Unit 4 · Transoceanic Interconnections, c. 1450–1750

Diffusion of scientific knowledge and technology ● (core concept) — The spread of knowledge, scientific learning, and technology from the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds. This cross-cultural diffusion facilitated European technological developments and innovation from 1450 to 1750.

Innovations in ship designs ● (core concept) — New and improved ship designs developed in this period. The CED lists them, along with new tools and an improved understanding of wind and current patterns, as what made transoceanic travel and trade possible.

Regional wind and current patterns ● (core concept) — The improved understanding of regional wind and ocean current patterns. Together with new tools and ship designs, it made transoceanic travel and trade possible from 1450 to 1750.

Transoceanic travel and trade ● (core concept) — Voyages across the world's oceans, newly made possible by diffused technology, new tools, ship designs, and knowledge of wind and current patterns. Transoceanic travel transformed patterns of trade and travel from 1450 to 1750.

Caravel ○ — A small, fast, maneuverable sailing ship used by European explorers. The CED cites it as an example of the innovations in ship design that enabled transoceanic voyages.

Lateen sail ○ — A triangular sail that let ships sail closer to the wind. The CED cites it as an example of a European technological development influenced by cross-cultural interactions with the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds.

Compass ○ — A navigational instrument for determining direction at sea. The CED cites it as an example of technology Europeans adopted through cross-cultural interactions with the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds.

New tools ● (core concept) — New tools produced in this period; the CED lists their production alongside innovations in ship designs and improved knowledge of regional wind and current patterns as developments that made transoceanic travel and trade possible.

State-supported maritime exploration ● (core concept) — New transoceanic maritime exploration in this period that was funded and directed by states. State support made large-scale exploration possible from 1450 to 1750.

Portuguese maritime technology and navigational skills ● (core concept) — Portugal's advances in sailing technology and navigation. They led to increased travel to and trade with Africa and Asia and to the construction of a global trading-post empire.

Trading-post empire ● (core concept) — An empire built from a network of fortified trading posts rather than large territorial holdings. Portugal constructed a global trading-post empire linking Africa and Asia to Europe.

Columbus's voyages ● (core concept) — The Spanish-sponsored voyages of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic, followed by further voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific. They dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic travel and trade.

Northern Atlantic crossings ● (core concept) — Crossings of the northern Atlantic undertaken under English, French, and Dutch sponsorship. They were often undertaken with the goal of finding alternative sailing routes to Asia.

Columbian Exchange ● (core concept) — The exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after new connections were established. Caused by European colonization and contact, it reshaped both hemispheres.

Disease transfer and Eastern Hemisphere diseases ● (core concept) — The unintentional transfer of disease vectors, including mosquitoes and rats, and Eastern Hemisphere diseases such as smallpox, measles, and malaria to the Americas through European colonization.

Indigenous population decline ● (core concept) — The substantial reduction of indigenous populations in the Americas by diseases imported from the Eastern Hemisphere, with catastrophic effects in many areas.

Cash crops ● (core concept) — Crops grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor and exported mostly to Europe and the Middle East. Cash crops became central to colonial economies in the Americas.

Plantations ● (core concept) — Large farms worked by coerced labor. In the Columbian Exchange system, cash crops were grown primarily on plantations and exported to Europe and the Middle East.

American staple crops in Afro-Eurasia ● (core concept) — American foods that became staple crops in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa through the Columbian Exchange. Afro-Eurasian populations benefited nutritionally from this increased diversity of food crops.

Afro-Eurasian crops and animals in the Americas ● (core concept) — Afro-Eurasian fruit trees, grains, sugar, and domesticated animals brought to the Americas by Europeans. They were part of the plant and animal exchange between the hemispheres.

African foods in the Americas ● (core concept) — Foods brought to the Americas by African enslaved persons. They added to the Columbian Exchange's transfer of plants and foodways between the hemispheres.

