AP World History - Ultimate Guide

Buddhism

  • Cultures: India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan
  • Context:
    • Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE) in Nepal, a Hindu prince who rejected wealth to become the Buddha (Enlightened One).
    • No supreme being.
    • Four Noble Truths:
      1. All life is suffering.
      2. Suffering is caused by desire.
      3. Desire can be overcome.
      4. Overcome desire by following a prescribed path.
  • Death of Buddha (483 BCE) led to a split:
    • Theravada Buddhism: meditation, simplicity, nirvana as renunciation of consciousness.
    • Mahayana Buddhism: ritual, spiritual comfort, complex, greater spread.
  • Impact:
    • Rejects caste system appealing to lower ranks.
    • India: reabsorbed into Hinduism.
    • China, Japan, Southeast Asia: Buddhism thrived, spread via trade routes.

Christianity

  • Cultures: Europe, northeastern Africa, Middle East
  • Context:
    • Based on Jesus of Nazareth who claimed to be the Messiah.
    • Teachings of devotion to God and love for others.
    • Jesus crucified around 30 CE, followers believe he rose from the dead.
    • Based on Bible teachings.
    • Belief that Jesus is the Son of God, offering forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.
    • World created by God but has fallen from grace; believers should seek God and care for others.
  • Impact:
    • Compassion and grace appealed to lower classes and women.
    • Became influential in the Mediterranean basin by the 3rd century.
    • Official religion of the Roman Empire, branching north and west.
    • Connection with Roman Empire had a profound impact on global culture.

Confucianism

  • Cultures: China (400 BCE+)
  • Context:
    • Founded by Confucius, educator and political advisor; thoughts in the Analects.
    • Deals with restoring political and social order, not philosophical or religious topics.
    • Five fundamental relations:
      1. Ruler and subject.
      2. Parent and child.
      3. Husband and wife.
      4. Older sibling and younger sibling.
      5. Friend and friend.
  • Impact:
    • Compatible with other religions, causing it to flourish.
    • Led to distinctive Chinese culture of tight-knit communities.
    • Stayed within Chinese culture.

Hinduism

  • Cultures: India
  • Context:
    • Belief in one supreme force, Brahma, who created everything; gods are manifestations of Brahma (Vishnu = preserver, Shiva = destroyer).
    • Goal: merge with Brahma, requiring multiple lives.
    • Following dharma (caste rules) moves one towards Brahma; moksha is the highest state (internal peace).
    • No sacred text, but Vedas and Upanishads guide Hindus.
  • Impact:
    • Religion and social caste system prevented global acceptance.
    • Recently, Hindus are rebelling against the caste system.
    • Spawned Buddhism.

Islam

  • Cultures: caliphates, North Africa, central Asia, Europe
  • Context:
    • 7th century.
    • Muslims believe Allah presented words through Muhammad, recorded in the Qur’an.
    • Salvation through submission to God.
    • Five Pillars of Islam:
      1. Confession.
      2. Prayer five times a day.
      3. Charity.
      4. Fasting during Ramadan.
      5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.
    • Two groups: Shia and Sunni, disagreeing on Muhammad’s successor.
  • Impact:
    • Rapidly spread to the Middle East.

Judaism

  • Cultures: Hebrews
  • Context
    • God selected Hebrews as holy people to follow laws and worship him.
    • Unique relationship with God.
    • World is for them to enjoy, with free will; destiny is paradise.
    • Hebrew Bible:
      • Torah.
      • Miracles.
      • Laws.
      • Historical chronicles.
      • Poetry.
      • Prophecies.
  • Impact
    • First of major monotheistic faiths.

Developments in the Middle East

  • Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 CE):
    • Golden Age in the early to mid-9th century.
    • Capital in Baghdad (modern-day Iraq).
    • Center for arts and sciences.
      • Mathematics (Nasir al-Din al Tusi).
      • Medicine.
      • House of Wisdom library.
    • Built around trade.
      • Used receipt and bill system.
  • Decline of Islamic Caliphates:
    • Internal rivalries and Mongol invasions.
    • Challenged by revolts, new Shia dynasty in Iran, Seljuk Turks, Persians, Europeans, Byzantines, and Mongols.
    • Mongols destroyed Baghdad in 1258.
    • Ottoman Turks reunited Egypt, Syria, and Arabia until 1918.
    • Mamluks: Egyptian group that defeated Mongols in Nazareth, preserving Islam in Near East.

