This article explores how and why the early maritime (oceanic) empires of Europe developed, and how they expanded into the Americas, Africa, and Asia. This new development in world history dramatically increased the ways in which the globe was connected. These connections were dominated by European states, and these states used entities like powerful joint-stock companies to share in the burdens and the benefits of imperial expansion. Competition, extraction of resources, and expansion of political and cultural control all drove this process.

Reading this article should help you understand the complex economic developments in this period that connected the world in new ways. You should consider how the new systems of maritime empires differed from conquest and expansion of different states in previous periods and different parts of the world. Think about how these developments led to massive change in the more deeply connected global economic systems and how these changes affected many societies around the world in this period.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article explain the process of state building and expansion among various empires and states in the period 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. According to this article, what were the main empires that took part in the maritime expansion in this period?
2. What were the main regions that these empires expanded into during this period?
3. What does the author mean by “private actors” in this phase of imperial expansion? Can you note any examples?
4. What were some of the main reasons for the imperial maritime expansions in this period?
5. What product was in demand in Europe and drove plantation economies across the Atlantic 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 explain the process of state building and expansion among various empires and states in the period from 1450 to 1750?
2. Consider the expansion of European-based empires described in this article as part of a state-building process. How did this expansion differ from other examples of state-building that you have encountered in different regions and different periods? How did the empires examined in this article differ, and how were they similar?
3. How did the new global networks described in this article change societies around the world? Connect what you learned here to earlier lessons and examples.

Records of Yasuke’s life exist only for a four-year period in the sixteenth century. We know little about his life beyond these four years. But it was an extraordinary four years. He traveled with Jesuit missionaries to Japan. He became perhaps the first foreigner—and the first African—to gain the rank of samurai. He befriended the most powerful daimyo in Japan, fighting in several important battles. After his lord committed ritual suicide to escape capture, Yasuke was sent back to the Jesuits and once again fades from the historical record.

Sometimes, it seems as if only Europeans were moving around the oceans of the early modern period. But in fact, the sea was full of travelers from Africa, Asia, Polynesia, and the Americas. In general, however, we don’t hear about these people—or even about average European sailors—except where they cross paths with important people. The biography of Yasuke challenges these typical narratives and reveals how much influence an individual can exert on events given the right circumstances. What little we know of Yasuke’s life, we know because of his relationship with an important leader, Oda Nobunaga.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Where was Yasuke likely from and how did he get to Japan?
2. What was Yasuke’s relationship with Oda Nobunaga?
3. What happened to Yasuke after Oda Nobunaga was killed?
4. What else do we know about Yasuke?
5. How does the artist’s depiction of Yasuke change across the page?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. Using evidence from this article, explain how maritime exploration by the various European states affected social interactions and organization.
2. How does this biography of Yasuke support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about transoceanic connections in this period?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

Old ideas like credit got a reboot in this era. Along with some other financial innovations, credit really changed the way the European economy worked. Building on ideas from the Islamic world and India, Europeans created new economic systems which stimulated efficient trade. These systems helped Europeans run new empires pretty much as businesses, which contributed to the rise of capitalism, the middle class, and even nationalism.

This article shows how some economic changes in Eurasia led to global connections—and major global changes, which will help you consider continuity and change in this era. It gives you important information about the links between capitalism and imperialism, which you’ll need to understand before you move on to other material in this lesson and in Units 5 and 6. This information will also equip you to test the claims made in the economic systems theme narrative.

Think about the following prompt as you read the article: Describe the extent to which this article explains how rulers employed economic strategies to consolidate and maintain power throughout the period from 1450 to 1750. Write this prompt at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this prompt again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1 – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist 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. In what ways was the European use of credit in this period a continuation of older practices? In what ways was it a change?
2. What was the impact of Fibonacci’s book, according to the author?
3. Why was a bill of exchange useful?
4. What financial innovation did the British East India Company and Dutch East India Company rely on?
5. What was the economic role of colonies, for Europeans in this era?

