#AP World History: Modern - Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections (1450-1750) 🌍🚢

Hey! Let's get you prepped for Unit 4. Remember, this unit is all about how global trade changed everything. Think of it as the world getting its first real taste of globalization, with all the good, bad, and complicated stuff that comes with it. Let's dive in!

#🧭 Context: Setting the Stage for Global Trade (Pre-1450)

Before we jump into the deep end, let's remember what the world looked like before 1450:

• Regional Trade Networks: The Silk Roads, Indian Ocean trade, and Trans-Saharan routes were booming. Merchants and goods were flowing, but it was all very regional.
• European Motivation: Europeans were itching for a faster route to Asia. Overland routes were slow and expensive. They wanted direct access to spices and other valuable goods.
• The Mediterranean Problem: The Byzantine Empire and then the Ottomans controlled the Mediterranean, making it difficult for Europeans to trade.
• The Atlantic Solution: This led to European voyages across the Atlantic, which, of course, brought them to the Americas.

#🌍 The Shift: From Regional to Global (Post-1450)

This is where everything changes! The focus shifts to maritime trade and the establishment of global connections.

• Maritime Empires: Unlike the land-based empires of the past, we now see the rise of maritime empires, primarily European, focused on controlling trade routes and colonies.
• The Columbian Exchange: This is the big one! The exchange of goods, diseases, and food between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia.
  • Americas to Europe: Potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and other crops that boosted population growth.
  • Europe to Americas: Diseases like smallpox, which devastated Native populations.
• Mercantilism: This economic policy drove colonization. Empires aimed to export more than they imported, using colonies as sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods.
• Colonization: Europeans established colonies in the Americas, leading to massive political, social, and economic changes.

#💥 Key Impacts of Globalization

#📈 Economic Cha...