Developments in Europe

  • Middle Ages: fall of Rome before Renaissance.
    • Complicated time.
    • Eastern Roman Empire became Byzantine Empire.
    • Western Europe collapsed.
      • Christianity remained strong.
  • European Feudalism:
    • Hierarchy:
      • King: power over whole kingdom.
      • Nobles: power over sections of kingdom; loyalty and military service to king.
      • Vassals: lesser lords with sections of Noble land who could divide it further; estates called fiefs or manors (self-sufficient).
    • Three-field system: fields for fall, spring, and empty one to replenish nutrients.
    • Code of chivalry regulated conflict between lords.
      • Condemned betrayal and promoted mutual respect.
    • Male-dominated:
      • Women could not own land.
      • Land passed to eldest son (primogeniture).
      • Limited education to domestic skills.
    • Peasants or Serfs: worked the land.
      • Few rights or freedoms outside of the manor.
      • Skilled in trades; broke out of feudal mode as global trade increased.
      • Emergence of middle class of craftsmen and merchants.
  • Emergence of Nation-States:
    • People moving from feudal kingdoms to linguistic and cultural organization.
    • Achievement of statehood in 13th century took different paths.
      • Germany: reigning family died out; interregnum (time between kings).
        • Merchants and tradespeople became more powerful.
      • England: nobles rebelled against King John.
        • Magna Carta: reinstated nobles, laid foundation for Parliament.
        • Divided into House of Lords (nobles and clergy - legal issues) and House of Commons (knights and wealth burghers - trade and taxation).
      • France: England occupied parts of France which spurred revolts; Joan of Arc fought back English out of Orleans.
        • Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453): unified France, leading to England’s withdrawal.
      • Spain: Queen Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon married.
        • United Spain in a single monarchy.
        • Forced all residents to convert to Christianity (Spanish Inquisition).
      • Russia: taken over by Tartars (eastern Mongols) under Genghis Kahn in 1242.
        • Russian prince Ivan III expanded power in 1400s and became czar.
        • Ivan the Terrible became ruthless ruler utilizing secret police in 1500s.

Developments in Asia

  • China and Nearby Regions
    • Song Dynasty (960-1279)
      • Confucianism justified subordination of women.
      • Foot binding: women’s feet bound after birth.
      • Neo-Confucianism: Buddhist ideas about soul, filial piety, loyalty to superiors.
    • Ming Dynasty (1368-1644): after brief period of Mongol dominance.
      • Religion: influenced by Nestorianism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and Buddhism.
        • Mahayana: peaceful existence.
        • Chan or Zen: meditation and beauty.
    • Japan
      • Relatively isolated from external influences outside Asia.
      • Feudal Japan (1192):
        • Emperor.
        • Shogun (chief general).
        • Daimyo: owners of larger land, powerful samurai (like knights).
          • Code of Bushido: loyalty, courage, honour.
        • Lesser samurai (like vassals).
        • Peasants and artisans.
        • Women had little rights.
    • India
      • Delhi Sultanate: Islamic invader kingdom in Delhi.
        • Islam took over Northern India.
        • Clash between Islam monotheism and Hinduism polytheism.
        • Islam rulership brought in colleges and farming improvements.
      • Rajput Kingdoms: Hindu principalities united to resist Muslim forces from 1191 until takeover in 1527.
    • Southeast Asia
      • Religion spread and established different states.
      • Khmer Empire (9th-15th century): Hindu Empire in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand.
        • Beliefs carried through Indian Ocean trade network.
        • Angor Wat temple.

Developments in Africa

  • Islamic Empire spread to North Africa in the 7th to 8th centuries through Sahara Desert.
  • Hausa Kingdoms: off Niger River, state system kingdoms.
    • Islam region, economic stability and religious influence through long trade (salt and leather).
    • City of Kano.
    • Political and economic downturn in 18th century due to internal wars.

