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Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.

Vasco de Gama

A Portugese sailor who was the first European to sail around southern Africa to the Indian Ocean

Encomienda

A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as laborers on it

Entrepreneur

A person who organizes, manages, and takes on the risks of a business.

Triangular Trade

A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Aferica sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

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

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of capital

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins.

Christopher Columbus

He mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.

Incas

Highly advanced South American civilization that occupied present-day Peru until it was conquered by Spanish forces under Francisco Pizarro in 1532. The Incas developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, such as terrace farming, in order to sustain large, complex societies in the unforgiving Andes Mountains.

Plantations

Huge farms that required a large labor force to grow crops

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)

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).

catographer

a person who makes maps

French and Indian War

a war in North America between France and Britain (both aided by indian tribes)

Colombian Exchange

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