Maya, Aztec, & Inca
Which civilization built its capital, Tenochtitlan, on an island in Lake Texcoco?
Aztec
What were the 3 primary motives for exploration?
God, Gold, and Glory
What term describes the transfer of people, goods, plants, animals, diseases, and ideas between hemispheres.
Columbian Exchange
Which empire captured Constantinople?
Ottoman
What was Prince Henry the Navigator's major contribution to exploration?
He sponsored and supported Portuguese exploration, helping improve navigation and mapping.
What agricultural innovation allowed the Aztecs to farm on the lake?
Chinampas
Who reached India by sailing around Africa and opened direct sea trade routes?
Vasco da Gama
What was the Middle Passage? What greater trade systems were it a part of?
The voyage carrying enslaved Africans to the Americas.
Which empire was centered in Persia?
Safavid
What 3 characteristics made the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade different from many earlier systems of slavery?
It was racialized, hereditary, and industrialized.
The Maya, Aztec, and Inca all built large societies without modern technology. Which civilization would have gained the MOST benefit from an extensive road system, and why?
Inca, because their empire stretched across mountains and roads helped with communication, trade, and military movement.
Which two European countries were most involved in early exploration efforts around Africa and in the Americas?
Portugal & Spain
Describe the different roles that made up the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade? Who all is involved in this process?
European merchants, European slave traders, African elites, Captured Africans.
Why are the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals grouped together as "Gunpowder Empires"?
They used gunpowder weapons to build and maintain their empires.
What agricultural staples were grown by the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations?
Maize (corn), beans, and squash.
Which civilization was likely the most difficult to unify politically because it was organized into independent city-states rather than one empire?
Maya
Why did improvements like the astrolabe and better maps encourage exploration?
They made long-distance sea travel more accurate and reliable.
Explain how the decline of Indigenous populations in the Americas contributed to the growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
European diseases killed millions of Indigenous people, creating labor shortages on plantations and farms. To meet labor demands, Europeans increasingly relied on enslaved Africans, leading to the expansion of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Which Mughal ruler abolished the jizya tax on non-Muslims and promoted religious tolerance?
Akbar the Great
How did the policies of Suleiman the Magnificent help the Ottoman Empire maintain control over its large and diverse population?
Suleiman strengthened laws, improved government administration, and allowed many religious groups to maintain their own traditions through systems like the millet system, helping keep order across a diverse empire.
Spanish conquerors often defeated larger Indigenous armies. Besides weapons, what factor most consistently helped the Spanish achieve victory?
Disease (accept Native alliances if students can justify it)
Cortés and Pizarro conquered powerful empires. What strategy did both men use in addition to military force?
Forming alliances with local enemies.
Identify two major effects of the Columbian Exchange and explain how each changed life in either the Americas or Afro-Eurasia.
Describe how each of the Gunpowder Empires (Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal) approached ruling over diverse cultures and religions.
Historians often examine both intention and impact. Using European exploration as an example, explain the difference between the two.
European explorers intended to find trade routes, gain wealth, spread Christianity, and expand territory. The impacts included diseases killing millions of Indigenous people, expansion of slavery, environmental changes, and cultural loss.