U2 Inca Empire:
-> Sapa Inca: Absolute, divine emperor of the Inca Empire, holding
supreme political, military, and religious authority. Commonly considered as a
direct descendant of the Sun God, Inti.
-> Ayllu: The traditional form of community in the Andes, acting as a
fundamental social unit of the Incan society. Similar to Communism, it
facilitates shared labor, security, and local governance.
-> Mit’a System: A mandatory, rotational tax in the form of labor
contributing to public projects like roads or temples.
-> Conquistador: Refers to the 16th-century Spanish and Portuguese
explorers and soldiers who defeated the empires in the Americas driven by
the desire for more territory.
-> Terrace Farming: An agricultural system composed of stepped farmland
that turned the steep Andean mountain slopes into productive farmland by
minimizing the erosion of fertile soil and the runoff of water.
-> Carpa Nan: A massive road system that stretched for as long as 40000
km that served as the backbone of the Inca Empire. Used for commerce,
communication, and military movements.
-> Andes: Long mountain rage that stretches 7000 km along the coast of
South America. This is the primary area that the Inca Empire operates in.
-> Chasqui (Chaski): Trained messengers of the Inca Empire who used the
Carpa Nan road network to deliver messages and goods. They can cover up to
240km per day.
-> Smallpox: The arrival of this disease predated the Spanish
Conquistadors and decimated the entire empire, killing Emperor Huayna
Cápac and his heir. This triggered a devastating civil war between his sons
that eventually allowed the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro to conquer the
weakened empire by 1532.
-> “Guns, Germs, and Steel”: This book explained why European
civilizations were able to conquer the Americas based primarily on three
factors: military weapon superiority, European diseases, and high-quality
armor.
-> Quipu: A sophisticated communication and record-keeping system
developed and used by the Incans. These were based on knots on special
strings that represented numbers in a base-10 number system.
-> Lake Titicaca: The major lake inside the Inca Empire, the very center of
their religious belief. Many temples and other structures were built here.
-> Cusco: The administrative, military, and spiritual capital of the Inca
Empire. Famously known for being in the shape of a Puma.
-> Arquebus: An early type of firearm that was used in the conquest of the
Inca Empire by the Spanish. Its impact was more psychological than tactical
because it lacked both accuracy and efficiency. It produces a loud crack that
was associated with the Incan God of Thunder, Illapa. This scared the Incan
army and helped the conquerors in an unintended way.
, -> Inti: The ancient Incan Sun God and national patron of the Inca state.
-> Pachacuti: 9th Sapa Inca who transformed the Kingdom of Cusco into
the massive Inca Empire. His name literally means “World-Transformer”.
-> Francisco Pizarro: The Spanish Conquistador who led the expedition
that conquered the Inca Empire in 1532.
-> Atahualpa: The last reigning Sapa Inca, his short and tragic rule was
marked by a brutal civil and his fateful encounter with Francisco. He was
taken as prisoner at Cajamarca and later strangled to death despite paying
the Spanish with a mind-boggling amount of gold and silver.
U2 Colonization in the Americas:
-> Treaty of Tordesillas: Signed in 1494, this agreement divided the newly
discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the
Spanish Empire. It completely disregards the sovereignty of the native
populations.
-> Encomienda System: A forced labor and tribute system established by
the Spanish in the early 16th century during the colonization of the Americas
and Philippines. The core principle is that the Crown grants protection and
instruction in the Catholic religion to a group of indigenous people. In
exchange, the indigenous people were forced to pay tribute in gold, crops, or
labor. It drove the Atlantic Slave trade due to the death of indigenous people
that led to a labor vacuum in the massive sugar plantations.
-> Casta System: A rigid hierarchy established by the Spanish Empire in
the American and the Philippine colonies during the 16 th through 18th
centuries. From the top level to the bottom:
-> Peninsulares: Pure blood Spanish born in the Spanish peninsula.
These people traveled to the Americas and usually held the highest
government or military positions.
-> Creoles: Spanish but born in the Americas, usually very wealthy.
-> Mestizos: Part Spanish, part indigenous. Primarily worked as skilled
workers like artisans, traders, or laborers.
-> Mulattos: Part Spanish, part African. Faced severe legal restrictions
and has significantly less right than a normal citizen. Normally basic laborers.
-> Indigenous: Native population who were technically “protected”,
but in reality, heavily exploited as slaves.
-> Africans: People of pure African descent, usually enslaved and lives
at the bottom of the legal and social structure.
-> Small Pox (Variola Major): The introduction of this disease wreaked
havoc on the local indigenous communities. Small pox, along with measles
and influenza, killed an estimated 80% to 95% of all indigenous population
within a century, or around 56 million people, this is also called the Great
Dying.
