NAME: AP World History

Early Modern Era: 1450-1750

Unit 4: Transoceanic
Interconnections

1
 UNIT 4 Notes and Practice
Transoceanic
Interconnections
Part 1: Objectives and Developments
(organizing notes to look at the bigger picture)
The following are the College Board themes and a list of what to look
for as you take notes. As you watch videos or read, your goal is to
record the MAIN IDEAS, EVENTS, and their CAUSES and EFFECTS
(think in terms of T-E-A, and note specific historical examples).
The sentence headings essentially provide you with a Thesis, it is up
to you to go back through the readings to find Evidence for the thesis
(historical examples), and then provide Analysis (your explanation).

You must use the assigned readings

and videos. AFTER that you may look
for other sources if you’d like.

Remember- there is no need Remember-when taking

to rewrite the book; pay
notes,
attention to what these notes look you
are telling for to look for.
★ Who?
When reading, read a paragraph, then stop and see if
★ What?
you read about any of the topics you’ve been asked for.
★ Where?
★ When?
★ How?
★ Why?
TOPIC 4.1 Technological Innovations

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?

Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ Describe technological diffusions that occurred in the
1450-1750 time period. Name the technology, its origins, and
where it diffused from to.
❏ Describe new technologies of the 1450-1750 time period and
specific examples of how they facilitated patterns of trade
and travel from 1450 to 1750.
❏ What is a lateen sail? Why was it significant from1450-1750?
❏ What is a caravel? Why was it significant from 1450 to 1750?
❏ Making connections: Give an example of technology in the
1750-1900 time period that facilitated trade and travel during
that later time period.

Can you check off

TOPIC 4.1 Technological Innovations
Innovation
Knowledge, scientific learning, and technology from the Classical, Islamic, and Asian
A. Explain how
worlds spread, facilitating European technological developments and innovation.
cross- cultural Cross-cultural interactions, such as the Indian Ocean Trade, resulted in the diffusion
interactions of technology and innovations from Greece, China, and Muslim empires. For example,
resulted in the magnetic compass invented in China spread to the Europe and allows sailors to find
diffusion of the right direction of the ship. The lateen sails, a triangular ship sail originally used by
technology and the Arab sailors in the Indian Ocean, spread to Europe through the Indian Ocean
Trade allows the ship to catch the wind from either direction of the ship and travel in
facilitated
the direction it should with wind in any direction. Astronomical chart, a map of the
changes in stars and galaxies, spread to Europe from Ancient Greece, as well as China. The
patterns of astronomical chart enable sailors to determine their location with the skies,
trade and travel especially before compass was introduced. With the all technologies and innovations,
from 1450 to Europeans were able to build their naval force and expend their maritime empires.
1750.

ILLUSTRATIVE
EXAMPLES

European tech.
developments
influenced by
cross-cultural
interactions with The developments included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs,
the classical, and an improved understanding of regional wind and currents patterns - all of which
Islamic, and made transoceanic travel and trade possible. An example of understanding of current
Asian worlds: pattern is when Newton’s First Law allowed sailors to predict the time of the depth of
→ Lateen Sail water near a shore decreases and avoid the dangerous rocks. The lateen sail was an
→ Compass innovation in ship designs with improved understanding of wind. This special
→ Astronomical triangular sail allows ships to travel in any direction instead of only in the same
charts direction as the wind. The magnetic compass and astronomical chart were also
(mostly from last unit)
technologies that made transoceanic travel and trade possible. Those innovations and
technological developments increased safety and efficiency of transoceanic travel and
Innovations in trade.
Ship Design:
→ Caravel
→ Carrack
 Exploration:
TOPIC 4.2
auses Cts
and Even
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?
Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ What specific states supported maritime exploration
in this time period? Give specific examples of states
and what they did to support exploration.
❏ What were the economic factors that drove
maritime exploration by Europeans?
❏ What were some of the economic outcomes of
European maritime exploration (positive and negative).
❏ Describe the difference between the trading-post empire
established by the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and
the colonies they established in the New World.

Can you check off

TOPIC 4.2 Exploration Causes and Events
Political
New state-supported transoceanic maritime exploration occurred in this period.
B. Describe the
role of states
in the
expansion of
maritime
exploration
from 1450 to
1750.

