4.1 & 4.2 (1450-1750) Terms

Colombian Exchange

the transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Americas and Europe, Asia, and Africa

Incas

A Native American people who built a notable civilization in western South America in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The center of their empire was in present-day Peru. Francisco Pizarro of Spain conquered the empire.

Little Ice Age

A century-long period of cool climate that began in the 1590s. Its ill effects on agriculture in northern Europe were notable.

Eurocentrism

A form of ethnocentrism that uses European ethnic, national, religious, and linguistic criteria to judge other peoples and their cultures.

Primogeniture Laws

A system of inheritance in which the eldest son in a family received all of his father's land. The nobility remained powerful and owned land, while the 2nd and 3rd sons were forced to seek fortune elsewhere. Many of them turned to the New World for their financial purposes and individual wealth.

Omani-European Rivalry

A trade rivalry between the Muslim traders from Oman and the European Christian traders over the Indian Ocean Trade and trade settlements in Oman.

Lanteen Sail

A triangular sail used to sail against the wind.

Aztecs

Also known as Mexica, they created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax.

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought.

Zheng He

An imperial eunuch and Muslim, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa.

Astrolabe

An instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets.

New Amsterdam

Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. This later became "New York City"

Trading Post Empire

Empire based on small trading outposts, rather than control of large territories, usally along important seat trade routes.

John Cabot

English explorer who claimed Newfoundland for England while looking for Northwest Passage.

Quebec

First permanent French settlement in North America, founded by Samuel de Champlain.

New France

French colony in North America, with a capital in Quebec, founded 1608. New France fell to the British in 1763.

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer in Nova Scotia who established a settlement on the site of modern Quebec (1567-1635)

Jacques Cartier

French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence river and laid claim to the region for France (1491-1557)

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator who "discovered" the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506).

Vasco da Gama

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

Ferdinand Magellan

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

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

The Great Dying

Term used to describe the devastating demographic impact of European-borne epidemic diseases on the Americas.

General Crisis

The effects of the Little Ice Age across the world, which led to the growth of the Sahara, difficulty in growing food, and epidemics. Caribbean region caused additional rain, which led to more mosquito breeding and malaria increases.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, found in East Virginia

New World

The name given by Europeans to the Americas, which were unknown to most Afro-Eurasians before the voyages of Christopher Columbus.

Old World

The regions of the world that were known to Afro-Eurasian people before the discovery of the Americas (Africa, Asia, and Europe).

Cartography

The science or art of making maps

Prince Henry the Navigator

This was the Portuguese Prince that gave financial to the navigators and helped to expand the Portuguese Maritime Empire through his efforts.

Missionaries

a person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country.

compass

an instrument containing a magnetized pointer that shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it.

Maritime Empires

empires based on sea travel