Read 3 – Evaluating and Corroborating

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

1. Describe the extent to which this article explains how rulers employed economic strategies to consolidate and maintain power throughout the period from 1450 to 1750.
2. Why do you think the changes in financial and economic practices in European companies matter to world history in this period?

In this vocab activity, you’ll be given a stack of vocab words to “sneak” into a conversation with a classmate. This is probably the most difficult—and perhaps silliest—of all the vocab activities. You have to incorporate Unit 4 vocabulary as seamlessly as possible into a conversation. Although difficult, this is one of the best ways to use and apply new vocabulary—in context.

You’re going to play the word sneak game. You will be given four Unit 4 vocab words, and asked to have a casual conversation with a classmate. Your job is to use your vocab words as part of that conversation, sneaking them in wherever appropriate.

Here are the steps:

1. Get your vocab cards.
2. Partner with someone else in the class. Do not show them your cards or tell them your words.
3. Have a five-minute conversation, and see how many words you can sneak into the conversation while you’re chatting. There are two things you need to know for your conversation:
   • You have to integrate your words in a legitimate way that makes sense.
   • You may need to steer the conversation in a different direction as a way to get to use your words. One good way to do this is by asking your partner questions.
4. Be prepared to debrief your conversation with the class.

This article introduces the early phase of European colonization in the Americas, focusing mainly on the empires of Spain and Portugal. The Catholic church played an important part in the imperial expansion of these two neighbors from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Along with the spread of religion and political dominion, this early colonization was driven also by the desire for extracting silver mined in the Americas, and sugar grown and produced there mainly by enslaved Africans.

This article will help you understand some of the most important causes and methods of early European expansion in the Americas. Additionally, you’ll learn how the Spanish and Portuguese empires expanded their control through a new global economic system of exploitation and extraction. This information will contribute to your understanding of how the Columbian Exchange changed societies in the Americas, an important part of this unit’s theme.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article explain how political, economic, and cultural factors affected society 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. According to the article, what two European powers were most important in the early colonization of the Americas in the late 1400s and 1500s? What was their relationship as they expanded into the Americas?
2. What industries first developed in the Spanish colonies of New Spain and Peru?
3. What methods did the King of Spain use to control the huge territory included in New Spain?
4. What were the two so-called “republics” in the Spanish colonies? Who was included within each of these groups?
5. According to the final section of the article, what empires followed Spain and Portugal in the Americas, and in what ways did they differ?

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 explain how political, economic, and cultural factors affected society from 1450 to 1750?
2. What evidence does this article contribute to your understanding of how societies in Europe, the Americas, and Africa changed in this period?

We’re used to hearing about revolutions in the US, France, Latin America, and Haiti. Less frequently do we hear about the role of Indigenous Americans in this revolutionary history. The first large-scale, successful revolt against colonizers in the United States was launched in 1680 by the Pueblo people of New Mexico. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 temporarily drove out the Spanish and helped ensure the endurance of Pueblo culture and communities into the present. In this video, Jerad Koepp interviews Porter Swentzell about the causes, experiences, and long-term effects of the revolt.

This video provides you with evidence to evaluate the Age of Revolutions through the lens of an earlier, lesser-known revolt. It will help you extend the narratives about revolution and colonization that you’re encountering by including a successful Indigenous revolution. It will also help you understand how Indigenous peoples around the world took part in making—and contesting—the modern world.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Remember to open and skim the transcript, and then read the questions below before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch this video.

1. How does Dr. Swentzell describe the Pueblos of New Mexico before Spanish arrival?
2. Why did the Spanish decide to invade New Mexico and what were some of the immediate consequences of the decision?
3. What are some examples that Dr. Swentzell provides about how Pueblo people experienced colonization?
4. What are some of the ways that Pueblo people resisted Spanish colonization before 1680?
5. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was about many different issues, but it was sparked by one big event. What were the main grievances, and what was the big event?
6. How did the Pueblos coordinate the revolt? Was it successful?
7. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 is sometimes called the first and most successful revolt against European colonialism. Does Dr. Swentzell agree? What evidence does he mention to support or challenge this idea?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. This video makes the argument that the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 should be included in the stories about the Age of Revolutions—including the American, French, Latin American, and Haitian Revolutions. Can you think of any evidence you’ve learned in this course that challenges that claim?

