Chapter 6 Review

Spanish conquerors of the Americas conquistadors

the right to use natives as slaves encomienda

a settlement in a new territory linked to the parent country by trade colony

economic theory of the 17th century that stressed building a large supply of gold and silver Mercantilism

the difference in value between imports and exports over time balance of trade

large agricultural estates plantations

crop introduced to Europe from Southwest Asia during the Middle Ages sugarcane

the pattern of trade connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas triangular trade

the journey of slaves from Africa to the Americas Middle Passage

What did the Portuguese sailors call the southern coast of West Africa? The Gold Coast

Why did Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India prove to be very profitable? He returned to Europe with a cargo of

spices and made a profit of several thousand percent

Who were the first European settlers of the Hudson River valley? The Dutch

What treaty gave Spain control of almost all of the Americas? The Treaty of Tordesillas

Who explored the New England coastline of the Americas for England? John Cabot

Who was the explorer that went to his grave believing that he had discovered a westward passage to Asia? Christopher Columbus

What set of principles dominated economic thought in the 17th century? Mercantilism

According to mercantilists, what did the prosperity of a nation depend on? A large supply of bullion, or gold and

silver

How did Europeans obtain African slaves? From African slave merchants

Originally, why were African slaves brought to the Americas? To supply labor for the sugarcane

plantations

What was the Middle Passage? The journey of slaves from Africa to the

Americas

What European nation tried to dominate the clove trade by limiting cultivation of the crop to one island and forced others to stop the growing and trade of the spice? The Netherlands (Dutch)

Why were European rulers and merchants determined to gain control of the islands of Southeast Asia? The spice trade was enormously

profitable

What group of islands was known to the Europeans as the Spice Islands? The Moluccas

What European nation gained control of Java in order to protect its interests in the East? The Netherlands (Dutch)