By the early thirteenth century, the Afro-Eurasian trading system was stronger and larger than ever, with the Mongol Empire at its heart. Other networks existed in the Americas. That Eurasian system collapsed under the weight of diseases spread along the same routes as trade, but then recovered. However, with the Mongol state fractured, it was now harder for Europeans to get the goods they wanted from Asia. Going in search of new routes, they encountered the Americas. This collision led to the first truly global network—the Columbian Exchange. American silver, valued in Asia and carried by Europeans, helped to permanently transform the world.

This video introduces you to two ‘world systems’, the second of which was truly global. It asks you to consider the Era 5 Problem: how did the development of these connections promote change, both on a global scale and in different regions? It also gives you your first evidence for beginning to shape a response to this question.

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 was the condition of the trading system in Afro-Eurasia in the thirteenth century, according to this video?
2. What happened to that trading center in 1347?
3. How was the Eurasian trading system different when it recovered from the Black Death, and how did that difference lead to the Columbian Exchange?
4. What were some global changes that came with the Columbian Exchange?
5. What was Manila’s role in this global trading system?
6. According to the video, what were some major demographic events in this era?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. In this course, Era 4 ends in 1500 CE and Era 5 begins in 1200 CE. Era 4 focuses on collapse and restructuring. Era 5 focuses on the creation of large, even global, networks and connections. Why do you think the creators of this course might have decided that there should be a large overlap between the two eras?
2. What does the demographic data presented in this video tell us about the different experiences of different regions in this era? What can it not tell us?

Two hemispheric systems of trade, exchange, and interaction existed in the world before 1492. Each had their own histories. For example, the Afro-Eurasian system had suffered from a terrible plague in the fourteenth century, but then recovered. These systems shared some characteristics, but were quite different. After 1492, they were joined permanently through the Columbian Exchange. This new single, global system had dramatic consequences, including the creation of systems and inequalities that continue to affect our world today.

The Columbian Exchange was a massive transformation, creating the world’s first truly global human network. But it happens in the middle of this era, not the beginning. This article introduces you to Era 5 in terms of two systems. In the first, Afro-Eurasia and the Americas were separate. In the second, they were together. The evidence provided here should prepare you to fit the materials that follow this introduction into this broader structure.

Preview – 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!

Key Ideas – 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 does the author argue that viewing the world divided in two is an ‘oversimplification’?
2. What did networks look like in Afro-Eurasia immediately prior to 1492, according to the article?
3. What did networks look like in the Americas before 1492, according to the author?
4. Why, nevertheless, was 1492 and the development of the Columbian Exchange significant?
5. What claims is the author making about later European innovations ?

Evaluating and Corroborating

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

1. What do the histories of horses, tomatoes, cows, and potatoes demonstrate about the importance of the Columbian Exchange for local societies in different parts of the world?
2. Based on what you’ve learned in this article, and any other knowledge you may have on the subject, what are some ways that your life today has been impacted by the Columbian Exchange?

Era 5 was a period of intensive changes, perhaps the most dramatic of which was the linking of Afro-Eurasia with the Americas. The result was change that can be interpreted through all three frames. Products were exchanged, new systems of production arose, and distribution routes expanded. Some existing communities were conquered or destroyed, and oceanic empires arose. Global networks connected people and transmitted ideas, beliefs, and philosophies.

The purpose of this video is to help you to filter the biggest transformation of this era—the Columbian Exchange—through the three frames of the course. This should guide you to support, extend, or contest the long narratives of human history as viewed through these three frames.

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. Why was the Columbian Exchange the world’s first global system, according to the video?
2. What were some large changes in this period related to the communities frame?
3. What were some large changes in this period related to the production and distribution frame?
4. What were some large changes in this period related to the networks frame?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. How is it useful to view the impact of the Columbian Exchange through three different frames, rather than simply one?

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 unit.

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 Era 5.

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 anytime 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 and become a better reader, a better writer, and a better communicator. This word wall activity will help you begin to learn some of the key vocabulary from the era.

In this activity, you’ll work with your class to create a word wall using the Era 5 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 Vocab Guide and then examine the era itself (click around and quickly skim the content) to see where in the era your word might be most applicable. Then, add as many antonyms to your card for your word as possible. Be careful if you decide to use the “related words” section from the vocab guide – it doesn’t distinguish between synonyms and antonyms. Your teacher will give you a limited amount of time to write antonyms. Then, the people with the most correct antonyms at the end of the time 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!

