Capitalism
For five hundred years, the emergence and development of capitalism has reshaped our entire planet. Capitalism, industrialization, and imperialism often worked hand-in-hand to maximize power and profit. Map out the conditions that created capitalism to show how it became the dominant political and economic system of modern times and how some have attempted to reform and resist it.
Featured Materials
The Emergence of Industrial Capitalism
Article
The Emergence of Industrial Capitalism
The Industrial Revolution, like pretty much everything else in the long nineteenth century, was closely tied to the rise of a new economic system: capitalism.
Economic Systems Simulation
Activity
Economic Systems Simulation
In this game-based activity, you’ll see how capitalism and socialism approach opportunity and reward—and what it feels like to live within each system.
Capitalism and the Dutch East India Company: Crash Course World History #229
Video
Capitalism and the Dutch East India Company: Crash Course World History #229
For a time, the Dutch East India company dominated the spice trade in southeast Asia, using some clever financial innovations. But was this capitalism or something else?
Lessons
Lesson 3.9
The Business of Empire
Oceanic empires and capitalism emerged together, and they each supported the other. Learn how the emergence of the first global economy depended on and reinforced the rule of European empires.
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Lesson 4.2
Capitalism and Socialism
Capitalism created new wealth and new struggles. Competing economic ideas offered different answers to the question of who should benefit from labor, and why it matters.
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Materials
The Global Economy
Article
The Global Economy
The global economy made it possible for people to have everything from headphones to houses. Explore how it got so complex, and what the future might hold.
Source Collection: Economic Imperialism and State Expansion
Article
Source Collection: Economic Imperialism and State Expansion
How did industrialization help empires expand both territorially and economically? Use the sources in this collection to formulate an answer to this question.
Assembly Line Simulation
Activity
Assembly Line Simulation
Experience what it was like to work in an early factory. How did this experience change, depending on your job and social class?
Capitalism and Slavery
Article
Capitalism and Slavery
Slaving and slavery existed alongside capitalism. But were they rival economic systems? Or did they support each other?
Overview of New Economic Systems
Article
Overview of New Economic Systems
Europeans combined and built on Afro-Eurasian ideas about credit, interest, and banking to help organize big trading voyages. This led to the emergence of capitalism.