Global Convergence, 1450-1750

Content

HSS Framework ch. 11, "Global Convergence, 1450-1750" CDE pp. 224 - 230

(Voyages, Columbian Exchange, Trade Networks, Gunpowder Empires; Colonialism in Americas & Southeast Asia, Atlantic World ~ 3 weeks)

History-Social Science Content Standards 7.11

California Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (CDE pp. 65-69, 79-82, 84-89)

Inquiry

  • What impact did human expansion in the voyages of exploration have on the environment, trade networks, and global interconnection?

  • What were the causes of colonialism? What were the effects of colonialism on the colonized people?

  • What were the effects of exchanges at Tenochtitlán/Mexico City in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries?

  • Was slavery always racial?

  • How did the gunpowder empires (Ming/Manchu China, Mughal India, Safavid Persia, Ottoman Empire, Russia, Spain, later France and England) extend their power over people and territories?

Learning Activities

Engage:

European colonizers killed so many Native Americans that it changed the global climate, researchers say, By Lauren Kent, CNN

Before Global Warming, Humans Caused Global Cooling, Study Finds

Launch - See Vignette on pp. 227-8 of the HSS Framework, Ch. 11:

Analyzing images of the conquest and interactions between Spanish and Aztecs/Mexica on "The Conquest of Mexico," AHA Teaching and Learning in a Digital Age

  • Students analyze perspective or point of view.

  • Student pairs research the source of the images and identify evidence of exchanges, effects of exchanges, and perspective.

  • Share evidence.

Close Read:

  • Letters of Cortés, the True History of Díaz del Castillo, Broken Spears, the Florentine Codex, and the Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by De Las Casas (Sometimes have all students read every document; other times, divide the documents between student groups. The most effective division would have students read one Spanish account and one Aztec account that addressed the same event or topic.)

Learning Activity:

This is a weeklong Inquiry Design Model that addresses this question: Should We Remember Christopher Columbus as a Conqueror or Explorer?

Directions:

  1. Read the two opposing claims at the link above.

  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page to access primary sources that will answer these supporting questions:

    1. Should Columbus be Celebrated?

    2. Columbus’s Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 1494

    3. Admiral of the Ocean Sea: Christopher Columbus and Diligence

    4. Paideia Seminar: Christopher Columbus

Moctezuma and Cortés

Lesson from Stanford History Education Group (SHEG)

Many are familiar with the popular tale of the meeting between Emperor Moctezuma and conquistador Hernán Cortés. As it goes, Moctezuma mistook the Spanish invaders for gods, thereby setting the stage for the conquest of the Aztec Empire. But how does this compare to what the historical record tells us? In this lesson, students read from two 16th century sources and one contemporary historian's interpretation of the event to answer the question: What happened when Moctezuma met Cortés?


Image source: Illustration of Moctezuma from the Mendoza Codex. Retrieved from the Public Domain Review.

Broken Jade and Tarnished Gold

Content:

  • Students compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Meso-American and Andean civilizations (7.7 ).

  • Explain how and where each empire arose and how the Aztec and Incan empires were defeated by the Spanish (7.7.3).

Inquiry: What impact did human expansion in the voyages of exploration have on the environment, trade networks, and global interconnection? What were the causes of colonialism? What were the effects of colonialism on the colonized people? What were the effects of exchanges at Tenochtitlán/Mexico City in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries?

Lessons: (6-8 days, depending on extension and/or block periods)

  1. Elements of Empires

  2. Rich Goods from Diverse Lands

  3. Vast and Varied Realms

  4. Resources and Decision Making

  5. Flame and Fever: Conquest and Disease

  6. Retribution and Providence: The Effects of Disease

2.12.19 Americas
ColumbianExchangeQuestionsfromWebQuest.pdf
Columbian Exchange Graphic Organizer.pdf

Ottoman Empire "Suleiman"

from C3teachers. org

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century by examining the esteemed leader Suleiman the Magnificent. By investigating the compelling question “How ‘magnificent’ was Suleiman?” students are asked to evaluate the positive and negative impacts Suleiman had on the region. The formative performance tasks are designed to build on knowledge and skills through the course of the inquiry and should help students recognize the often simplistic nature of historical labels in understanding complex figures. Students ultimately create an argument supported by evidence as to the appropriateness of the label “magnificent” after considering the ways in which Suleiman conquered territories, the bureaucratic systems that he continued and/or altered, and the dual nature of his desire to spread Islam while also allowing religious autonomy.

Citizenship

Investigate the effects that the large loss of indigenous lives in the Americas, due to European colonialism and conquest, had on global climate and the slave trade. How can we reconcile with our past? What types of causes can you take on to reconcile with the past?

Columbus Day:

Climate Change:

Slave Trade:

Write a letter to your local, state, and federal representatives to question a monument that heroizes the atrocities of the European colonists. e.g. Statue of Junipero Serra in Washington D.C.

See: The Case for Replacing the Statue of Junipero Serra in the Statuary Hall of Our Nation's Capital by Gary Robinson, Tribal Eye Productions, and this request, " see if any teachers could make this a history [civics] project with contemporary relevance by having students write letters to the state legislative rep from your area and the governor's office."

See this article: San Diego Unified changes name of Junipero Serra High School, removes conquistador mascot.