Key Terms

Black Legend

Spain’s reputation as bloodthirsty conquistadors

Calvinism

a branch of Protestantism started by John Calvin, emphasizing human powerlessness before an omniscient God and stressing the idea of predestination

Columbian Exchange

the movement of plants, animals, and diseases across the Atlantic due to European exploration of the Americas

commodification

the transformation of something—for example, an item of ritual significance—into a commodity with monetary value

encomienda

legal rights to native labor as granted by the Spanish crown

Hispaniola

the island in the Caribbean, present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic, where Columbus landed on his first voyage to the Americas and established a Spanish colony

indulgences

documents for purchase that absolved sinners of their errant behavior

joint stock company

a business entity in which investors provide the capital and assume the risk in order to reap significant returns

mercantilism

the protectionist economic principle that nations should control trade with their colonies to ensure a favorable balance of trade

mourning wars

raids or wars that tribes waged in eastern North America in order to replace members lost to smallpox and other diseases

Pilgrims

Separatists, led by William Bradford, who established the first English settlement in New England

privateers

sea captains to whom the British government had given permission to raid Spanish ships at will

probanza de mérito

proof of merit: a letter written by a Spanish explorer to the crown to gain royal patronage

Protestant Reformation

the schism in Catholicism that began with Martin Luther and John Calvin in the early sixteenth century

Puritans

a group of religious reformers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who wanted to “purify” the Church of England by ridding it of practices associated with the Catholic Church and advocating greater purity of doctrine and worship

Roanoke

the first English colony in Virginia, which mysteriously disappeared sometime between 1587 and 1590

Separatists

a faction of Puritans who advocated complete separation from the Church of England

smallpox

a disease that Europeans accidentally brought to the New World, killing millions of Native Americans, who had no immunity to the disease

sugarcane

one of the primary crops of the Americas, which required a tremendous amount of labor to cultivate