AP World History: All Key Concept Questions

This most significant dynasty was the Song Dynasty of China, which used Confucianism, an imperial bureaucracy, 'Mandate of Heaven' and the Civil Service Exam to maintain and justify its rule.

There was decentralized political power, in which warlords (daimyo) controlled land and economy (no Chinese style bureaucracy). Decentralization led to conflicts among noble families - samurai (professional warriors), who protected noble lands and observed Bushido (code of honor for samurai)

Chinese cultural traditions continued (eg. Filial Piety, Confucianism, Heian architecture) and became very popular in Japan and Korea.

Confucianism was a philosophy that provided a structure to society based upon the 'Five Relationships, using a superior/subordinate relationship. One of its features is Filial Piety where older generations are highly respected and venerated by the younger generations.

Buddhism's core beliefs originated in India in opposition to the caste system, stressing reincarnation and inner reflection and included a variety of branches, schools, and practices. (eg. Branches of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan). Buddhism spread into East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Song China was an agrarian society, aided by by peasant labor and drought-resistant Champa Rice (from Vietnam). The Grand Canal allowed for more agricultural production and population growth. Because of this, China became the most urbanized region in the world and was able to produce luxury goods such as porcelain and silk.

The economy of Song China grew significantly as a result of increased production, long distance trade, and innovations in agriculture and manufacturing. (eg - Champa rice, Grand Canal expansion, Steel and iron production, Porcelains production, Gunpowder, block printing)

Dar al-Islam "house of peace" refers to all territory under the rule of Islam. Islam originated on the Arabian peninsula. After Muhammad's death, Islam spread widely, known as the Islamic 'Golden Age' (8th-13th centuries). Though dominated by Islam, Dar al-Islam was largely tolerant religiously, especially towards Judaism and Christianity.

From 750-1258 CE, the Abbasid royal family controlled the region known as Dar al-Islam. They expanded their control through both military conquests and conversion to Islam. The caliphate extended into present day Spain, across north Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and parts of west Asia (present day Afghanistan, but not South Asia)

The Abbasid Caliphate (kingdom) once dominated Dar al-Islam, but fragmented at the beginning of this time and new Islamic states emerged (eg. New Islamic states: Seljuk Empire, Mamluk sultanate of Egypt, Delhi Sultanate).

Islam's influence expanded to many parts of Afro-Eurasia due partially to military expansion, but mainly because of the activities of merchants and missionaries along long-distance trade routes.

Muslim states encouraged significant intellectual innovations. Their religious tolerance allowed for the acceptance of diverse scholarly communities from across Afro-Eurasia, and produced significant advancements in many scientific and cultural fields like mathematics, medicine and literature.

Through long distance trade, missionary work and its central location within Afro-Eurasia, Muslim states became the 'collectors' and 'distributors' of past and current learning. (eg. House of Wisdom, translated works of Greek and Roman philosophy, symbol for zero, algebra, geometry)

In Europe, the cultural reawakening of the Renaissance, focused on 'rediscovery' of Greek and Roman scholarship; in North Africa, the spread of Islam and development of new centers of learning; in South Asia, the development of a new versions of Islam like Sufism; in the Indian Ocean, the spread of maritime navigational technology.

Hinduism and its focus on reincarnation and the resulting strict rigidity of social class in the 'Caste System' was dominant throughout the Indian subcontinent. However, India's diversity would later allow for the emergence of new belief systems like Buddhism, Jainism, etc and eventually the spread of Islam.

Islam expanded into South Asia as a result of the value it placed on equality within the Muslim community and was accepted by those Hindus who were often at the lowest caste level. Various types of syncretic belief systems emerged that combined elements of both Islam and Hinduism. (eg. Sufism, Bhakti Movement).

Increased cross-cultural interactions, largely due to the trade across the Indian Ocean, contributed to the spread of belief systems such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and later Islam into Southeast Asia. Many rulers in this part of the world called themselves rajas "kings", as Indian rulers did. Many also adopted Sanskrit (writing style from India) and constructed Indian-style temples within their walled cities.

