Longman Companion to the Formation of the European Empires, 1488-1920 by Muriel E. Chamberlain

Author:Muriel E. Chamberlain [Chamberlain, Muriel E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Europe, World, Modern, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, 16th Century
ISBN: 9781317878308
Google: sPzJAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-06-11T16:04:46+00:00

___________

1. C.A. Julien, Histoire de l’Algèrie contemporaine: La conquête et les débuts de la colonisation (1964).

2. Dictionary of National Biography, vol. XLV, p. 358.

Section III

GLOSSARY

Amboina, massacre of (1623): The Dutch Governor executed 10 Englishmen (and several Japanese) whom he accused of trading illegally and plotting insurrection. It was long remembered and, according to tradition, was the seminal event which led to Britain abandoning the Spice Islands trade in favour of India, but more recent research suggests that the transition was less abrupt and that Britain continued to trade in the Spice Islands for some time after this.

asiento: An agreement to supply a certain quota of slaves to the Spanish colonies.

audiencias: Important bodies in the Spanish colonies in South and Central America. Although their functions were primarily judicial, they came to be advisory councils to the Viceroys and Captains-General.

Aztecs: The dominant people in Mexico when the Spaniards arrived in 1519. Their capital was at Tenochtitlan, the site of the present Mexico City. They were a sophisticated society with a remarkable system of agriculture. But they were essentially a despotism with a small ruling class. This may help to explain the extraordinary collapse of the empire before Cortés’ tiny forces. Cortés may also have been helped by Aztec religion, which looked for the return of the god, Quetzalcoatl, from the east.

Bantu: In origins a linguistic classification, denoting a related family of African languages. It came to be applied to those who spoke them and has fallen into disrepute because of its (often derogatory) use during the apartheid era in South Africa to describe black Africans. The Bantu-speaking peoples moved slowly south from the Great Lakes region from about AD 400, probably driven by land hunger as the population increased.

Bojador, Cape: A headland on the coast of West Africa about 100 miles south of the Canary Islands. It gained a legendary importance in sixteenth-century explorations, being believed to be the safe limit of navigation, but, once it had been rounded (in 1434), the way seemed open, culminating in the discovery of a sea-route to India.

Boston massacre (5 March 1770): This was essentially a skirmish between British troops and a crowd. A British sentry was set upon. His comrades opened fire and five people died. It was only one of a series of brawls, but clever spin doctoring depicted it as a battle for American liberty.

Boston Tea Party (16 December 1773): An incident in the run up to the American War of Independence. The duty on tea was the only one of the Townshend Duties retained. Its price was actually reduced by allowing the East India Company to export it directly to North America, but a party of colonists, disguised as Indians, destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston harbour. In retaliation parliament passed the Intolerable Acts (see below), including one which closed Boston harbour until compensation had been paid for the tea.

buccaneers: British, French and Dutch seamen who established themselves in the Caribbean and harassed the Spaniards, taking advantage of the doctrine ‘No peace beyond the Line’, i.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.