Chapter 24 The Americas

Key Concept 4.1. Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange

KC-4.3.II - Imperial expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres.

KC-4.1 - The interconnection of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres made possible by transoceanic voyaging, transformed trade and had a significant social impact on the world.

KC-4.1.IV - 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.

KC-4.3 - Empires achieved increased scope and influence around the world, shaping and being shaped by the diverse populations they incorporated.

KC-4.3.III.iii - State expansion and centralization led to resistance from an array of social, political, and economic groups on a local level.

KC-4.1.III - New state-supported transoceanic maritime exploration occurred in this period.

KC-4.1.III.B - Spanish sponsorship of the voyages of Columbus and subsequent voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic travel and trade.

KC-4.1.III.C - Northern Atlantic crossings were undertaken under English, French, and Dutch sponsorship, often with the goal of finding alternative sailing routes to Asia.

KC-4.1.V - The new connections between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres resulted in the exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases, known as the Columbian Exchange.

KC-4.1.V.A - European colonization of the Americas led to the unintentional transfer of disease vectors, 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.

KC-4.3.II.C - Driven largely by political, religious, and economic rivalries, European states established new maritime empires, including the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and British.

KC-4.2.II.C - The growth of the plantation economy increased the demand for enslaved labor in the Americas, leading to significant demographic, social, and cultural changes.

KC-4.2.II.D - Newly developed colonial economies in the Americas largely depended on agriculture, utilized existing labor systems, including the Incan mit’a, and introduced new labor systems including chattel slavery, indentured servitude, and encomienda and hacienda systems.

KC-4.1.VI - In some cases, the increase and intensification of interactions between newly connected hemispheres expanded the reach and furthered development of existing religions, and contributed to religious conflicts and the development of syncretic belief systems and practices.

KC-5.3.III.C - Enslaved persons challenged existing authorities in the Americas through organized resistance.

KC-4.2 - Although the world’s productive systems continued to be heavily centered on agriculture, major changes occurred in agricultural labor, the systems and locations of manufacturing, gender and social structures, and environmental processes.

KC-4.2.II.A - Peasant and artisan labor continued and intensified in many regions as the demand for food and consumer goods increased.

KC-4.1.IV.D.ii - The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of labor—including slaves—and the mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples, with all parties contributing to this cultural synthesis.

KC-4.2.III.A - 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.

24.1 - Worlds Collide

INTRODUCTION

24.2 - Colonial Society in the Americas

Social Structure (CASTA SYSTEM)