Glossary
Asiento
A contract granted by the Spanish monarchy to other European nations, allowing them to sell enslaved Africans in Spanish colonies.
Example:
Britain gained the Asiento from Spain after the War of the Spanish Succession, significantly increasing its involvement and profit from the transatlantic slave trade.
Calvinism
A major branch of Protestantism developed by John Calvin, emphasizing predestination and a strict moral code.
Example:
The spread of Calvinism in the Netherlands is often cited as a factor contributing to the Dutch work ethic and economic success during the Age of Exploration.
Dutch East India Company
A powerful chartered company established in the early 1600s by the Dutch, which played a major role in global trade and colonization, particularly in Asia.
Example:
The Dutch East India Company was so wealthy and influential that it could raise its own armies and negotiate treaties, effectively acting as a state within a state.
Enlightenment
An intellectual and philosophical movement in 18th-century Europe that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism, challenging traditional authority.
Example:
While promoting ideals of liberty, some Enlightenment thinkers paradoxically struggled to reconcile their philosophies with the continued practice of slavery in the colonies.
Joint-stock companies
Businesses in which shares of ownership are sold to investors, who then share in the company's profits and losses.
Example:
The British East India Company was a prominent joint-stock company that financed and managed much of Britain's colonial expansion and trade in Asia.
Mercantilism
An economic theory prevalent in Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries, advocating that a nation's wealth and power were best increased by maximizing exports and accumulating precious metals.
Example:
Under mercantilism, colonies were seen primarily as sources of raw materials and captive markets for the mother country's manufactured goods, leading to strict trade regulations.
Portugal
An early European colonizer that established significant landholdings and trading posts in the Americas (Brazil), Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Example:
Portugal's strategic control over key port cities like Goa in India allowed it to dominate the spice trade for a period.
Seven Years' War
A global conflict (1756-1763) fought between major European powers over colonial and European dominance, often considered the first 'world war'.
Example:
The Seven Years' War saw intense fighting in North America (French and Indian War) and India, ultimately leading to British supremacy over France in both regions.
Spain
A European power that became dominant in the 1500s, establishing a vast colonial empire primarily across the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
Example:
The discovery of vast silver mines in Potosí allowed Spain to fund its wars and maintain its powerful position in Europe for centuries.
Transatlantic slave trade
The forced transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas, primarily to work on plantations, from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
Example:
The immense profits from sugar and tobacco plantations in the Caribbean were heavily reliant on the brutal labor provided by the transatlantic slave trade.
Treaty of Paris
The treaty signed in 1763 that officially ended the Seven Years' War, resulting in significant territorial changes and a shift in the global balance of power.
Example:
As a result of the Treaty of Paris, France ceded most of its North American territory to Great Britain and Spain, marking the end of French colonial ambitions on the continent.
Treaty of Tordesillas
A 1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal, brokered by the Pope, that divided newly discovered lands outside Europe along a meridian in the Atlantic Ocean.
Example:
The Treaty of Tordesillas is why Brazil, located east of the line, became a Portuguese colony, while most of the rest of South America fell under Spanish control.
Treaty of Utrecht
The series of peace treaties signed in 1713 that ended the War of the Spanish Succession, recognizing Philip V as King of Spain but preventing the union of the Spanish and French thrones.
Example:
Under the Treaty of Utrecht, Great Britain gained significant territories and trade advantages, including the Asiento, solidifying its rise as a global power.
War of the Spanish Succession
A major European conflict (1701-1714) fought to prevent the unification of the French and Spanish crowns under a single Bourbon monarch.
Example:
The War of the Spanish Succession demonstrated the European balance of power system, as nations allied to prevent any single power from becoming too dominant.