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Henry Morgan
Sir Henry Morgan (c. 1635-1688) was a Welsh privateer who operated in the Caribbean against the Spanish Empire and then became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. Morgan was a charismatic and able military leader who masterminded devastating...
Definition
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1552-1618 CE) was an English courtier, soldier, mariner, explorer, and historian. A one-time favourite of his queen, Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE), Raleigh organised three expeditions to form a colony on...
Definition
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked enemies of their state, namely Spain, in the Caribbean and on the American coast (the Spanish Main) throughout the 17th century. Initially hunters and then seamen and soldiers, the buccaneers successfully...
Definition
Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was an impressionist painter based in France who focussed on landscapes but frequently changed his style and subjects. He was an instrumental figure in the new art movement of the 19th century, organising independent...
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Map of Gran Colombia
A map of the Republic of Colombia (1819-1831), a state that covered much of northern South America after independence from the Spanish Empire, by Agostino Codazzi, 1840. The map depicts the Republic of Colombia divided into 12 administrative...
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Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar (1793-1830), Venezuelan military officer and statesman, mezzotint portrait by Charles Turner, 1827. Known as "The Liberator", Bolívar led several countries in South America to independence from the Spanish Empire in the 19th...
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Battle of Carabobo, 1821
Battle of Carabobo, oil on canvas mural by Martín Tovar y Tovar, 1887. This portion of the mural depicts an engagement fought at the Carabobo battlefield on June 24, 1821, between the patriot army, fighting for Venezuelan independence, and...
Article
The Gold of the Conquistadors
The staggering quantity of gold the conquistadors extracted from the Americas allowed Spain to become the richest country in the world. The thirst for gold to pay for armies and gain personal enrichment resulted in waves of expeditions of...
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Origins of World Agriculture
Agriculture arose independently at several locations across the world, beginning about 12,000 years ago. The first crops and livestock were domesticated in six rather diffuse areas including the Near East, China, Southeast Asia, and Africa...
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Weapons of the Conquistadors
The Iberian conquistadors ("conquerors") were the first military men to explore, attack, and conquer territories in the Americas and Asia that would then become a part of the Spanish or Portuguese Empire. Indigenous peoples could not match...