, -> Measles (Morbillivirus): One of the most lethal pathogens ever
introduced to the Americas. It came shortly after the initial smallpox epidemic
wave, striking the remaining weak population.
-> Mestizo: As stated earlier.
-> Mulatto: As stated earlier also.
-> Fur Trade: Driven by high demands for luxury beaver pelt hats or other
kinds of fur clothing, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands built their
empire around the North American fur trade. This includes cooperation with
indigenous communities and led to some of the first diplomatic negotiations
with the natives.
-> Silver Mining: It served as the economic backbone of the Spanish
Empire. Labor was derived from the Encomienda System and, near the Inca
Empire, the Mit’a System, which was adapted to this cause.
-> Religious Syncretism: Means the blending of two or more distinct
religious belief into a new system. During the colonization of the Americas, it
preserved indigenous cultural identity despite being under European rule.
-> Taíno: An Arawak-speaking indigenous people who inhabited the
Greater Antilles, which is modern-day Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico,
and the Bahamas. They were the first major civilization encountered by
Christopher Columbus in 1492. Their leadership was passed down through the
maternal bloodline, normally the Cacique’s sister’s eldest son.
-> Jamestown: Established in Virginia on May of 1607, it was the first
permanent English settlement in the North America. They faced the Starving
Time from 1609 to 1610.
-> Columbian Exchange: The widespread transfer of plants, animals,
culture, human population, diseases, and technology between the Eastern
Hemisphere (Old World) and Western Hemisphere (New World) following
Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage.
-> Influenza (the Flu): One of the most lethal respiratory pathogens
introduced to the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries.
-> Plantation Complex: An integrated multi system large-scale agricultural
estate in the Americas operating from the 16th century all the way up to the
19th centuries. Relied on slavery to produce cash crops like sugar cane,
tobacco, coffee, cotton, or rice.
-> Creoles: As stated above.
-> Peninsulares: As stated above.
U6 Russian Expansion:
-> Romanov: The second and last imperial dynasty to rule Russia, reigning
for over three centuries from 1613 until 1917. Russia transformed from a
medieval kingdom into a massive global empire.
-> Serfdom: A form of unfree labor that bounded millions of peasants to
the land and will of the landlords.
-> Sapa Inca: Absolute, divine emperor of the Inca Empire, holding
supreme political, military, and religious authority. Commonly considered as a
direct descendant of the Sun God, Inti.
-> Ayllu: The traditional form of community in the Andes, acting as a
fundamental social unit of the Incan society. Similar to Communism, it
facilitates shared labor, security, and local governance.
-> Mit’a System: A mandatory, rotational tax in the form of labor
contributing to public projects like roads or temples.
-> Conquistador: Refers to the 16th-century Spanish and Portuguese
explorers and soldiers who defeated the empires in the Americas driven by
the desire for more territory.
-> Terrace Farming: An agricultural system composed of stepped farmland
that turned the steep Andean mountain slopes into productive farmland by
minimizing the erosion of fertile soil and the runoff of water.
-> Carpa Nan: A massive road system that stretched for as long as 40000
km that served as the backbone of the Inca Empire. Used for commerce,
communication, and military movements.
-> Andes: Long mountain rage that stretches 7000 km along the coast of
South America. This is the primary area that the Inca Empire operates in.
-> Chasqui (Chaski): Trained messengers of the Inca Empire who used the
Carpa Nan road network to deliver messages and goods. They can cover up to
240km per day.
-> Smallpox: The arrival of this disease predated the Spanish
Conquistadors and decimated the entire empire, killing Emperor Huayna
Cápac and his heir. This triggered a devastating civil war between his sons
that eventually allowed the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro to conquer the
weakened empire by 1532.
-> “Guns, Germs, and Steel”: This book explained why European
civilizations were able to conquer the Americas based primarily on three
factors: military weapon superiority, European diseases, and high-quality
armor.
-> Quipu: A sophisticated communication and record-keeping system
developed and used by the Incans. These were based on knots on special
strings that represented numbers in a base-10 number system.
-> Lake Titicaca: The major lake inside the Inca Empire, the very center of
their religious belief. Many temples and other structures were built here.
-> Cusco: The administrative, military, and spiritual capital of the Inca
Empire. Famously known for being in the shape of a Puma.
-> Arquebus: An early type of firearm that was used in the conquest of the
Inca Empire by the Spanish. Its impact was more psychological than tactical
because it lacked both accuracy and efficiency. It produces a loud crack that
was associated with the Incan God of Thunder, Illapa. This scared the Incan
army and helped the conquerors in an unintended way.
