Absolutism
A political system in which a ruler has complete power and authority.
Astrolabe
Instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars
Atlantic Slave Trade
the buying, transporting, and selling of africans for work in the americas
Balance of Power
distribution of military and economic power that prevents any one nation from becoming too strong
Biological Diffusion
the spread of life in the world, or the spreadof chemicals
Boyars
Russian landholding aristocrats; possessed less political power than their western European counterparts
Codices
Maya texts, long strips of paper, many meters in length when unfolded, made of the pounded inner bark of certain trees; these texts helped analysts interpret Maya hieroglyphics on stelae.
Colonies/ Colonization/ Colonial Administration
movement or spread of people into colonies, government set up in colonies to watch over them and collect taxes
Columbian Exchange
the exchange of plants, animals, diseases and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages
Conduits
a pipe, channel, for conveying fluids
Conquistadores
Spanish 'conqueror' or soldier in the New World. They were searching for the 3-G's: gold, God, and glory
Creoles/ Criollos
in Spanish colonial society, a colonist who was born in Latin America to Spanish parents
Debt Peonage
A system that bound laborers into slavery in order to work off a debt to the employer
Devshirme
Ottoman policy of taking boys from Christian peoples to be trained as Muslim soldiers
Dhimmi
Literally "people of the book"; applied as inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus & Buddhists
Divine Right
the idea that monarchs are God's representatives on earth and are therefore answerable only to God
Encomienda
system in Spanish America that gave settlers the right to tax local Indians or to demand their labor in exchange for protecting them and teaching them their skills
Enlightenment
a philosophical movement of the 18th century, characterized by belief in the power of human reason and by innovations in political, religious, and educational doctrine
Hacienda
A large estate or ranch in Spanish-speaking countries
Harem
Living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household
Indentured Servitude
person who agreed to work for a colonial employer for a specified time in exchange for passage to america.
Janissaries
Christian boys taken from families, converted to Islam, and then rigorously trained to serve the sultan
Joint-Stock Companies
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Literacy
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Local Resistance (e.g. food riots, samurai revolts, Peasant uprisings)
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Manila Galleons
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Maroon
Mercantile Practices/ Mercantilism
Mestizo
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Mulattoes
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Middles Passage
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