Changing Social Hierarchies from 1450 to 1750 CE
Driving Question: In what ways have social roles and traditions persisted or transformed over time?
The new age of global exchange networks not only had a massive impact on the global economy and environment, it also dramatically altered social interactions and organizations in states all around the world. Migration, whether voluntary or involuntary, also contributed to changing the composition of populations in various regions, which further strained the organization of different states. In this lesson, you will learn how states reacted to these changes in a variety of different ways.
Learning Objectives
- Explain how social categories, roles, and practices have been maintained or changed over time.
- Assess how transatlantic migration patterns changed from c. 1450 to 1750.
- Analyze primary source documents to assess changes and continuities in labor and social hierarchy from c. 1450 to 1750.
- Evaluate the changes and continuities to economic and labor systems as new transoceanic empires expanded.
Opener: Changing Social Hierarchies
From rigid hierarchies to royal perks, explore how empires shaped who got ahead, who stayed below, and who pushed back against the status quo.
Source Collection: Labor and Social Hierarchy c. 1450–1750 CE
Primary source documents can give us insight into what really happened in history. In this exercise, you will use such documents to examine the changes in labor and social hierarchies from 1450-1750. As always, use the Quick-Sourcing Tool to help you.
Transatlantic Migration Patterns
The first movements of large groups of people across the Atlantic Ocean had numerous causes. Whatever the causes, migration from Africa and Eurasia to the New World increased significantly beginning in the late fifteenth century.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What three key events shaped transatlantic migration patterns in this period?
- What were the main reasons Europeans voluntarily migrated to the Americas in this era?
- How did the forced labor of African and Indigenous people in the Americas affect the lives of working-class Europeans?
- How did the abolition of the slave trade change transatlantic migration patterns yet again?
After you read
Respond to the following questions:
- To what extent does this article provide evidence to explain the continuities and changes in economic systems and labor systems?
- How did the shape of communities change in the Americas due to the circulation of both voluntary and involuntary migrants? Which groups were easily able to shape their new communities, and which groups appear to have had more difficulty? How might these different experiences affect societies in the Americas, still, today?
Tracking Changes and Continuities
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or do they? Let’s find out by evaluating changes and continuities from Unit 3 to Unit 4!
Closer: Changing Social Hierarchies
You have made predictions about what you might encounter in these units, as well as categorized information by themes. It’s time to see if your predictions were right using the Themes Notebook.
