Can you imagine Italian food without tomatoes or Indian food without chilis? It’s kind of hard to do, but before the late fifteenth century, people in Afro-Eurasia didn’t know about tomatoes or chilis. The transfer of plants, animals, people, ideas, and diseases that occurred between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas after 1492 is known as the Columbian Exchange. Tomato sauce and spicy curries were some of the positive outcomes of this exchange. But there were many negative impacts as well, namely the decimation of Indigenous Americans through the transfer of diseases and the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.

This video gives you an overview of the content and themes you’ll explore in Unit 4. The evidence presented in the video will help you assess continuity and change over time as the shift from large land-based empires to new transoceanic empires took place. You’ll also evaluate this era by examining the history of gumbo using the themes of governance, social interactions and organization, and cultural developments and interactions.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video.

1. What does John Arthur mean when he says that gumbo came “from many places … and from one place”?
2. How were Europeans able to establish overseas empires all over the world from 1450 to 1750?
3. What is the Columbian Exchange and what were some positive and negative aspects of this exchange?
4. Why does John Arthur say that the Columbian Exchange was really more of an extraction than an exchange?
5. How can you analyze the history of gumbo using the themes of governance, cultural developments and interactions, social interactions and organization, and humans and the environment?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. Innovations in navigation and technology like gunpowder weapons helped Europeans conquer parts of the Americas and establish overseas empires. How did Europeans obtain these technologies?
2. How did empires change and stay the same from Unit 3 to Unit 4?

As empires connected Afro-Eurasia by land, European mariners connected the world by sea. Their voyages started the Columbian Exchange, which linked Afro-Eurasia and the Americas, spreading new species of plants and animals to new parts of the world, along with people, ideas, and diseases. The exchange created the first global network of exchange, eventually transforming societies in all parts of the globe. These transformations improved life for some, but were disastrous for others. In the Americas, millions of Indigenous people died of new diseases. And European colonizers forced millions of enslaved Africans to work on plantations in the Americas.

This article provides an introduction to Unit 4, which examines the new exchange networks forged as Europeans conquered overseas colonies from the fifteenth to eighteenth century. This article provides a summary of some of the causes and effects of the Columbian Exchange on both hemispheres and introduces some of the unique advantages that allowed European states to capitalize on the transformations of the exchange to build overseas empires. The article will help you identify how these processes affected social structures in different parts of the world from c. 1450 to 1750 CE.

Read 1 – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2 – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What motivated Europeans to explore new trade routes to Asia, and what technologies helped them?
2. What was the Columbian Exchange? What was exchanged?
3. What was the “Great Dying”?
4. How did the Columbian Exchange change economies?

Read 3 – Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. The last two units have covered the development of regional trade networks from c. 1200 to 1450 CE and the growth of land-based empires from c. 1450 to 1750 CE. How did these two trends help produce the Columbian Exchange and the development of large European overseas empires?
2. The author explains the various ways that the Columbian Exchange reshaped politics, economics, and culture. Using the cultural developments and interactions theme, explain how the arrival of a new food might change a society. How does this answer change if you think about this through the theme of economic systems?

In this unit, transoceanic voyages linked the world in new, dramatic, and sometimes devastating ways. The purpose of this activity is to introduce you to the new connections forged in this first global age. You will also begin thinking about how new, transoceanic connections reshaped human societies around the world. The focus of this activity is on the task of identifying and predicting with maps. As the opening map activity for this unit, this is intended to help orient you in time and space while raising some important questions about the geography you will encounter in this era.

You’ll begin this activity by identifying several empires in the world of 1550 CE, after the first transoceanic voyages began to connect the hemispheres. You will locate these communities on a blank map and then make some guesses and predictions about the consequences of connectivity in Unit 4.

Step 1

Remember, this activity is intended to introduce you to geography in this unit. You aren’t expected to have all the answers.

With your teacher, brainstorm some of the general characteristics of long-distance trade in this period. What directions did it flow? Which parts of the world were the most important centers of trade and production? What types of goods moved over long-distances?

Step 2

In small groups, select three land and sea empires in 1550 from the list on the worksheet. Label and shade (in different colors) each of the three empires on the 1550 Blank Map. When this is complete, each group should share their answers until all six empires are labeled on your maps. Note: You can use the 1550 Political Map to find the answers.

Step 3

Examine the 1550 Political Map and the Medieval Trade Routes Thematic Map. Based on these maps and your discussion in Step 1, you should annotate your blank maps (or write in the table), making one prediction in response to the following three questions:

1. How do you think the first transoceanic connections changed long-distance trade routes after 1492? Trace one new trade route on your map and provide an annotation for why it emerged.
2. How do you think empires changed between 1550 and 1750 as transoceanic connections intensified? Which empires do you think will grow more powerful? Which will shrink? What new empires might emerge? Make one prediction.
3. Pick one trade good that you think will become more important to world trade in this unit. Explain why.

This repeated activity should help you become familiar with a process for understanding unfamiliar words any time you encounter them in the course.

