Scribd
Upload
16 views7 pages

Renaissance, Exploration, and Exchange

A unit guide for a European history course with answers

Uploaded by

swanhumi
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views7 pages

Renaissance, Exploration, and Exchange

A unit guide for a European history course with answers

Uploaded by

swanhumi
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

AP European History ©Morgan AP Teaching

Unit Guide – Unit 1: Renaissance and Exploration


1.1 – Contextualizing Renaissance and Discovery

1.1.A – Explain the context in which the Renaissance and Age of Discovery developed.

KC-1.1 The rediscovery of works from ancient Greece and Rome and observation of the natural world
changed many Europeans’ view of their world.

KC-1.1.I A revival of classical texts led to new methods of scholarship and new values in both society
and religion.
Greco-Roman texts caused people like Thomas More to write about how they believe Christianity
should be.

[Link] The visual arts incorporated the new ideas of the Renaissance and were used to promote
personal, political, and religious goals.
Geometric perspective, artists like Michaelangelo

KC-1.3 Europeans explored and settled overseas territories, encountering and interacting with indigenous
populations.
KC-1.3.I European nations were driven by commercial and religious motives to explore overseas
territories and establish colonies.
Gold, God, Glory!

KC-1.4 European society and the experiences of everyday life were increasingly shaped by commercial and
agricultural capitalism, notwithstanding the continued existence of medieval social and economic structures.

KC-1.4.I Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status
continued.
Hierarchy’s like the Feudal system remained, produced new classes like the urban gentry

[Link] Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the
seasons, the village, or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and
power.

Europeans did things like using 1/3rd of the field at a time to make their soil better

KC-1.5 The struggle for sovereignty within and among states resulted in varying degrees of political
centralization.
Page | 1
AP European History ©Morgan AP Teaching

KC-1.5.I The new concept of the sovereign state and secular systems of law played a central role in
the creation of new political institutions.

Countries began to centralize their government and taxes

1.2 – Italian Renaissance

1.2.B – Explain how the revival of classical texts contributed to the development of the Renaissance in Italy.

KC-1.1.I.A Italian Renaissance humanists, including Petrarch, promoted a revival in classical literature and
created new philological approaches to ancient texts. Some Renaissance humanists furthered the values of
secularism and individualism.

Humanism dominated the revival in classical literature and poets like Petrarch wrote sonnets about it.

1.2.C – Explain the political, intellectual, and cultural effects of the Italian Renaissance.

KC-1.1.I.B Humanist revival of Greek and Roman texts, spread by the printing press, challenged the
institutional power of universities and the Catholic Church. This shifted education away from a primary focus
on theological writings toward classical texts and new methods of scientific inquiry.
Civic humanism was mostly in the north focusing on individualism, and a better education

KC-1.1.I.C Admiration for Greek and Roman political institutions supported a revival of civic humanist culture
in the Italian city-states and produced secular models for individual and political behavior.

This happened in the north, with many people writing against the Catholic church

[Link].A In the Italian Renaissance, rulers and popes concerned with enhancing their prestige
commissioned paintings and architectural works based on classical styles, the developing “naturalism” in the
artistic world, and often the newly invented technique of geometric perspective.
Wealthy individuals had artists paint in this new technique, suck as Michaelangelo and Donatello

1.3 – Northern Renaissance

1.3.D – Explain how Renaissance ideas were developed, maintained, and changed as the Renaissance spread to
northern Europe.

[Link].B The Northern Renaissance retained a more religious focus, which resulted in more
human-centered naturalism that considered individuals and everyday life appropriate objects of artistic
representation.

Page | 2
AP European History ©Morgan AP Teaching

Individualism was very important in the north, with artists focusing on the common individual rather than
an immortal hero.

KC-1.2.I.A Christian humanism, embodied in the writings of Erasmus, employed Renaissance learning in the
service of religious reform.
Writers like Erasmus and Petrarch founded humanism, focusing on secular life.

1.4 – Printing

1.4.E – Explain the influence of the printing press on cultural and intellectual developments in modern European
history.

[Link] The invention of printing promoted the dissemination of new ideas.

