Regents Review Unit 1

Europe

• Enlightenment Era: Ideas of reason, science, individual rights, and secularism flourished. Thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu were shaping political and social thought.

• Industrial Beginnings: Britain was beginning the early stages of the Industrial Revolution. Textile production started shifting from homes to factories.

• Colonial Expansion: Major powers like Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal held vast overseas empires, particularly in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

• Political Landscape:
  

  • Britain: Had a constitutional monarchy after the Glorious Revolution (1688), with a growing parliamentary system.

  • France: Still under absolute monarchy (Louis XV), but inequality and financial strain were increasing.

  • Holy Roman Empire: Still a fragmented entity in Central Europe.

  • Russia: Under Empress Elizabeth, moving toward Westernization, continuing Peter the Great’s reforms.

  • Ottoman Empire: Still controlled Southeastern Europe, though in decline compared to its earlier power.

Asia

China

• Ruled by the Qing Dynasty (Manchu).

• Huge population (~200 million), thriving agriculture and trade, but limited foreign influence (especially Europeans).

• Controlled Tibet, Xinjiang, and parts of Central Asia.

India

• Ruled mostly by the declining Mughal Empire.

• Regional powers like the Marathas, Sikhs, and Mysore rose.

• British East India Company and French were competing for dominance, setting the stage for eventual British rule.

Japan

• Under the Tokugawa Shogunate.

• Isolated from the world under its sakoku policy (closed country policy), with only limited trade through the Dutch and Chinese.

• Stable and peaceful under feudal rule, with strict social hierarchy.

Southeast Asia

• Fragmented into many kingdoms (e.g., Burma, Siam, Vietnam).

• European powers (Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese) controlled some parts: the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Spanish Philippines.

Middle East

• Controlled largely by the Ottoman Empire, which was weakening.

• Persia (Iran) ruled by the Afsharid Dynasty under Nader Shah, who had briefly invaded India in 1739.

• Still a key trade route region between Asia and Europe.

Africa

• Diverse political systems: kingdoms, empires, and tribal societies.

• Powerful African states like the Ashanti Empire, Dahomey, and Kongo.

• Slave Trade was at its height: European powers traded guns and goods for slaves, fueling violence and disruption inland.

• Coastal areas increasingly influenced by European traders; interior regions less affected.

The Americas

North America

• Eastern part controlled by European powers:
  

  • British colonies along the East Coast.

  • French held Canada and Louisiana.

  • Spanish controlled Florida and parts of the Southwest.

• Native American societies were still strong, especially in the interior.

• Tensions between Britain and France would soon erupt into the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763).

Latin America (Central and South America)

• Dominated by Spain and Portugal.

• Wealthy colonies based on silver mining, agriculture, and enforced labor systems (encomienda, mita).

• A rigid social structure existed: peninsulares (born in Spain), creoles, mestizos, and indigenous peoples.

• Catholic Church held significant power.

Oceania

• Largely isolated.

• Indigenous populations (Aboriginal Australians, Māori in New Zealand, Pacific Islanders) lived in tribal societies.

• European contact was minimal, mostly exploratory (e.g., Dutch and some British expeditions).

• James Cook would explore the region more extensively in the 1760s–1770s.