AP World History AMSCO Guided Notes
4.5: Maritime Empires Develop
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP World History Guided Notes
AMSCO 4.5 - Maritime Empires Develop
Essential Questions
- What economic strategies did maritime empires use to increase their power, and how did the developing empires affect political, economic, religious, and cultural dynamics?
I. Economic Strategies
1. How did European countries measure wealth in the 17th century and what economic strategies did they use to accumulate it?
2. How did the availability of gold and silver from the Western Hemisphere affect capital accumulation in Western Europe?
II. Commercial Revolution
1. What is the Commercial Revolution and what four key factors resulted in its development?
2. What is the Price Revolution and how did it relate to population growth and increased precious metals in circulation?
3. How did joint-stock companies function and why did the principle of limited liability make them attractive to investors?
4. How did the Dutch, English, and French use joint-stock companies differently than Spain and Portugal in developing maritime empires?
III. Commerce and Finance
1. What advantages did the Dutch have in European trade during the 17th century and how did they use joint-stock companies to increase profits?
2. How did Dutch innovations in finance, such as the stock exchange and the Bank of Amsterdam, support their commercial dominance?
3. What were financial bubbles and how did they affect France and England in the early 18th century?
IV. Triangular Trade
1. What was the triangular trade and what goods were exchanged in each segment of the voyage?
2. Why did sugar become the most profitable good from the Americas and how did it affect European economies by the 1700s?
V. Rivalries for the Indian Ocean Trade
1. How did the Portuguese establish control over Indian Ocean trade routes and what challenges did they face in maintaining this dominance?
2. How did Moroccan forces use firearms to defeat the Songhai Empire in 1590 and what were the consequences for the region?
VI. Change and Continuities in Trade Networks
A. New Monopolies
1. What were monopolies and how did European rulers use them to control trade and generate revenue?
2. How did Spain's tobacco monopoly in its American colonies contribute to the Spanish government's wealth?
B. Ongoing Regional Markets
1. How did traditional regional markets in Afro-Eurasia continue to function despite the rise of global trade networks?
2. What goods from different regions were exchanged in port cities with global connections?
VII. Effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade
1. How did the Atlantic slave trade weaken West African kingdoms such as Kongo and slow their development?
2. How did access to European firearms change the dynamics of warfare and power among African societies engaged in slave raiding?
A. Slavery and Gender
1. How did the gender imbalance caused by the slave trade affect social structures and gender roles in West African societies?
B. Impact of New Foods
1. What American crops introduced through the Columbian Exchange became staples in the African diet and how did they affect population growth?
VIII. Political and Cultural Changes for Indigenous Peoples
1. How did European maritime empires differ from earlier land-based empires in their treatment of conquered peoples' cultures and traditions?
A. Political Changes: Colonial Administration
1. How did Spain establish colonial administration in the Americas through viceroys and audiencias?
2. How did distance and slow communication between Europe and the Americas affect Spanish control over colonial affairs?
B. Cultural Changes
1. What cultural losses did indigenous peoples experience when conquistadors destroyed native books and records?
2. How has the destruction of Aztec documents affected historians' understanding of pre-conquest Aztec civilization?
3. How did Spanish and Portuguese languages and religion become dominant in Latin America and Brazil?
4. Who were creoles and what political role did they begin to assume by 1750 in New Spain?
IX. Effects of Belief Systems
1. How did increased global connections between hemispheres affect the spread and development of religious beliefs?
A. Syncretic Belief Systems in the Americas
1. What is religious syncretism and how did enslaved Africans blend Christianity with their West African religious traditions?
2. What are examples of syncretic religions that developed in the Americas and what African and Christian elements did they combine?
3. How did enslaved Africans in the United States create the African American church and what role has it played in their communities?
B. Islam
1. What was the significance of enslaved Muslims in establishing Islam's presence in the Americas?
C. Religion in Latin America
1. How successful were Catholic missionaries in converting indigenous peoples to Christianity in Latin America?
2. What examples of religious syncretism developed in Spanish colonies and how did indigenous and Catholic traditions blend?
D. Global Interactions and Religious Conflicts
1. How did syncretic religions such as Sufism and Sikhism develop through global interactions in Afro-Eurasia?
2. How did religious conflicts between different branches of Islam and Christianity influence political developments and settlement patterns?
Key Terms
capital
Commercial Revolution
Price Revolution
joint-stock companies
limited liability
East India Company
Dutch East India Company
triangular trade
monopolies
syncretism
polygyny
creoles
Santería
Vodun
Candomblé
Virgin of Guadalupe
viceroys
audiencias
Dahomey
Oyo