[Link].A The invention of the printing press in the 1450s helped spread the Renaissance beyond
Italy and encouraged the growth of vernacular literature, which would eventually contribute to the
development of national cultures.

The Printing press played a key role in spreading Luther’s 95 Theses and bringing traction to the
Renaissance

1.5 – New Monarchies

1.5.F – Explain the causes and effects of the development of political institutions from 1450 to 1648.

[Link].A Monarchs and princes, including the English rulers Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, initiated religious
reform from the top down in an effort to exercise greater control over religious life and morality.
Religious reform happened such as forcing pagans to convert, and enforcing the inquisition.

KC-1.5.I.A New monarchies laid the foundation for the centralized modern state by establishing monopolies
on tax collection, employing military force, dispensing justice, and gaining the right to determine the religion
of their subjects.
Spain and other countries at the time started centralizing their taxes and military forces

KC-1.5.I.C Across Europe, commercial and professional groups gained in power and played a greater role in
political affairs.

Around this time, many wars such as the 30 years war stopped being based purely off of religion, and
politics played a huge role in battles.

KC-1.5.I.D Continued political fragmentation in Renaissance Italy provided a background for the development
of new concepts of the secular state.
One of the new concepts was from Machiavelli, to be a good leader no matter what cost or what morals.
Page | 3
AP European History ©Morgan AP Teaching

1.6 – Technological Advances and the Age of Exploration

1.6.G – Explain the technological factors that facilitated European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648.

[Link] Advances in navigation, cartography, and military technology enabled Europeans to establish
overseas colonies and empires.
Inventions such as the Astrolabe assisted sailors in navigation around the globe.

1.6.H - Explain the motivations for and effects of European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648.

KC-1.3.I.A European states sought direct access to gold, spices, and luxury goods to enhance personal wealth
and state power.
Europeans found trade routes such as the triangular trade route, using it to enhance their commerce.

KC-1.3.I.B The rise of mercantilism gave the state a new role in promoting commercial development and the
acquisition of colonies overseas.
Mercantilism greatly expanded many empires, leaving the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

KC-1.3.I.C Christianity was a stimulus for exploration as governments and religious authorities sought to
spread the faith, and for some it served as a justification for the subjugation of indigenous civilizations.
Jesuit missionaries sought to spread christianity into the new world.

1.7 – Rivals on the World Stage


1.7.I – Explain how and why trading networks and colonial expansion affected relations between and among
European states.
[Link] Europeans established overseas empires and trade networks through coercion and negotiation.

[Link].B The Spanish established colonies across the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific,
which made Spain a dominant state in Europe in the 16th century.
The colonies were in rivals with the native american territories, which they enslaved and used for
more labor.

[Link].C The Atlantic nations of France, England, and the Netherlands followed by establishing
their own colonies and trading networks to compete with Portuguese and Spanish dominance in the
17th century.

[Link].D The competition for trade led to conflicts and rivalries among European powers in the
17th and 18th centuries.
Spain, and portugal were the two biggest colonial powers, however they were still competing with
many other countries trying become a part of the new world.

1.8 – Colonial Expansion and Columbian Exchange

1.8.J – Explain the economic impact of European colonial expansion and development of trade networks.
Page | 4
AP European History ©Morgan AP Teaching

[Link].A The Portuguese established a commercial network along the African coast, in South and East Asia, and
in South America in the late 15th and throughout the 16th centuries.
London was a big part of the commercial network, trading and gaining slave labor.

[Link].i Europe’s colonial expansion led to a global exchange of goods, flora, and fauna; a shift toward
European dominance; and the expansion of the slave trade.
The slave trade at this point was being shipped from coastal african cities, and being traded for money and
riches.

[Link].A The exchange of goods shifted the center of economic power in Europe from the Mediterranean to
the Atlantic states and brought the latter into an expanding world economy.
The triangular trade was used a lot for good distribution and slave economies.

[Link].B.i The exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases—the Columbian Exchange—created economic
opportunities for Europeans.
Pigs, potatoes, and tomatoes were brought and traded.