Take out your vocab tracker and be sure to record new and unfamiliar words on it according to your teacher’s instructions.

Understanding vocabulary helps you access course content, become a better reader, and a better communicator. This word wall activity will help you begin to learn some of the key vocabulary from Unit 4.

In this activity, you’ll work with your class to create a word wall using the Unit 4 vocabulary.

Your teacher will assign a vocab card to each of you. Once you get yours, take a few minutes to look it up in the Unit 4 Vocab Guide and then examine the unit itself (click around and quickly skim the content) to see where in the unit your word might be most applicable. Then, add as many antonyms to your card for your word as possible. Your teacher will give you a limited amount of time to write antonyms. Then, the people with the most correct antonyms will put their words on the word wall first.

Your teacher may add some fun twists to this assignment, so be sure to listen closely for directions!

During the fifteenth century, explorers from Europe set out across the oceans. Many of them were seeking to solve an economic problem. The Ottoman Empire controlled Europeans’ access to the luxury goods of the Indian Ocean trade, which therefore became very expensive by the time they reached Europe. To go around the Ottomans, the Portuguese gradually explored south along the coast of Africa, and the Spanish rulers funded Christopher Columbus’s voyages across the Atlantic. All of these voyages were built on previous innovations and knowledge the Europeans had gained through trade with the rest of Afro-Eurasia. These explorations made some Europeans very rich and some rulers very powerful. Soon, other countries joined the race to explore and conquer across oceans.

This unit explores the various ways that transoceanic connections transformed economic systems and societies around the world. This article introduces the motivations and technologies that launched the European voyages of exploration. As you read, look out for ways that previous connections enabled these voyages. How did these voyages forge new connections and how might they have reshaped the places and peoples they encountered?

Think about the following question as you read the article: Using evidence from the article, describe the extent to which this article explains how cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of technology and facilitated changes in patterns of trade and travel from 1450 to 1750. Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1 – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2 – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What does the author say was the biggest motivation behind the Europeans’ voyages of exploration?
2. Why were the small islands off the coast of West Africa important to European expansion?
3. The author argues that the European voyages were based off of ideas and technology gained through trade. What are some examples?
4. These voyages were dangerous. Why did explorers, merchants, and rulers accept the risks?
5. What advantages did joint stock companies provide?

Read 3 – Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. Using evidence from the article, describe the extent to which this article explains how cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of technology and facilitated changes in patterns of trade and travel from 1450 to 1750.
2. Economic systems both shaped and were shaped by European voyages of exploration. Can you think of one economic cause that led to these voyages? Additionally, what is one effect these voyages had on economic systems?

When the Portuguese arrived in the Indian Ocean in the late fifteenth century, they encountered a complex and diverse trading system. Powerful empires dominated the political world on land, but on the sea, a network of port cities enabled the movement of trade from China to East Africa. Diaspora communities, like Armenian merchants, acted as communicators between Europeans and Indian Ocean states.

The arrival of Europeans in the Indian Ocean introduced important new connections that gradually transformed economic systems and societies in Afro-Eurasia. But the Indian Ocean system was resilient, and these transformations happened quite slowly. This article provides you with evidence to respond to the Unit Problem and evaluate the extent and importance of these changes at a regional and global scale.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article describe the role of states in the expansion of maritime exploration from 1450 to 1750? Support your answer with evidence from the article. Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1 – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Read 2 – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. According to the author, what was the immediate impact of Europeans arriving in the Indian Ocean?
2. How did the rulers of Indian Ocean states view the arrival of the Portuguese?
3. Why does the article refer to it as the “cosmopolitan” Indian Ocean?
4. Why were diaspora communities important to the Indian Ocean world?
5. What role did the Armenian diaspora have in extending the influence of European empires in the Indian Ocean?

Read 3 – Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. To what extent does this article describe the role of states in the expansion of maritime exploration from 1450 to 1750? Support your answer with evidence from the article.
2. This article focuses on how the Indian Ocean system gradually changed after new connections were made with Europe. How do you think Europe changed because of these new connections? What evidence does this article provide, and what further evidence would you need to answer this question?

3x5 note cards or cut up paper

This sourcing collection, along with the Quick-Sourcing Tool, gives you an opportunity to practice a quicker kind of sourcing than you do in the sourcing practice progression. The tool and the process for using it—specifically designed for unpacking document collections—will help you be successful on both the SAQ and DBQ portions of the AP^® World History: Modern exam.

If you are unfamiliar with the Quick-Sourcing Tool or the process for using it, we recommend reviewing the Quick-Sourcing Introduction activity in Lesson 1.4.

The Quick-Sourcing Tool can be used any time you encounter a set of sources and are trying to respond to a prompt or question, as opposed to the deeper analysis you do when using the HAPPY tool that is part of the sourcing progression.

First, take out or download the sourcing collection and review the guiding question that appears on the first page. Then, take out or download the Quick-Sourcing Tool and review the directions. For Part 1, you’ll write a quick summary of each source in terms of how it relates to the guiding question (we recommend using one note card or scrap of paper for each source).

