Episode I Source Readings

Secondary Source: The Global Context of the Timbuktu Manuscripts (

• Timbuktu was important for scholars 

• Muslim and Christian views were against slavery

  • Ahmad Baba went further, arguing that people who were allies should not be enslaved (in muslim but not in Christian texts) 

  • Slavery was permissible, enslaving those captured in battle or to those that weren’t Christian. 

• Although Musclim and Christian teachings both opposed some forms of slavery, Ahmad Baba’s views provided broader protections by opposing the enslavement of allied non-Muslims

  • Christian canon law instructed Christians not to enslave non-Christians who were under the protection of Chrsitaian states 

  • Ahmad Baba and other Muslim scholars similarly argued against enslaving protected non-muslims 

  • Ahmad Baba went further by arguing that non-Muslims who were allies should not be enslaved, a protection that was not included in the Christian texts

  • Ahmad Baba, Muslim scholar from Timbuktu, 17th century.

Secondary Source: Njinga of Angola

• Ndongo was a well-organized and powerful kingdom because it had a structured government, a strong military, and a regulated economy. 

  • Organized government: Ndongo was divided into 17 provinces and 736 murindas, with the ngola having strong administrative and financial control 

  • Strong military: Ndongo’s army used spears, poison arrows, and battle axes, while soldiers trained from childhood to improve their speed and agility

  • Regulated economy: The ngola strictly regulated markets, including the sale of captives, and controlled the exchange rates of items such as cloth, shells, and salt.

  • The ngola, the ruler of Ndongo and the Mbundu people; this text also discusses Njinga, who later became a ruler 

Primary Source: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai 

• Mansa Musa goes on pilgrimage and stops by Egypt 

  • Took him a year 

  • Brings his entourage 

  • Keep importing horses from the North to get a slight military edge. Help them to carry out military emissions 

  • But when the North stop the alliance with Mali, then they won’t have the cavalry advantage 

Primary Source: Medieval Sourcebook: Petrus Paulus Vergerius: The New Education 

• Vergerius argues that liberal education is essential because it develops wisdom, virtue, and practical skills that prepare people for life and leadership. 

  • P.P. Vergerius the Elder, a renaissance humanist and teacher. This is a treatise explaining what education should teach and how education develops a person’s wisdom, virtue, judgement, and abilities. This is soon after 1400, during the Renaissance. It is written in the context of Italian Renaissance humanism; Vergerius had taught in places including Florence, Bologna, and Padua. 

  • Education develops virtue and wisdom: Vergerius says liberal studies help people develop their highest abilities and become more virtuous and wise 

  • Education prepares people for leadership: He argues that history, moral philosophy, and eloquence help people make good decisions and govern effectively 

  • Education should match individual abilities: Vergerius says students have different strengths, so education should recognize their natural abilities and guide them toward subjects where they can succeed

Primary Source: The Prince: Niccolo Machiavelli

• Who: Niccolò Machiavelli, a Florentine diplomat and political thinker; his intended audience was rulers, especially princes.

• What: The Prince explains how rulers can gain and maintain political power. Machiavelli argues that rulers must prioritize practical results and political survival over always behaving virtuously.

• When: Written in 1513, during the Renaissance.

• Where: Florence, Italy, where Machiavelli was from and whose republic had been overthrown, forcing him into exile.

• Context: During the Italian Renaissance, the Italian peninsula was divided into competing city-states. Political instability, rival rulers, and warfare made maintaining power a major concern.

• Thesis: Machiavelli’s The Prince reflects the importance of empire-building and political power during the Renaissance by arguing that rulers must maintain military strength, make practical decisions rather than always follow traditional morality, and use fear strategically to preserve control over their subjects.

  • Military strength is necessary to maintain power. Machiavelli argues that rulers must prioritize military preparation to protect and expand their territories. This connects to empire because military strength allows rulers to conquer land, defend their states, and maintain control.

