Key historical events (Aug.20)

Protestant Reformation (1500’s)

Challenged the Catholic Church and reshaped religion and politics across Europe

Colombian Exchange- After 1492

Transferred plants, animals, diseases, and people between Europe, Africa, and the Americans, dramatically changing populations and economics

Enlightenment 1600s-1700s

Spread ideas about natural rights, democracy, and government by consent that influenced the American Revolution

Atlantic Slave Trade 1500s-1800s

Forced millions of Africans into slavery and shaped the economic development of the Americans

American Revolution 1775-1783

Created the United States and introduced ideas of republican government based on Enlightenment principles

French Revolution 1789-1799

Spread revolutionary ideas about liberty and equality while reshaping European politics

Industrial revolution 1700s-1900s

Rise factories and urbanization

World War 1 1914-1918

Global conflict and nationalism

Bolshevik Revolution 1917

Established the first communist state in Russia and set the stage for global idealogical conflict in the 20th century

Great Depression 1929-1939

Worldwide economic collapse

World War 2 1939-1945

Major global war

Cold war 1945-1991

A global ideological struggle between capitalism (the U.S) and communism (the Soviet union) that influenced wars, politics, and alliances worldwide

Civil Rights Movements 1950s-1960s

Advanced legal and social equality in the United States and influenced global human rights movements

Fall of the Soviet Union 1991

Ended the cold war, dissolved the world’s largest communist state, and left the United States as the dominant global superpower