Unit IV

THE FIRST GLOBAL AGE

China – Ming Dynasty

• Concept of Middle Kingdom/relations with others: ISOLATIONISTS

• Zheng He – 7 Voyages: visited SE Asia, India, Middle East & East Africa; when he returned to China they decided to be isolationists (NO need for foreign goods or influence)

• ETHNOCENTRISM – feeling of superiority

• Relations w/ the West: little to no contact

• Kowtow: a ceremony used in China which would allow a foreign country to trade with them – many refused to “bow down”

• Confucianism: encouraged self-sufficiency which promoted isolationism

Magellan: travels around the world

• Circumnavigates the globe

Incas

• Early form of socialism

• Built 1,500 mi of roads => *are compared with the Roman Empire

• Mercantilism: the creation of foreign colonies for the economic benefit of the mother country

• Dutch role in exploration: Relations with the East – limited trade with the far east

Louis XIV

• 1638-1715: longest tenure as king in history

• Versailles: palace was the symbol of strength and power – housed the French nobility

• Nobles: were kept in check by the King

Ivan the Terrible

• Secret police: used to keep nobility under control – NO opposition

• Boyars: nobility who threatened Ivan’s rule/power