1. Unit IV Big Picture
Early Modern Period

2. 1. Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange

3. Intensification of existing networks and development of new ones in the Atlantic
New technology: astrolabes, more exact cartography, caravels
Naval voyages of Zheng He
Henry the Navigator and the first school of navigation
Spanish sponsorship of Columbus’ voyage

4. New transoceanic shipping and a global economy
European joint-stock companies => Mercantilism and capitalism develop
Silver from New World brought to Europe and used to buy Asian goods
Focus still on regional markets in Afro-Eurasia trade routes
European merchants transported goods around the world from one market to another

5. Columbian Exchange Due to European colonization of the New World
Spread of diseases, mosquitoes, and rats that negatively affected New World population
American foods (potatoes, maize, manioc) spread to Europe and supplemented diets
Livestock (cattle, horses, pigs) brought to Americas, affecting ecosystems
African slaves brought okra, rice, bananas to America

6. Triangle Trade Slaves from Africa to the New World
Raw material from the Americas to Europe
Manufactured goods from Europe to Africa and the Americas

7. Diffusion of religion
Islam continued to spread throughout Africa, creating syncretic religions with traditional African religions
Christianity, both Catholicism and Protestantism spreads to the Americas
Sunni/Shia split intensifies with the Ottoman and Savafid Empires
Sikhism created in Punjab region of India; voodoo created in Caribbean islands

8. 2. New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production

9. Workforce changes Intensification of peasant labor
Frontier settlements and serfdom in Russia
Cotton textile production in India
Silk production in China
Coercive labor systems in the Americas
Cash crops (sugar, tobacco, cotton) grown on plantations that required slave labor
Indentured servitude
Encomienda and hacienda systems
Spanish adaption of Incan mit’a system

10. New social classes Casta system in Spanish America Manchus in China
European gentry and bourgeoisie
Urban commercial entrepreneurs in all major global port cities
However, nobility in Europe and the daimyo in Japan still retained positions in society

11. 3. State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion

12. Rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize their power
Monumental architecture, courtly literature, visual arts
Religion
Divine Right (Europe)
Shi’ism (Safavid)
Sunni Islam (Songhai, Ottomans’ jizya)
Confucianism (China)
Manchu persecution of ethnic Chinese

13. Expansion of Empires Land empires: Maritime empires: Manchu Mughal
Ottoman
Russian
Maritime empires:
Portuguese
Spanish
Dutch
French
British

14. Competitions and Rivalries
Competition over Indian Ocean/Asian trade routes
Piracy in the Caribbean
Ottoman-Safavid conflict
Religious wars of Europe
Samurai revolts and peasant uprisings