In southern South Asia (present day India), the Vijayanagara Empire controlled the political system and maintained and justified their rule based upon adherence to Hinduism. In northern South Asia (present day Indian and Pakistan), the Delhi Sultanate controlled the political system. The Delhi Sultanate government was run by Muslims, but since their population was largely Hindu there was a great deal of religious tolerance.

Government maintained and justified their rule based upon adherence to religion. Early in this timeframe, most states used Hinduism as their justification. Later, Hinduism will be replaced by either Buddhism or Islam. (eg. Hindu/Buddhist/Islam states of South East Asia: Srivijaya Empire, Khmer Empire, Majapahit, Sukhothal kingdom, Sinhala dynasties)

In the Americas, new states expanded their scope and reach using military conquest, state-sponsored religion and centralized economic systems to dominate and incorporate smaller states (eg. New States in the Americas: Mexica (Aztec), Inca, Chaco, Mesa Verde, Cahokia).

The Inca required that conquered people provide labor on state-sponsored building projects (roads, architecture, etc) on an annual basis as part of the 'Mita System'. The Mexica (Aztec) required their subjugated neighbors to provide tribute in the form of monetary payments, labor, and individuals for human sacrifice. Both are examples of centralized economic planning.

In Africa, the spread of Islam combined with long distance trade amongst Afro-Eurasia brought about the rise of new states (eg. Great Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Hausa kingdoms, Mali, Ghana). Additionally, highly developed urban centers will develop in Eastern Africa.

Islam arrived along the East African coast as a result of long distance trade within the Indian Ocean. Muslim merchants brought with them their religion, language, and other ideas. Over time, a syncretic language emerged (Swahili, blending Bantu languages with Arabic). Muslim traders benefited from East African gold, ivory, iron goods, exotic animals, etc.

Europe was dominated by feudalism, a decentralized political system, which is a result of weak national royal monarchies and strong local nobility. Land was a source of power, and was exchanged for loyalty from a higher lord to a lower lord. Like in Japan, local lords collected taxes, mobilized armed forces and settled legal disputes.

European states were divided through the Manorial System. In medieval Europe, manors were self-sufficient communities that maintained bakeries, mills, breweries, and other necessary businesses for a community to function. Under a lord's direction, serfs provided agricultural labor and produced most of the necessary goods. The Lord of the manor established and provided government, police services, and justice for the manor.

Medieval society was usually divided into three classes: clergy (religious leaders), warrior and worker - an example of the rigid political, social and economic inequality that gave way for very little social mobility. Most of the European population existed as serfs - Serfdom was a type of forced labor system, where serfs were tied to land and required to work in agricultural labor. They received housing, food and protection in return for their labor.

Western and northern Europe were dominated by a branch of Christianity called Roman Catholicism which was led by a 'Pope' and headquartered in Rome. In eastern Europe and present day Russia, a different branch of Christianity called 'Eastern Orthodox' dominated and it was headed by a person with the title of 'Patriarch'. Present day Spain and the Balkans (Southeastern Europe) had a large population of Muslims. Judaism is spread throughout Europe, but mostly located in small pockets in urban centers within central and eastern Europe, due to the discrimination of Jews throughout history.

Sometimes called the Silk Routes, the Silk Road was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. It connected East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Europe. It played a central role in promoting economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and West of Afro-Eurasia.

Long distance trade — including the Silk Roads — led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities. (eg. Trading Cities: Kashgar, Samarkand)

The long distance trade along the Silk Road was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial methods (eg. caravanserai, forms of credit such as Bills of exchange, Banking houses, paper money).

Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro- Eurasia. Southeast Asian, Chinese and Indian merchants traded silk and spices west to consumers in central Asia, Iran, Arabia and Europe. Central Asian merchants traded horses and jade eastward.

Long distance trade along the silk road obviously increased the volume of trade and expanded the existing trade routes throughout Afro-Eurasia. More importantly, the increased cross-cultural exchange resulted in the spread of cultural and religious traditions as well as scientific and technological innovations. Additionally, the knowledge of the process to make products like iron, steel, gunpowder and paper spread out of China.