Developments in Americas

  • 3 great civilizations in Central and South America: Maya, Incas, Aztecs
  • Aztecs: Trade and Sacrifice
    • Arrived in Mexico in mid 1200s
    • Tenochtitlan: capital city (modern Mexico City)
    • Expansionist policy and strict army
    • Empire of 12 million people with trade
    • Subordinate women
  • Inca: My Land is Your Land
    • Andes Mountains in Peru
    • Expansionist - army, bureaucracy, language, roads and tunnels
    • Many people were peasants
    • Capital of Cuzco
    • Women were important
    • Polytheistic with human sacrifice
    • People were mummified
    • Military was very important
    • Temple of the Sun and Machu Picchu architecture
  • The Mayans (textbook does not go into detail)

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange

  • Height of the Middle Ages: Trading and Crusading
    • Merchants emerged in towns - Burghers, became politically powerful
    • Towns often formed alliances with each other
    • Hanseatic League (1358): trade alliance though northern Europe to drive toward nationhood, increase social mobility and flexibility
  • Architecture: Romanesque to Gothic
    • Flying buttresses: tall windows and vaulted ceilings
    • Art and sculpture, music
  • Scholasticism: growth of education and knowledge
    • Universities
    • Philosophy, law, medicine study
    • Ideas of Muslims and Greeks
  • Crusades (11-14th century): military campaigns
    • Combat Heresies: religious practices/beliefs not conforming to traditional church doctrine
    • Pope Innocent III:
      • Issued strict decrees on church doctrine.
      • Frequently persecuted heretics and Jews, unsuccessful 4th crusade
    • Pope Gregory IX:
      • Inquisition (formal interrogation and prosecution of perceived heretics with punishments like excommunication, torture, execution)
      • Church often referred to as Universal Church or Church Militant
    • Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274):
      • Christian theologian who made advancements in Christian thought
  • Urbanization
    • Trade led to the growth of urban culture
    • Silk Route cities were the most populous
    • Constantinople before 1400 and Paris and Italian city-states after 1400 were big European cities

The Rise and Fall of the Mongols

  • Set of tribes and clans that were horseman and archers
  • Genghis Kahn:
    • Unified the tribes in Mongolia in the early 1200s to expand their authority over other societies
    • First invaded China in 1234
  • Mongol Empire:
    • Spanned from Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe - spit into hordes after death of Genghis Kahn
    • Ruthless warriors destroying cities but remained peaceful after settling into cities
    • Golden Horde: conquered modern-day Russia
  • Kublai Khan:
    • Genghis Kahn’s successor - ruled China
  • Didn’t have culture - didn’t enforce religion or way of life on conquered nations
  • Timur Lang: Mongol leader who took over India and destroyed everything - grew Islam in the nation
  • If any residents of society the Mongols took over resisted, they would immediately kill them, so most had no choice but to give in
  • Impact:
    • Great diffusers of culture
    • Prevented Russia from culturally developing
    • World trade, cultural diffusion, global awareness grew as they spread through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia

Mali and Songhai

  • Mali had a lot of gold that Islamic traders were interested in
  • Mansa Musa: Malian ruler who built the capital of Timbuktu and expended the kingdom beyond Ghana
  • Sonni Ali: Songhai ruler that conquered region of west Africa in 15th century - became a major cultural centre until 1600

Chinese Technology

  • Song Dynasty
    • Bureaucratic system built on merit and civil service examination creating a lot of loyal government workers
    • Improved transportation and communication and business practices
    • Concentrated on creating an industrial society
    • Improved literacy with printed books which increased productivity and growth