You’ve likely heard the name Pocahontas before. Who was she? She was a Powhatan woman named Amonute who intervened in the relationship between her people and early English colonists in Virginia. Beyond that, the facts of her story are disputed. We present two different versions of her early years and show how scholars try to navigate the evidence.

Sometimes, it seems like there are so many different stories about the past that we can hardly tell what really happened. Amonute’s story is a good example. It is the inspiration for the main character in the Disney movie Pocahontas, but that film is based on only one type of source about her life—texts written by Europeans. Oral tradition passed down from the Powhatan people gives us a very different story. Navigating between these sources is the job of historians who want to understand how indigenous Americans and European settlers interacted.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Who was Amonute?
2. How did Amonute become important to the English settlers in Virginia? What are the key elements of the story John Smith told about her?
3. How does Karen Ordahl Kupperman evaluate John Smith’s story of Amonute?
4. What are the key arguments made by the oral historians of the Mattaponi people, as presented in this biography?
5. What are some doubts raised about the oral tradition version of events, by anthropologists like Helen Roundtree?
6. How does the artist use art and design to show that there are different stories about Amonute?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. Use evidence from this article to describe the effects of expanding maritime empires from 1450 to 1750.
2. Which version of Amonute’s relationship with English settlers do you think is more likely to be accurate? Why?
3. How does this biography of Amonute support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about European relations with people of the Americas in this period?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

The tiny country of Spain did some things that had global effects—many of which were not so positive. This video explores the Spanish conquest and silver extraction in the Americas, showing how aspects of Aztec and Inca society set the stage for what would come. It then takes us to other places, like China, where silver flowed. And as it turned out, where silver flowed, problems were sure to follow.

This video focuses on the Spanish Empire as an example of new ideas and structures that developed between 1450 and 1750 CE. It highlights the difference between the pre-1492 world and the first ongoing global connections. This is crucial for thinking about continuity and change in this period.

Think about the following question as you watch the video: What evidence does this video provide to explain the continuities and changes in economic and labor systems from 1450 to 1750? You will be asked to respond to this question again at the end of the video.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript and read the questions before viewing.

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. How was the Aztec government and society structured?
2. How did the Inca Empire’s administration work, and what were the differences between how the Aztec and Inca treated conquered peoples?
3. What resource did the Spanish find instead of gold, and how did they extract this resource?
4. What were the economic results of Spanish silver mining in the Americas?
5. What other country had a problem with inflation? How did they try to deal with it, and were they successful?
6. What were some effects of China’s new tax structure in the sixteenth century?
7. What were the overall global effects of Spanish silver mining?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. What evidence does this video provide to explain the continuities and changes in economic and labor systems from 1450 to 1750?
2. John Green argues that Spanish silver mining had a huge impact that was both global and long-lasting. He claims that “this process led to the life that you have today, one where I can teach you history through the magic of the Internet.” Is his argument convincing? What other sources or facts support, extend, or challenge his argument?

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a woman born of mixed heritage in what was then the colony of New Spain (Mexico). She went on to write poems, songs, letters, and plays, many of which were widely read, despite not being allowed a formal education as a young girl. Although she was later censored by the church, her writings contributed to changing ideas in Europe in this era.

This biography will provide you with a different viewpoint from which to consider the Unit 4 Problem: “How did economic developments and new transoceanic connections affect social structures in different parts of the world from c. 1450 to 1750 CE?” Sor Juana’s story will help you to formulate ideas about how new beliefs emerged and spread around the world. Juana’s story will also help you evaluate narratives about the roles of women in different societies.