(While it’s
earlier - this is
a good place
for notes on
Zheng He from
Ming Dynasty
China)

Economic
C. Explain the Portuguese development of maritime technology and navigational skills led to
economic increased travel and trade with Africa and Asia and resulted in the construction of a
causes and global trading-post empire.
effects of
maritime
exploration by
the various
European
states.

-- continues on
next slide --
TOPIC 4.2 Exploration Causes and Events
Economic
Spanish sponsorship of the voyages of Christopher Columbus and subsequent
C. Explain the
voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific dramatically increased European interest in
economic transoceanic travel and trade.
causes and
effects of
maritime
exploration by
the various
European
states.

(continued
from previous
slide)

North Atlantic crossings were undertaken under English, French, and Dutch
sponsorship often with the goal of finding alternative sailing routes to Asia.
TOPIC 4.3 Columbian Exchange

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?

Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ Describe the Columbian Exchange.
❏ What factors caused the Columbian Exchange?
❏ Describe the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the
Western Hemisphere (New World). Include both
positive
and negative outcomes.
❏ Describe the impact of the Columbian Exchange on
the Eastern Hemisphere (Old World). Include both

Can you check off

TOPIC 4.3 Columbian Exchange
Environment The new connections between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres resulted in the exchange of
D. Explain the new plants, animals, and diseases, known as the Columbian Exchange
causes of the
Columbian
Exchange and
its effects on
the Eastern and
Western
Hemispheres.

-- continues on
next slide --

ILLUSTRATIV
E EXAMPLES

YOU NEED TO
KNOW ALL OF
THESE FOR
THE EXAM!

Disease Vectors:
→ Mosquitos
→ Rats
European colonization of the Americas led to the unintentional transfer of disease
Diseases that vectors, and the spread of diseases that were endemic in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Spread to the Some of these diseases substantially reduced the indigenous populations with
Americas catastrophic effects in many areas.
→ Smallpox
→ Measles
TOPIC 4.3 Columbian Exchange
Environment
American foods became staple crops in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
D. Explain the
Cash crops were grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor and were
causes of the exported mostly to Europe & the Middle East
Columbian
Exchange and
its effects on
the Eastern and
Western
Hemispheres.

(continued
from the
previous slide)

ILLUSTRATIVE Afro-Eurasian fruit trees, grains, sugar, and domesticated animals were brought by
Europeans to the Americas, while other foods were brought by enslaved Africans.
EXAMPLES

Domesticated
animals:
→ Horses
→ Pigs
→ Cattle

Foods brought by
enslaved
Africans:
→ Okra

Populations in Afro-Eurasia benefitted nutritionally from the increased diversity of

American food crops
 Maritime Empires E1
TOPIC 4.4
stablished -- PART
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?
Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ Describe European trading posts in Africa.
❏ Describe isolationist policies of China and Japan. Why?
Outcome?
❏ Describe Euro. maritime empires: Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch,
French, British.
❏ How did the Asante benefit from participation in
trading networks?
❏ What changes AND continuities in econ/labor systems existed
in the 1450-1750 time period?
❏ Describe colonial economies in this time period.

Can you check off

 Maritime Empires E2
TOPIC 4.4
stablished -- PART
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?
Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ What is the mit’a system? How was it exploited by
the Spanish?
❏ What factors drove the demand for chattel slavery?
❏ Describe indentured servitude. Who were they? How did
it change?
❏ What is the encomienda? What is a hacienda?
❏ Impacts the trans-Atlantic slave trade on West Africa?
❏ Impacts of the trans-Atlantic slave trade on the Americas?
❏ How was the use of slavery in this time period different
from slavery in previous periods of history?

Can you check off

TOPIC 4.4 Maritime Empires Established
Political Europeans established new trading posts in Africa and Asia, which proved profitable for rulers and
E. Explain the merchants involved in new global trade networks. Some Asian states sought to limit the disruptive
economic and cultural effects of European-dominated long-distance trade by adopting restrictive
process of or isolationist trade policies.
state building
and expansion
among various
empires and
stats in the
period from
1450 to 1750.

