Unit 4: Transoceanic Connection - 1450 to 1750 Flashcards
The magnetic compass was originally created for fortune telling in what country?
China
The astrolable allowed sailors to determine how far they were from what?
The equator
The caravel was developed in Portugal in the 15th century. What was it?
A small, three-masted ship
What did the caravel allow sailors to survive?
storms
What is cartography?
mapmaking
What are primogeniture laws?
Laws that give inheritance of estates to the eldest sons
European traders purchased what from the Americas?
Sugar, tobacco, and rum
European traders purchased what from Africa?
People
What five European countries became maritime empires based on trade?
- Spain
- Portugal
- Great Britain
- France
- Holland
European traders purchased what from Asia?
Silk, spices, and rhubarb
Prince Henry the Navigator was Portuguese prince who did what?
Prince Henry financed expeidtions to Africa’s Atlantic Coast and along the Cape of Good Hope, allowing Portuguese sailors to epxlore tehse places before other Europeans.
An astronomical chart helped sailors do what?
Determine their location based on the stars.
Ships were easier to control and moved better because of development of what piece of marine technology?
The rudder
The compass was discovered in the 12th century in what two areas of the world?
- Europe
- China
What shape is a lateen sail?
A triangle
What could a lateen sail do that made it very useful for sailors?
A lateen sail could catch the wind from either side of the ship.
A carrack, a Portuguese ship 150 feet long and equiped with a square and lateen sail on 3-4 masts, was used for what purpose?
Trade
A caravel, a Portuguese and Spanish ship 75 feet long with lateen sails on 2 or 3 masts, was used for what purpose?
Long voyages at great speed
A fluyt, a Dutch ship 80 feet long and equipped with square sales on 2-3- masts, was used for what purpose?
Trade
What was the one area of the world not really affected by progress in navigation techniques from the 15th to the 17th centuries?
Polynesia
In North Africa and trading cities along Africa’s east coast, what spread rapidly as the result of merchants and the Abassid Empire?
Islam
Peter the Great visited Western Europe in 1697 to observe what?
Military and naval technology
Christopher Columbus, credited with discovering the New World in 1492, was able to so because of the support of what two monarchs?
Spanish monarchs Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand
Gaining wealth was one motivator for European exploration and expansion, but what was another big motivator?
Conversion to religion
The theory of mercantilism meant a country had what two goals?
- Sell as many goods as possible to other countries to maximize the amount of gold and silver coming into the country
- Buy as few goods as possible from other countries to minimize the amount of gold and silver going out of the country.
Portugal was a small country, surrounded by Spanish kingdoms. This meant expansion required movement in what direction?
Overseas
Three people were instrumental in Portuguese exploration. Who were they?
- Prince Henry the Navigator
- Barthomew Diaz
- Vaco A Gama
Where did Bartholomew Diaz sail?
Around the southern tip of Africa - the Cape of Good Hope but he turned around because he was afraid of mutiny.
Where did Vasco De Gama sail?
Around the southern tip of Africa - the Cape of Good Hope all the way to India, claiming ports in the area for the Kingdom of Portugal.
Under Prince Henry the Navigator, what started being imported by sea into Portugal instead of by land?
slaves
China’s exploration of the outside world came to an end in the 1430s with the final voyage of which Chinese explorer?
Zheng He
China wasn’t alone for too long. In 1514, Portuguese traders arrived in China. After the traders arrived, who came next?
Catholic priest missionairies
Portugal had a trading post empire, which was an empire based on what instead of large areas of land?
A trading post empire was based on small outposts in remote locations, creating control over markets.
Portugal was small kingdom and its merchants didn’t always obey its rulers. Because of its weakness, what country was able to capture Portugal’s outpost in Malacca?
Holland (The Dutch)
The Chinese weren’t too impressed with Catholic missionaires, but Portuguese Catholic missionaires were able to gain a lot of converts in which nearby country?
Japan
Did Japanese rulers allow Catholocism to stick around Japan?
Nope. Japanese rulers expelled missionaries and outlawed Catholocisim in the 16th century.
What country’s ships were the first to circumnavigate the globe?
Spain
What sailor’s voyage was the first to circumnavigate the globe?
Ferdinand Magellan, even though he died on the voyage in the Phillipines.
When Magellan’s fleet arrived in the Phillipines in 1521, they annexed the islands for Spain. When Spain returned in 1565 to claim its land, how did the Filipinos react?