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. When and where was Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz born?
2. When Juana was a young girl, what did she first learn?
3. Where was Juana working and living when she was seventeen years old? What controversial writing did she complete at this time?
4. What decision did Juana make so that she could continue studying? How did this decision cause problems for her later?
5. How does the artwork help us to understand the unique circumstances that shaped Juana’s unique life, particularly her dual heritage?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. Using evidence from this graphic biography, explain how Sor Juana’s story supports, extends, or challenges the social categories and roles you’ve learned about in this era?
2. What evidence does Sor Juana’s biography provide about how people lived in the colonial Americas in this period? How does this evidence support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the impact of the Columbian Exchange in this region?
3. Compare and contrast Sor Juana’s biography with that of Domingos Álvares that you’ll read later in this lesson. In what ways were their lives similar? In what ways were they different? What accounts for those similarities and differences?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

Slavery has existed since some of the earliest human societies, but the transatlantic slave trade was unprecedented in its scale and violence. Rather than being part of a different social class, enslaved people were considered property. This was justified using ideas about race and religion, but the motives fueling the trade were mainly European economic interests. Looking for sources of inexpensive labor to produce cash crops and raw materials, Europeans created a transatlantic slave trade which enabled Europe to amass a lot of wealth—to the serious detriment of societies in Africa and the Americas.

In the previous lesson, you learned about exchanges of people, plants, animals, and germs across the Atlantic. This article builds on those lessons by focusing in further on the forced migration of millions of people through the transatlantic slave trade. You’ll learn about how the transatlantic slave trade was unprecedented, but you’ll also be able to see why and how people were enslaved in other places and times. This will prepare you to think about the Atlantic slaving system as a transformation in this period linked to other changes you have already learned about.

Think about the following question as you read the article: What evidence does this article provide to explain the continuities and changes in systems of slavery 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 for Gist 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 article, what was the status of enslaved people in some parts of Africa prior to the involvement of the Europeans?
2. What was the status of enslaved people in the medieval Muslim world?
3. In what context did Europeans start the transatlantic slave trade?
4. How did the transatlantic slave trade cause an increase in wars in Africa?
5. What goods moved across the triangular trade?
6. According to the article, how did the transatlantic slave trade contribute to the Industrial Revolution?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

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

1. What evidence does this article provide to explain the continuities and changes in systems of slavery from 1450 to 1750?
2. What is slavery? Given the range of types of slavery in different societies discussed in this article, is it useful to use the same term for all of these different kinds of status? Why or why not?
3. How does the Atlantic slave trade represent continuity with earlier eras? How does it represent something new in this era?

People tend to focus on the benefits of global interactions, but the costs are just as important. Historians don’t know the exact number, but global interactions between 1450 and 1750 led to a staggering number of deaths to Indigenous American and African populations. There were also negative consequences for regional cultures and economies. When we evaluate the impact of the Columbian Exchange, we need to consider them.

This article will build on earlier articles and videos about the Columbian Exchange. It has a special focus on the environment and population of the Americas and in Africa. While previous articles talked about both the good and the bad, this article is entirely about the disastrous results the Columbian Exchange had on some regions. This regional-level evidence will help you respond to the Unit Problem, which asks you to evaluate continuity and change in this period. It will specifically provide evidence of changes that led to uneven results for different communities.

Think about the following prompt as you read the article: Using evidence from the article, explain changes and continuities in systems of slavery in this era. Write this prompt at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this prompt again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Read 1—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist 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. Why is it difficult for historians to determine the scale of the Great Dying?
2. What groups of people migrated to the Americas involuntarily?
3. What do the categories “mestizo” and “mulatto” mean? Who came up with these categories?
4. How did the population of sub-Saharan Africa change as a result of the Columbian Exchange?
5. What was the plantation complex? Whom did it benefit?

