My interpretation of the 2017 APWH course themes and key concepts for Period 4.

1. GLOBALIZING NETWORKS OF
COMMUNICATION AND EXCHANGE
1450-1750 (Solberg APWH)

2. COMMUNICATION & TRADE GOES GLOBAL!
 For the first time since the Ice Age, Eastern and
Western hemispheres were connected
 Old trade routes continued, but by the end of this
time period the Europeans dominated, to differing
degrees, most of the global trade networks
 Trading systems changed as commodities circled
the globe
 Massive amounts of people were affected by
disease, new food products, spread of religion,
and migrations (forced or willing)

4. MARITIME RECONISSANCE
 Portugal made caravel ships, astrolabes,
compasses and a school of navigation.
 Based on Islamic and Asian designs
 They were the first European country to establish
sea routes around Africa and to the East.
 A trading empire with W. Africa & the Indian Ocean
developed
 Spain’s monarchs sponsored Columbus’ voyages
and later trips across the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans

6. MARITIME RECONISSANCE
 Zheng He made 7 voyages into the Indian
Ocean to enhance Ming China’s prestige
 It quickly ended after his death
 NO CONQUESTS! Tribute visits only!
 Europeans searched across N. Atlantic for
multiple routes to Asia
 Set up fishing settlements
 Oceania & Polynesia were little affected by
European & Chinese voyages

8. GLOBAL ECONOMY DEVELOPS
 American silver was taken by the Spanish and
sent to China, via the Ottoman Empire
 Europeans are middle-men only
 European mercantilism exploited resources and
colonies (gov’t driven)
 European joint-stock companies were created
to intensify competition in global trade
 The Atlantic System mixed African, European &
American goods and peoples

10. HEMISPHERES CONNECT
 COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE
 Smallpox, measles, and flu come to the Americas
 Mosquitos and rats do too!
 Horses & pigs come to the Americas
 African slaves bring okra & rice
 Staple crops like potatoes & maize were exported
to Europe & the Middle East
 Population increase
 Cash crops like sugar & tobacco were grown on
plantations with forced labor

13. RELIGIOUS REFORM AND SYNCRETISM
 Sunni-Shi’a divisions intensified in the Middle East
 Ottomans (Sunni) take over Safavids (Shi’a)
 Sufi practices increased as Islam adapted to local areas
 West Africa & SE Asia
 The Reformation changed Christianity in Europe
 Martin Luther
 Caribbean Vodun = Christianity with W.African animism
 Sikhism develops in India as a syncretic blend of Islam
& Hinduism (thanks to Delhi & Mughal rulers)

16. LITERACY & STATE-SPONSORED ART INCREASE
 The Renaissance was an innovative time for
artistic expression
 Literacy expanded with the printing press and
expanded cultural diffusion
 More popular literature emerges such as
Shakespeare’s plays & sonnets & the griots’ tale of
Mali’s Sundiata

18. LITTLE ICE AGE
 1300-1800ish
 Agriculture is less = ag reform
 More coal is mined; more wood is burned
 Less settlement in Northern Hemisphere
 Increase demand for fur

19. LABOR DEMAND INCREASES WORLDWIDE
 Peasant labor intensified in places like Russia
(Siberian fur) and India (cotton textiles)
 Slavery in Africa was not just about slave trade to
the Americas…domestic slaves & soldier slaves
were still very common in East Africa & to the
Ottoman Empire
 Coerced labor characterized the American
plantation agriculture
 Chattel slavery
 Indentured servitude
 Encomienda system

21. ECONOMIC CHANGES=NEW ELITE GROUPS
 New political and economic elites emerge:
 Creoles in New Spain
 Manchus in China
 Gentry & Bourgeoisie in W. Europe
 Existing elites found it more difficult to
influence monarchs & leaders and therefore
declined in power
 Nobles in W. Europe
 Daimyo in Japan

23. SOCIETIES ADAPT TO CHANGING TIMES
 Families and gender roles changed
 Men were removed from Africa during the slave
trade; women take on different roles
 European men took SE Asian wives as they
conducted trade in the Indian Ocean
 European family size decreased
 Migrations of peoples resulted in new ethnic &
racial classifications (mestizo, creole, mulatto)

24. RULERS STILL HAVE TO LEGITIMIZE THEIR
POWER
 States consolidated and Empires expanded
 Rulers used the arts and religious ideas to
legitimize their rule
 “divine right of kings” in Europe
 Aztec use of human sacrifice
 Songhay Africa promotes Islam to “official”
 Monumental architecture continues
 Palace of Versailles
 Taj Mahal

26. KEEP SUBJECTS PRODUCTIVE & CONTENT
 States treated different ethnic and religious
groups within the state in ways that utilized
their economic contributions while limiting their
ability to challenge authority.
 Ex. Janissaries & “raya” in the Ottoman Empire
 Manchu Qing retain identity but promote Chinese
(Han) traditions and loyalty
 Social mobility of creoles, mestizos & mulattoes

28. KEEPING EMPIRES CENTRALIZED
 Bureaucratic elites & military professionals are
commonly used to help control resources and
populations.
 Ottoman devshirme (janissary corps)
 Civil service exams in Manchu China (not for Manchus
though)
 Tribute collection and tax farming generate
revenue for territorial expansion.
 Aztec & Chinese tribute collection
 Ottoman tax farming

30. EMPIRES USE GUNPOWDER TO EXPAND &
TRADE
 Land-Based “Gunpowder” Empires
 Manchu (Qing) China
 Mughal India (Islamic rulers over Hindu
populations)
 Ottomans (Sunni Muslims)
 Tsarist Russia
 European trade-post empires in Africa & Asia
 W. African slave trade
 Indian port cities (Calicut)

32. AMERICAN COLONIES
 European Maritime Empires in the Americas:
 Portuguese (Brazil)
 Spanish (S. America, Mesoamerica, Caribbean,
western N. America)
 Dutch (Caribbean, New Amsterdam)
 French (Canada, Mississippi River)
 British (Atlantic seaboard of N. America)

34. THERE’S ALWAYS A CHALLENGE TO POWER
 There was competition over trade routes that
challenged state expansion
 Pirates in the Caribbean
 Ottoman/European rivalry in the Indian Ocean
 Neighboring states rivaled each other
 Thirty Years War in Europe
 Sunni Ottomans fight Shi’ite Safavids
 Local Resistance movements challenged states
 Peasant uprisings in Russia