Review of Interactions Among Cultures

  • Trade Networks and Cultural Diffusion
  • Trade exploded from 1200-1450
  • Improved with better transportation and monetary systems
  • Main Global Trade Routes:
    • The Hanseatic League
    • The Silk Road
    • The land routes of the Mongols Trade between China and Japan
    • Trade between India and Persia
    • The Trans-Saharan trade routes between west Africa and the Islamic Empire
  • Cultural diffusion - spread religions, languages, literature, art, idea, disease, plague
  • Bubonic Plague: started in Asia in the 14th century and carried by merchants - killed about 1/3 people
  • Indian Ocean Trade
    • Dominated by Persians and Arabs - western India to Persian Gulf to eastern Africa
    • Great Zimbabwe: trading empire in Africa from 11th to 15th centuries
    • Vibrant Indian Ocean Communities Sailors marrying local women created cultural intermixing
  • Silk Road
    • China to Mediterranean cultures in early days of Roman Empire and from 1200 to 1600
    • Cultural exchange through travellers stopping at trade towns - Kashgar, Samarkand
    • Silk, porcelain, paper, religion, food, military technologies
  • Hanseatic League
    • Made up of over 100 cities
    • Created substantial middle class in northern Europe - precedent for large, European trading operations

Expansion of Religion and Empire: Cultural Clash

  • Natural spread of religion through contact over trade and intentional diffusion through missionary work or religious war
  • Other Reasons People Were on the Move
    • Ran out of room in certain places, but cities were always increasing in size as opportunities grew in them
    • New cities and empires drew people in Muslim pilgrimages

Notable Global Travellers

  • Xuanzang: Chinese Buddhist monk - through T’ang Dynasty to India to explore Buddhism
  • Marco Polo: merchant from Venice, to China and Europe
  • Ibn Battuta: Islamic traveler, through Islamic world to India to China
  • Margery Kempe: English Christian, through Europe and Holy Land

Unit 3: Land-Based Empires

  • Major European Developments
    • After 300 years of development, Europe become the dominant world power
  • Revolutions in European Thought and Expression:
    • 1300s: Europe had been Christian for over a thousand years
    • As countries began to unify and connect more, especially with countries who had preserved their history, Europe expanded its worldview and explored its past and 4 cultural movements happened
  • The Renaissance
    • As trade increased, people moved to the cities and an influx of money was experienced - a lot of money went to studying the past
    • Humanism:
      • Focus on personal accomplishment, happiness, and life on earth instead of living for the goal of salvation Afterlife remained dominant in the Catholic Church
    • Arts have a comeback
      • People could afford art again - Medici family patrons of Michelangelo and Brunelleschi
      • Artists focused on realism - Leonardo da Vinci and Donatello
    • Western writers have an audience - mid-1400s: Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press - made books easy to produce and affordable, and accessible to everyone led to more literate people
  • The Protestant Reformation
    • Catholic Church was one of the most powerful organizations in the Middle Ages - power in politics and society - undisputed authority
    • Church capitalized off its many followers with indulgences: paper faithful could purchase to reduce time in purgatory
    • Nobles and peasants began getting increasingly frustrated by the church’s exploitation and noticed its corrupt nature
    • Martin Luther: German monk who published his list of complaints against the church - most significantly proposed salvation was given directly through God, not through the church, which significantly reduced the church’s influence
    • Pope Leo X: excommunicated Luther when he refused to recount his idea
    • Christianity split
    • Luther’s ideas led to many others to come forward
      • Lutherans: Luther’s followers - separated from Catholic Church
      • Calvinism - John Calvin: predestination - only a few people would be saved by God, great influence in Scotland and France
      • When the pope refused to annul King Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon because a heir wasn’t produced, he declared himself the head of religious affairs - presided over Church of England/Anglican Church
      • Jesuits - Ignatius Loyola: prayer and good works leads to salvation
  • Catholic Reformation (16th century)
    • Catholic church attempts to remedy some of their controversies and regains some of its credibility - still wanted authority and control
    • Council of Trent: reinstated pope authority, punished heretics, reestablished Latin as only language in worship
  • Scientific Revolution
    • Expanded education led to world discoveries
    • Copernican Revolution: Nicolaus Copernicus - discovered earth and other celestial bodies revolved around the sun and the earth rotated on its axis
    • Galileo: built off Copernicus’s theories and proved them - forced to recant by the Catholic Church and put under house arrest
    • Scientific Method: shift from reasoning being most reliable means of scientific meaning to scientific method (theory, documentation, repetition, others experimenting)
      • Tycho Brahe, Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Sir Isaac Newton
    • Led to Industrial Revolution, and many rejecting the church - atheists (believe no god exists), deists (believe God exists, but is passive)
    • Deism: became popular in 1700s - God created the earth but doesn’t interfere in its workings