They put up a HUGE resistance.
What city in the Phillipines became a Spanish commerical center, attracting Chinese merchants?
Manila
European interest in the Americas was rekindled when explorers came into contact with two major empires?
- The Incas in South America
- The Aztecs in mesoamerica.
What country was especially excited about silver from the Americas?
China
French, English and Dutch explorers all tried to find a route through or around North America that would lead to East Asia. What was this fabled but nonexistent route called?
The Northwest Passage
Looking for the Northwest Passage, French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed from France to the St. Lawrence river along the northern border of what is now the United States. He didn’t find the Nortwest Passage, but he did managed to claim what for France?
Land that is now part of Canada
What two prominent French explorers discovered and claimed land in North America for France?
Jacques Cartier
Samuel De Champlain
What did French explorers name the trading post and town they established in North America?
Quebec
Instead of demanding land like the English or the Spanish, French explorers rarely settled lands permanently. What did they do instead?
Traded with the Native Americans
What countries explorers were much preferred by Native Americans?
France
John Cabot was sent by what country to find the Northwest Passage?
England
In 1588, there was a massive naval battle between what two countries in English channel?
Spain and England
Who won the battle between England’s navy and the Spanish Armada?
England’s navy kicked the Spanish Armada’s butt, destroying 2/3 of Spanish ships in the battle.
In 1607, about 100 English colonists travelled inland 60 miles from the eastern coast of North America to build a settlement on the James River. What was its name?
Jamestown
The first colonies in what is now the U.S. were Spanish settlements located in what two modern U.S. states?
- New Mexico
- Florida
In 1609, the Dutch sent a man to explore the east coast of North America. What was his name?
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson tried to find the Northwest Passage by doing what?
Sailing on a river that would later be named after him - the Hudson River
Because of Henry Hudson’s explorations, the Dutch laid claim to what two areas?
- The Hudson Valley
- The island of Manhattan
What did the Dutch name their settlement on Manhattan Island?
New Amsterdam (Even old New York was once New Amersterdam).
The Dutch used New Amsterdam as a hub for trade. What did the Dutch buy and ship to Europe from New Amsterdam?
- Furs from Canada
- Tobacco from the South
What was the Columbian Exchange?
The exchange between European and Indigenous American cultures of disesase, food, animals and other things.
Spanish conquistadores brought what disease with them?
Smallpox
The spread of disease brought by Europeans killed up to 90 percent of Indgenous people in some areas of the Americas. Aside from smallpox, what other diseases did Europeans bring?
Measles
new kinds of influenza
malaria
What are some of the animals Europeans brought to the Americas?
- pigs
- cows
- horses
What are some of the new foods Europeans took back home from the Americas?
- Corn
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Beans
- Peppers
6, Cacao
Enslaved africans were brough to the Americas. Slaves brought what foods to the Americas with them?
Okra
Rice
Yams
Manioc
and gumbo, a food prepared wih these ingredients and local seafood
The American center of the Portuguese Empire was located where?
Brazil
What crop did Portugal cultivate in Brazil, causing it to import large numbers of African slaves after it infected and killed too many natives to do its work
Sugarcane
In Brazil, sugar panlantions processed so much sugar they were referred to as “engenhos”, a Portuguese word meaning what?
Engines
Europeans impacted the Americas environmentally in a many ways. What are some of the ways they did this?
- Deforestation from clear cutting for settlements
- Soil depletion from growing the same crops over and over again
- Strained water resources from population density
- Animals overgrazed and spread disease
What is a cash crop?
A cash crop is grown for sale and not subsistence - e.g. Phillip the Farmer sells his tobacco for money, he does not grow it to feed his family.
Africans stolen from their homes and brough to the Americas weren’t able to keep their native languages. To communicate with each other, they combined the language of colonizers with their home languages. What was the name for the group of languages resulting from these mashups?
Creole
What was the effect of enslaved Africans bringing their music to the Americas?
African music influenced the development of uniquely American forms of music by synthesizing African music patterns with European Christian music. Ultimately jazz, the blues, samba, rock and roll, r & b and many other forms of modern American music exist because of African influence.
Indentured servitude
A person agreed to work for specified period of time in exchange to passage to the Americas
Chattel slavery
Individual humans are seized and enslaved. They were bought and sold like chattel, personal property.
