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Age of Exploration

Driving Question: How were European oceanic empires different from land-based empires?

Although Europeans had traveled by sea to the Americas centuries before this time, during this period their reach expanded into maritime empires. In this lesson, we will explore the beginnings of the European empires that cemented transoceanic connections.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Examine the characteristics of early modern oceanic empires to determine how they differed from earlier forms of empire.
  2. Use a graphic biography to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this time period.
STEP 1

Opener: Age of Exploration

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be ready to respond to the prompt, Develop an argument that evaluates the extent to which European oceanic empires differed from land-based empires in the period 1450–1750. First, let’s figure out what that prompt even means.

STEP 2

Crossing the Atlantic

Teaching Tools

Check out our Reading Guide to learn about the Three-Step Reading approach.

Want to delve further into using maps in your classroom? Read this blog post External link to learn more.

In the fifteenth century, explorers from Europe set out across the oceans. Their voyages and conquests made some Europeans very rich and some rulers very powerful. But as you’ll see in the article and graphic bio below, not everyone shared equally.

STEP 3

Routes to the East

Teaching Tools

Could your students use more support for reading graphic biographies? Check out this tool!

European navigators also traveled to the Indian Ocean in search of new trade opportunities. In this article and graphic bio, you’ll read about their interactions with powerful states and a flourishing network of trade.

STEP 4

Oceanic Empires

Teaching Tools

As you work through course activities, make sure they’re accessible to all students. Read our OER Project Differentiation Guide to learn more Locked .

European sea travel transformed trade and imperial expansion—but it also produced enormous social change and upheaval. Use this article and activity to evaluate whether there was anything new about this type of empire.

STEP 5

Closer: Age of Exploration

Teaching Tools

Teaching students to parse prompts is just one part of helping students become strong historical writers. Read this blog post External link to learn more.

Extension Materials
Checkmark Alert Banner
The two videos below and their associated activity will help you rethink the characteristics of both sea-based and land-based empires during this period.
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The Omani and Comanche Empires

This lesson focused on how oceanic empires were different from their land-based counterparts. But it’s time to challenge that idea with two very nontypical empires: the Omani and Comanche.

The Omani Empire External link

The Omani Empire didn’t look like the large, land-based empires of Asia, but it also didn’t look like the maritime empires of Europe. Was it an empire at all?

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.

Comanche Empire External link

The Comanche Empire was formed by nomadic pastoralists indigenous to North America. They connected large territories into a thriving trade network—but was it really an empire?

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.