1.8.K – Explain the social and cultural impact of European colonial expansion and development of trade networks.

[Link] Europe’s colonial expansion led to a global exchange of goods, flora, fauna, cultural practices, and
diseases, resulting in the destruction of some indigenous civilizations, a shift toward European dominance, and
the expansion of the slave trade.
Sheep, cattle, and more were traded additionally, and this destroyed many indigenous civilizations.

[Link] The exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases—the Columbian Exchange—in some cases
facilitated European subjugation and destruction of indigenous peoples, particularly in the Americas.
This allowed many new world diseases to be exposed to the natives.

1.9 – The Slave Trade

1.9.L – Explain the causes for and the development of the slave trade.

[Link].C Europeans expanded the African slave trade in response to the establishment of a plantation
economy in the Americas and demographic catastrophes among indigenous peoples.
Europeans took slaves through the deadly middle passage, not being able to use indigenous labor anymore
for slavery.

1.10 – The Commercial Revolution

1.10.M – Explain European commercial and agricultural developments and their economic effects from 1450 to
1648.

KC-1.4.I.A Innovations in banking and finance promoted the growth of urban financial centers and a money
economy.

Page | 5
AP European History ©Morgan AP Teaching

Banks like the bank of england were created, and an economy started forming.

[Link] Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the
seasons, the village, or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and power.

[Link].A Subsistence agriculture was the rule in most areas, with three-crop field rotation in the
north and two-crop rotation in the Mediterranean; in many cases, farmers paid rent and labor
services for their lands.
The three crop rotation required noblemen and kings to close of some land, and leave “common
land” for peasants.

[Link].B The price revolution contributed to the accumulation of capital and the expansion of the
market economy through the commercialization of agriculture, which benefited large landowners in
western Europe.
The price revolution allowed many systems to be created such as banking, and currency.

[Link].A Population recovered to its pre-Great Plague level in the 16th century, and continuing
population pressures contributed to uneven price increases; agricultural commodities increased more
sharply than wages, reducing living standards for some.
After the great plague, the population got around back to “normal”, but the living standards
dropped to much below.

1.10.N – Explain European commercial and agricultural developments and their social effects from 1450 to 1648.

KC-1.4.I Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status continued.

KC-1.4.I.B The growth of commerce produced a new economic elite, which related to traditional
land-holding elites in different ways in Europe’s various geographic regions.

The french aristocrats became very rich and powerful, with much land to plant crops.

[Link].C As western Europe moved toward a free peasantry and commercial agriculture, serfdom was
codified in the east, where nobles continued to dominate economic life on large estates.

Russia was a big country that started practicing a free peasentry agriculture, however nobles
continued to dominate private land.

[Link].D The attempts of landlords to increase their revenues by restricting or abolishing the traditional
rights of peasants led to revolt.

Ketts Rebellion was when landlords abolished peasent rights

[Link].B Migrants to the cities challenged the ability of merchant elites and craft guilds to govern, and
strained resources.
Migrants to the cities caused sanitation to go down a lot, and a lot more poverty.

Page | 6
AP European History ©Morgan AP Teaching

[Link].C From the late 16th century on, Europeans responded to economic and environmental challenges,
such as the Little Ice Age, by delaying marriage and childbearing. This European marriage pattern restrained
population growth and ultimately improved the economic condition of families.

Population greatly reduced from the little ice age due to less childbrearing.

Page | 7

Common questions

Powered by AI

European colonial expansion was a major driver of the rise of the transatlantic slave trade and significantly altered both European and indigenous social structures. The plantation economies in the Americas created a high demand for labor, which Europeans met through the African slave trade following the decimation of indigenous populations by disease. This created new, racially based social hierarchies in the colonies, while in Europe, the economic benefits of the slave trade contributed to the wealth of commercial elites and further entrenched class stratifications. The resulting global trade networks integrated European, African, and American economies, dramatically altering pre-existing social and economic systems .