Mongols sack Baghdad. Represents the end of the Islamic Golden Age and the Song Dynasty in China and the height of the Mongol Empire. While extremely destructive in the short term of their conquests, the Mongol era provides context to the long-distance trade routes of Afro-Eurasia and the cross-cultural exchange that was a result of this trade.

Under the leadership of Genghis (Chinggis) Khan, the various Mongol tribes were brought under a single confederation. As nomadic people, the Mongols were highly skilled horseback hunters who used these skills to form a lethal and destructive military. Using ferocious and often horrific methods, the Mongols militarily conquered most of Asia including present day Middle East, Iran, Russia, and almost all of China.

Under Mongol rule, nomadic people recognized the value of secure trade routes and safe passage for merchants, as large imperial states were connected by extensive trading networks. For transactions between states to go smoothly, it was necessary that political and diplomatic ties be strong. The Pax Mongolica, or Mongol Peace, promoted safety and security across trade routes. This diplomacy led to renewed use of the Silk Roads, which reestablished Afro-Eurasian trade and communication. This peace not only allowed for economic growth but also the spread of technological innovations across the empire. (e.g. - Transfer of Greco-Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe, Transfer of numbering systems to Europe)

Following the initial conquest of large portions of Afro-Eurasia by the Mongols under Temujin (Chinggis Khan), the newly formed empire was divided into four political entities or khanates. In the majority of instances, each khanate stayed loyal to its local cultural traditions, helping facilitate cross-cultural contacts across the larger empire. Eventually, Mongol culture disappeared as it was overtaken by the local culture. (e.g. - Adoption of Uyghur script, spread of paper innovations that would lead to Gutenberg printing press)

The growth of long-distance trade in standard consumer goods (not luxury stuff, bulk items) was encouraged by innovations in maritime technologies (e.g. use of the magnetic compass, the astrolabe and larger ship designs).

The expansion of long-distance trade routes often depended on environmental knowledge, including the study of the monsoon winds which merchants considered when planning their maritime voyages.

Due to increased wealth, influence and population, the Indian Ocean trading network caused the growth of states/empires (e.g. city-states of Swahili Coast, Gujarat, Sultanate of Malacca).

In key places along important trade routes, foreign merchants set up diasporic communities where they introduced their own cultural traditions into the indigenous cultures and, in turn, indigenous cultures influenced merchant cultures. (e.g. Arab and Persian communities in East Africa, Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia, Malay communities in the Indian Ocean Basin)

Zheng He was a Chinese admiral who led seven exploratory expeditions (1405-1433) around the Indian Ocean. He traveled to Southeast Asia, India, Persian Gulf, Arabia and east African coast where he established tributary relationships. These voyages created significant technological and cultural transfers between regions, but also demonstrated China's ability to be a military, political and economic power in the Indian Ocean.

Zheng He voyages. Represents the era of heightened connectivity amongst Afro-Eurasia resulting from long-distance trade. While this connectivity will foster cultural syncretism, advanced economies and a diffusion of scientific and technological innovations, it also shows China's political, cultural and economic dominance of Afro-Eurasia. Its costs will also have some bearing on China's choice to become much more isolationist in the coming decades at a time when Europeans are just starting to enter the "Age of Exploration" and "discover" the "New World".

The growth of long distance trade was encouraged by innovations in existing transportation technologies throughout the Trans-Saharan trade routes (e.g. Caravans & Camel Saddles)

Islamic merchants were an important part of the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes, spreading Islam throughout Northern Africa. Gold, slaves, and ivory from the south were often exchanged for clothes, horses, salt and manufactured goods.

As increasing trade led to new wealth in North Africa, states and empires expanded as they facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication. (eg. Mali, Ghana and Songhai empires in West Africa)

Mansa Musa's pilgrimage. Represents an era of wealth and power of new states/empires spreading along new long-distance trade routes. This date also represents the spread of Islam to North Africa along with the associated spread of the importance of learning and knowledge.

Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion and syncretism of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions. (e.g. The influence of Buddhism in East Asia, The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia, The spread of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia)

Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of scientific and technological innovations. (e.g. Gunpowder from China, Paper from China, Algebra from India, Medical advances from West Asia, Revival of Classical Greek & Roman philosophy)

As exchange networks intensified, an increasing number of travelers within Afro-Eurasia wrote about their travels and peaked the interest of domestic populations to products, knowledge and lifestyles from abroad (e.g. - Ibn Battuta, Margery Kempe, Marco Polo)

Ibn Battuta, an Islamic scholar known for his extensive travels, whose accounts of which were published. Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands. His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. His written works was an important document that shed light on many aspects of the social, cultural, and political history of a great part of the Muslim world and beyond.

There was continued diffusion of crops and pathogens, with epidemic diseases, including the bubonic plague, along trade routes. (e.g. Bananas in Africa, new rice varieties in East Asia, spread of citrus in the Mediterranean)

Bubonic Plague across Afro-Eurasia. Represents the beginning of the era of heightened connectivity amongst Afro-Eurasia. While this connectivity will foster cultural syncretism, advanced economies and a diffusion of scientific and technological innovations, it will also bring a biological exchange including that of disease (epidemic and pandemic).

Expansion was fueled by the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade (military conquest) to establish large empires.

With the fall of the Mongol Khanate on the Arabian peninsula in the mid 1300s, the Ottoman royal family led the turkic nomads (Sunni Muslims) of Central Asia to dominate much of the Muslim world. Ottoman military success and expansion came from their command of gunpowder. By the mid 1500s, led by Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman empire was the largest and most powerful land empire in Europe and the Middle East. The empire quickly expanded their control to the Balkans and North Africa. Often tension with the Safavid to their east would lead to conflict.

Ottomans seized Constantinople. Represents the beginning of the era of Land-Based empires using gunpowder and other methods to expand and maintain control of their empires. Here, the Muslim Ottomans, push into the Christian European continent demonstrating the supremacy of Muslim technology. With the competition, the Ottomans cutoff European access to goods from the various long-distance trade routes causing Europeans to look for access to these trade routes elsewhere.

This Islamic (Sunni) empire was established in India after the fall of the Delhi Sultanate in 1526 by Babar, mainly due to their command of gunpowder. During the empire’s peak, Akbar the Great unified much of the Indian subcontinent, promoting religious tolerance in an attempt to rule the Hindu majority of the subcontinent without dissent (eliminated jizya or "head tax" imposed on non-Muslims). Islamic art and architecture flourished under the Mughals, as evidenced by the building of the Taj Mahal.

After breaking free of Mongol control in the late 1400s, princes from Moscow began to take control of much of Russia, eliminating the authority of local princes. Ivan The Terrible, grand prince of Moscow, encouraged Russian peasants to settle in lands he had conquered. Ivan centralized his authority, claimed divine rights to rule, and named himself czar, and established Moscow as the capital of the new Russian empire. By the 1600s, Russia began to colonize and expand eastward into the region of Siberia.

Following a war against the Ottoman Turks in 1514, the Safavid family consolidated their control over modern-day Iran and ruled until 1736. They established the Shi'a sect of Islam as the official relgion of the empire. Under Shah Abbas the Great, the army was modernized and long-distance trade flourished. Like other absolute rulers, Abbas sought to strengthen his power and expand central authority at the expense of the nobility. Constant conflict with the Ottomans, coupled with the threat of an increasingly stronger Russian Empire to the north and the Mughal Empire to the south led to ongoing conflict.

Manchus from the north (not ethnically Chinese) invaded China and claimed the "Mandate of Heaven" in 1644 and ruled until 1911. The majority Chinese population saw the Manchu as a "foreign" dynasty. The Qing, following the political example of the Ming, ruled through a highly centralized system of Confucian scholar-bureaucrats. The Qing were great patrons of the arts and were responsible for expanding the empire.

