Early Modern History

(1450-1750)
By: Amber Hardy, Korina Grava & Brooke
Santander
Grade 7 Standard & Thesis
Grade 7 Standard
7.11-Students analyze political and economic change in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
centuries (the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason)
2. Discuss the exchanges of plants, animals, technology, culture, and ideas among Europe, Africa,
Asia, and the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the major economic and social
effects on each continent.
Thesis
Teach students how the Columbian Exchange and the Atlantic Slave Trade are connected, what
happened in the two events, and the effect it had on our society today.
Big Question
Why did the slave trade develop into the early modern times?
Background: The Wake-Up
Early modern times were known as the wake-up period in history.
The British Empire, the Dutch East India Trading Company and the
Spanish Empire all played major roles in this time period.
Also, in the time period, the age of exploration, religious reformation,
renaissance period, the Columbian exchange, and the Atlantic slave trade
occurred.
Mariners of the Early Modern Time

Zhang He Vasco de Gama Christopher Columbus

Discussion Time!
What do you think..
 The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange contributed to The beginning of the global interaction
between the eastern and western hemispheres through transocean voyage
and technological innovations.

Disease Animals Plants Humans

Smallpox Pigs Grains Repopulation
Measles Cows Deforestation
Influenza Horses Soil Depletion

Fun Fact: Potatoes originally presented as an aphrodisiac but they needed to be distilled and turned into
Vodka for the effects.
 Activity Time!
New World vs. Old World
Word Cloud Time!
 History of Slavery
Trans Atlantic Slavery brought about the worst form of slavery labeled as
Chattel Slavery.

Definition of a Slave: When a person is the legally owned property of another

and is forced to obey them. (Dehumanization)

Greeks Romans Judeo Christians Muslim Arabs

Portuguese/Spanish = Monsters, world participation

The Atlantic Slave Trade
Important concepts:
15th century into the mid 19th century
10-12 million Africans to the Americas
Activity Time! People, NOT Numbers
African kings and merchants did not hesitate when selling people
Slaves lives were brutal (4 square Feet)

Fun Fact: Slaves were used to harvest cotton, tobacco and sugarcane which are nonessentials for
life.