Analyze the social and economic
continuities and transformations
that occurred in the Atlantic world
as a result of new contacts among
Western Europe, Africa, and the
Americas from 1492-1750.
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Americas were isolated from the rest of the
world and all the Afro-Eurasian advances
Asia was the powerhouse of the world and
dominated trade (especially Arabs and
Indians – China had recently withdrawn from
trade)
European interest in spice trade led to
overseas exploration

What is staying the same during this time
period?
 Patriarchies (male dominated societies) –
European values imposed on Americas
 Spread of religions is constant (Christianity)
 Importance of corn, beans, squash in providing
food in Americas

Social classes in Americas based on race
 Peninsulares, creoles, mestizos/mulattoes, Native
Americans and Africans

Slave trade
 Led to decreased population in Africa
 Weakened remaining African civilizations and hurt
the potential rise of new ones
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Spread of disease (smallpox)
 Decimated Native American populations
 Encomienda system further decreased populations

Christianity blends with traditional Native
American and African beliefs
 Voudou in Haiti
 Santeria in Cuba
 Gods replaced by saints, but some old traditions
remain (e.g. bloodletting)
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Mercantilism
 Europeans grow wealthy at the expense of
colonies/Native Americans and Africans
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Columbian Exchange
 Spread of plants, animals, ideas between Europe,
Africa and Americas
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Triangular trade
 Facilitated mercantilism and Columbian Exchange
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Global economy
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What is going on during this time period that
is allowing these changes and continuities to
take place?
 Rise of and competition among nation-states in
Europe (eventual rise of absolute monarchs)
 Protestant Reformation and rise of Ottoman
Empire led to expansion of Catholicism in
Americas
 Advanced weapons of Europeans (guns, germs,
and steel) allowed colonization (a result of
geography)
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As Europeans came to economically
dominate trans-Atlantic trade, their influence
over the social customs of Native Americans
and Africans also expanded.
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While Europeans benefitted from the
expansion of economic activities into the
Americas, this era of trade and conquest
brought about social changes to the
populations and customs of Native
Americans and Africans.
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As Europeans came to economically
dominate trans-Atlantic trade, their influence
over the social customs of Native Americans
and Africans also expanded.
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Over the course of this time period,
Europeans exerted increasing economic
dominance over the Americas and Africa,
which led to many social changes within the
Atlantic world.
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Make sure that you are not only stating what
the changes and continuities are, but also
WHY they happened.