All flashcards
Flashcard 1: What Old World disease was most responsible for catastrophic Indigenous population decline after 1492?
Answer: Smallpox. No immunity meant 90% mortality in some Indigenous populations.
Flashcard 2: What was the primary economic purpose of Spanish American silver mining at Potosí and Zacatecas?
Answer: Bullion extraction to finance empire and expand global trade. Silver flowed to Europe and Asia, fueling global monetary system.
Flashcard 3: What 1494 treaty divided non-European lands between Spain and Portugal?
Answer: Treaty of Tordesillas. Divided world along meridian 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands.
Flashcard 4: What institution granted Spain the right to extract Indigenous labor in the Americas?
Answer: Encomienda system. Spanish colonists received Indigenous tribute and labor in exchange for Christianization.
Flashcard 5: What term describes the forced labor draft used in Spanish Peru, adapted from an Inca practice?
Answer: Mita system. Rotational forced labor system for mining, especially at Potosí silver mines.
Flashcard 6: What Spanish term refers to the large landed estates that developed in Spanish America?
Answer: Hacienda. Self-sufficient agricultural estates using Indigenous or enslaved labor.
Flashcard 7: What was mercantilism in early modern European imperial policy?
Answer: State-directed economy seeking bullion and a favorable balance of trade. Colonies existed to enrich mother country through controlled trade.
Flashcard 8: Identify the correct direction: Did horses move from Europe to the Americas or from the Americas to Europe?
Answer: Europe to the Americas. Europeans introduced horses, revolutionizing Indigenous cultures.
Flashcard 9: Which option best describes the main demographic effect of the Columbian Exchange in the Americas?
Answer: Mass Indigenous mortality from Eurasian diseases. Disease exchange was asymmetric, devastating Native populations.
Flashcard 10: What term describes racial and cultural mixing in the Atlantic world that produced new blended identities?
Answer: Mestizaje (racial and cultural mixing). Created complex racial hierarchies and new cultural identities.
Flashcard 11: What was the triangular trade system in the Atlantic world?
Answer: Europe goods to Africa; enslaved to Americas; colonial products to Europe. Three-leg Atlantic trade route maximizing profits from each voyage.
Flashcard 12: What was the Middle Passage?
Answer: The transatlantic voyage carrying enslaved Africans to the Americas. Horrific conditions killed 15-20% of enslaved Africans during crossing.
Flashcard 13: What crop from the Americas became a key calorie source that supported European population growth?
Answer: Potato. High-yield crop transformed European diets and demographics after 1600.
Flashcard 14: Which European maritime technology most directly improved open-ocean navigation in the 15th century?
Answer: Caravel (with improved rigging and maneuverability). Lateen sails and smaller size enabled exploration of unknown waters.
Flashcard 15: Identify the correct direction: Did maize move from the Americas to Europe/Africa or the reverse?
Answer: Americas to Europe and Africa. New World crops spread to Old World, transforming global agriculture.
Flashcard 16: What was the Columbian Exchange?
Answer: The transfer of goods, people, and diseases between Old and New Worlds after 1492. Columbus's 1492 voyage initiated unprecedented biological and cultural exchange.
Flashcard 17: Which option best matches the pattern: plantation monoculture + coerced labor + export to Europe?
Answer: Caribbean sugar plantation economy. Sugar plantations epitomized this exploitative colonial model.
Flashcard 18: What labor system is being described: a grant of Indigenous labor and tribute to a Spanish settler?
Answer: Encomienda system. Key identifier: grants of Indigenous labor to Spanish colonists.
Flashcard 19: What was the primary economic goal of European overseas expansion in the 15th–17th centuries?
Answer: Acquire wealth via trade, bullion, and controlled colonial production. Mercantilism drove states to seek gold, silver, and profitable colonial goods.
Flashcard 20: What is mercantilism as practiced by early modern European states?
Answer: State-directed trade to maximize bullion and maintain a favorable balance. Nations hoarded gold/silver and restricted imports to achieve trade surpluses.
Flashcard 21: What was the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) designed to do?
Answer: Divide new lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal. Drew a meridian line giving Spain most of Americas, Portugal got Brazil and Africa.
Flashcard 22: What was the main technological advantage that enabled Portuguese Atlantic exploration?
Answer: Caravel and improved navigation (compass, astrolabe, better cartography). Maneuverable ships and precise instruments enabled long ocean voyages.
Flashcard 23: What was the encomienda system in Spanish America?
Answer: Grant of Indigenous labor/tribute to Spaniards in exchange for protection. Colonists exploited native labor while supposedly providing Christian instruction.
Flashcard 24: What was the mita in Spanish Peru under colonial rule?
Answer: Forced rotational labor draft, especially for silver mining. Indigenous communities provided workers in shifts for mines like Potosí.
Flashcard 25: What was the single most important American crop that supported population growth in Europe?
Answer: Potato. Nutritious and high-yielding crop prevented famines and boosted populations.
Flashcard 26: What was the Columbian Exchange in early modern history?
Answer: Transfer of crops, animals, peoples, and diseases across the Atlantic. Biological and cultural exchanges permanently transformed both hemispheres.
Flashcard 27: Which disease most contributed to catastrophic Indigenous depopulation after 1492?
Answer: Smallpox. Native Americans lacked immunity to this Old World disease, causing 90%+ mortality.
Flashcard 28: Which Old World animals transformed agriculture and transport in the Americas?
Answer: Horses and cattle. Revolutionized mobility, farming, and warfare for Indigenous peoples.
Flashcard 29: What was the Middle Passage within the Atlantic slave trade?
Answer: Forced transatlantic transport of enslaved Africans to the Americas. Horrific voyage where millions died crossing from Africa to plantation colonies.
Flashcard 30: What was the triangular trade model meant to describe?
Answer: Europe–Africa–Americas exchange of goods, slaves, and plantation products. Ships carried manufactured goods to Africa, slaves to Americas, sugar to Europe.