AP European History Flashcards: Colonial Expansion And Columbian Exchange

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on Colonial Expansion And Columbian Exchange, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for AP European History.

How to use these flashcards

Work through these flashcards in short sessions. Try to answer each prompt before flipping the card, then revisit any cards you miss until the explanation feels automatic.

Flashcard 1: What Spanish term refers to the large landed estates that developed in Spanish America?

Answer: Hacienda. Self-sufficient agricultural estates using Indigenous or enslaved labor.

Flashcard 2: What was the Columbian Exchange?

Answer: The transfer of goods, people, and diseases between Old and New Worlds after 1492. Columbus's 1492 voyage initiated unprecedented biological and cultural exchange.

Flashcard 3: What was the Middle Passage within the Atlantic slave trade?

Answer: Forced transatlantic transport of enslaved Africans to the Americas. Horrific voyage where millions died crossing from Africa to plantation colonies.

Flashcard 4: What was the triangular trade system in the Atlantic world?

Answer: Europe goods to Africa; enslaved to Americas; colonial products to Europe. Three-leg Atlantic trade route maximizing profits from each voyage.

Flashcard 5: What term describes racial and cultural mixing in the Atlantic world that produced new blended identities?

Answer: Mestizaje (racial and cultural mixing). Created complex racial hierarchies and new cultural identities.

Flashcard 6: What was the single most important American crop that supported population growth in Europe?

Answer: Potato. Nutritious and high-yielding crop prevented famines and boosted populations.

Flashcard 7: Which Old World animals transformed agriculture and transport in the Americas?

Answer: Horses and cattle. Revolutionized mobility, farming, and warfare for Indigenous peoples.

Flashcard 8: What crop from the Americas became a key calorie source that supported European population growth?

Answer: Potato. High-yield crop transformed European diets and demographics after 1600.

Flashcard 9: What was the price revolution in $16$th-century Europe most closely linked to?

Answer: Inflation driven largely by increased American silver imports. Massive silver influx from Potosí and Mexico devalued currency across Europe.

Flashcard 10: Which option best states the long-term ecological effect of European colonization in the Americas?

Answer: Biological invasion: Old World species and diseases reshaped ecosystems. European flora, fauna, and pathogens permanently altered American environments.

Flashcard 11: What was the main technological advantage that enabled Portuguese Atlantic exploration?

Answer: Caravel and improved navigation (compass, astrolabe, better cartography). Maneuverable ships and precise instruments enabled long ocean voyages.

Flashcard 12: What was the Columbian Exchange in early modern history?

Answer: Transfer of crops, animals, peoples, and diseases across the Atlantic. Biological and cultural exchanges permanently transformed both hemispheres.

Flashcard 13: What was the triangular trade model meant to describe?

Answer: Europe–Africa–Americas exchange of goods, slaves, and plantation products. Ships carried manufactured goods to Africa, slaves to Americas, sugar to Europe.

Flashcard 14: Which option best describes the main demographic effect of the Columbian Exchange in the Americas?

Answer: Mass Indigenous mortality from Eurasian diseases. Disease exchange was asymmetric, devastating Native populations.

Flashcard 15: What was the primary economic purpose of Spanish American silver mining at Potosí and Zacatecas?

Answer: Bullion extraction to finance empire and expand global trade. Silver flowed to Europe and Asia, fueling global monetary system.

Flashcard 16: What is mercantilism as practiced by early modern European states?

Answer: State-directed trade to maximize bullion and maintain a favorable balance. Nations hoarded gold/silver and restricted imports to achieve trade surpluses.

Flashcard 17: What 1494 treaty divided non-European lands between Spain and Portugal?

Answer: Treaty of Tordesillas. Divided world along meridian 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands.

Flashcard 18: What institution granted Spain the right to extract Indigenous labor in the Americas?

Answer: Encomienda system. Spanish colonists received Indigenous tribute and labor in exchange for Christianization.

Flashcard 19: What labor system is being described: a grant of Indigenous labor and tribute to a Spanish settler?

