Mr. D's AP Euro Review Age of Exploration
Terms
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- Christopher Columbus
- Italian explorer commissioned by Queen Isabella of Spain to find a shorter route to Asia by sailing westward. In 1492, he sailed on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria going west across the Atlantic. He landed on what he called the Indies but were actually islands in the Caribbean.
- Treaty of Tordesillas
- Agreement between Spain and Portugal to divide from north to south the Atlantic Ocean so that the two nations would not be competing for the same lands in their zealous explorations. Spain was to explore the lands west of the line, while Portugal was to have the eastern region.
- Amerigo Vespucci
- Italian navigator who crossed the Atlantic several times and officially called the land thought by Columbus to be Asia the "New World." Later a German cartographer renamed this land "America" in honor of his work.
- Dutch East India Company
- Founded in 1602, this joint-stock company had total control over trading (mainly in spices) between the East Indies and the Netherlands.
- Bartholomeu Dias
- Potuguese explorer who sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip pf Africa and thus found the route to the Indian Ocean. This helped estabish an overseas trade route from Europe to India and the East Indies, which provided Euroepans with the cargoes of jewels and spices they so desired.
- Ferdinand Magellan
- Portuguese navigator whose crew first circumnavigated the globe and thus proved that the world was round and that the New World was not part of Asia. Furthermore, his exploration of the Pacific Ocean yielded its name because of its pacific, or calm, nature.
- Commercial Revolution
- A period of econimc innovation that was a result of colonization and exploration between the late 15th and 18th centuries. The period also saw the rise of joint-stock companies and the growth of mercantilism.
- Middle Passage
- Second leg of the three-part trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas in which African slaves traveled across the Atlantic. The slaves were sold for products produced on large farms, or plantations. The trip was cruel and fatal for many.
- Mercantilism
- A new economic theory in the 1400s based on the idea that a country's wealth was measured by the amount of gold and silver it possessed. This led to fierce competition for metallic riches through exploration and imperialism.
- Treaty of Nanjing
- 1842 agreement ending the Opium War between China and England and giving England control of Hong Kong and regional ports, as well as awarding British citizens extraterritorality rights.