Each unit of the WHP course is guided by an Era Problem. You’re learning a ton of stuff in this and every other era, and it can be hard to keep track of what’s most important. It would be pretty easy to become obsessed with a detail that, although interesting and a great way to impress people at a party, is relatively unimportant. This activity will help you stay focused! You’ll think about the Era Problems, and then you’ll respond to questions about them in writing. By keeping track of how your thinking changes throughout each era, you’ll see how much you’re learning as you move through each section of the course.

Use the Era 5 Problem Notebook Worksheet to respond to the prompts as best as you can. Be prepared to talk about your ideas with your class.

Open the “Life Expectancy” interactive chart in your internet browser: Life Expectancy: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy

There are many ways to measure a society’s health. One important measure is life expectancy—how long a person can expect to live on average. In Era 5, there were some massive demographic events like the Black Death and the Great Dying. Yet, global life expectancy remained relatively constant at about 30 years for most of human history. Since 1900, however, life expectancy has increased dramatically. People in different regions have experienced this trend unequally. This article introduces you to an interactive chart from Our World in Data that tracks life expectancy at a national level from 1543 to 2015.

After reading multiple charts, you’re ready to dig into some deeper questions related to what charts really show. This is an important skill to learn, because data visualizations are sometimes skewed or biased. To understand if a chart is misleading you, you’ll need to know how to analyze it and how to interpret the data behind it. This not only helps you evaluate whether the data backs up historical claims, but it will also help you generate better claims yourself. This skill is not just important in history, but in everyday life, since we frequently encounter claims in the news and online related to data we are shown.

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 has life expectancy changed in the last 500 years?
2. What periods saw the most dramatic increases in life expectancy? What events might have caused this?
3. What does this chart tell you about inequality between regions and nations?
4. According to the chart, has life expectancy been increasing since 1543? What evidence can you find in the chart to support or challenge this claim?
5. Many of the countries on this chart have no data before 1900. Yet, the chart includes “World” data all the way back to before 1800. Do you think we can trust this data? How do you think the makers of this chart might have made estimates for global life expectancy from incomplete data?

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. Why does this chart matter? What do these changes in life expectancy tell us about world history? Does the quality of the data tell us anything about inequality among different regions?
2. Using this chart, make one prediction about how life expectancy will change in your lifetime. What evidence from the chart supports your prediction? What evidence challenges it?

Access to the Our World in Data website: https://ourworldindata.org/

This activity will help you select the topic of your final presentation. This is a brainstorming activity that will help you identify your interests and where those interests intersect with the available charts on Our World in Data (OWID). Selecting the right topic can be tricky. You need to select a topic that’s meaningful to you and that has world-historical significance. You also need to be sure that there’s enough evidence available on your topic to sustain your final project. This activity gives you a chance to explore the OWID website and gather information about two possible topics of your choice.

In this activity, you’ll be picking your final project topic. Begin by exploring the OWID website to identify two topics that are meaningful to you. Next, you’ll fill out a worksheet in which you reflect on why these topics are important and record the resources available on the OWID site. Finally, you will select one of the two topics as the subject of your final presentation.

The first step in this this activity is to explore the OWID website. Spend about five minutes exploring the OWID website, clicking on links and images you find interesting. Once you’re familiar with the website, find the Articles by Topic menu and hover the cursor over it:

Notice that each topic (for example: Health, Demographic Change, Food and Agriculture) has several subtopics to choose from. For example, the Health topic includes Smallpox, Life Expectancy, and Vaccination among its subtopics. Take another five minutes to explore the topics and subtopics that are most interesting to you.

In addition to selecting a topic that is important to you, your topic also needs to be significant in a world-historical context. This means that the topic deeply affects lots of people over a long period of time. Once you’ve identified two subtopics that are meaningful to you and significant in a world-historical context, take out the Topic Selection worksheet and answer the questions for each of your two chosen subtopics.

Once you have completed the worksheet for both subtopics, review what you’ve written and choose the subtopic that you think is most meaningful and significant. Record your choice on the worksheet. Congratulations! You have a research topic.