European trading posts ● (core concept) — New trading posts Europeans established in Africa and Asia in this period. They proved profitable for the rulers and merchants involved in the new global trade networks.

Restrictive or isolationist trade policies ● (core concept) — Policies by which some Asian states limited the disruptive economic and cultural effects of European-dominated long-distance trade. The CED cites Ming China and Tokugawa Japan as examples.

Portuguese Empire ● (core concept) — A new maritime empire established in this period, built on a global trading-post network in Africa and Asia. Driven largely by political, religious, and economic rivalries among European states.

Spanish Empire ● (core concept) — A new maritime empire established in this period. Spain's sponsorship of the voyages of Columbus and subsequent voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic travel and trade. Driven largely by political, religious, and economic rivalries among European states.

Dutch Empire ● (core concept) — One of the new maritime empires established 1450–1750 amid political, religious, and economic rivalries; the Dutch built a commercial empire centered on the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia (notably Indonesia), where the Dutch East India Company dominated the spice trade.

French Empire ● (core concept) — One of the new maritime empires established 1450–1750 amid political, religious, and economic rivalries; France built colonies in North America (New France) and the Caribbean, competing with Britain and Spain for territory and trade.

British Empire ● (core concept) — One of the new maritime empires established 1450–1750 amid political, religious, and economic rivalries; Britain built colonies in North America and the Caribbean and grew into a leading naval and commercial power in the Atlantic world.

Asante ● (core concept) — A West African state (in present-day Ghana) whose participation in expanding maritime trading networks — exchanging gold and captives for European goods — increased its influence in the period 1450–1750.

Kingdom of the Kongo ● (core concept) — A Central African kingdom whose participation in expanding maritime trading networks increased its influence; its rulers engaged early with Portuguese traders and missionaries before the slave trade eroded the kingdom's stability.

Incan mit'a ● (core concept) — A traditional Incan system of required labor. Newly developed colonial economies in the Americas largely depended on agriculture and utilized existing labor systems including the mit'a.

Chattel slavery ● (core concept) — A labor system in which enslaved people were treated as property. Colonial economies in the Americas introduced chattel slavery to work plantations.

Indentured servitude ● (core concept) — A labor system in which workers served a set term, often in exchange for passage to the Americas. Colonial economies in the Americas introduced indentured servitude alongside other new labor systems.

Encomienda system ● (core concept) — A Spanish colonial labor system granting colonists the right to demand labor and tribute from Indigenous communities. The CED lists it among the new labor systems introduced in the Americas.

Hacienda system ● (core concept) — A Spanish colonial system of large landed estates worked by dependent laborers. The CED lists it among the new labor systems introduced in the Americas.

Indian Ocean trade networks ● (core concept) — Existing trade networks in the Indian Ocean, including intra-Asian trade and Asian merchants. They continued to flourish despite some disruption from the arrival of Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch merchants.

Traditional forms of African enslavement ● (core concept) — Enslavement in Africa that continued in its traditional forms during 1450 to 1750: enslaved persons were incorporated into households, and some were exported to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean regions.

Plantation economy ● (core concept) — The growth of large-scale plantation agriculture in the Americas. It increased the demand for enslaved labor, leading to significant demographic, social, and cultural changes.

Ming China ○ — The Chinese dynasty that adopted restrictive trade policies to limit the disruptive economic and cultural effects of European-dominated long-distance trade. The CED cites Ming China as an example of an Asian state with isolationist policies.

Tokugawa Japan ○ — The Japanese shogunate that adopted restrictive trade policies to limit the disruptive economic and cultural effects of European-dominated long-distance trade. The CED cites Tokugawa Japan alongside Ming China as an example of an Asian state with isolationist policies.

Mercantilism ● (core concept) — The economic policies and practices European rulers used to expand and control their economies and claim overseas territories from 1450 to 1750.