Answer: Encomienda system. Key identifier: grants of Indigenous labor to Spanish colonists.

Flashcard 20: Which option best matches the pattern: plantation monoculture + coerced labor + export to Europe?

Answer: Caribbean sugar plantation economy. Sugar plantations epitomized this exploitative colonial model.

Flashcard 21: Which European maritime technology most directly improved open-ocean navigation in the 15th century?

Answer: Caravel (with improved rigging and maneuverability). Lateen sails and smaller size enabled exploration of unknown waters.

Flashcard 22: Which disease most contributed to catastrophic Indigenous depopulation after $1492$?

Answer: Smallpox. Native Americans lacked immunity to this Old World disease, causing 90%+ mortality.

Flashcard 23: What was the encomienda system in Spanish America?

Answer: Grant of Indigenous labor/tribute to Spaniards in exchange for protection. Colonists exploited native labor while supposedly providing Christian instruction.

Flashcard 24: What Old World disease was most responsible for catastrophic Indigenous population decline after 1492?

Answer: Smallpox. No immunity meant 90% mortality in some Indigenous populations.

Flashcard 25: Identify the correct direction: Did horses move from Europe to the Americas or from the Americas to Europe?

Answer: Europe to the Americas. Europeans introduced horses, revolutionizing Indigenous cultures.

Flashcard 26: What was the primary labor system on Caribbean and Brazilian sugar plantations by the $17$th century?

Answer: Chattel slavery of Africans. Enslaved Africans were legally property, bought and sold for plantation labor.

Flashcard 27: Identify the correct direction: Did maize move from the Americas to Europe/Africa or the reverse?

Answer: Americas to Europe and Africa. New World crops spread to Old World, transforming global agriculture.

Flashcard 28: What term describes the forced labor draft used in Spanish Peru, adapted from an Inca practice?

Answer: Mita system. Rotational forced labor system for mining, especially at Potosí silver mines.

Flashcard 29: Identify the key difference between Spanish and English colonization in the Americas.

Answer: Spain: extraction and conversion; England: settler colonies and land seizure. Spain exploited existing societies; English displaced natives for farming.

Flashcard 30: What was the mita in Spanish Peru under colonial rule?

Answer: Forced rotational labor draft, especially for silver mining. Indigenous communities provided workers in shifts for mines like Potosí.

Flashcard 31: What did the Dutch East India Company (VOC) exemplify in European imperialism?

Answer: Chartered corporate empire controlling Asian trade and territory. Private company with state powers: armies, treaties, and monopoly rights.

Flashcard 32: What was the main function of joint-stock companies in English and Dutch expansion?

Answer: Pool investor capital to finance high-risk overseas trade and colonies. Shared risk and raised capital for expensive voyages and colonial ventures.

Flashcard 33: What was the Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494$) designed to do?

Answer: Divide new lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal. Drew a meridian line giving Spain most of Americas, Portugal got Brazil and Africa.

Flashcard 34: Which option best identifies a New World export that reshaped European consumer culture?

Answer: Sugar. Became Europe's most desired luxury import, driving plantation slavery.

Flashcard 35: What was the primary economic goal of European overseas expansion in the $15$th–$17$th centuries?

Answer: Acquire wealth via trade, bullion, and controlled colonial production. Mercantilism drove states to seek gold, silver, and profitable colonial goods.

Flashcard 36: What was mercantilism in early modern European imperial policy?

Answer: State-directed economy seeking bullion and a favorable balance of trade. Colonies existed to enrich mother country through controlled trade.

Flashcard 37: What was the main goal of Jesuit missionary activity in overseas empires?

Answer: Convert Indigenous peoples to Catholicism and extend Catholic influence. Counter-Reformation strategy to spread Catholic faith globally through missions.

Flashcard 38: What was the Middle Passage?

Answer: The transatlantic voyage carrying enslaved Africans to the Americas. Horrific conditions killed 15-20% of enslaved Africans during crossing.