History 1301

History 1301
Learning Objectives for Davidson, Chapter 2 (“Old Worlds, New Worlds”)

Upon completing this chapter, students should be able to answer the following questions (organized by theheadings within the text):
“Fishing Nets and Far Horizons”
 
This chapter beginrs with the story of the Europeans’ first encounter with Newfoundland, and of how it became the hub of fishing activityamong several European nations. What do the textbook’s authors seek to convey with this history of a community of “ordinary fisherfolk”?  How does it challenge the conventional story of famous explorersand their voyages?
 
“Eurasia and Africa in the Fifteenth Century”
 
1. Why was Ming China the focus of so much European interest by the mid-1400s?  What Chinese political decision prevented Chinafrom conducting trans-oceanic voyages like that of Columbus?
 
2. Who were the Ottomans, and what influence did they have over the trade routes between Europe and Asia?
 
3. What was life likefor most 14th and 15th-century Europeans?  What impact did the Black Death have upon European life, in terms of population, commerce, and innovation?  Why were the new strong monarchies of thepost-plague, second half of the 1400s so crucial to the exploitation of these new developments?
 
4. What political and technological changes allowed Portugal to become the first European nation-state toengage in direct trade with West Africa?  What social and biological (disease) conditions prevented the Portuguese from establishing colonies in West Africa at this point?
 
5. How many of the world’sinhabitants are estimated to be living in slavery today?  How did sugar cultivation reintroduce Europeans to slaveowning and slave culture, and where specifically did the Portuguese practice them?
  
“Spain in the Americas”
1. Why aren’t the lands of the Western Hemisphere called “Columbia,” in honor of Columbus?  What exactly did Florentine Amerigo Vespucci contribute to the world’s...