ERA 2 (Unit 4) Flashcards
What is a Maritime Empire?
A sea-based empire
What kind of technology helped Europeans to create their maritime empires?
New Ships
●The Fluyt, the Caravel, the Carrack
●Ships were smaller, faster, cheaper to build, nimbler on the seas.
●Ships were intended for trade only & not to be converted into warships. This made them cheaper.
Other Maritime Technology
●Lateen sail borrowed from Arabs and Chinese.
●Improved astronomical charts to help figure out where they were when at sea.
●Astrolabe & compass also for navigation and borrowed from Asia
What motivated Europeans to explore the oceans?
They wanted a sea route to Asia because Muslims controlled many land-based routes making it impossible for Europeans to trade on their own terms.
What was the Columbian Exchange? Who was it named after?
It was named after Christopher Columbus who was the first European of this era to find the Americas. It was a biological exchange of animals, people, food, and diseases between the hemispheres.
What were some of the most significant exchanges due to the Columbian Exchange?
Disease
●From Europe to Americas: Smallpox killed up to 90% of the Native American population in some places.
●From the Americas to Europe? Debatable, but Europeans believed that Syphilis came to them from the Americas.
Food & Animals
●From Europe to the Americas: Sugar, horses
●From the Americas to Europe: Potatoes, Maize, Guinea Pigs
People
●Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Chattle Slavery. People from Africa were taken as property to work on plantations in the Americas.
Why did Europeans use enslaved Africans for labor in the Americas?
Native Americans had died in such great numbers that they could not fulfill European’s desire for labor in the Americas
What was the Encomienda System?
Conquistadors were given a plot of land and the job of protecting the Native Americans on that land, but could demand free labor from them in exchange
What was a Hacienda?
They were huge plantations on which Native Americans were forced to work.
What was Repartimiento or Mita?
Native Americas were forced to work for part of the year for the Spanish, similar to the Inca Mit’a system. However, the Mit’a was for public benefit while the Spanish Mita was for private gain.
What was indentured servitude?
Used mostly by the British in North America, it was a system where servants were bound to work for seven years and then could go free.
Why did Europeans think that chattle slavery from Africa was a better labor system?
Africans were property for life & they weren’t susceptible to European diseases.
What was mercantilism?
Based on the belief that there was a finite amount of gold and silver in the world, and that having the most of it would lead to the strongest state, Europeans competed for wealth.
What was the connection between mercantilism and European states creating colonies?
Mercantilist states need lots of raw materials, which were accessible in their colonies. They could also force the colonies to buy their manufactured goods to keep gold and silver flowing in
How was the Portuguese empire different from most other European states?
Instead of claiming large pieces of land they established a Trading-Post Empire along the African coast. This helped them to become a major player in the Indian Ocean. They did, however, establish some traditional colonies, like Brazil.
How did the British and Dutch governments support exploration and colonization in a new and innovative way?
They created joint-stock companies. This was a way to fund exploration and colonization through private investors. Investors could make tremendous profits if the ventures were successful.
