox and measles) in the Americas following European conquest; anywhere from 50-90% of indigenous peoples were killed by European diseases

Question 12

chattel slavery

Answer 12

absolute legal ownership of another person, including the right to buy or sell that person; the form of slavery utilized in the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade

Question 13

mita system

Answer 13

economic system in Inca society where Inca subjects paid “taxes” with their labor and what they produced for a set period of time each year; later exploited by the Spanish as they forced Incas to mine silver

Question 14

indentured servitude

Answer 14

worker bound by a voluntary agreement to work for a specified period of years often in return for free passage to an overseas destination; before 1800 (19th century) most were Europeans; after 1800 most indentured laborers were South or East Asians

Question 15

encomienda

Answer 15

grant of land made by Spain to a Spanish settler in the Americas, including the right to use local indigenous peoples as laborers on the farm

Question 16

hacienda

Answer 16

Spanish estates in the Americas that were often plantations; they represent the gradual removal of land from peasant ownership and a type of feudalistic order where the owners would have agreements of loyalty but would retain control over the actual land; continued into the 20th century.

Question 17

joint-stock company

Answer 17

exploration company made up of a group of shareholders; each shareholder contributed money to the company and received some share of the company’s profits and debts; used by European rulers to finance exploration and were used by rulers to compete against one another in global trade

Question 18

royal chartered monopoly companies

Answer 18

groups of private investors who paid an annual fee to France and England in exchange for a monopoly over trade to Indian Ocean colonies

Question 19

Vodun

Answer 19

New World syncretic faith that combines the animist faiths of West Africa with Roman Catholic Christianity; evidence of the syncretism created when European and African beliefs merged in the Americas; AKA voodoo

Question 20

Santeria

Answer 20

originated in Cuba, a religion that blends African traditions and Roman Catholic beliefs/practices; evidence of the syncretism created when European and African beliefs merged in the Americas

Question 21

casta paintings

Answer 21

Spanish-commissioned paintings that showed the racial mixing of New World families; illustrated the importance of European ancestry in the social hierarchy of Latin America

Question 22

mestizo

Answer 22

term used by Spanish authorities to describe someone of mixed native American and European descent

Question 23

mulatto

Answer 23

term used in Spanish and Portuguese colonies to describe someone of mixed African and European descent.

Question 24

Creoles

Answer 24

Descendants of Spanish-born but born in Latin America; resented inferior social, political, economic status.

Question 25

peninsulares

Answer 25

Spanish-born upper class individuals who immigrated to Latin America; highest social class and given special privileges and the highest political positions in Latin American governments

Question 26

the Fronde

Answer 26

series of violent uprisings during the early reign of Louis XIV (1648 - 1653) caused by growing royal control and increased taxation; inspired Louis XIV to take total political control in fear of a future uprising

Question 27

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

Answer 27

a rebellion of enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia led by former enslaved person Nat Turner in 1831; one example of resistance to existing authorities in the Americas

Question 28

British East India Company

Answer 28

British joint-stock company that controlled most of India during the period of imperialism.; controlled the political, social, and economic life in India for more than 200 years.

Question 29

Dutch East India Company

Answer 29

Dutch-chartered joint-stock company that controlled the spice trade in the East Indies.

Question 30

Triangular Trade

Answer 30

three-way system of trade during 1600-1800s whereby Africa sent enslaved people to the Americas, the Americas sent raw materials (like sugar, tobacco) to Europe, and Europe sent guns and rum to Africa in exchange for enslaved Africans

Question 31

coercive labor

Answer 31

any labor system that involves force (slavery, chattel slavery, serfdom, Spanish run mita system, and indentured labor)

Question 32

bullion

Answer 32

gold and silver in the form of bars