Unit 2: How Trade and Travel Changed the World
Lesson I: Old and New World Exchanges
Lesson Overview
The initial colonization of the Americas by Portugal and Spain started a wave of European settlement in the New World. Further exploration and contact between European and native peoples created new American cultures. The economic changes that resulted from American colonization affected global trade, increasing the trade of natural and human resources and the growth of the plantation economies. These exchanges dramatically altered life for African slaves and Native American populations.
Brazilian Plantation, 1806 [1]
Key Questions
- How and why did trade and interaction lead to changes in political, economic, and social systems?
- How did geography and location significantly impact events in history?
- What factors contributed to the establishment, expansion, and decline of empires?
Student Outcomes
- Assess the ways in which the Columbian Exchange and the Transatlantic African slave trade affected European, Asian, African, and American indigenous societies.
- Explain how plantation production spread from the Mediterranean to the Americas and the impact of the production of sugar and tobacco on the world economy and global labor systems.
- Compare the conditions of slave life on plantations in the Caribbean, Brazil, and British North America, including resistance and cultural exchanges.
- Assess the uses and credibility of a source by examining personal and contextual influences and by corroborating with other historical sources. (Historical Thinking Skill)
Key Terms
- Columbian Exchange
- indentured servitude
- New World
- Old World
- plantation system
- Transatlantic slave trade
Student Resources
- Atlantic Exchange Graphic Organizer (doc)
- Agriculture in the New World Economy (doc)
- Historical Investigation — Impact of Labor Systems in the Americas (doc)
- Impact of Global Trade on the Americas Brief Constructed Response (BCR) (doc)
Chart of Activities
| Activities to Complete | Estimated Time |
|---|---|
| Key Terms | 5 minutes |
| Pre-Assessment | 5 minutes |
| Activator: The World 1300-1550s | 15 minutes |
| Opening: Out with the Old World and in with the New | 10 minutes |
| Activity 1: Transatlantic Exchange | 10 minutes |
| Activity 2: Global Impact of the Transatlantic Exchanges | 20 minutes |
| Activity 3: The Plantation System of the Americas | 15 minutes |
| Activity 4: The Impact of Labor Systems in the Americas | 40 minutes |
| Review and Assessment | 15 minutes |
| Lesson Summary | 5 minutes |
Lesson Completion Time
The total estimated time to complete this lesson is 140 minutes.
Page Notes:
[1] Source: This image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jos%C3%A9_Mariano_da_Conceicao_Velloso_-_O_fazendeiro_do_Brazil_-_cultivador.jpg is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.