--Continued on
the next slide--

ILLUSTRATIV
E
EXAMPLES

Asian states
that adopted
restrictive or
isolationist trade
policies:
→ Ming China
→ Tokugawa
Driven largely by political, religious, and economic rivalries, European states
established new maritime empires, including the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French
& British
TOPIC 4.4 Maritime Empires Established
Political
The expansion of maritime trading networks fostered the growth of states in African
E. Explain the
including the Asante and the Kingdom of Kongo, whose participation in the trading
process of networks led to an increase in their influence.
state building
and expansion
among various
empires and
stats in the
period from
1450 to 1750.

(Continued
from previous
slide)
TOPIC 4.4 Maritime Empires Established
Economic
Despite some disruption and restructuring due to the arrival of Portuguese, Spanish
F. Explain the
and Dutch merchants, existing trade networks in the Indian Ocean continued to
continuities flourish and included intra-Asian trade and Asian merchants.
and changes in
economic
systems and
labor systems
from 1450 to
1750.

ILLUSTRATIVE
EXAMPLES

Indian Ocean
Asian merchants:
→ Swahili Arabs
→ Omanis
→ Gujaratis
→ Javanese

Newly developed colonial economies in the Americas largely depended on agriculture,

utilized existing labor systems, including the Incan mit’a, and introduced new labor
systems including chattel slavery, indentured servitude, and encomienda and
hacienda systems
TOPIC 4.4 Maritime Empires Established
Social
Slavery in Africa continued in its traditional forms, including incorporation of slaves
G. Explain
into households and the export of enslaved people to the Mediterranean and the
changes and Indian Ocean regions.
continuities in
systems of
slavery in the
period from
1450 to 1750.

The growth of the plantation economy increased the demand for enslaved people in
the Americas, leading to significant demographic, social, and cultural changes.
 Maritime Empires Maint
TOPIC 4.5

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?

Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ Describe mercantilism.
❏ How did joint-stock companies allow European states to consolidate
and maintain power in their colonies?
❏ Describe the Moroccan conflict with the Songhai Empire.
❏ Explain the 1st global econ embodied by the trade in silver.
❏ Explain the role that chartered European monopoly companies in
facilitating the global circulation of goods. (ex. British East India
Company)
❏ What changes AND continuities in networks of exchange existed
in relation to the 1200 to 1450 time period?
❏ Describe the casta system that was a result of the Atlantic
trading system.
❏ Describe cultural syncretism that occurred as a result of the
Atlantic trading system.

Can you check off everything?

TOPIC 4.5 Maritime Emp. Maintained & Dvlpd
Political Mercantilist policies and practices were used by European rulers to expand and
H. Explain how control their economies and claim overseas territories. Joint-stock companies,
rulers influenced by these mercantilist principles, were used by rulers and merchants to
employed finance exploration and were used by rulers to compete against one another in global
economic trade.
strategies to
consolidate
and maintain
power
throughout the
period from
1450 to 1750.

ILLUSTRATIVE
EXAMPLES

Competition over
trade routes:
→Muslim-Europe
an rivalry in the
Indian Ocean
→ Moroccan
conflict with the
Songhai Empire Economic disputes led to rivalries and conflict between states.
TOPIC 4.5 Maritime Emp. Maintained & Dvlpd
Economic The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of goods, wealth and labor
I. Explain the including enslaved people.
continuities
and changes in
networks of
exchanges
from 1450 to
1750.

--Continued on
the next slide--

ILLUSTRATIVE
EXAMPLES

Increased
peasant and
artisan labor:
→ Western
Europe - wool and
linen
→ India - cotton
→ China - silk
Peasant and artisan labor continued and intensified in many regions as the demand
for food and consumer goods increased.
TOPIC 4.5 Maritime Emp. Maintained & Dvlpd
Economic The new global circulation of goods was facilitated by chartered European
I. Explain the monopoly companies and the global flow of silver, especially from Spanish
continuities colonies in the Americas, which was used to purchase Asian goods for the Atlantic
and changes in markets and satisfy Chinese demand for silver. Regional markets continued to
networks of flourish in Afro-Eurasia by using established commercial practices and new
transoceanic and regional shipping services developed by European merchants.
exchanges
from 1450 to
1750.