European Rivals

  • Spain and Portugal
    • Spain became very powerful, supporting exploration, expansion of Spanish language and culture, and having a large naval fleet
    • Under Charles V, Spain controlled parts of France, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Spain, America
    • Under Charles’s son Philip, the Spanish Inquisition to oust heretics was continued, the Dutch Protestants under Spain revolted to form independent the Netherlands - lost a lot of money in mid-17th century and was poised to be defeated by England and France
    • Portugal focused on dominating costal Africa, Indian Ocean, Spice Islands - lost control to Dutch and British
  • England
    • Henry VIII never succeeded in having a male heir - his daughter Elizabeth I became Queen
      • Elizabethan Age (1558-1603): expansion, exploration, colonization in New World - golden age
        • Muscovy Company: first joint-stock company - British East India Company
    • James I: succeeded Elizabeth in 1607 - England and Scotland under one rulership, reforms to accommodate Catholics and Puritans failed
    • Charles I: succeeded James in 1625 - signed Petition of Rights (limiting taxes and forbidding unlawful imprisonment) - ignored it for the next 11 years
      • Scottish invaded England out of resentment for Charles in 1640 - called the Long Parliament into session (sat for 20 years), which limited the powers of the monarchy
      • Parliament raised an army, under Oliver Cromwell, to fight the King after he tried to arrest the Parliament defeats the king and executes him - began the English Commonwealth (Oliver Cromwell known as the first Lord Protector)
    • Oliver Cromwell:
      • Intolerant of religion, violent against Catholics and Irish - highly resented
    • Charles II: exiled son of Charles I invited by Parliament to reclaim the throne as a limited monarchy after Cromwell died (Stuart Restoration)
      • Agreed to Habeas Corpus Act: prevents people from arrests without due process
    • James II: succeeded Charles II after his death - highly disliked, fear he would make England a Catholic county - driven from power by Parliament (Glorious Revolution)
    • Succeeded by his daughter Mary and her husband William - signed English Bill of Rights (1689)
  • France
    • Unified and centralized under strong monarchy after Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)
    • Largely Catholic, but French Protestants started to emerge (Huguenots) and fought with the Catholics
    • Henry IV: issued Edict of Nantes (1598) (environment of tolerance between religions) - first of Bourbon kings who ruled until 1792
    • Cardinal Richelieu: chief advisor to the Bourbons who compromised with Protestants instead of fighting with them
      • Created the bureaucratic class noblesse de la robe, succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin
    • Louis XIV: reigned from 1642-1715 - highly self-important and grandiose, condemned many Huguenots, never summoned the French lawmakers, appointed Jean Baptiste Colbert to manage royal funds - France almost constantly at war to increase empire
    • War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714): Louis’s grandson was to inherit the Spanish throne, so England, Roman Empire, and German princes united to prevent France and Spain from combining

German Areas

  • (Holy Roman Empire?)
    • Holy Empire was in present day Austria/Germany - weak due to the mixed dynamics, rulership, and religion of the surrounding area
    • Lost parts of Hungary to Ottoman Turks in early 16th century Devastated by Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
    • German states were gaining power by 18th century
    • Peace of Augsburg (1555): intended to bring end to conflicts between Catholics and Protestants
    • Thirty Years’ War: began when protestants in Bohemia challenged Catholics - violent and destructive
    • Peace of Westphalia (1648): German states affirmed to keep the peace

Russia

  • Russian leaders were overthrowing reigning Mongols in late 15th century
  • Moscow became centre of Orthodox Christianity
  • Ivan III refused to pay tribute to Mongols and declared them free from their rule - lead Russians, later Ivan IV did too
  • Recruited peasants freedom from boyars (their feudal lords) if they conquered their own land themselves
  • Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible): strong leader feared by many - executing people who were threats to his power
  • Battle for throne after Ivan IV died without an heir - Time of Troubles (1604 to 1613): killing those who tried to rise to the throne
  • Michael Romanov was elected by feudal lords until 1917 - Romanovs consolidated power and ruled ruthlessly
  • Peter the Great: ruled from 1682-1725 - redesigned and adapted Russia in to westernized fashion
  • Catherine the Great: ruled from 1762-1796 - education and Western culture - serf conditions were of no importance to her

