Vasco de Gama
Portuguese mariner, first European to reach India by sea in 1498
Christopher Columbus
Italian navigator in the service of Aragon and Castile; sailed west to find a route to India and instead came upon the Americas in 1492
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese captain in Spanish service; began the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1519; died during voyage; allowed Spain to claim possession of Philippines
East India Companies
British, French, and Dutch trading companies that obtained government monopolies of trade to India and Asia; acted independently in their regions
World economy
Created by Europeans during the late 16th century; based on control of the seas; established an international exchange of foods, diseases, and manufactured products
Columbian Exchange
Interaction between Europe and the Americas; millions of native Americans died from the entry of new diseases; New World crops spread to other world regions; European and Asian animals came to the Americas
Lepanto
Naval battle between Spain and the Ottoman Empire resulting in Spanish victory in 1571; demonstrated European naval superiority over Muslims
Core nations
Nations, usually European, that profited from the world economy; controlled international banking and commercial services; exported manufactured goods and imported raw materials
Mercantilism
The colonial economic policy, by which a colonizing nation must import only from its own colonies, but sell exports widely as well
Dependent economic zones
Regions within the world economy that produced raw materials; dependent upon European markets and shipping; tendency to build systems based on forced and cheap labor
Mestizos
People of mixed European and Native American heritage
Vasco de Balboa
Lived 1474?-1517; Spanish adventurer; explored Central America
Francisco Pizarro
Lived 1478-1541; Spanish explorer; arrived in the Americas in 1502; joined Balboa in Panama then successfully attacked the Inca empire
New France
French colonies in Canada and elsewhere; extended along St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes and down Mississippi River valley system
Atlantic colonies
British colonies in North America along Atlantic coast from New England to Georgia
Treaty of Paris
Concluded in 1763 following the Seven Years' War; Britain Gained New France and ended France's importance in India
Cape Colony
Dutch colony established at Cape of Good Hope in 1652 to provide a coastal station for Dutch ships traveling to and from Asia; settlers expanded and fought with Bantu and other Africans
Boers
Dutch and other European settlers in Cape Colony before 19th century British occupations; later called
Calcutta
British East India Company headquarters in Bengal; captured in 1756 by Indians; later became administrative center for populous Bengal
Seven Years' War
Fought in Europe, Africa, and Asia between 1756 and 1763; the first worldwide war
Italian Renaissance
14th and 15th century movement influencing political forms, literature, and the arts; consisted largely of a revival of classical culture
Niccolo Machiavelli
Author of "The Prince;"emphasized realistic discussions of how to seize and maintain power
Humanism
Philosophy, or ideology, with a focus on humanity as the center of intellectual and artistic endeavor
Northern Renaissance
Cultural and intellectual movement of northern Europe; influenced by earlier Italian Renaissance; centered in France, Low Countries, England, and Germany; featured greater emphasis on religion than the Italian Renaissance
Francis I
King of France who reigned 1494 to 1547; one of many monarchs of the Renaissance period that were influential through their patronage of the arts
Johannes Gutenberg
Introduced moveable type to western Europe in the 15th century; greatly expanded the availability of printed materials
European-style family
Emerged in the 15th century; involved a later marriage age and a primary emphasis on the nuclear family
Martin Luther
German Catholic monk who initiated the Protestant Reformation; emphasized the primacy of faith for gaining salvation in place of Catholic sacraments; rejected papal authority
Protestantism
General wave of religious dissent against the Catholic church; formally began with Martin Luther in 1517
Anglican church
Form of Protestantism in England established by Henry VIII
Jean Calvin
French Protestant who stressed doctrine of predestination; established center of his group in Geneva; in the long run encouraged wider public education and access to government
Catholic Reformation
Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation; reformed and revived Catholic doctrine
Jesuits
Catholic religious order founded during Catholic Reformation; active in politics, education, and missionary work outside of Europe
Edict of Nantes
1598 grant of tolerance in France to French Protestants after lengthy civil wars between Catholics and Protestants
Thirty Years War
War from 1618 to 1648 between German Protestants and their allies and the Holy Roman emperor and Spain; caused great destruction
