Technology and Innovation TEC Human adaptation and innovation have resulted in increased efficiency, comfort, and security, and technological advances have shaped human development and interactions with both intended and unintended consequences.
KC-4.1.II - Knowledge, scientific learning, and technology from the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds spread, facilitating European technological developments and innovation.
KC-4.1.II.A - The developments included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs, and an improved understanding of regional wind and currents patterns—all of which made transoceanic travel and trade possible
Unit 4: Learning Objective A: Explain how cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of technology and facilitated changes in patterns of trade and travel from 1450 to 1750.
Governance GOV A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.
Economics Systems ECN As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.
KC-4.1.III - New state-supported transoceanic maritime exploration occurred in this period.
KC-4.1.III.A - Portuguese development of maritime technology and navigational skills led to increased travel to and trade with Africa and Asia and resulted in the construction of a global trading-post empire.
KC-4.1.III.B - Spanish sponsorship of the voyages of Columbus and subsequent voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic travel and trade.
KC-4.1.III.C - Northern Atlantic crossings were undertaken under English, French, and Dutch sponsorship, often with the goal of finding alternative sailing routes to Asia.
Unit 4: Learning Objective B: Describe the role of states in the expansion of maritime exploration from 1450 to 1750.
Unit 4: Learning Objective C: Explain the economic causes and effects of maritime exploration by the various European states.
Humans and the Environments ENV The environment shapes human societies, and as populations grow and change, these populations in turn shape their environments
KC-4.1.V - The new connections between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres resulted in the exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases, known as the Columbian Exchange.
KC-4.1.V.A - European colonization of the Americas led to the unintentional transfer of disease vectors, including mosquitoes and rats, and the spread of diseases that were endemic in the Eastern Hemisphere, including smallpox, measles, and malaria. Some of these diseases substantially reduced the indigenous populations, with catastrophic effects in many areas.
KC-4.1.V.B - American foods became staple crops in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Cash crops were grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor and were exported mostly to Europe and the Middle East.
KC-4.1.V.C - Afro-Eurasian fruit trees, grains, sugar, and domesticated animals were brought by Europeans to the Americas, while other foods were brought by African enslaved persons.
KC-4.1.V.D - Populations in Afro-Eurasia benefitted nutritionally from the increased diversity of American food crops
Unit 4: Learning Objective D: Explain the causes of the Columbian Exchange and its effects on the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Governance GOV A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.
Economics Systems ECN As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.
Social Interactions and Organization SIO The process by which societies group their members and the norms that govern the interactions between these groups and between individuals influence political, economic, and cultural institutions and organization.
KC-4.3.II.A.i - Europeans established new trading posts in Africa and Asia, which proved profitable for the rulers and 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 or isolationist trade policies.
KC-4.3.II.C - Driven largely by political, religious, and economic rivalries, European states established new maritime empires, including the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and British.
KC-4.3.II.A.ii - The expansion of maritime trading networks fostered the growth of states in Africa, including the Asante and the Kingdom of the Kongo, whose participation in trading networks led to an increase in their influence.
KC-4.3.II.A.iii - Despite some disruption and restructuring due to the arrival of Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch merchants, existing trade networks in the Indian Ocean continued to flourish and included intra-Asian trade and Asian merchants.
KC-4.2.II.D - 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
KC-4.2.II.B - Enslavement in Africa continued in its traditional forms, including incorporation of enslaved persons into households and the export of enslaved persons to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean regions
KC-4.2.II.C - The growth of the plantation economy increased the demand for enslaved labor in the Americas, leading to significant demographic, social, and cultural changes.
Unit 4: Learning Objective E: Explain the process of state building and expansion among various empires and states in the period from 1450 to 1750.
Unit 4: Learning Objective F: Explain the continuities and changes in economic systems and labor systems from 1450 to 1750.
Unit 4: Learning Objective G: Explain changes and continuities in systems of slavery in the period from 1450 to 1750.
Governance GOV A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes
Economics Systems ECN As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.
Social Interactions and Organization SIO The process by which societies group their members and the norms that govern the interactions between these groups and between individuals influence political, economic, and cultural institutions and organization.
Cultural Developments and Interactions CDI The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.