Read 3—Evaluating and Corroborating

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

1. Using evidence from the article, explain changes and continuities in systems of slavery in this era.
2. The author claims that “demographic changes in both the Americas and Africa were mostly disastrous for indigenous peoples. European economies and communities were the ones that mostly benefited from their arrival in the Americas and from the Atlantic slave trade network.” Using this article and other articles and videos in this lesson, find evidence that supports, extends, or challenges this claim.

In this activity, you’ll use your knowledge of claim testing to write supporting statements for claims. Claim testing is a skill that will not only help you decide what to believe, but can help you develop the capacity to convince others of particular arguments. By working on backing claims with supports, you’ll become more skilled at writing argumentative essays and using evidence to support your assertions.

In this claim-testing activity, you are given four claims about transoceanic empires. You are asked to work with these claims in three different ways:

1. Find supporting statements for those claims.
2. Evaluate the strength of the supporting statements provided for those claims.
3. Provide statements that refute (argue against) the claims.

Get into small table groups. Each group should have a complete set of Claim Cards in the middle of their table. Listen for your teacher’s directions for when to start.

Round 1

1. Grab one Claim Card from the center of the table.
2. On the card, write down a statement that supports the claim. You can use prior knowledge or course materials for this.
3. Pass your Claim Card to the person to your right.
4. Write down a statement that supports the claim on the card that you now have. It can’t be the same as any of the supports already written on the card.
5. Repeat the process until each group member has written a supporting statement on each card.
6. Put the Claim Cards back in the center of the table.

Round 2

1. Grab one Claim Card from the pile and stand up.
2. Find at least three other students who have the same claim as you and get into a group with them (if there are more than six people in your group, let your teacher know).
3. Look at all the supporting statements that were written for your claim. Decide which supporting statements are strongest (that is, they best support the claim).
4. Write the strongest supporting statements on the whiteboard so everyone can see them.

Round 3

1. With the same group you were in for Round 2, consider any historical exceptions to your claim. What can you offer to refute the claim?
2. Add at least one refuting statement, what we often refer to as a counterclaim, on the board so everyone can see it.
3. Write both your strongest supporting statements and the exception to the claim as an exit ticket—be sure to explain your reasoning for choosing your supporting statements and refutations. Your teacher may also have you share your statements and counterclaim with the class.

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.

The primary source excerpts in this collection provide a glimpse into the journey of African captives to the New World, including the harsh and dangerous conditions they experienced. It shows that enslaved people dealt with these horrific conditions in diverse ways, often finding ways to resist, strategize, and adapt to these intense circumstances.

The AP® World History: Modern CED suggests students develop their sourcing skills in line with certain topics. For Unit 4, these topics include “Maritime Empires Established” and “Maritime Empires Maintained and Developed”; therefore, we’ve compiled a number of primary source excerpts to help your students develop these skills in relation to this content. This should help prepare them to be successful on the AP exam.

This primary source collection includes first-hand accounts of the Atlantic slaving system and can be difficult for students to read. Please note that these are important sources that explain the experiences of the enslaved, which include kidnapping, torture, murder, and sexual violence.

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

The Atlantic slave trade removed 12.5 million people from Africa and probably resulted in the death of millions more. This violence and forced migration caused long-term suffering at the individual and societal levels. Three Ghanaian scholars give us a sense of its impact on the coast, the interior, and the far north of this region.

The Unit Problem asks you to consider continuity and change over time that results from growing interconnections in this period. The Atlantic slaving system is an important element of the changes that resulted from the Columbian Exchange. Its impact on Africa was dramatic, and we can begin to study it by scale-switching to just one region: the Gold Coast, or roughly the modern nation-state of Ghana.

Think about the following question as you watch the video: What evidence does this video provide to explain changes and continuities in systems of slavery in the period from 1450 to 1750? You will be asked to respond to this question again at the end of the video.

