No other era is as easy to summarize as the EARLY MODERN (1450-1750) era. This is the era the Europeans "wake-up", expand, and build empires. I'm not talking about Charlemagne here. I'm talking about the British Empire. I'm talking about the Dutch East India Trading Company. I'm talking about the Spanish Empire. This is a new Europe. This isn't Marco Polo. These Europeans will come to your land and stay there. They will take over most of the world in this era (if not, in the next). Beyond the Maritime empires (and the effect of their establishment), many huge land empires emerged (most notably the Islamic Mughal and Ottoman Empires. Of course, China is important... It always is. So, here is the Early Modern Period... The above map was created using the geographic references from this era in the AP World History curriculum. Every geographic reference for this unit appears on this map. The interconnection of the Eastern and Western hemispheres made possible by transoceanic voyaging marked a key transformation of this period. Technological innovations helped to make transoceanic connections possible. Changing patterns of long-distance trade included the global circulation of some commodities and the formation of new regional markets and financial centers. Increased trans-regional and global trade networks facilitated the spread of religion and other elements of culture as well as the migration of large numbers of people. Germs carried to the Americas ravaged the indigenous peoples, while the global exchange of crops and animals altered agriculture, diets, and populations around the planet.
I. Existing regional patterns of trade intensified in the context of the new global circulation of goods. A. The intensification of trade brought prosperity and economic disruption to the mercnahts and goverenments in the trading region of the Indian OCean, Mediterranean, the Sahara, and overland Eurasia.
II. European technological developments in cartography and navigation built on previous knowledge developed in the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds. A. The developments included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs, and an improved understanding of global wind and current patterns--all of which made transoceanic travel and trade possible.