, -> Inti: The ancient Incan Sun God and national patron of the Inca state.
-> Pachacuti: 9th Sapa Inca who transformed the Kingdom of Cusco into
the massive Inca Empire. His name literally means “World-Transformer”.
-> Francisco Pizarro: The Spanish Conquistador who led the expedition
that conquered the Inca Empire in 1532.
-> Atahualpa: The last reigning Sapa Inca, his short and tragic rule was
marked by a brutal civil and his fateful encounter with Francisco. He was
taken as prisoner at Cajamarca and later strangled to death despite paying
the Spanish with a mind-boggling amount of gold and silver.
U2 Colonization in the Americas:
-> Treaty of Tordesillas: Signed in 1494, this agreement divided the newly
discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the
Spanish Empire. It completely disregards the sovereignty of the native
populations.
-> Encomienda System: A forced labor and tribute system established by
the Spanish in the early 16th century during the colonization of the Americas
and Philippines. The core principle is that the Crown grants protection and
instruction in the Catholic religion to a group of indigenous people. In
exchange, the indigenous people were forced to pay tribute in gold, crops, or
labor. It drove the Atlantic Slave trade due to the death of indigenous people
that led to a labor vacuum in the massive sugar plantations.
-> Casta System: A rigid hierarchy established by the Spanish Empire in
the American and the Philippine colonies during the 16 th through 18th
centuries. From the top level to the bottom:
-> Peninsulares: Pure blood Spanish born in the Spanish peninsula.
These people traveled to the Americas and usually held the highest
government or military positions.
-> Creoles: Spanish but born in the Americas, usually very wealthy.
-> Mestizos: Part Spanish, part indigenous. Primarily worked as skilled
workers like artisans, traders, or laborers.
-> Mulattos: Part Spanish, part African. Faced severe legal restrictions
and has significantly less right than a normal citizen. Normally basic laborers.
-> Indigenous: Native population who were technically “protected”,
but in reality, heavily exploited as slaves.
-> Africans: People of pure African descent, usually enslaved and lives
at the bottom of the legal and social structure.
-> Small Pox (Variola Major): The introduction of this disease wreaked
havoc on the local indigenous communities. Small pox, along with measles
and influenza, killed an estimated 80% to 95% of all indigenous population
within a century, or around 56 million people, this is also called the Great
Dying.
, -> Measles (Morbillivirus): One of the most lethal pathogens ever
introduced to the Americas. It came shortly after the initial smallpox epidemic
wave, striking the remaining weak population.
-> Mestizo: As stated earlier.
-> Mulatto: As stated earlier also.
-> Fur Trade: Driven by high demands for luxury beaver pelt hats or other
kinds of fur clothing, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands built their
empire around the North American fur trade. This includes cooperation with
indigenous communities and led to some of the first diplomatic negotiations
with the natives.
-> Silver Mining: It served as the economic backbone of the Spanish
Empire. Labor was derived from the Encomienda System and, near the Inca
Empire, the Mit’a System, which was adapted to this cause.
-> Religious Syncretism: Means the blending of two or more distinct
religious belief into a new system. During the colonization of the Americas, it
preserved indigenous cultural identity despite being under European rule.
-> Taíno: An Arawak-speaking indigenous people who inhabited the
Greater Antilles, which is modern-day Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico,
and the Bahamas. They were the first major civilization encountered by
Christopher Columbus in 1492. Their leadership was passed down through the
maternal bloodline, normally the Cacique’s sister’s eldest son.
-> Jamestown: Established in Virginia on May of 1607, it was the first
permanent English settlement in the North America. They faced the Starving
Time from 1609 to 1610.
-> Columbian Exchange: The widespread transfer of plants, animals,
culture, human population, diseases, and technology between the Eastern
Hemisphere (Old World) and Western Hemisphere (New World) following
Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage.
-> Influenza (the Flu): One of the most lethal respiratory pathogens
introduced to the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries.
-> Plantation Complex: An integrated multi system large-scale agricultural
estate in the Americas operating from the 16th century all the way up to the
19th centuries. Relied on slavery to produce cash crops like sugar cane,
tobacco, coffee, cotton, or rice.
-> Creoles: As stated above.
-> Peninsulares: As stated above.
U6 Russian Expansion:
-> Romanov: The second and last imperial dynasty to rule Russia, reigning
for over three centuries from 1613 until 1917. Russia transformed from a
medieval kingdom into a massive global empire.
-> Serfdom: A form of unfree labor that bounded millions of peasants to
the land and will of the landlords.