The expansion of maritime empires supported the growth of some African states. Name two:
- Kingdom of the Kongo
- Asante Empire
In 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama invaded Swahili City-States in East Africa. Why did he do this?
The Portuguese wanted control trade going through the Indian Ocean.
While Europe was expanding its trade networks, Japan was doing what?
Sharply restricting contact with the outside world. By 1630, the Japanese had expelled nearlly all foreigners.
The Ming Dynasty tried to limit outside influence on China by restricting what?
Trade
During the 1600s, what were the three competing European powers in India?
England,
France,
Portugal
Britain gained control of most of the sub-contintent of India by doing what?
Taking advantage of the conflicts between Muslims and Hindus and making treaties with local rulers.
The EIC stands for what (a country’s trading company)
East India Company
The British set up trading pots in West Africa, but their spread was limited by what?
The Asante Empire
Who overthrew the Aztec forces and established the colony of New Spain?
Hernán Cortés
Mexico City was built on the ruins of what great Aztec city?
Tenochtitlan
Francisco Pizarro and his crew attacked the Inca and captured their ruler. What was the Incan ruler’s name?
Atahualpa
What ransom did the Spanish demand from the Inca to get their ruler back?
A large room filled with gold
Did the Inca get their ruler back?
Nope. The Spanish got the gold and then killed Atahualpa anyway.
Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the Americas between them in what treaty?
The Treaty of Tordesillas - 1494
Slavery had what affect on African communities
Population declined
Disrupted family structure
Set up social classes
Enslaved East Africans were sold to people buyers who were located in what three areas?
- North Africa
- The Middle East
- India
For African slaves, the awful journey from Africa to the Americas on a slave ship was called what?
The Middle Passage
What were two things brought by Europeans to the Americas that helped the Indigenous peoples with hunting?
- Horses
- Firearms
What is a significant artifact we can look at to see the presence of Europeans in West Africa in the 16th century?
artwork
What are four things the Ming Dynasty did to control foreign influence over China?
- Destroyed dockyards
- Restricted trade
- Limited the size of ship that could be built
- Expanded the Great Wall
Spain established colonies in Mesoamerica and South America. What part of North America did Spain also colonize?
St. Augustine on the east coast of Florida
The Iroquois were initially allies of the British? Why did they switch sides to become allies with the French?
The British wanted to snatch and exploit Iroquois land. The French just wanted to be present and trade furs.
The North American portion of the war between the French and British in the 1700s was called what?
The French and Indian War
Did European influence in the Indian Ocean and European countries taking over trading ports really affect trade?
Not especially. Merchants were used to paying taxes and they were always free to choose another port if one port became to expensive.
What European country took over control of many ports in the Indian Ocean in the 1400 and 1500s?
Portugal
Many of the Indian Ocean ports were controlled by powers who used religion and culture influence to gain power, but what did Portugal use to gain control.
Gunpowder fueled ranged weapons. GUNS!
What was the name of the island Columbus gave to what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic?
Hispaniola
Columbus thought gold was plentiful when he first went to Hispaniola. Was he right?
No. Gold is very sparse in the Caribbean. He did find a lot of natives to kidnap, rape, torture and kill though.
What was the Encomienda system?
A system established by the Spanish to extract as many American resources as possible. Encomenderos were landowners who used indigenous labor for work in exchange for food and shelter. The food and shelter offered to natives was really no more than resources from their own stolen land. The Encomienda System was nothing more than coercive labor.
What was the Hacienda system?
The Hacienda System was a slight evolution of the Encomienda System. Ultimately, it was still the Spanish landowners treating indigenous people like serfs.
How did a lot of Spanish landowners get their land?
Conquistadors would be granted land by the Spanish crown.
What precious metal was discovered in Mexico and Peru that gave a major boost to Spain’s treasury?
Silver
How did the Spanish get silver out of silver ore?
- Native labor
- Mercury
The Mit’a System originally belonged to the Incas, but what did the Spanish do with it?
Used it to exploit native labor.
Why didn’t the Europeans use more coerced indigenous labor instead of importing slaves?
They tried HARD.
Ultimately, too many natives died from disease and the survivors were really good at escaping in familiar lands.
What were some advantages of African slaves?
They never got to be free
They weren’t familiar with the Americas
What is a barracoon or a slave castle?
A place where slaves were kept before they were put on a ship