For Part 2, which uses the first four letters of the acronym from the HAPPY tool, you only have to respond to one of these four questions. This will get you a partial point on the AP^® World History: Modern exam. You should always include the historical significance or “why” (the “Y” in “HAPPY”) for any of the four questions you choose to respond to.

In Part 3, you’ll gather the evidence you found in each document and add it to your note cards so you can include it in a response later. Once each document is analyzed, look at your note cards and try to categorize the cards. There might be a group of documents that support the claim you want to make in your response, and another group that will help you consider counterclaims, for example.

To wrap up, try to respond to the guiding question.

This collection explores how ideas, technologies, and how things move around the globe transformed how people navigate, eat, wage war, trade, and even how we look up at the stars.

The AP^® World History: Modern CED suggests students develop their historical thinking skills in line with certain historical developments and themes. For Unit 4, we’ve compiled a number of primary source excerpts to help you develop these skills in relation to the content and themes covered in this unit, including Technology and Innovation and Economic Systems. This should help prepare you to be successful on the AP exam.

We recommend using the accompanying Quick Sourcing activity (above) to help you analyze these sources.

The World History Project AP (WHP AP) curriculum asks you to visit and revisit the AP themes throughout the course. The aim of the Themes Notebook is to keep you connected to the core themes of each unit. In Part 1 of the Themes Notebook, which you’ll complete early in each unit, you will evaluate each of the statements on the worksheet based on what you currently know. In Part 2, which comes later in each unit, the statements appear as questions. You will respond to these questions as you revise and refine your initial understanding of the unit’s themes. In both parts of this activity, you should focus on concepts rather than formal writing. The primary purpose of the Themes Notebook is to help you assess how your thinking is progressing, where you’re gaining mastery, and where you might need additional instruction.

Although it might seem that you haven’t learned enough yet to respond to the prompts, that’s OK! This activity is meant to help you think about what you might already know about the ideas and concepts of the unit. You’ll revisit the prompts at the end of the unit (although this time they’ll appear as questions), and you’ll get to see how much you’ve learned! This activity will also give you a preview of what’s to come, as you’re learning which themes you should pay attention to as you learn new content.

Note: Since you’ll be revisiting this worksheet at the end of the unit, be sure you hold onto it! If your teacher offers to collect your class’s worksheets, that’s probably your best bet.

Use the Themes Notebook worksheet to respond to the Part 1 prompts as best as you can. Be prepared to talk about these ideas with your class.

Open the following non-interactive charts in your internet browser:

• Chart 1 – Great Power War: https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/08/ourworldindata_percentage-of-years-in-which-the-great-powers-fought-one-another-1500%E2%80%932000.png
• Chart 2 – Global Deaths in Conflict: https://slides.ourworldindata.org/war-and-violence/#/6
• Chart 3 – Population Control, Marauder Style: https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/08/The-100-Worst-Atrocities-over-the-last-Millennia-New-York-Times-Data-from-Matthew-White0.png

The past was not peaceful. Human history is filled with violent conflict. But some people think that the world has gotten more violent in the recent past. The world wars of the twentieth century loom large in our memory today. But wars aren’t new, and some even argue that war has been getting less common and less deadly. The three charts in this article offer three different takes on this debate.

Data can be used in many ways, and not all charts tell the same story, even when they cover the same topic. In this third data exploration, we introduce three charts about war and conflict throughout human history. All three charts might cover this topic, but each of them tells a different story, and you might draw different conclusions from each. Which do you agree with? Which do you trust the most? How do you tell the difference? This data exploration will help you learn to compare and perhaps combine data from diverse charts to draw your own conclusions.

Your teacher will let you know if there is an overall question to hold in your mind as complete your three reads of the article.

Preview – What Do We Have?

Fill out the Read 1: Preview section of the Three Close Reads for Data worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember—this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – What Do We Know?

For this read, your goal is to understand the “story” the chart is telling by identifying its arguments and evaluating its presentation of data. You will decide what claim or claims this chart is making and what evidence is being used to support those claims. Do you think the data is reliable? Is the chart misleading in any way? By the end of this read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How are Charts 1 and 2 different? How are they similar?
2. What does Chart 1 tell us about war in the last 500 years? Do you think measuring war between the great powers is a good way to understand war in general?
3. What does Chart 2 tell us about how the deadliness of conflict changed during the twentieth century?
4. According to Chart 3, what was the deadliest event in human history?
5. Charts 1 and 2 suggest that the frequency and deadliness of conflict might be declining, especially during the twentieth century. Why does Chart 3 show so many more conflicts in recent centuries than earlier in history?

Making Connections – What Does This Tell Us?

The third read is really about why the chart is important, what it can tell us about the past, and how it can help us think about the future. At the end of this read, respond to the following questions:

1. These three charts use similar data to tell slightly different stories. Which do you trust the most to tell us something important about deadly conflict? Why?
2. Using these three charts, make one prediction about the future of warfare and deadly conflict in your lifetime. What evidence from the charts supports your prediction? What evidence challenges it?