  • Rulers must prioritize practical results over traditional morality. Machiavelli believes rulers sometimes need to act against traditional ideas of virtue if doing so protects their power. This reflects the political competition of the Renaissance, when rulers often prioritized the survival and expansion of their states over moral ideals.

  • Fear can be more effective than love. Machiavelli argues that fear of punishment can make subjects more dependable than affection alone. This connects to the empire because rulers need ways to maintain order and prevent resistance among the people they govern. However, he also warns princes to avoid being hated.

Primary Source: Jewish History Sourcebook: the Expulsion from Spain 1492 

• Who: King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, the Jewish communities they expelled, and the Jewish author who wrote the account in 1495.

• What: In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella ordered all Jews to leave their Spanish kingdoms. Many Jewish people lost their homes and property and were forced to seek refuge in other countries. Some eventually converted to Christianity because they could not find safety elsewhere.

• When: The expulsion decree was signed on March 31, 1492, publicly announced on May 1, and required Jews to leave by August 1. The account was written in April or May 1495.

• Where: Spain, particularly its kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Valencia, as well as other territories under Spanish rule. Refugees traveled to Portugal, North Africa, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).

• In 1492, Spain captured Granada, the last major Muslim-ruled territory on the Iberian Peninsula, completing the Christian conquest of Muslim Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella sought greater religious unity in their kingdoms. According to the reading, religious zeal was the main reason for expelling the Jews, although nationalism and financial motives also played a role. The expulsion forced Jewish communities to migrate across the Mediterranean and beyond.

• Thesis: The expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 demonstrates how empire and globalization shaped religious communities during the early modern period, as Spanish rulers used their political authority to enforce religious uniformity, while the expulsion forced Jewish people to migrate across regions and interact with different societies.

  • Empire: Monarchs in Spain leveraged imperial power to impose Catholic conformity across their realm

    • Ferdinand used his royal power to remove Jewish communities from territories under his rule.

    • This demonstrates how rulers could use political authority to impose religious policies across an empire or a collection of kingdoms.

    • Connection: Empire, because the monarchy exercised control over multiple territories and their populations.

  • Globalization: Jewish refugees migrated across regions

    • Jewish refugees crossed the Mediterranean and moved into North Africa and other regions.

    • Their migration connected communities across Spain, North Africa, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.

    • Connection: Globalization, because people moved across regions, spreading communities and creating new connections between different parts of the world.

  • Globalization: Different societies responded to the refugees in different ways 

    • The Ottoman ruler welcomed some Jewish refugees partly because they possessed useful skills as artisans.

    • Meanwhile, the reading describes refugees facing mistreatment in Portugal and Genoa, but receiving assistance in Naples and the Ottoman Empire.

    • Connection: Globalization, because migration brought people with different skills and backgrounds into contact with new societies, affecting both the refugees and the places where they settled.

Primary Source: Romanus Pontifex

• Who: Pope Nicholas V, who issued the papal bull; Prince Henry of Portugal, who supported Portuguese exploration; and King Alfonso V of Portugal, who received the rights described in the document.

• What: Romanus Pontifex was a papal bull that recognized and supported Portugal’s claims to territories explored and conquered along the African coast. It justified Portuguese expansion through the goal of spreading Christianity while also granting Portugal authority to control trade, restrict other countries’ access, and enslave conquered non-Christian peoples.

• When: January 8, 1455, during the Age of Exploration.

• Where: Issued in Rome, Italy, concerning Portuguese exploration and conquest along the western African coast, including Guinea and territories near present-day North Africa.

• Portugal and Castile (a kingdom that later became part of Spain) competed to control overseas territories and trade routes. Both sought papal support for their territorial claims, arguing that exploration and conquest would spread Christianity. The Portuguese had explored parts of the African coast and established control over certain islands, harbors, and coastal areas. Pope Nicholas V issued this bull to support Portugal’s claims and discourage other Christian rulers from interfering.

