Gunpowder Empires, 1500–1750 (14 days)
World History 1, Quarter 4, Unit 2 Version 2
Then have small groups of students create graphic organizers comparing weapons used by armies and navies before and after gunpowder. Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation •
To ensure that students will be able to map the spread of the major states and empires in the world from the 16th century to the 18th century (2 days): View with students the World History for Us All, Big Era 6, PowerPoint Overview Presentation (The Great Global Convergence, 1400-1800), slides 30-36. Lead a class discussion around the question: How did the global map of major states and empires change between the 16th and 18th centuries? Describe the role of firearms in the spread of these states. Using information in the textbook and other resources, identify the following empires on a world map: Ming, Spanish, British, Portuguese, Mughal, Russian, Ottoman, and Safavid.
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To ensure that students will be able to analyze Ming China’s relationship with the rest of the world (3 days): Students will construct a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting the basic features of Ming China with those of Russia, Mughal India, and Ottoman Turkey. In groups of three, have students create posters that demonstrate China’s achievements under the Ming, as well as China’s connections with Korea, Europe, and the Indian Ocean. This is a good opportunity to implement reading standard for literacy in history/social studies RH.9-10.5.
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To ensure that students will be able to compare and contrast basic features of the Ottoman and Mughal empires in the 16th and 17th centuries (2 days): Begin a graphic organizer that compares the origins and character of the Ottoman and Mughal empires. Using evidence from the textbook, have students in groups complete the graphic organizer. Take the opportunity to implement writing standard for literacy in history/social studies WHST.9-10.1.
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To ensure that students will be able to analyze how Russia evolved from the Duchy of Moscow to a Eurasian empire, and explain the main modernizing reforms of Peter the Great (3 days): Small groups of students will use the passages and maps in the textbook, as well as any other resources you choose to provide, to create a timeline that charts the territorial expansion of Russia in the early modern period. (Teachers with access to the Internet may want to provide excerpts or access to Hermitage Amsterdam’s “Peter the Great in Holland” web page at www.hermitage.nl/en/stpetersburg_en_rusland/nederland_rusland_en_st-petersburg/peter_de_grote_in_holland.htm.) Lead a class discussion about the role of the reforms of Peter the Great. The discussion should focus on the contributions of these reforms to expansion and also to what extent they were “modern.” Standard 1: Chronological Thinking
Additional Teaching Strategies For a comparative approach to early modern empires of Afroeurasia, teach strategies and activities in World History for Us All, Big Era 6, Panorama Teaching Unit (The Great Global Convergence, 14001800), Lesson 7: The Military Revolution. Have students use evidence from the textbook and possibly other readings and materials to write a brief essay that points to both China’s isolation and global connection in the later 15th and 16th centuries. Have students report out and make claims, substantiated by evidence, for and against characterizing China as being isolated in this period.
Providence Public Schools, in collaboration with the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin
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