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Unit 1: The  World in 1500

Instructional Videos

Targets

  • I can identify the major trade routes, goods, and regions involved in early globalization.

  • I can explain how the spread of religion created a common cultural identity.

  • I can explain how the five themes of geography relate to trade and the spread of ideas

Unit Overview

This course covers World History from the year 1500 AD till the present. An important part of history is understanding the context in which events occur. That is the basis of this unit, to set the stage of where the world was in 1500. Students should be able to identify the empires that existed across the world in 1500, the trade routes that were used and the goods traded on those routes, and how these global interactions relate to the five themes of geography. This unit allows students to better understand future interactions between empires and cultures. 

Need to Know 

People 

  • Jesus

  • Buddha

  • Muhammad

  • Abraham

​

Places

  • England

  • France

  • Spain

  • Russia

  • India

  • China

  • Songhai

  • Aztec 

  • Inca

  • Ottoman Empire

​

Events 

  • N/A

​

Ideas

  • Place

  • Location

  • Human Environment Interaction

  • Region

  • Movement

  • Christianity

  • Buddhism

  • Hinduism

  • Islam

  • Judaism

​

Miscellaneous

  • Silk road

  • Indian Ocean Trade

  • Trans-Saharan

  • Western Europe Sea and River Routes

  • South China Sea

  • Black Sea

NearPod Codes

No NearPods for this Unit

Review Activities

From the State

Empires of 1500

Western Europe

  • England

  • France

  • Spain

Eastern Europe/Mideast

  • Russia

  • Ottoman Empire

Americas

  • Incan Empire

  • Aztec Empire

Far East

  • China

  • India

Africa

  • Songhai

Location of world religions in 1500 a.d. (c.e.)

  • Judaism: Concentrated in Europe and the Middle East

  • Christianity: Concentrated in Europe and the Middle East

  • Islam: Parts of Asia, Africa, and southern Europe; concentrated in the Middle East

  • Hinduism: India and part of Southeast Asia

  • Buddhism: East and Southeast Asia

Traditional trade patterns linking Europe with Asia and Africa

  • Silk Road across Asia to the Mediterranean Basin

  • Maritime routes across the Indian Ocean

  • Trans-Saharan routes across North Africa

  • Northern European links with the Black Sea

  • Western European sea and river trade

  • South China Sea and lands of Southeast Asia

Importance of trade patterns

  • Exchange of products and ideas

Products exchanged along trade routes

  • Paper, compasses, silk, porcelain (China)

  • Textiles (India and the Middle East)

  • Gold, salt (Africa)

Ideas exchanged along trade routes

  • Numeral system (India and the Middle East)

  • Scientific knowledge—medicine, astronomy, mathematics

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