Treaty of Westphalia
Ended Thirty Years War in 1648; granted right of individual rulers and cities to choose their own religion for their people; Netherlands gained independence
English Civil War
Conflict from 1640 to 1660; included religious and constitutional issues concerning the powers of the monarchy; ended with restoration of a limited monarchy
Proletariat
Class of people without access to producing property; usually manufacturing workers, paid laborers in agriculture, or urban poor; product of the economic changes of the 16th and 17th centuries
Witchcraft persecution
Outburst reflecting uncertainties about religious truth and resentments against the poor, especially women
Scientific Revolution
process culminating in Europe during the 17th Century; period of empirical advances associated with the development of wider theoretical generalizations; became a central focus of Western culture
Copernicus
Polish monk and astronomer; disproved Hellenistic belief that the sun was at the center of the universe
Johannes Kepler
Resolved basic issues of planetary motion and accomplished important work in optics
Galileo
Publicized Copernicus's findings; added own discoveries concerning the laws of gravity and planetary motion; condemned by the Catholic Church for his work
William Harvey
English physician who demonstrated the circular movement of blood in animals and the function of the heart as a pump
René Descartes
Philosopher who established the importance of the skeptical review of all received wisdom; argued that human wisdom could develop laws that would explain the fundamental workings of nature
Isaac Newton
English scientist; author of "Principia;" drew the various astronomical and physical observations and wider theories together in a neat framework of natural laws; established principles of motion and defined forces of gravity
Deism
Concept of God during the Scientific Revolution; the role of divinity was limited to setting natural laws in motion
John Locke
English philosopher who argued that people could learn everything through their senses and reason; argued that the power of government came from the people, not from the divine right of kings; they had the righto overthrow tyrants
Absolute monarchy
Concept of government developed during the rise of the nation-state in western Europe during the 17th century; monarchs held the absolute right to direct their state
Louis XIV
French king who personified absolute monarchy
Glorious Revolution
English political settlement of 1688 and 1689 which affirmed that parliament had basic sovereignty over the king
Frederick the Great
Prussian king who introduced Enlightenment reforms; included freedom of religion and increased state control of the economy
Enlightenment
Intellectual movement centered in France during the 18th century; argued for scientific advance, the application of scientific methods to study human society; believed that rational laws could describe social behavior
Adam Smith
Established new school of economic thought; argued that governments should avoid regulation of economics in favor of the free play of market forces
Mary Wollstonecraft
Enlightenment English feminist thinker; argued that political rights should be extended to women
Ivan III, the Great
Prince of Duchy of Moscow; responsible for freeing Russia from the Mongols; took the title of Tsar (Caesar)
Ivan IV, the Terrible
Confirmed power of tsarist autocracy by attacking the authority of the boyars; continued policy of expansion; established contacts with western Europe commerce and culture
Cossacks
Peasant-adventurers with agricultural and military skills; recruited to conquer and settle in newly seized lands in southern Russia and Siberia
Time of Troubles
Early 17th century period of boyar efforts to regain power and foreign invasion following the death without an heir of Ivan the IV; ended with the selection of Michael Romanov as tsar in 1613
Romanov Dynasty
ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917
Alexis Romanov
Second Romanov ruler; abolished assemblies of nobles; gained new powers over the Orthodox Church
Old Believers
Conservative Russians who refused to accept the ecclesiastical reforms of Alexis Romanov; many were exiled to southern Russia or Siberia
Peter I, the Great
Tsar from 1689 to 1725; continued growth of absolutism and conquest; sought to change selected aspects of the economy and culture through imitation of western European models
St. Petersburg
Baltic city, made the new capital of Russia by Peter I
Catherine the Great
German-born Russian tsarina; combined receptivity to selective Enlightenment ideas with strong centralizing policies; converted the nobility to a service aristocracy by granting them new power over the peasantry
Partition of Poland
Three separate divisions of Polish territory between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793, and 1795; eliminated Poland as an independent state
Pugachev rebellion