• Thesis: The papal bull Romanus Pontifex demonstrates how empire and globalization shaped European expansion during the Age of Exploration by granting Portugal religious and political justification for conquering foreign territories, controlling overseas trade, and spreading Christianity, while its voyages connected Europe with African regions through trade, conquest, and forced migration.

  • Empire: The Pope authorized Portugal to conquer territories

    • The Pope permitted Portugal to conquer territories inhabited by non-Christian peoples.

    • The document used Christianity to justify territorial expansion and the domination of other populations.

    • Connection: Empire, because Portugal received religious authorization to expand its political control over foreign lands and peoples.

  • Empire + Globalization: Portugal restricted other countries from accessing its territories 

    • Portugal restricted other nations from sailing to or trading in the territories it claimed without permission and payment.

    • This shows that overseas expansion involved not only acquiring land but also controlling important trade routes and access to resources.

    • Connection: Empire, because Portugal sought exclusive control over its claimed territories; globalization, because the document concerns connections between different regions through maritime trade and exploration.

  • Globalization+ Empire: Portuguese voyages involved the forced transportation of African people 

    • The document acknowledges that African people were taken by force or acquired through trade and transported to Portugal.

    • It reveals that early Portuguese overseas expansion involved the forced movement and enslavement of African people, alongside exploration and commercial exchange.

    • Connection: Globalization, because people were transported between Africa and Europe; empire, because Portuguese expansion involved conquest, domination, and enslavement.

Primary Source: West Africa’s Discovery of the Atlantic 

• Who: Robin Law, a historian who studies African history. His article focuses on West African societies and their experiences with European maritime trade.

• What: The article explains how European arrival and Atlantic trade changed West African societies, while also exploring how West Africans interpreted Europeans and the Atlantic through their own religious and cultural beliefs.

• When: Published in 2011. The historical events discussed mainly begin in the 15th century, when Portuguese ships started establishing maritime trade along the West African coast, and continue into later centuries.

• Where: The Atlantic coast of West Africa, especially the region known as the Slave Coast, around present-day Togo, Benin, southeastern Ghana, and southwestern Nigeria.

• Context: Before regular European maritime contact, many West African communities used canoes to travel and trade along rivers and lagoons, but their direct involvement with the Atlantic Ocean was more limited. Portuguese voyages opened new connections between West Africa and Europe, transforming trade and contributing to the Atlantic slave trade. However, Law emphasizes that Africans were not simply passive victims of European expansion. West Africans participated in trade and interpreted these new encounters through their own worldviews, including beliefs about the ocean, spirits, and the afterlife.

• Thesis: Robin Law’s “West Africa’s Discovery of the Atlantic” demonstrates how globalization transformed West African societies through European maritime trade, while local communities actively interpreted these encounters through their existing religious beliefs and cultural traditions, as shown by the expansion of Atlantic trade, changing beliefs about the ocean, and the growing religious significance of imported goods.

  • Globalization: Portuguese voyages opened West Africa to Atlantic trade

    • Portuguese voyages in the second half of the 15th century created new maritime connections between West Africa and Europe.

    • These connections transformed local trade and eventually contributed to the expansion of the Atlantic slave trade.

    • Connection: Globalization, because regions that had previously been less directly connected became linked through overseas trade and the movement of goods and people.

  • Syncretism: West Africans interpreted Europeans through existing religious beliefs 

    • The reading explains that some West African communities understood the Atlantic as a boundary between the living world and the afterlife. Some interpreted Europeans arriving across the ocean as spirits of deceased Africans.

    • These beliefs shaped how communities understood the unfamiliar arrival of European traders and the forced transportation of enslaved people.

    • Connection: This is evidence of cultural interaction and the adaptation of existing beliefs to new circumstances. However, it is not necessarily syncretism, because the reading does not always show two religious traditions blending into one.

  • Globalization: Imported goods became connected to West African sea-gods and wealth 

    • Law discusses how imported goods, including coral beads and cowry shells, became associated with Olokun, a sea deity connected to wealth.

