State the documentary's thesis in a clear sentence
	Explain the connection between the growth of world commerce and the rise of powerful states in western Europe.
	Describe and explain the succession of powerful and expanding European empires from the 15th through the 18th centuries.
	Choose from three to five events most significant for the documentary's thesis and explain your choices.

Magellan's Voyage, the first to circumnavigate the world.

Other civilizations had the skill, ships and experience to push outward

	China
	Arabs

Why did the West take this step?

Riches of Asia

Asian Empires  Ching China  Mogul India Tokugaya Japan

The Mediterranean as entry to Asian riches Venice as an example of trading power.

Great Merchant families, like the Fuggers of Germany

Spices and the development of the first world market

Slaves as a pre-modern commodity - Slavs/Slaves

Shift from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks (1453) & Disruption of Trade Routes

The Atlantic Revolution and the Transatlantic Economy Combination of Crown and Commerce (Kings and Merchants) propels the Atlantic Revolution Portugal Leads the Way in the 15th Century Henry the Navigator Africa provided staging posts to India and the Far East Slaves, ivory, pepper enrich crown and merchants Slave Trade at the Core of the Atlantic economic revolution Portugal dominant in this trade for a century.

	In one generation, by 1535, the Spanish conquest was complete.
	Spanish large scale sheep and cattle ranching disrupted local cultures.
	Natives were enslaved to meet labor needs.
	Demographic Effect of Spanish Conquest 1500 New Spain had about 25 million Native Americans 1532 - 17 million 1548 - 6 million 1579 - 2 million

American bullion [gold & silver] stimulates world trade European monarchies depended on American bullion as collateral for loans from great merchants. Trade with Asia was financed by American silver. China prized silver highly.

Westernization in Spanish America involved converting Native Americans to Christianity importing African slaves

Spain's Golden Age: 16th to mid 17th Century

Spain's position weakened, marked by Population decline Inflation Wars in the Netherlands

By 1680s the government prohibited foreign books and "Spain became a backwater."

Dutch Rise in the 17th century illustrates useful characteristics for success in the early modern world Toleration for Religious Diversity Reformation led to 80 years war with the Spanish Rulers [Hapsburg Dynasty], leaders of the Catholic campaign against Protestantism Peace of Munster in 1648 followed by relative religious toleration in Holland

Dutch had good resources, were well fed, practical and well organized.

"The Modern World was invented by the Dutch." Entrepreneurial Culture By 1630 the Dutch had replaced Portugal as chief slavers in Africa Excelled at trading and finance Government protected commerce Pioneered international law and finance. In 1604 the Bank of Holland became the first national bank.

	By the 1660s the English began to push past the Dutch as a leading power. England had more resources than the Dutch London merchants and the powerful nobility combined to compete with the Dutch with advances in navigation, commerce and ship building.
	English merchants pioneered the Atlantic economy, amassing great wealth and power.
	Bristol became a base for the lucrative Slave Trade Huge profits from slave trade provided capital for economic expansion that was to be the foundation for the Industrial Revolution By 1780 the horrors of the slave trade were arousing opposition
	The Fall of Quebec to the British in 1759 made England the top Atlantic power in the 1760s.

WEB SOURCES
Exhibit on Columbus, A Library of Congress Tour.
Discoverers' Web, Materials on exploration throughout the ages by Andre Engels, The Netherlands.