Islamic Gunpowder Empires

  • Ottoman Empire precedes 1450 - founded by Osman Bey as the Mongol Empire fell
  • Eventually invaded Constantinople in 1453 and ended Byzantine Empire (Constantinople now named Istanbul)
  • Ottomans were Islamic and solidified rule over territory from Greece to Persia to around Mediterranean into Egypt and northern Africa by giving land (timars) to Ottoman aristocrats to control Employed practice called devshirme: enslaved Christian children and turned them into warriors called Janissaries Selim I: came into power in 1512, led much of the empire growth, made Istanbul centre of Islamic civilization
  • Suleiman I: succeeded Selim I in 1520, build Ottoman military and arts - golden age from 1520-1566

Mughal Empire

  • Babur: Mongol leader who invaded northern India in 1526 - Mughal Empire (dominated for next 300 years)
    • United entire subcontinent
  • Akbar: succeeded Babur from 1556 to 1605 - united India further with religious toleration, did give Muslim landowners (zamindars) power to tax Hindus
  • Muslims lived side by side in a golden age of art and thought - under Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal was built
  • Aurangzeb: emperor who ended religious toleration and waged wars to conquer rest of India - Hindus were persecuted
  • Europeans arrived in early 17th century to trade and spread ideas - after 1750 is when Britain turned into an imperial superpower

Africa

  • Starting in 10th century, wealth accumulated from trade - Songhai, Kongo, and Angola became powerful kingdoms
  • Songhai: Islamic state
    • Sunni Ali: ruler 1464-1493 - navy, central administration, financed Timbuktu
    • fell to Moroccans
  • Asanti Empire: arose in 1670 - avoided invasion and expanded its territory
  • Kongo: King Alfonso I: Catholic, and converted his people
    • Mostly destroyed by previous allies Portugal
  • Angola:
    • Established by Portuguese around 1575 for the slave trade
    • Queen Nzinga resisted Portuguese attempts to further their control for 40 years

Isolated Asia

  • China
    • Ming Dynasty was restored until 1644 after kicking out Mongols in 1368
    • Built huge fleets in early 15th century to explore Asia and Indian ocean - Zheng He: famous Chinese navigator
    • Economy started failing due to silver currency inflation, famines in 17th century, peasant revolts Qing warriors were invited to help Ming emperor but instead ousted him in 1644 Qing/Manchus ruled China until 1911 Not ethnically Chinese so had to affirm legitimacy - displayed imperial portraits with Chinese historical items
    • Kangxi: ruled from 1661 to 1722 and conquered Taiwan, Mongolia, central Asia, Tibet
    • Qianlong: ruled from 1735 to 1796 and conquered Vietnam, Burma, Nepal were both Confucian scholars
    • Did not interact a lot with surrounding nations, protected their culture
  • Japan
    • Shoguns ruled Japan in 16th century, but Christian missionaries came in and Jesuits took control of Nagasaki - westernization Tokugawa Ieyasu: established Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo period) from 1600 to 1868 - strict government that instituted a rigid social class model Moved capital of Japan to Edo (modern-day Tokyo)
    • National Seclusion Policy (1635): prohibited Japanese from traveling abroad and prohibited most foreigners
    • Japanese culture thrived - Kabuki theatre and haiku poetry became popular

Resistance

  • Key rebellions in 17th and 18th centuries:
    • Ana Nzinga’s Resistance (Kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba) - 1641-167
      • Resisted Portuguese colonizers
    • Cossack Revolts (Modern-day Ukraine) - 17-18th century
      • Resisted Russian Empire but were eventually defeated
    • Haitian Slave Rebellion (Haiti) - 1791-1804
      • Resisted France and eventually achieved independence for Haiti
    • Maratha (India) - 1680-1707
      • Resisted Mughal Empire and defeated them starting the Maratha Empire
    • Maroon Societies (Caribbean and Brazil) - 17th-18th century
      • Resisted slave-owners in Americas and avoided attempts to be recaptured and sold
    • Metacom’s War (US) - 1675-1678
      • Resisted British colonists over unfair trade practices 1.
    • Pueblo Revolts (US) - 1680
      • Resisted Spanish colonizers and their encomienda system, but victory was temporary

Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections

  • European and Expansion
    • Portuguese and Spanish controlled major shipping routes in Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Atlantic Ocean
    • Portugal financed explorations
      • Prince Henry the Navigator (King John I’s son)
      • Vasco da Gama: explored eastern Africa, India
    • Spain also did:
      • Financed Christopher Columbus: explored Americas
      • Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): agreement between Spain and Portugal to split colonized land between them
    • England, Netherlands, France launched own explorations to acquire new colonies - caused rise in nationalism and powerful monarchies
    • Explorers
      • Amerigo Vespucci (1500): South America
      • Ponce de Leon (1513): Florida
      • Vasco de Balboa (1513): Central America
      • Ferdinand Magellan (1519): South America to Philippines
      • Giovanni da Verrazzano (1524): North America
      • Sir Francis Drake (1578): circumnavigated the globe
      • John Cabot (1497): North America
      • Henry Hudson (1609): Hudson River
    • Products that aided new explorations:
      • Sternpost Rudder: invented in China - better control of ships
      • Lateen Sails: invented in Roman Empire - allowed directional control of ships
      • Astrolabe: navigation device that measured distance between sun and stars on horizon to determine latitude
      • Magnetic Compass: developed in China - determine direction
      • Three-Masted Caravels: large ships fit for longer journeys
  • The New World: Accidental Empire
    • Spanish explorers found wealth in Aztec and Inca Empires
    • Hernando Cortés: landed on coast of Mexico in 1519 - sought to exploit the Aztec Empire of their gold and spices Neighbouring states were willing to help Spanish conquer Aztecs as they had taken over a lot of the neighbouring communities - or those who didn’t cooperate were forced or killed Became very hungry for wealth and quickly seized Montezuma and began a siege of Tenochtitlan Disease: Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction Spanish brought smallpox to the Aztec Empire which reduced their population from 20 million in 1520 to 2 million in 1580 - Spanish were able to take control in 1525
    • Francisco Pizarro took over Inca Empire in 1531 partially due to spreading disease to them Pizarro was in control of the Inca Empire by 1535
    • The Encomienda System Spanish implemented a hierarchical colonial society as they took over the New World Structure: Peninsulares: Spanish officials governing the colonies Creoles: Spanish born in colonies to Spanish parents - barred from high positions but were educated and wealthy Mestizos: those with European/Native American ancestry Mulattos: those with European/African ancestry Native Americans Viceroys: governors of each of 5 regions of New Spain - established the encomienda system (system of forced labour of the natives and African slaves)
    • African Slave Trade Slaves brought to New World to work on the plantations and mines Europe exploited a system of slavery already existing in Africa - prisoners were supposed to serve their captors before being released Europeans traded for their surplus of enslaved people, but didn’t understand that they were supposed to be released As demand for slaves in Europe increased, Europe became even more ruthless - kidnapping Africans, causing wars, forcing rulers to give up their citizens Slaves were forced onto ships, chained below deck, and endured brutal Middle Passage Around 13 million Africans were taken - 60% to South America, 35% to Caribbean, 5% to North America, around 20% of people on each trip perished
    • The Columbian Exchange Transatlantic transfer of animals, plants, diseases, people, technology, ideas among Europe, Americas, and Africa Never before had so much moved across the ocean Transfer of food products caused population increase in Europe, Asia, and Africa
    • Two key products: sugar (plantations appeared all over Spanish colonies), silver (mining also in Spanish colonies) - both used significant forced labour Spanish control of silver opened doors in Ming China
    • The Commercial Revolution Age of Exploration: trading, empire building, conquest - due to financing schemes Banking became a respectable practice - lead to joint-stock company (pool resources of merchants to distribute costs and reducing dangers of individual investors) Led to huge profits and modern