(continued
from previous
slide)
TOPIC 4.5 Maritime Emp. Maintained & Dvlpd
Social Some notable gender and family restructuring occurred, including demographic
J. Explain how changes in Africa that resulted from the slave trades.
political,
economic, and
cultural factors
affected
society from
1450 to 1750.

The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of labor - including enslaved
people - and the mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples,
with all parties contributing to this cultural synthesis.
TOPIC 4.5 Maritime Emp. Maintained & Dvlpd
Culture In some cases, the increase and intensification of interactions between newly
K. Explain the connected hemispheres expanded the reach and furthered development of existing
similarities and religions, and contributed to religious conflicts and the development of syncretic
differences in belief systems and practices.
how various
belief systems
affected
societies from
1450 to 1750.
 Internal and External Chall
TOPIC 4.6

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?

Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ Give examples of how state expansion and
centralization led to resistance from groups on
a local level.

Can you check off

TOPIC 4.6 Internal & External Challenges to State Power
Political
State expansion and centralization led to resistance from an array of social, political,
L. Explain the
and economic groups on a local level.
effects of the
development of
state power
from 1450 to
1750.

-Continued on
next page-

ILLUSTRATIVE
EXAMPLES

These are not the

only answers and
it’s ok if you don’t
find info on all of
them.

Local resistance:
→ Pueblo Revolts
→ Fronde
→ Cossack
revolts
→ Maratha
conflict with
Mughals
→ Ana Nzinga’s
resistance (as
ruler of Ndongo
and Matamba)
→ Metacom’s
War (King Philip's
TOPIC 4.6 Internal & External Challenges to State Power
Political
Resistance by enslaved people challenged existing authorities in the Americas.
L. Explain the
effects of the
development of
state power
from 1450 to
1750.

-Continued
from previous
page-

ILLUSTRATIV
E
EXAMPLES

Resistance by
Enslaved
People:
→ The
establishment of
Maroon
societies in the
Caribbean and
TOPIC 4.7 Changing Social Hierarchies

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT

Can you checkTO
offLOOK FOR?
Check out your goals below. Let those goals help guide your note-taking.

THE GOAL: After taking my notes I am able to:

❏ How did the Ottoman & Mughal Empires attempt to
accommodate ethnic & religious diversity of their
empires?
❏ Give an example of a society that gave differential
TOPIC 4.7 Changing Social Hierarchies
Social Many states, such as the Mughal and Ottoman empires, adopted practices to accommodate the
M. Explain how ethnic and religious diversity of their subjects or to utilize the economic, political and military
contributions of different ethnic groups.
social
categories,
roles, and
practices have
been
maintained or
have changed
over time.

-- Continued on
the next slide--

ILLUSTRATIV
E
EXAMPLES

These are not

the only answers
and it’s ok if you
don’t find info on
all of them.

Ways states
accommodate
ethinc & religious
diversity or Some states suppressed diversity or limited certain groups roles in society, politics,
utilized the or the economy.
contributions of
diff. ethnic grps:
→ acceptance
of Jews in the
Ottoman Empire

Ways states
suppressed
diversity or limited
certain groups:
→ Expulsion of
Jews from
Spain and
Portugal.
→ Restrictive
policies against
Han Chinese in
TOPIC 4.7 Changing Social Hierarchies
Social
Imperial conquests and widening global economic opportunities contributed to the
M. Explain how
formation of new political and economic elites, including in China with the transition
social to the Qing Dynasty and in the Americas with the rise of the Casta System.
categories,
roles, and
practices have
been
maintained or
have changed
over time.

(Continued
from the
previous slide)

The power of existing political and economic elites fluctuated as the elites
confronted new challenges to their ability to affect the policies of the increasingly
ILLUSTRATIV
powerful monarchs and leaders.
E
EXAMPLES

Existing elites:
→
Ottoman
timars
 Continuity and Change from 14
TOPIC 4.8
Explain how economic developments from 1450 to 1750 affected social structures over
time. What changed? What stayed the same?
Characteristics at Examples of Significant Changes, Turning Points, Characteristics at
beginning of time period or Developments (sudden, gradual, developmental) end of time
period

Significant Continuities

Reasons why changes

and continuities
occurred

Global Context

(What’s going on in the rest

of the world during this
time period? How do the
events relevant to this Q
compare to the larger
patterns around the
world?)