    • The article suggests that the arrival of European trading ships contributed to the growing importance of Olokun in some communities, particularly among the Yoruba.

    • Connection: Globalization, because international trade introduced goods that influenced local religious and cultural practices. It also shows how West Africans adapted new economic experiences to their existing belief systems.

Primary Source: Diary of Christopher Columbus 

• Who: Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer sailing for Spain; the diary was later abstracted by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish priest who wrote about Spanish colonization and Indigenous peoples. Oliver Dunn and James E. Kelley, Jr. edited and translated the version in your reading.

• What: A record of Columbus’s first voyage across the Atlantic, including his search for Asia, his arrival in the Caribbean, his encounters with Indigenous peoples, and his interest in claiming land and obtaining valuable resources for Spain.

• When: 1492–1493, during the beginning of sustained European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

• Where: Columbus sailed from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean and reached islands in the Caribbean, including Guanahani, which he renamed San Salvador.

• Context: During the 1400s, European kingdoms competed to find new trade routes, obtain valuable goods, spread Christianity, and increase their political power. Columbus believed he could reach Asia by sailing west, hoping to access valuable trade goods. Spain’s rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella, sponsored his voyage. His expedition connected Europe and the Americas through voyages and trade, but it also began a period of colonization that brought devastating consequences for Indigenous communities. Columbus’s diary should be read as the perspective of a European explorer seeking opportunities for Spain, rather than as a neutral account of the people he encountered.

• Thesis: Columbus’s diary demonstrates how European exploration combined globalization with imperial expansion, as Spain sought new trade opportunities and valuable resources while attempting to claim Indigenous lands and spread Christianity, as shown by Columbus’s search for gold, his descriptions of Indigenous peoples, and his efforts to claim territory for Spain.

  • Globalization: Columbus’s voyage connected Europe to the Americas. Columbus crossed the Atlantic searching for a western route to Asia and its valuable goods. His voyage established a new connection between Europe and the Caribbean, contributing to expanding trade and later exchanges of people, goods, and ideas.

  • Empire: Columbus described Indigenous peoples in terms of what they could provide to the Spanish. In his diary, Columbus described the Indigenous people he encountered as potential converts to Christianity and considered how they might serve Spanish interests. This shows that his encounters were shaped not only by curiosity but also by his goals of conversion, exploitation, and expansion.

  • Empire: Columbus claimed newly encountered lands for Spain. After arriving in the Caribbean, Columbus claimed territory in the name of Spain’s monarchs and renamed places. These actions demonstrate how exploration became a means of extending Spanish authority over lands where Indigenous communities already lived.

Primary Source: Contact, Conquest, Contagions

• Who: Christopher Columbus, the Aztec/Mexica people whose account appears in The Broken Spears, and Arana Xajil, a member of the Cakchiquel Maya community whose history records the plague.

• What: The sources describe European exploration, the Spanish conquest of the Aztec capital, and the devastating effects of disease on Indigenous communities in Central America.

• When: The events mainly took place during the late 1400s and 1500s. The conquest of Mexico occurred in 1519–1521, while Arana Xajil’s account records plague outbreaks and other changes from 1519 through 1560.

• Where: Columbus’s discussion concerns world geography and the Atlantic voyages. The conquest account focuses on Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital in present-day Mexico City. The plague account focuses on the Cakchiquel Maya in present-day Guatemala.

• European voyages across the Atlantic brought Europeans into sustained contact with Indigenous societies in the Americas. Spanish explorers and conquerors sought wealth, territory, and opportunities to spread Christianity. However, Indigenous societies already had complex political systems, religious traditions, and cultures. The Spanish conquest depended on more than military force. Indigenous political divisions, Spanish actions, and diseases brought from Europe all contributed to the destruction and transformation of Indigenous communities. These sources also offer different perspectives: Columbus explains the world through his own religious and geographical beliefs, The Broken Spears describes the conquest from an Indigenous perspective, and Arana Xajil records the suffering and social changes associated with disease and Spanish rule.