Recruitment and use of bureaucratic elites, as well as the development of military professionals, became popular among rulers who wanted centralized control over their populations and resources. (e.g. Ottoman devshirme, Salaried Samurai)

Rulers continued to use religious ideas, art, and monumental architecture to legitimize their rule. (e.g. Religious ideas: Mexica practice of human sacrifice, European notion of divine rights of monarch,) (e.g. Art & Monumental Architecture: Qing imperial portraits, Incan Sun Temple of Cuzco, Mughal Taj Mahal, European palaces, such as Versailles)

Rulers used tribute collection, tax farming, and innovative tax-collection systems to generate revenue in order to forward state power and expansion (e.g. Tax-collection systems: Mughal zamindar tax collection, Ottoman tax farming, Mexica tribute lists, Ming practice of collecting taxes in hard currency)

A "rebirth" of Greco-Roman culture (arts and intellectual pursuits) in Europe that lasted from the 1300s through the 1500s. It reflected the spirit of individualism though the growth of humanism and encouraged a split from religious-based thinking and a focus on things of this world (secularism). This "rebirth" was largely possible due to the interconnectivity of the world created by the focus of Dar al-Islam on collecting and expanding upon the world's knowledge and the Pax Mongolica. This will become the seed that will cause Europeans to question the preexisting order of the feudal world they existed in.

In 1517, Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses, a list of arguments directed against the Roman Catholic Church's corruption, specifically selling indulgences. The Reformation spread across northern Europe creating a schism within the Catholic church. A new branch of Christianity, Protestantism, developed and spread as a result. In response, the Counter-Reformation led to reforms within the Catholic church. Both reform movements led to the spread of Christianity. Often political leaders used this religious conflict to further and centralize their authority.

Thirty Years War (Ottoman Safavid War 1623-1639). While this represents an ongoing wars of land-based empires, more importantly it represents conflict between schisms in Christianity and Islam. The Thirty Years War was a long lasting conflict between Catholics and Protestants while the Ottoman-Safavid War was a struggle between Sunni and Shi'a. However, both religious conflicts mask a political struggle with European monarchs struggling to take influence away from Catholic Church and the Ottoman and Safavid royal families battling each other.

Sikhism developed in South Asia in a context of interactions between Hinduism and Islam. Religions and religious teachers do not exist in a vacuum: India, at this time, was ruled by Mughal emperors who were Muslim and society was a mix of Muslims and Hindus.

Knowledge, scientific learning, and technology from the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds spread, facilitating European technological developments and innovation.

The developments included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs, and an improved understanding of regional wind and current patterns--all of which made transoceanic travel and trade possible. (e.g. Innovations in ship design: Caravel, Currack, Fluyt, Dhows e.g. Navigational technologies: Lateen Sail, Magnetic Compass, Astronomical charts, Sternpost Rudder)

Portugal's government funded a development of navigational technology in order to establish a trading-post empire. Portugal established trade-posts (small port cities on the coast... not colonization) along both the western and eastern shore of Africa and India in order to access the trade goods of the Indian Ocean Trade Network. This was a reaction to the denial of access by the Ottoman Empire to trade goods imported via land routes.

Following the reconquista (retaking of Islamic Spain by Christian monarchs) the Spanish crown sponsored the voyages of Columbus and subsequent voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific, eventually establishing colonies in the Americas. These state sponsored voyages dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic travel and trade.

Columbus sailed the "Ocean Blue". Represents the beginning of the era of Maritime empires (think European states) looking to the ocean to establish new trade routes to access the traditional long-distance trade routes. This begins the slow rise of European political, economic and military power across the globe.

Northern Atlantic crossings were undertaken under English and French sponsorship, often with the goal of finding alternative sailing routes to Asia. The English and French eventually established colonies in North America and the Caribbean islands. The French focused their activities on the fur trade in what would become Canada while the English established settlement colonies along the east coast of what would later become the United States.

