The World in 1492Karla Castillo

The Grand Tour: EuropeEuropean countries strive for expanding their

dominance• Trading markets causing

territorial expansion• Financial backing of

explorations within empires• Monarchs causing more

peasants in eastern Europe

The Grand Tour: Turkey to AfricaExpansions leading to discoveries of Indian ocean• Muslim domains across eastern hemisphere• Spanish spreading their religion• Ethiopia becomes important through trade

The Grand Tour: South AsiaSouth Asia welcome new cultures and visitors

• Muslims advance their “enlightened” societies• Vietnam slowly extending its conquests• “Spice Islands” in Indonesia become goal of competition

The Grand Tour: China and JapanChina and Japan stay in their boundaries

• China’s prosperous economy and technology gave Chinese little incentive to go beyond their country.

• Japan remain independent but going through troublesome times

The Grand Tour: The Western Hemisphere

“New World” discovery vital in exploration• Mayans ahead in art and astrology• Aztecs huge and advanced city of Tenochtitlan• Incas create imperial roads that tied their empire together

The Staff of LifeLife style of each land area influenced

development of each society• Europe’s wheat: cooperative hand labor, beasts and farming• Asia’s rice: crowded villages, hand labor, tax collection• America’s corn: grows quickly for free time to build pyramids• Introduction to western hemisphere improved global diet

The Great TraditionsBureaucracy, significant cities, writing & technology

• Outsiders learning new customs• Empires changing due to climate, economics and invasion• Introduction to artists and intellectuals

The European Challenge

Territory, language and religion• Inventions and advances perfected• Commerce over religion• Early form of capitalism: “commercial capitalism”• Banking, insurance and joint-stock financed explorations• Europe’s technology gives it advantage over the world