Joint-stock companies ● (core concept) — Companies in which investors pooled capital by buying shares. Influenced by mercantilist principles, they were used by rulers and merchants to finance exploration and to compete against one another in global trade.

Chartered European monopoly companies ● (core concept) — Companies granted exclusive trading rights by European governments. The new global circulation of goods was facilitated by these chartered monopoly companies.

Global flow of silver ● (core concept) — The worldwide movement of silver, especially from Spanish colonies in the Americas. It was used to purchase Asian goods for Atlantic markets and to satisfy Chinese demand for silver.

Atlantic trading system ● (core concept) — The system involving the movement of goods, wealth, and labor, including enslaved persons, across the Atlantic. It also produced a mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples.

Regional markets in Afro-Eurasia ● (core concept) — Markets in Afro-Eurasia that continued to flourish in this period, using established commercial practices and new transoceanic and regional shipping services developed by European merchants.

Peasant and artisan labor ● (core concept) — Peasant and artisan labor that continued and intensified in many regions as the demand for food and consumer goods increased from 1450 to 1750.

Demographic changes in Africa ● (core concept) — Demographic shifts in Africa, including gender and family restructuring, that resulted from the trade of enslaved persons from Africa.

Cultural synthesis ● (core concept) — The mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples through the Atlantic trading system, with all parties contributing to the resulting cultural synthesis.

Expansion of existing religions ● (core concept) — The growth in the reach of existing religions as interactions between newly connected hemispheres intensified. This expansion also contributed to religious conflicts.

Syncretic belief systems ● (core concept) — New belief systems and practices formed by blending traditions from newly connected hemispheres. Intensified interactions between the hemispheres contributed to their development.

Economic rivalries between states ● (core concept) — Rivalries and conflict between states driven by economic disputes. Competing in global trade was one way rulers challenged one another, characteristic of the maritime-empire era.

Resistance to state expansion and centralization ● (core concept) — Resistance from an array of social, political, and economic groups on a local level, caused by state expansion and centralization from 1450 to 1750.

Organized resistance by enslaved persons ● (core concept) — Challenges to existing authorities in the Americas by enslaved persons through organized resistance, such as revolts and the formation of escaped-slave communities.

Pueblo Revolts ○ — Revolts by Pueblo peoples against Spanish colonial authority in the American Southwest (1680). The CED cites them as examples of local resistance to state expansion.

Maroon societies ○ — Communities formed by escaped enslaved persons in the Caribbean and Brazil. The CED cites them as examples of the organized resistance of enslaved persons.

Ana Nzinga ○ — The ruler of Ndongo and Matamba (in present-day Angola) who resisted Portuguese expansion in Africa. The CED cites her resistance as an example of local resistance to state expansion.

Accommodation of ethnic and religious diversity ● (core concept) — Practices by which states such as the Mughal and Ottoman empires accommodated the ethnic and religious diversity of their subjects, or used the economic, political, and military contributions of different ethnic or religious groups.

Suppression of diversity ● (core concept) — State practices that suppressed diversity or limited certain groups' roles in society, politics, or the economy. The CED contrasts this with states that chose to accommodate diversity.

New political and economic elites ● (core concept) — New elites formed by imperial conquests and widening global economic opportunities, including in China with the transition to the Qing Dynasty and in the Americas with the rise of the Casta system.

Qing Dynasty transition ● (core concept) — China's shift to Qing (Manchu) rule, which the CED cites as an example of new political and economic elites forming through imperial conquest.

Casta system ● (core concept) — The system of social hierarchy in colonial Spanish America based on ancestry and racial mixture. The CED cites the rise of the Casta system as an example of new elites forming through imperial conquest.

Existing political and economic elites ● (core concept) — Established political and economic elites whose power fluctuated as they confronted new challenges to their ability to affect the policies of increasingly powerful monarchs and leaders.

Expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal ○ — The 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain (and later Portugal). The CED cites it as an example of the differential treatment of groups in society, politics, and the economy.