The Ultimate Guide to World History

SND Handout I was surprised to learn that Francoise, one of the founders of the Sisters of Notre Dame, came from an affluent background. However, growing up in the estate where her family’s peasants lived gave her an understanding of the sharp difference between the rich and poor during her time. She was part of the Ursuline school where she developed the desire to help others. What I thought was pretty interesting was that after finishing school, she returned to the luxurious life that her family had to offer. In the end, she didn't want to follow in her family’s footsteps by getting married and living a comfortable life. She chose to be a virgin but she also wasn't attracted to the life of a nun. On the other hand, Julie, the other founder of the Sisters, came from a poor family. Her father did make enough for her to go to school. I admire how she taught the poor children in her area what she learned in school. Unfortunately, her father’s store was robbed so Julie had to wor...

Chapter 15: Cultural Transformations As Europe expanded its empire and trade network, Christianity spread to areas in China, Japan and India. European thinkers were also going through the Scientific Revolution as they got a better understanding of how the world works. The Globalization of Christianity Tensions arose within the Roman Catholic Church when Martin Luther exposed the corruption of the church in the Ninety five Theses. Many common people took up Protestantism to go against the Catholic Church. Women had less opportunities in Protestant churches as males served greater roles. As Protestantism spread throughout Europe, Protestant churches broke off into many different fractions. This led to the conflict known as the Thirty Years’ War which resulted in the reorganization of territories. This conflict forced the Catholic Church to go through its own reformation by taking down the corruption in the church. Puritans in North America sought to push natives out of the way as they...

Chapter 14 Part 2 The Atlantic Slave Trade Millions of Africans were displaced from their homeland on top of surviving the cruel conditions of the Middle Passage. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to be taken away from everything you know and forced to work in brutal conditions. Slavery has existed since the first human civilizations settled. However, back then, slavery wasn't associated with a specific race. African slavery came to exist when Europeans needed workers for their sugar plantations in West Africa. Originally, Slavic people were used as the labor force but eventually they were no longer available. Therefore, they turned to Africans who were skilled farmers and whom the Europeans saw as inferior and not even human. Europeans were not all that successful with capturing Africans as slaves so they ended up relying on African elites to capture Africans who were of low social status. African elites wanted European textile, gunpowder, tobacco and alcohol in...

Chapter 14 Part 1 Europeans found different ways to join the spice trade in the Indian Ocean as they wanted to be part of the global commerce. Not a lot of their products were of much value in Asian countries but silver and fur from the New World found their way into the market. Europeans and Asian Commerce The Europeans desire to acquire spices, which was in great demand in Europe, and to stop relying on Venice and Muslims motivated them to find another way to enter into Asian commerce. The Portuguese created a trading post empire in the Indian Ocean by overpowering weak states and establishing bases in several areas. They required merchant ships to pay a tax so that the Portuguese wouldn't harm them. Spain took over the islands of Philippine so that they could send silver from Mexico to trade with Asian countries. The Spanish colonized the islands with little to no effort as the Philippines didn't have a leader. They imposed Christianity on the Philippines, displaced many ...

Chapter 13: Political Transformations The early modern era from 1450-1750 was most notable for empire expansion through military force. European civilizations made their way through the Western Hemisphere, destroying established societies and mixing diverse peoples. The formation of new societies with different cultures created an everlasting change in the world. Elsewhere, Russia and China continued to expand their territory as well. European Empires and Colonial Societies in America European states had several advantages that allowed them to create empires an ocean away like the short distance between European countries and America as well as improvements in mapmaking, navigation and sailing techniques. They were also more driven in that the Europeans wanted a higher position in the world of commerce and they knew that America had a lot of natural resources. Individual states were motivated to get an upper hand on rival states. The Native Americans had several disadvantages in fac...