2

Beginning in the year 300, numerous

inventions, goods, ideas, and religions

were starting to spread from

their regions of origin.

3

…

By the end of the 1300s, many of these important ideas and useful

things had spread all across

Africa, Europe and Asia…

…That spread of ideas and things is part

of cultural exchange.

4

Trade was closely

linked to cultural

exchange.

Empires supported trade in Africa,

Europe and Asia. Merchants traveled great distances in search of wealth.

A trade route is a path along which goods are transported from one area to another.

Medieval Trade Routes

7

The number of cities grew, as well The number of cities grew, as well as trade networks between them.as trade networks between them.

8

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Discovered new information about other cultures as the result of trade.

Born to wealthy Italian merchants

Left Italy in 1271 and traveled for 27 years.

When he returned to Italy he brought information about other cultures.

The Route of Marco Polo

The discoveries of Marco Polo, and others like him, changed the world by making people more interested in other cultures.

The Silk Road connected China and Europe

It connected these regions from around 100 BC to the 1500s AD.

The following items were traded along the Silk Road:

Porcelain, silk, ivory, gold, spices, musical instruments, grain, fruit, cloth, herds of horses, and many other things.

17

How did expanding trade networks bring about cultural exchanges in Africa, Europe

and Asia?

•Trade helped spread Trade helped spread religions, languages, religions, languages, ideas, and arts.ideas, and arts.

•Cities and manufacturing Cities and manufacturing centers grew bigger.centers grew bigger.

19

If you had to put the

changes in this time into one

sentence, what would it be?

You might say that by 1500 the world was connected,

right?

But wait! We still But wait! We still haven’t said much haven’t said much

about the about the Americas!Americas!

22

Well…the Americas and Africa, Europe, and Asia were

not yet permanently

linked together.

…not until 1492 . . .

When Columbus set sail across the

Atlantic . . .

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The Americas had fewer people than Africa, Europe,

and Asia - the two land masses were geographically isolated

from each other. Developments in the two

regions were similar in some ways and different in others.

24

In any case, the Americas were also a region of active human connections.

25

Sciences like astronomy, mathematics and engineering were developed.

Mayans developed a writing system and the Aztecs developed a calendar.

Trade routes connected regions.

Mining, irrigation, and agricultural technologies developed.

Crops like potatoes, maize, tomatoes, cotton, and chocolate were grown.

Inca Inca GoldGold

Corn & PotatoesCorn & Potatoes

Mayan Mayan CalendarCalendar

Mississippian Mississippian MicaMica

Moche Moche CeramicCeramic

26

Aztec Empire

Mayan States

Inca Empire

States and States and Empires in Empires in

the the Americas in Americas in

1500 1500

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27

It had to happen sooner or later!It had to happen sooner or later!

At the very end of the Middle Ages

and the beginning of the next era

(the Renaissance), European

mariners set out on trans-oceanic voyages to the

Americas.

Those voyages linked the Americas with Africa, Europe and

Asia for the first time since the migrations

of people over 13,000 years earlier!

This began when Columbus returned to Spain in 1493

This is the exchange of plants, animals, and people between Europe and the Americas

Sparked the migration of people

Spread new European diseases to Native American populations

The exchange of new products and ideas prompted economic growth in Europe

33

Is that why people from

Africa, Europe and Asia

discovered the Americas, and

not the opposite?

Stern-Stern-rudderrudder

CompassCompass

Lateen SailLateen Sail

MapmakingMapmakingCultural exchange in Africa, Europe and Asia before 1500 CE made possible the technologies that in turn permitted transoceanic voyages.