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. How do Ato Ashun and Trevor Getz describe society around Cape Coast prior to the Atlantic slave trade?
2. What does the physical structure of Cape Coast Castle under the British, including its dungeons, tell us about the Atlantic slave trade?
3. What, according to Ato Ashun, were some of the economic impacts of the Atlantic slaving system on the coastal region?
4. According to Akosua Perbi, how did the Atlantic slaving system affect how people lived?
5. What impacts of the Atlantic slaving system does Wilhelmina Donkoh focus on in her interview?
6. How does Ato Ashun say that the evidence of the Atlantic slave trade, in the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle, affected him personally?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. What evidence does this video provide to explain changes and continuities in systems of slavery in the period from 1450 to 1750?
2. How did the Atlantic slave trade affect Ghana, in terms of social interactions and organization as well as economic systems? Do you think these effects were the same in other regions of Africa? Why or why not?
3. If you were a guide for tourists visiting Cape Coast Castle, what would you want them to know?

As a priest and healer, Domingos Álvares was dedicated to building connections wherever he went. He continued to do this despite being sold to European slavers and forcibly transported to Brazil. Álvares was imprisoned twice due to suspicions surrounding his healing practices.

This biography provides a unique insight into the impacts of global connections taking place during Unit 4. Told from the perspective of an enslaved African man, it provides a new perspective as you consider the Unit 4 Problem: “How did economic developments and new transoceanic connections affect social structures in different parts of the world from c. 1450 to 1750 CE?”

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. When and where was Domingos Álvares born?
2. What was Álvares’ occupation, and why did this lead to his capture and sale to European enslavers by the King of Dahomey?
3. Why was Álvares imprisoned in 1733?
4. Why did the Catholic Church try to imprison Álvares in 1742?
5. How does the artist use art and design to demonstrate the importance of community to Álvares?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. Using evidence from this article, explain how Álvares’ story supports, extends, or challenges what you’ve learned about social categories and practices in this era.
2. How is Álvares’ biography evidence of the kinds of networks people built across regions, and the transfer of ideas from one region to another in this era? How does this evidence support, extend, or challenge your understanding of the impact of the Columbian Exchange?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

As the land-based empires of Afro-Eurasia and the European transoceanic empires expanded during the early modern period, a pattern emerged: the centralization of state power. This generally meant that people outside the central state lost power. This included aristocrats, who lost some independence, but it also included poorer people—conquered, enslaved, or just peasants—who suffered under state centralization. Often, these people pushed back, either through small everyday actions or major revolts.

In this unit and the one that came before, you have seen the growth of large, centralized empires. But this article demonstrates that people also resisted that centralization of power and the interference, or oppression, that came with it. This article contextualizes that sort of resistance alongside the growth of state power as an important trend in this period.

Think about the following question as you read the article: To what extent does this article explain the effects of the development of state power 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. According to the article, what were major trends in the way that states changed in this period?
2. What does historian James Scott mean by the term “peasant weapons of the weak”?
3. What does the author argue that Tacky’s revolt symbolizes? How was it more than just a single revolt?
4. What was the goal of Popé’s revolt, and what was the outcome?
5. Why did aristocrats revolt in France in the rebellion known as the Fronde?
6. What are some ways, besides war, that the Joseon aristocrats resisted the Qing Dynasty?

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 explain the effects of the development of state power from 1450 to 1750?
2. Two of the revolts described in this article involve resistance by aristocrats, and two involve resistance by conquered or enslaved people. These were two very different groups of people, but they both resisted the growth of state power. How were the complaints that led to these acts of resistance similar, or different?

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 empires changed and expanded during this period, and also how they were challenged by other empires and their own subjects. It represents the voices of European colonial officers, as well as the voices of Indigenous people, both colonized people and European peasants, showing how empire touched the lives of people all over the globe as various empires sought to extend their reach.

The AP^® World History: Modern CED suggests students develop their sourcing skills in line with certain topics. For Unit 4, these topics include “Maritime Empires Established” and “Maritime Empires Maintained and Developed”; therefore, we’ve compiled a number of primary source excerpts to help you develop these skills in relation to this content. 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.