Refers to the massive drop in population of Native Americans as a result of contact with people from the Old World, 1500-1600
Great Dying
An empire that maintains power through a naval fleet and/or by controlling ocean trade routes and sea ports
Maritime empire
A private business that raises money by selling shares to merchant-investors
Joint-stock company
This trade network linked Europe, Africa, and the Americas
Triangular Trade
An agricultural product grown primarily for its economic value
Cash crop
This term describes the mixing of elements from different religions
Syncretism/Syncretic
Known by its initials VOC, this company may have been the most valuable corporation ever
Dutch East India Company
The decline of this labor system led to the increase of enslaved workers being imported from elsewhere
Encomienda
This conquistador captured Atahualpa and overthrew the Inca Empire
Francisco Pizarro
This company originally focused on trading inexpensive cotton cloth from India; eventually it became a colonial power in itself
British East India Company
This conquistador was the first to land in Florida, searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth
Ponce de Leon
At the end of this war, Great Britain was the dominant colonial power in the world
Seven Years' War/French and Indian War
This company, despite its name, actually ended up making most of its profits from the fur trade and slave trade in Louisiana and the Caribbean
French East India Company
This explorer, working for England, made several voyages to the coast of Canada and New England
John Cabot
A person of mixed European and Native American ancestry
Mestizo
This vessel featured a large cargo capacity, cannons for defense, and strong construction to make long-distance trade voyages
Galleon
Term used for people of European descent born in Spain's American colonies
Criollos/Creoles
The Jesuit religious order are an example of...
Missionaries
This religion, originating in modern-day Haiti, combines elements of West African magical ritual and Roman Catholic Christianity
Vodou
These three products are what made sugarcane so profitable
Sugar, molasses, rum
This term refers to the territorial divisions of colonial Brazil
Captaincies
Widespread inflation resulted in this event/period in Europe, which also put an end to the last vestiges of serfdom and led to more commoners moving to towns and cities for work
Price Revolution
The advisory council and court of appeals in each Spanish viceroyalty
Audiencia
Highest-status people in the Spanish colonial social hierarchy
Peninsulares
This tool allowed sailors to navigate at sea by locating the positions of stars at night or measuring position of the sun during the day
Astrolabe