conquistadors
spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain
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
columbian exchange
The exchange of goods and ideas between Native Americans and Europeans
herman cortes
Spanish soldier who conquered the Aztecs
Vasco de Gama
A Portugese sailor who was the first European to sail around southern Africa to the Indian Ocean
Christopher Columbus
Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)
Melaka
The first major center of Islam in Southeast Asia, a port kingdom on the southwestern coast of the Malay Peninsula.
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain
John Cabot
Italian explorer who led the English expedition in 1497 that discovered the mainland of North America and explored the coast from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland (ca. 1450-1498)
Amerigo Vespucci
Florentine navigator who explored the coast of South America
Montezuma
Chief of the Aztec who could not resist Cortez
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541)
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
colony
a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland
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
balance of trade
the difference in value over a period of time of a country's imports and exports of merchandise
peninsulares
Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class
mestizos
A person of mixed Native American and European ancestory
mulattoes
People of African and European descent
mita
Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential aspect of Inca imperial control.
Juana Ines de la Cruz
A nun from a convent in the Americas who wrote poetry and prose and urged that women be educated
creoles
descendents of Spanish-born BUT born in Latin America; resented inferior social, political, economic status
plantation
garden consisting of a small cultivated wood without undergrowth
subsidies
a grant or contribution of money, especially one made by a government in support of an undertaking or the upkeep of a thing
middle passage
the route in between the western ports of Africa to the Caribbean and southern U.S. that carried the slave trade