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The First Global Age

Driving Question: How did the first ongoing connections among the hemispheres promote change both globally and regionally?

Before the late fifteenth century, complex societies with thriving exchange networks existed in most regions of the world. But the regions with the largest trade networks—Afro-Eurasia and the Americas—weren’t connected. All this changed when Europeans stumbled upon the Americas in 1492. Soon, these regions would create the first global network—the Columbian Exchange—with new crops, animals, and people traveling across the Atlantic Ocean. But this exchange would also have long-lasting negative impacts as diseases spread to the Americas killing millions of Indigenous Americans and as Europeans began transporting enslaved people from Africa.

  1. Understand how historians create narratives to explain how human communities entered a global age during this historical era.
  2. Use close-reading skills to evaluate and analyze the historical narrative of the formation of a new global age.
STEP 2

The First Global Age (1200 to 1750 CE): Unit 6 Overview

As global interconnections increased during the Columbian Exchange, people blended traditional teachings with new ideas to transform the world.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 3
STEP 4

Frames in Unit 6

The connection of Afro-Eurasia with the Americas established the first truly global network, creating waves of change all over the world, but with uneven results.

Key Ideas

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