The new connections between the Eastern and Western hemispheres resulted in the exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases, known as the Columbian Exchange

American foods became staple crops in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Diets, life expectancy and standard of living improved in various parts of Afro-Eurasia. (e.g. Corn, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Rubber Tree, Yams)

Afro-Eurasian fruit trees, grains, sugar, and domesticated animals were brought by Europeans to the Americas, while other foods were brought by African slaves. (e.g. - Domesticated Animals: Horses, Pigs, Cattle) (e.g. - Foods brought by African slaves: Okra, Rice)

In the early stages of the Columbian exchange, migration occurred on two fronts. Europeans migrated to the Americas in search of new opportunities. Cash crops, like sugar, were grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor in the form of African slaves. Very few people migrated from the Americas to Afro-Eurasia.

European colonization of the Americas led to the unintentional transfer of disease spreaders, including mosquitoes and rats, and the spread of diseases that were endemic in the Eastern Hemisphere, including smallpox, measles, and malaria. Some of these diseases substantially reduced the indigenous populations, with catastrophic effects in many areas.

Often using lethal and horrific methods, Spanish 'conquistadors' will wage direct and indirect war against indigenous populations. Once defeated, indigenous populations left alive would be forced into various coerced labor systems in an attempt to extract resources from the land. (e.g. Examples of Conquistadors: Hernán Cortés, Fransisco Pizzaro)

Fall of Incan Empire to Pizzaro. Represents the era when Maritime Empires begin to dominate regions around the world. Here, Spain takes control of the one of the most powerful and advanced civilizations of the Americas and begins the genocide of an entire people. Consequently, Spain will take control of one of the largest silver deposits in the world. Within a decade or so East Asian states will begin to isolate themselves from interactions with Maritime Empires.

Newly developed colonial economies in the Americas largely depended on agriculture, using existing forced labor systems or developing new ones, which were used in either cash crop cultivation or the extraction of natural resources (particularly silver). (e.g. Examples of labor systems: the Incan mit'a system now run by the Spanish, and new labor systems including chattel slavery, indentured servitude, and encomienda and hacienda systems.)

The expansion of maritime trading networks fostered the growth of states in Africa, including the Asante and the Kingdom of the Kongo, whose participation in trading networks led to an increase in their influence.

Following the Portuguese arrival in Japan in 1543, European powers began to attempt to establish commercial relationships in East Asia. This was later followed by the arrival of Christian missionaries who sought to convert the indigenous people of East Asia. Fearing foreign cultural influence, Japan developed a policy of isolationism beginning in the 1600s. Similarly, the Ming Dynasty in China established economic policies that regulated interaction with outsiders. The Ming also established a tax policy that allowed for payment in silver only, fueling China's demand for silver and a frenzied drive to supply it by European maritime powers.

Despite some disruption and restructuring due to the arrival of Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch merchants, existing trade networks in the Indian Ocean continued to flourish and included intra-Asian trade and Asian merchants. (e.g. - Indian Ocean Asian merchants: Swahili Arabs, Omanis, Gujaratis, Javanese)

With the forced migration of millions of Africans to the New World, African culture spread throughout the Americas, contributing to cultural synthesis. Various languages spoken by Africans were combined with European languages to create new languages or dialects. African traditions blended with those in the Americas, such as in the areas of storytelling and music. New syncretic religious beliefs also emerged such as Vodoun and Obeah.

Mercantilism was an economic system that attempted to develop a positive balance of trade while identifying the world economic model as a zero sum game (there was a finite amount of money in the world). Mercantilist policies and practices were used by European rulers to expand and control their economies and claim overseas territories. Taxes on imports (tariffs), joint-stock companies, influenced by these mercantilist principles, were used by rulers and merchants to finance exploration and to compete against one another in global trade.

British and Dutch East India Companies founded. Represents the era when European maritime powers began to dominate the world economy. Europeans were past the effort to simply access the major global trade routes. They have developed their own economic system (mercantilism) and economic innovations (joint stock companies) that demonstrate that they are the dominant force in global trade. These two companies, separate from their own countries' governments, will have larger private militaries and wealth than most other countries in the world.

