Conquistadors
Who was the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521?
Hernán Cortés
What term describes the forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas?
The Middle Passage.
Who was the English explorer who circumnavigated the globe and raided Spanish ships in the late 1500s?
Sir Francis Drake.
Who financed Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage that led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas?
Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain.
What economic theory encouraged European nations to accumulate wealth through strict control over colonial trade?
Mercantilism
In what year did Francisco Pizarro conquer the Inca Empire?
1533
During the height of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which two European countries were the leading traders?
Portugal and England.
What year was the Jamestown settlement founded, marking the first permanent English colony in North America?
1607
What 1494 treaty divided newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal?
The Treaty of Tordesillas.
How did European nations ensure that colonies only traded with their mother country under mercantilism?
By enforcing navigation laws and restrictions on colonial trade with other nations.
What weapon introduced by conquistadors was especially effective in conquering the Aztecs and Incas?
Firearms, such as muskets and cannons.
What was one of the primary cash crops in the Caribbean that drove demand for enslaved labor?
Sugar
The English East India Company, founded in 1600, established England’s early trade with which region?
India and the Indian Ocean region.
What term describes the Spanish explorers and conquerors who claimed lands in the Americas in the name of Spain?
Conquistadors
Which colonial product from North America was highly sought after in Europe and fit mercantilist principles?
Tobacco
Which indigenous woman acted as an interpreter and advisor to Hernán Cortés during the conquest of the Aztec Empire?
La Malinche (Malintzin or Doña Marina)
What was the role of African kingdoms in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade?
Some African kingdoms captured and sold other Africans to European traders in exchange for goods like guns, textiles, and alcohol.
How did England’s colonies in North America differ in purpose from the colonies established by Spain?
England’s colonies focused more on permanent settlement and trade, while Spain initially focused on resource extraction and conversion of indigenous people.
How did the Spanish justify their conquest of Native American civilizations, such as the Aztec and Inca?
By claiming it was their duty to convert indigenous people to Christianity and spread Catholicism.
How did mercantilist policies lead to conflicts between European powers in the 1600s and 1700s?
They led to wars over colonies and resources, as each power sought to control valuable territories and monopolize trade.
What legal system allowed Spanish settlers to force indigenous labor in return for the promise of protection and Christianization?
The encomienda system.
By the 1700s, which English port became a major center for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade?
Liverpool
What motivated the English to settle in the Americas during the 17th century, aside from trade?
Religious freedom, as many settlers sought to escape persecution in England.
What silver mine, discovered by the Spanish in the mid-1500s, became one of the most lucrative sources of wealth for the Spanish Empire?
The Potosí mine in present-day Bolivia.
What did the term “balance of trade” mean in the context of mercantilist economic policies?
It referred to exporting more goods than importing to accumulate wealth in the form of gold and silver