Term | Definition |
Capitalism | A system in which people, rather than governments, own property, make goods, and buy and sell them freely. |
Middle Class | A group made up of merchants and artisans. |
Entrepreneur | One who organizes, pays for, and takes on the risk of setting up a business. |
Joint Stock Company | A business in which investors buy shares in the company. |
Commerce | An exchange of goods, business |
Free Enterprise | The freedom of private business to compete for profits without government involvement. |
Columbian Exchange | A global exchange of people, goods, technology and ideas - and even diseases. |
Immunity | The body's ability to resist infection. |
Trading Post | Outposts for the purpose of trade. |
Plantation Colony | A colony made up of large estates or farms that used enslaved people or hired workers to grow and harvest crops. |
Settlement Colony | Territories governed by the homeland that hoped to attract enough people to establish a firm foothold in another land. |
Indentured Servants | European workers who signed contracts to work for a set number of years to pay off their trip to the Americas. |
Encomienda System | Spain awarded nobles large grants of land and gave them the right to use the labor of Native Americans. |
Cash Crop | Crops grown in large amounts to be sold for profit |
Triangular Trade | 3 legged trade journey between Europe- Africa and the Americas. |
Viceroy | Spanish royal representatives who they sent to the Americas to set the laws and regulate trade. |
Atlantic Slave Trade | Capture and transport of Africans into bondage in the Americas. |
Middle Passage | Middle part of the triangular trade that consisted of transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas. |
Missionaries | People who taught and spread Christianity. |
Converts | People who change their beliefs to another religion or faith. |
Isolationism | A policy of turning inwards from the world. |