The fourth great long-distance trade route is established that connects the Americas to the Afro-Eurasian economies. The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of goods, precious metals, and labor, including enslaved people. This is often known as the Triangular Trade. Since this a three sided trade route, the route between Africa and the Americas often transported kidnapped Africans intended to be used as slave on plantations. This portion of the trading system is called the Middle Passage.

The kidnapping and export of so many millions, particularly men, impacted family life, and in many of the areas from which people were stolen, there tended to be majority female populations. The European use of chattel slavery also led to an increase in intertribal warfare, and over time, the dissolution of once powerful kingdoms, especially those located along the coast. However, despite the export of so many Africans, the population did not decrease on the continent, as the introduction of new food crops from the Americas helped stabilize the population.

The new global circulation of goods was facilitated by chartered European monopoly companies and the global flow of silver, especially from Spanish colonies in the Americas, which was used to purchase Asian goods for the Atlantic markets and satisfy Chinese demand for silver. Regional markets continued to flourish in Afro-Eurasia by using established commercial practices and new transoceanic and regional shipping services developed by European merchants.

The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of labor--including enslaved people--and the mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples, with all parties contributing to this cultural synthesis. In some cases, the increase and intensification of interactions between newly connected hemispheres expanded the reach and furthered the development of existing religions, and contributed to religious conflicts and the development of syncretic belief systems and practices. (e.g. - Vodoun, Obeah, Dia de Los Muertos)

Peasant and artisan labor continued and intensified in many regions as the demand for food and consumer goods increased. (e.g. - Increased peasant and artisan labor: Western Europe--wool and linen, India--cotton, China--silk)

State expansion and centralization led to resistance from an array of social, political, and economic groups on a local level. (e.g. Local Resistance: Pueblo Revolts, Fronde, Cossack revolts, Maratha Conflict with Mughals, Ana Nzinga's resistance (as ruler of Ndongo and Matamba), Metacom's War (King Philip's War)

Slave resistance challenged existing authorities in the Americas. (e.g. - Slave Resistance: The establishment of Maroon societies in the Caribbean and Brazil, North American slave resistance)

Many states, such as the Mughal and Ottoman empires, adopted practices to accommodate the ethnic and religious diversity of their subjects or to utilize economic, political, and military contributions of different ethnic or religious groups. In other cases, states suppressed diversity or limited certain groups' roles in society, politics, or the economy. (e.g. - Expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal the acceptance of Jews in the Ottoman Empire, Restrictive policies against Han Chinese in Qing China, Varying status of different classes of women within the Ottoman Empire)

Imperial conquests and widening global economic opportunities contributed to the formation of new political and economic elites, including in China with the transition to the Qing Dynasty and in the Americas with the rise of the Casta system, and burgeoning middle class in Europe.

The power of existing political and economic elites fluctuated as the elites confronted new challenges to their ability to affect the policies of the increasingly powerful monarchs and leaders. (e.g. - Existing Elites: Ottoman timars, Russian boyars, European nobility)

It is a major change in European thought, starting in the mid-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs.

Newton published his 'Universal Law of Gravitation'. Represents the end of the era known as the Scientific Revolution. For over a century prior, various scientists focusing mostly on the field of astronomy had provided the foundation to Newton's laws of gravity. Some of these scientists are Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe, Galileo and Bacon. These laws of gravity will provide a structured, logical explanation of the natural world which will work to inspire the later Enlightenment.

In the mid 1700s, as science began to predict and explain phenomena, it led to development of social sciences. It celebrated the power of human reason, argued that rational thought could create progress and knowledge and control over one's own life and society.

Baron de Montesquieu writes "The Spirit of the Laws". Represents the height of the Enlightenment as writers and philosophers sought progress in human society using logic and reason. Here, Montesquieu was in favor of a constitutional system of government and the separation of powers, the ending of slavery, and the preservation of civil liberties and the law.