Unsuccessful peasant rising led by Cossack Emelyan Pugachev during the 1770s; typical of peasant unrest during the 18th century and thereafter
Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile
Monarchs of Christian kingdom; their marriage created the kingdom of Spain; initiated exploration of New World
Encomiendas
Grants of estates Indian laborers made to Spanish conquerors and settlers in Latin America; established a framework for relations based on economic dominance
Hispaniola
First island in Caribbean settled by Spaniards by Columbus on his second voyage
Bartolomé de las Casas
Dominican friar who supported peaceful conversion of Native American population; opposed forced labor and advocated Indian rights
Hernán Cortés
Led expedition to Mexico in 1519; defeated Aztec Empire and established Spanish colonial rule
Moctezuma II
Last independent Aztec ruler; killed during Cortés's conquest
Mexico City
Capital of New Spain built on ruins of Tenochtitlan
New Spain
Spanish colonial possessions in Mesoamerica in territories once part of Aztec imperial system
Francisco Vácquez de Coronado
Led Spanish expedition into the southwestern United States in search of gold
Pedro de Valdivia
Spanish conqueror of Araucanian Indians of Chile; established city of Santiago in 1541
Mita
Forced labor system replacing Indian slaves and encomienda workers; used to mobilize labor for mines and other projects
Colombian Exchange
Biological and ecological exchange that occurred following European arrival in the New World; peoples of Europe and Africa came to the Americas; animals, plants, and diseases moved between Old and New Worlds
Potosí
Largest New World silver mine; located in Bolivia
Huancavelica
Greatest mercury deposit in South America; used in American silver production
Haciendas
Rural agricultural and herding estates; produced for consumers in America; basis for wealth and power of local aristocracy
Consulado
Merchant guild of Seville with a virtual monopoly over goods shipped to Spanish America; handled much of silver shipped in return
Galleons
Large, heavily armed ships used to carry silver from New World colonies to Spain; basis of convoy system utilized for transportation of bullion
Treaty of Tordesillas
Concluded in 1494 between Castile and Portugal; clarified spheres of influence and rights of possession; in the New World Brazil went to Portugal and the rest to Spain
Recopilación
Body of laws collected in 1681 for Spanish New World possessions; bases of law in the Indies
Council of the Indies
Spanish government body that issued all laws and advised king on all issues dealing with New World colonies
Letrados
University-trained lawyers from Spain; basic personnel of the Spanish colonial bureaucratic system
Viceroyalties
Major divisions of Spanish New World colonies headed by direct representatives of the king; one based in Lima, the other in Mexico City
Audiencia
Royal courts of appeals established in Spanish New World colonies; staffed by professional magistrates who made and applied laws
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
17th century author, poet, and musician of New Spain; gave up secular concerns to concentrate on spiritual matters
Pedro Alvares Cabral
Portuguese leader of an expedition to India; landed Brazil in 1500
Captaincies
Areas along the Brazilian coast granted to Portuguese nobles for colonial development
Paulistas
Backwoodsmen from Sao Paulo, Brazil; penetrated Brazilian interior in search of precious metals during the 17th century
Minas Gerais
Brazilian region where gold was discovered in 1695, a gold rush followed
Rio de Janeiro
Brazilian port used for mines of Minas Gerais; became capital in 1763
Sociedad de castas
Spanish American social system based on racial origins; European on top, mixed race in the middle, Indians and African slaves at the bottom
Peninsulares
Spanish-born residents of the New World
Creoles
People of European ancestry born in Spanish New World colonies; dominated local economies; ranked socially below peninsulares
Amigos del país
Clubs and associations dedicated to reform in Spanish colonies; flourished during the 18th century; called for material improvement rather than political reform
War of the Spanish Succession
1702-1713; wide-ranging war fought between European nations; resulted in the installation of Philip of Anjou as king of Spain
Charles III
Enlightened Spanish monarch; lived 1759 to 1788; instituted fiscal, administrative, and military reforms in Spain and its empire
José de Galvez
Spanish minister of the Indies and chief architiect of colonial reform; moved to eliminate creoles from the upper colonial bureaucracy; created intendants for local government
Marquis of Pombal
Prime Minister of Portugal from 1755 to 1776; strengthened royal authority in Brazil, expelled the Jesuits, enacted fiscal reforms, and established monopoly companies to stimulate the colonial economy
Comunero Revolt
A popular revolt against Spanish rule in New Granada in 1718; suppressed due to government concessions and divisions among rebels