• Thesis: The sources in “Contact, Conquest, and Contagions” demonstrate how European expansion transformed Indigenous societies in the Americas through globalization and imperial conquest, as shown by Columbus’s exploration and religious worldview, the Spanish seizure of Aztec wealth and political power, and the devastating effects of disease on Maya communities.

  • Globalization: Columbus combined geographical observations with Christian beliefs. In his discussion of world geography, Columbus describes the world’s shape and location of the earthly paradise by drawing on both observations and religious writings. This shows how European exploration was shaped by religious beliefs and by attempts to understand and navigate the world.

  • Empire: The Spanish seized Aztec wealth and took control of the capital. In The Broken Spears, the Spanish imprison Moctezuma, demand supplies, search for gold, and seize valuable treasures. The account describes the Spanish taking gold ornaments and other objects, showing that conquest involved the pursuit of wealth as well as political control.

  • Globalization + Empire: Disease caused widespread suffering among Indigenous communities. In Plague in Central America, Arana Xajil records outbreaks beginning in 1519, including the deaths of community members and leaders. The account describes how the disease devastated families and communities, while later passages also connect Spanish rule with tribute demands and other forms of oppression.

Secondary Source: 500 Years Later, The Spanish Conquest of Mexico Is Still Being Debated

• Who: Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador; Montezuma II, ruler of the Mexica people; Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a Spanish soldier who wrote about the expedition; and Matthew Restall, a modern historian who challenges the traditional story of the conquest.

• What: The article reexamines the Spanish-Aztec War and challenges the traditional claim that Montezuma peacefully surrendered his empire to Cortés. It emphasizes Indigenous alliances, disease, and the war's complexity.

• When: The meeting between Cortés and Montezuma occurred on November 8, 1519. Tenochtitlán fell on August 13, 1521. The article was published around the 500th anniversary of their meeting in 2019.

• Where: Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, located where modern-day Mexico City stands.

• Context: During the early 1500s, Spain expanded its overseas influence in the Americas in search of wealth, territory, and opportunities to spread Christianity. When Cortés arrived in Mexico, the Mexica ruled a powerful empire, but they also had rival communities and political enemies. The article challenges the idea that a small group of Spanish conquistadors defeated the Aztecs entirely on their own. Historian Matthew Restall argues that the Tlaxcallan Empire and other Indigenous political dynamics played major roles in the war. Smallpox and betrayal by an Aztec ally also contributed to Tenochtitlán’s fall. Even after the city fell in 1521, Spain took years to establish control over the region. The article also explains that Spanish accounts portrayed Indigenous peoples as uncivilized to justify conquest and violence. Archaeological discoveries at the Great Temple help demonstrate that Tenochtitlán had complex institutions, public services, schools, and a system of government.

• Thesis: The article demonstrates how Spanish imperial expansion transformed Indigenous societies through warfare and disease, while historical narratives often minimized Indigenous agency and civilization, as shown by the role of Indigenous allies in the Spanish-Aztec War, the spread of smallpox, and the Spanish portrayal of Aztec culture.

  • Empire: Indigenous allies played a major role in the war. Restall argues that the Tlaxcallan Empire was a driving force in the war against the Aztecs and outnumbered the Spanish conquistadors by approximately 50 to 1. This challenges the traditional story that Cortés and a small Spanish army independently conquered the Aztec Empire.

  • Globalization and Empire: Smallpox contributed to the fall of Tenochtitlán. The article explains that smallpox, alongside political betrayal and military conflict, helped bring about the city's fall. This shows how contact between Europe and the Americas had consequences beyond warfare, as diseases contributed to the devastation of Indigenous populations.

  • Empire: Spanish accounts misrepresented Aztec civilization. The article describes how Spanish accounts portrayed Indigenous peoples as savage or uncivilized, helping justify conquest and colonization. However, archaeological discoveries at the Great Temple reveal Tenochtitlán's organized government, schools, public services, and complex religious traditions.