Chapter 8. The Early Modern World, 1450–1750

Renaissance and printing. Beginning in Italy in the 14th century, the Renaissance renewed interest in classical learning, art and humanism. Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press with movable type (about 1450) spread books and ideas widely [5].

Reformation. In 1517 Martin Luther challenged Church practices, launching the Protestant Reformation and decades of religious conflict, ending in part with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which is often seen as a foundation of the modern state system.

Exploration and empire. Advances in navigation allowed European voyages, among them Columbus (1492), Vasco da Gama’s route to India (1498) and Magellan’s expedition’s circumnavigation (1519–1522). Spain conquered the Aztec Empire (1519–1521) and Inca Empire (from 1532) with the help of local allies, disease and technology [5].

Columbian Exchange. Plants, animals, people and diseases moved between the Americas and the rest of the world. Crops such as potatoes, maize and tomatoes spread to Eurasia and Africa; wheat, horses and cattle were carried to the Americas. Diseases such as smallpox devastated Indigenous populations [17].

Atlantic slave trade. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, an estimated 12 million or more Africans were forced onto ships bound for the Americas, and a large fraction died in the voyage or in bondage. It shaped the economies of Africa, Europe and the Americas [18].

Gunpowder empires. The Ottoman Empire (which took Constantinople in 1453), the Safavid Empire in Persia (from 1501) and the Mughal Empire in India (from 1526) were large, powerful states. In East Asia, the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties ruled China, and the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868) governed Japan [5].

Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and others transformed understanding of nature through observation and mathematics. Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau argued for reason, rights and limited government [5].

Review: What was the Columbian Exchange? (Answer: the transfer of plants, animals, people and diseases between the Americas and the Old World after 1492.)