The Columbian Exchange significantly influenced European dominance and shifted economic power centers from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic states by facilitating the global exchange of goods, flora, fauna, and cultures. The introduction of new agricultural products such as potatoes and tomatoes, along with the transfer of animals like pigs and sheep, enhanced European agricultural productivity and variety. This exchange also brought diseases that devastated indigenous populations, thereby consolidating European dominance. Furthermore, the economic power center shifted to Atlantic states that were heavily involved in these exchanges, such as England and the Netherlands, marking a transition in European economic power dynamics .

European agricultural developments and the price revolution from 1450 to 1648 resulted in significant social and economic transformations. Innovations in agriculture, such as improved crop rotations, along with the rising demand for agricultural produce, led to a commercialization of agriculture. The price revolution, characterized by inflation and expansion of the market economy, benefited large landowners and spurred the growth of urban financial centers. These changes forged a new economic elite, disrupting traditional feudal structures and augmenting urban migration, which contributed to social tensions as peasants faced increased rents and declining living standards amidst rising prices .

The key motivations behind European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648 included the desire for direct access to gold, spices, and luxury goods to enhance personal wealth and state power, as well as spreading Christianity. These motivations led to establishing trade routes and overseas colonies, notably impacting European interactions with indigenous populations. The desire for glory, wealth, and religious spread led to the subjugation of indigenous populations and justified the exploitation of resources and people, as seen in the dealings of Jesuit missionaries and Spanish colonial practices .

The rise of mercantilism during the Age of Exploration had profound consequences for European economic and social hierarchies. Mercantilism emphasized state intervention in the economy and prioritized the accumulation of wealth through overseas colonies, which enhanced state power and wealth disparity. This economic policy promoted the creation and expansion of empires, enhancing the wealth of the elite while marginalizing poorer populations. Social hierarchies were affected as commercial and professional groups gained power, and mercantilism's emphasis on a balance of trade intensified colonial rivalries and exploitation of colonies .

The political centralization during the transition to modern states had a significant impact on religious reforms. Monarchs like Henry VIII and Elizabeth I used central features of state power to instigate religious reforms, such as the English Reformation, which placed the monarchy over religious institutions. These reforms were often motivated by the desire to control religious life and moral order within their realms, leading to the creation of state-controlled churches and decreasing the Catholic Church's direct influences on state affairs. Political centralization was crucial in enabling these top-down reforms, reflecting the shift towards sovereign states with centralized power .

The Northern Renaissance differed from the Italian Renaissance mainly in its focus and expression of humanist values. While the Italian Renaissance emphasized secularism, individualism, and a revival of classical texts from Greece and Rome, the Northern Renaissance retained a more pronounced religious focus. Northern artists like Erasmus incorporated Christian humanism, emphasizing moral and religious reform. The art in the north reflected a human-centered naturalism that depicted common individuals and everyday life, in contrast to the grandeur of classical heroism often depicted in Italian art .

Technological advances in navigation and cartography were instrumental in facilitating European exploration and the subsequent creation of overseas empires. Advances such as the development of the astrolabe and improved designs in ships allowed for more precise navigation and prolonged voyages across the open seas. These technologies enabled Europeans to chart new territories and establish trade routes and colonies, fundamentally expanding their economic and political reach. Such technological advancements were key to the establishment of global European empires, transforming the economic landscape and heightening imperial competition .

The revival of classical texts during the Italian Renaissance led to a resurgence of humanist values and a shift in societal values. Italian Renaissance humanists, such as Petrarch, promoted a revival in classical literature and developed new philological approaches to these texts. This revival challenged the institutional power of universities and the Catholic Church, promoting secularism and individualism. These changes also redirected education from primarily theological writings to classical texts and scientific inquiry, facilitating a cultural and intellectual transformation across Europe .

The invention of the printing press in the 1450s significantly influenced cultural and intellectual developments during the Renaissance by facilitating the dissemination of new ideas and literature. It allowed for the rapid spread of Renaissance ideas beyond Italy, especially through vernacular literature, which contributed to the development of national cultures. The printing press played a crucial role in spreading key texts, such as Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, which was pivotal to the Protestant Reformation and the broader cultural movement of the Renaissance, thus enhancing literacy and intellectual exchange .

You might also like