Mercantilism was the prevailing economic theory in Europe during the first few centuries of European colonialism, before it was replaced in the eighteenth century by free market capitalism. Mercantilism involves strict government control over the economy and proposes that the government regulate large-scale economic ventures for the purposes of enhancing state power. It also involves the establishment of colonies for the purpose of extracting raw resources (particularly gold and silver), which can be used to directly enrich the metropole. Mercantilism, by its very nature, is competitive and led to many wars between competing European powers.

The Repartimiento System was employed in many parts of Spanish colonial America after the abuses of the Encomienda System had been brought to light. The Repartimiento System differed in that the natives were no longer enslaved, but instead were forced to work for several months of the year in slave-like conditions.

Shoguns and Daimyos were the two ruling groups in Japanese feudal society. Shoguns were powerful military rulers, best understood as warrior-kings. Daimyos were wealthy, hereditary landowners. At various times in Japanese history these two groups worked together, fought against one another and fought amongst themselves for control of Japanese society.

The Encomienda System was used in the Spanish colonial empire in the Americas during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth centuries. The system is based on the forced labor of the native population. In theory the Spanish colonial rulers were meant to provide for the protection and conversion to Christianity of the native population in exchange for their labor, however in practice the native population suffered immensely at the hands of the Spanish rulers.

The transformation thesis specifically refers to the theorized effect of the external slave trade on African societies. Proponents of the thesis argue that the external demand for slaves was the central force in intensifying and increasing the market for slaves in Africa. Critics of the thesis point to the existing internal African slave trade as a key part of the market and argue that European involvement did not fundamentally transform it.

Whereas the Spanish relied primarily on the native labor force in their American colonies, the Portuguese relied heavily on African slaves shipped over to Brazil to work in the lucrative sugar plantations. Of course the Spanish also made extensive use of slaves and the Portuguese also exploited native labor, but each did so much less frequently than their counterparts.

It is estimated that during the period of the Atlantic Slave Trade, which lasted from the sixteenth century until the early nineteenth century, approximately ten million Africans were enslaved and forcibly transported across the Atlantic to work and die in the Americas.

The textile industry - the production of clothes and other fabrics - was the first industry to be revolutionized by the Industrial Revolution. Previously, much of the work of the textile industry had been carried out in people’s homes (what is called the Cottage Industry). At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, however, innovations in steam power and water mills dramatically altered the means of textile production.

A hacienda is the name given to a large estate or plantation in Spanish colonial America. The hacienda system prevailed throughout the vast majority of Spanish territory in Latin America.

With the growth of factories and workhouses in the booming industrial cities, women and children were able to work, and were often prized above men by unethical employers because they could be treated less humanely, and their more delicate fingers were perfect for working the complicated machinery.