AP World Unit 4 Vocab

Isolationist

Definition: A person or group that believes that keeping the affairs of other countries at a distance is what's best. This especially applies for the political or religious affairs of other countries. Historical Significance: Japan self-imposed isolation by ordering Christian missionaries to leave, and banning Christianity in Japan. Japan was isolated from outside influences by restraining merchants from entering the land and restricting travel of Japanese ships.

Lateen Sail

Definition: A ship sail in the shape of a triangle. Lateen sails were used by Arab sailors in the Indian Ocean. They could catch winds on either side of the ship, allowing it to travel in different directions, unlike other square sails that came before them. Historical Significance: A pivotal piece of technology that significantly affected medieval navigation and trade. Allowed sailors to successfully travel into large bodies of water, including oceans, for the first time, thus expanding trade routes.

Chattel Slavery

Definition: A system in which individuals were considered as property to be bought and sold. American plantations relied on Chattel slavery in order to thrive. Historical Significance: The growth of the plantation economy increased the demand for slaves in the Americas. Slaves replaced indentured servants and other forms of labor and became the main source of labor.

Ottoman Timars

Definition: A system in which the sultan granted land or tax revenues to those he favored. The sultan also used timar to reward soldiers and keep them loyal. Historical Significance: The timars kept Ottoman officials happy. They kept officials, such as Janissaries, under control.

Casta System

Definition: A system of racial classification instituted by the Spanish. Was designed to ensure Spanish-European dominance in New Spain. Historical Significance: The Casta system was very important in the Spanish colonies because it dictated one's social status, level of taxation, and legal rights.

Trading-post empire

Definition: An empire that is based on small outposts, rather than control of large territories. Trading post empires were used by the Portuguese. Historical Significance: Helped the Portuguese ensure control of trade. Helped them establish a monopoly over the spice trade in the area and to license all vessels trading between Malacca and Hormuz.

Columbian exchange

Definition: An exchange of goods, diseases, people, animals, and food from one hemisphere to the other. Linked the Western and Eastern hemispheres. Historical Significance: Resulted in dramatic changes in increases and decreases in population and biodiversity. It also contributed to a changing global economy. It changed the course of history and affected many people around the world.

Joint-stock company

Definition: An organization created to pool in resources and skills of many merchants, thereby distributing the costs and risks of colonization and reducing danger for individual investors. They were supported by government charter. Historical Significance: Joint-stock companies such as the Virginia company, East India company, and Dutch East India company were the main joint-stock companies that helped fund exploration and trade within the Americas.

Hacienda System

Definition: Arose when landowners developed agriculture on their lands - wheat, fruit, vegetables, and sugar. They used coerced labor to work the fields. Historical Significance: The Spanish crown often granted land to conquistadores as a reward for their efforts. Helped make profit and was another form of labor used for economic motivations. This system also led to the need for slaves to the population decrease of the native Americans.

Indentured Servant

Definition: Arrangements through which servants contracted to work for a specified period of years for someone in exchange for passage. They were not permanent laborers. Historical Significance: Indentured servants were a vital part of early economies. However, people soon started to shift more towards slavery because slaves were permanent and landowners felt threatened by free indentured servants demanding land.

Ship Designs: carrack, caravel, fluyt

Definition: Carracks had square and lateen sails and masts used by the Portugal for trade in the 14th to 17th centuries. Caravels had lateen sails used by the Portuguese and Spanish for long voyages at great speed in the 15th to 17th centuries. Fluyt had square sails used by the Dutch for trade in the 16th to 17th century. Historical Significance: Advances in ships such as these resulted in rapid expansion of maritime exploration and trade. It allowed for exploration and trade to be more efficient, thus allowing much of the Columbian Exchange to happen.

Mercantilism

Definition: Economic theory to sell as many goods as possible to acquire maximum gold and silver, while buying as few as possible from other countries to minimize flow of precious metals out of the country. Historical Significance: Increased national wealth. Established idea that the government should actively regulate the economy.

Monopoly

Definition: Granted certain merchants or the government the exclusive right to trade. Helped maintain patterns of trade in trade networks. Historical Significance: During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Portuguese had complete control over the Spice trade in the Indian Ocean. This caused everyone who was not Portuguese to pay taxes just to get into the Indian Ocean. The Spanish government also established a monopoly over all the tobacco grown in the American colonies, profiting a lot from this.

Mita System

Definition: Incan labor obligation in which young men were required to devote a certain amount of labor to public works projects. Was transformed by the Spanish into a coerced labor system. Historical Significance: Spanish prospectors needed labor in order to flourish in the silver industry. They forced young men to do dangerous work in mines. The resulting flow of silver made the Spanish prospectors wealthy and strengthened the Spanish economy.

Great Dying

Definition: Massive epidemic caused by Old World diseases after the Columbia Exchange. With the introduction of new animals and livestock came the spread of disease. Historical Significance: The Great Dying killed 90% of the native population. Exposure to new animals and absence of immunities to Old World diseases caused millions of deaths.

Russian Boyars

Definition: Noble landowning class in Russia that topped the social pyramid. Below them were merchants and then peasants. Historical Significance: The boyars advised high ranking officials and helped make major decisions for the country. They were the major legislators of Kievan Rus.

Encomienda System

Definition: System established by the Spanish in the early 1500s to gain access to gold and other resources from the Americas. Indigenous people were compelled to work in exchange for food and shelter. Historical Significance: Encomienda was a coercive labor system notorious for its brutality and harsh living conditions. Negatively affected native populations in the Americas.

Cultural Synthesis

Definition: The blending of two or more cultural influences. The exchange of cultural features that results when groups of individuals have different cultures come into continuous contact. Historical Significance: Created new languages and religions. Resulted in a more diverse population and mixing of races and cultures, even leading to intermarriage.