World Hidstory (15-19th Centuries) Flashcards
Columbian Exchange
Also known as the Grand Exchange; it was the widespread transfer of animals, plants, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas. Primary trading took place between the American and Afro-Eurasian hemispheres during the 15th and 16th centuries. Not only did this lead to an introduction to a variety of crops, livestock and diversity but also increased populations in both hemispheres.
Feudalism/Manorialism
It was the most convenient way to organize the clergy and aristocracy during the Middle Ages in Europe, but it made feudalism possible. This was a combination of legal and military customs. Broadly defined it was a way to structure society around relationships derived from holding land in exchange for service or labor. It flourished during the 9th and 15th centuries. It was a medieval model of government predating the birth of the modern nation-state. From this emerged different forms of constitutional government which brought upon new ideas that led to the resistance and defiance of the feudal lord.
Enlightenment
Sparked by the Scientific revolution; it was an intellectual, cultural, social and political movement. It represented as big a departure as possible from the Middle Ages by opening a path for independent thought. It spread through England, France, Germany and other parts of Europe during the 1700s. Fields such as; mathematics, astronomy, economics, physics, philosophy, and medicine were drastically updated and expanded. Which in turn led to modernization.
Absolutism
This idea was the foundation of many Monarchs power.
It led the servants of the crown to believe that the King or Queen was chosen by God to rule. It was believed that their power was unlimited, in theory, except by divine law. This way of ruling flourished during the 16th and 17th century. The decisions that were made by the King or Queen were set in stone because no one could defy it, which in turn led to unrest among various social classes due to the fact that they believed they were being treated unfairly. In part, it may have led to the French Revolution.
Janissary
These were elite infantrymen that were taken from peasant Christian families, brought to Istanbul, converted to Islam (despite strict Islamic prohibitions of forcible conversions of Christians) and then trained to be skilled crossbowmen, bowmen, and musketeers. They were distinguished from the main body of the army because they were legally slaves to the Ottoman Sultan, Murad I. However, they did help in many Ottoman victories like the Conquer of Constaninople in the Spring of 1453. Because they were skilled with their guns the Europeans perceived as the Ottomans ‘secret weapon.’
Atlantic Slave Trade
Although this has been viewed as on of the first systems of globalization, it’s unique in the history of slavery. It lasted four centuries (16th-19th), victimized African men, women and children and brought upon the intellectual development of Anti-black ideology.
Hernan De Cortes
In 1518 he prepared to command his own expedition and set sail for Mexico but Velázquez canceled it. He so kindly ignored orders and reached the Mexican coast in 1519 where he met and befriended the natives. He marched with them to their capital, Tenochtitlán, and took Montezuma II hostage but soon fled when he got word that Spanish troops were looking to arrest him for disobeying orders. He returned to the city at a later date to find that it was in the middle of a rebellion and decided to take action. However the Aztecs were able to fend him and his troops off, but in 1521 they returned and conquered the Aztecs. He was pronounced governor in 1522. He brought much of mainland Mexico under the rule of the Spanish crown. He was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers that began the first phase of Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Zheng He
Born into a Muslim family in 1371, in 1378 his province was taken over by the Ming Dynasty. They captured him and made him into a court eunuch for the Imperial Chinese Court. Where he distinguished himself by helping Zhu Yuanzhang defeat the Yuan Dynasty and he was rewarded with an official post in government. He went on many expeditions and his subordinates would write books describing geographic and natural conditions and local customs. As well as the living conditions and production of the people in those foreign countries and regions which widened the Chinese visions’ and enlarged their knowledge on foreign countries.
Conquistadors
This term refers to soldiers/explorers from the Spanish or Portugese empire. They colonized much of the world for Spain during the 16th, 18th and 17th centuries. They sailed beyond the Americas to Oceania, Africa and Asia, opening new trade routes and conquering territories.
French Revolution
Broke out and lasted during 1789-1799. King Louis XIV was overthrown by a popular rebellion. A rebellion that was caused by the middle class no longer being controllable by the old regime due to new ideologies brought up by authors such as Voltaire, and Denis Diderot, the financial disarray of the economy at the time which led to a sharp increase in taxes and the peasants were double stricken by economic and agricultural problems (debt and food scarcity). This changed the structure of society and created new ideologies rather than just replacing the ruler or changing the doctrine. It was the event that caused the birth of the ‘modern era;’ nationalism, secularism, politics and the concept of total war.
Tennis Court Oath
After the Third Estate realized that no matter what they did they would be outvoted by the nobility and clergy, on June 17, 1789 they decided to come together and form a National Assembly. On June 20, they found out they were locked out of their usual meeting place so they moved to a nearby indoor Tennis Court (salle du jeu de paume) where they took an oath to never separate until there was a constitution established for France. They gradually became quite powerful which resulted in the French Revolution and in turn the beheading of the King. This was important because it was the first organized protest for the Third Estate leading up to the French Revolution.
King Louis XVI
Also known as the ‘Sun King.’ He began to reform France in 1661. During his early years of reign he was very successful in both internal and foreign affairs. The turning point was whenever his advisor Colbert died in 1683. He was the most philanthropic of his predecessors and the last King of France. He allowed the monarchy to become a republic.
Akbar the Great
He was enthroned at the age of 14 and become the Emperor of India. He began his military conquest under the reign of a tutelage before claiming imperial power and expanding the Mughal empire. Known as much as for his inclusive leadership style and war mongering he ushered in an era of religious tolerance and appreciation for the arts.
Ferdinand Magellan
He studied mapmaking and navigation as a boy. By his mid-20s he was engaged in combat and sailing large fleets of ships. In 1519 he set out to discover a better trade route to the spice islands. Unfortunately he passed during this expedition but en route he did discover the Strait of Magellan and his fleet was the first to circumnavigate the world in a single voyage as well as being the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Aztec Empire
The most powerful Meso-American Empire of all time. This multi-lingual, multi-cultural kingdom stretched over what is now central and southern Mexico. This was considered the last great pre-columbian civilization before the Spanish arrived in 1519. Conquistadores kept records of their religions, beliefs, cultural traditions and practices. Many of these influenced modern customs in Mexico which are still evident today.
