age of exploration/scientific rev/absolutism/enlightenment

what effect did the expansion of the ottoman empire have on trade between western Europe and Asia?

• trade became difficult because it was expensive to buy things from far away (merchants raised prices)

• so only the rich could afford goods

why were Europeans interested in Asia? how could this interest in Asia have led to or caused exploration?

• they wanted Asian spices (pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, tumeric)

• too expensive to buy in europe

how could the religious zeal to spread christianity have led to or caused european exploration?

After Spain finished the Reconquista (remove all Muslim control from the peninsula) - it inspired them to continue spread Christianity to new places - they had missionaries on all of the boats to spread religion- they believed they were “saving souls”

Why would a mercantilist government be interested in other areas of the world?

• get gold/silver because they believed that countries were strongest with gold/silver(wealth)

What new technology aided European Exploration? 4

• astrolab-device that allows to determine latitude/time of say by sighting a star with the device

• compass

• portolani maps-detailed charts that provided navigators with important info

• caravel-small fast, easily movable ship

What impact did the treaty of Tordesillas have?

• spanish spent most of their effort exploring and conquering the western hemisphere while the portuguese devoted their time/power to Africa and the Indian ocean

Compare and contrast the  strategies used by Cortez and Pizarro to conquer the Aztec and Inca?

• pizarro-Conqueror of the Incas exploiting disease and weakness, captured king

• cortez-Conqueror of the Aztecs using indigenous support

What was the Columbian exchange? What was its impact?

• exchange of plants, animals, bacteria, humans, etc between old(europe,Africa,Asia)/new(Americas) worlds

• forged a connection between old/new worlds which had never been connected before

Describe the origins of the Transatlantic Slave trade.

• europe needs a labor source to be able to make money in Americas (people to work for getting the goods ex:sugar, tobacco) because almost all native Americans died

• africa was willing to sell slaves to Europe in exchange for goods

What impact did the Transatlantic Slave trade have on Africa?

• humans became commodoties

• people started to move to forests/run away to avoid being enslaved

• Ghana wanted guns, gunpowder, fabrics etc from europe

• tribute caused war in north Ghana (because if they were able to attack neighbors, they could get slaves and make money out of it)

• when people did offenses/illegal things, they became slaves to pay their dues

What were the “new methods” used in science?

scientific method-observations in experiments/analysis

What were the causes of the scientific revolution?

• Renaissance- rise of humanist thinking- not everything is religious

• Printing press- spread of information- increase in literacy- spread of knowledge from Islamic empire  

• Reformation- weakening of the Church and challenging of authority

Identify the accomplishments of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton.

• Copernicus

  • challenged belief of earth being universe’s center using math

  • suggested that it is heliocentric(Sun at center)

• Galileo

  • provided further evidence for heliocentric theory by observing skies with the telescope that he made

  • caused uproar bc he contradicted the church views

  • church put him on trial, threatened with death and forced to take back his ideas publicly

• Newton

  • built on Galileo/Copernicus, used math to prove gravity

  • gravity=same force that keeps planets moving around sun and makes object fall towards earth’s core

  • decided that nature has uniform laws

How is Louis XIV a good example of an absolute monarch?

• no CHEIF minister (so he could do anything he wanted without asking for permission)

• believed he was a life-force for france

• chose symbol of the sun to represent himself

• built palace of Versailles, forced nobles to live there which decreased noble power

What historical circumstances led to the Enlightenment? 3

• martin luther’s actions in protestant ref. challenged Catholic church’s power by translating it into common languages

• Isaac Newton used observation/reason which challenged traditional Catholic church ideas

• scientific rev. —> ppl found reason to explain things in the universe and human behavior—>by applying scientific observation/investigation scholars thought they could solve society’s problems

What were Locke’s main ideas?

Natural rights- life, liberty, property

What were Montesquieu’s main ideas?

Separation of powers- three branches

What were Rousseau’s main ideas?

Social contract-

we give up our power to the gov’t for the good of all→ we have the power to overthrow a bad gov’t