KC-4.1.IV.C - Mercantilist policies and practices were used by European rulers to expand and control their economies and claim overseas territories. Joint-stock companies, influenced by these mercantilist principles, were used by rulers and merchants to finance exploration and were used by rulers to compete against one another in global trade.
KC-4.3.III.ii - Economic disputes led to rivalries and conflict between states.
KC-4.1.IV.D.i - The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of goods, wealth, and labor, including enslaved persons.
KC-4.1.IV - The new global circulation of goods was facilitated by chartered European monopoly companies and the global flow of silver, especially from Spanish colonies in the Americas, which was used to purchase Asian goods for the Atlantic markets and satisfy Chinese demand for silver. Regional markets continued to flourish in Afro-Eurasia by using established commercial practices and new transoceanic and regional shipping services developed by European merchants.
KC-4.2.II.A - Peasant and artisan labor continued and intensified in many regions as the demand for food and consumer goods increased.
KC-4.2.III.C - Some notable gender and family restructuring occurred, including demographic changes in Africa that resulted from the trade of enslaved persons. KC-4.1.IV.D.ii The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of labor—including enslaved persons and the mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples, with all parties contributing to this cultural synthesis.
KC-4.1.VI - In some cases, the increase and intensification of interactions between newly connected hemispheres expanded the reach and furthered development of existing religions, and contributed to religious conflicts and the development of syncretic belief systems and practices
Unit 4: Learning Objective H: Explain how rulers employed economic strategies to consolidate and maintain power throughout the period from 1450 to 1750
Unit 4: Learning Objective I: Explain the continuities and changes in networks of exchange from 1450 to 1750
Unit 4: Learning Objective J: Explain how political, economic, and cultural factors affected society from 1450 to 1750.
Unit 4: Learning Objective K: Explain the similarities and differences in how various belief systems affected societies from 1450 to 1750.
Governance GOV A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.
KC-4.3.III.iii - State expansion and centralization led to resistance from an array of social, political, and economic groups on a local level.
KC-5.3.III.C - Enslaved persons challenged existing authorities in the Americas through organized resistance.
Unit 4: Learning Objective L: Explain the effects of the development of state power from 1450 to 1750.
Social Interactions and Organization SIO The process by which societies group their members and the norms that govern the interactions between these groups and between individuals influence political, economic, and cultural institutions and organization.
KC-4.3.I.B - Many states, such as the Mughal and Ottoman empires, adopted practices to accommodate the ethnic and religious diversity of their subjects or to utilize the economic, political, and military contributions of different ethnic or religious groups. In other cases, states suppressed diversity or limited certain groups’ roles in society, politics, or the economy.
KC-4.2.III.A - Imperial conquests and widening global economic opportunities contributed to the formation of new political and economic elites, including in China with the transition to the Qing Dynasty and in the Americas with the rise of the Casta system.
KC-4.2.III.B - 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 powerful monarchs and leaders.
Unit 4: Learning Objective M: Explain how social categories, roles, and practices have been maintained or have changed over time.
The final topic in this unit focuses on the skill of argumentation and so provides an opportunity for your students to draw upon the key concepts and historical developments they have studied in this unit. Using evidence relevant to this unit’s key concepts, students should practice the suggested skill for this topic
KC-4.1 - The interconnection of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, made possible by transoceanic voyaging, transformed trade and had a significant social impact on the world.
KC-4.1.II- Knowledge, scientific learning, and technology from the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds spread, facilitating European technological developments and innovation.
KC-4.1.II.A - The developments included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs, and an improved understanding of regional wind and currents patterns—all of which made transoceanic travel and trade possible
KC-4.2 - Although the world’s productive systems continued to be heavily centered on agriculture, major changes occurred in agricultural labor, the systems and locations of manufacturing, gender and social structures, and environmental processes.
KC-4.2.II - The demand for labor intensified as a result of the growing global demand for raw materials and finished products. Traditional peasant agriculture increased and changed in nature, plantations expanded, and the Atlantic slave trade developed and intensified.
KC-4.3 - Empires achieved increased scope and influence around the world, shaping and being shaped by the diverse populations they incorporated.
KC-4.3.III.ii - Economic disputes led to rivalries and conflict between states.
Unit 4: Learning Objective N: Explain how economic developments from 1450 to 1750 affected social structures over time.