This week we start with the Age of Exploration and the birth of a truly global society. At the dawn of the Early Modern period, Europe was no more likely than any other region to become a world power. However, by 1750, Europeans controlled a significant portion of the world's territory, dominated global trade routes, and imposed their authority across the world's oceans. From the Chinese explorer/merchant Zheng He to Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, trade and communication expanded like never before. Through improvements in maritime technology (both ships and navigational aids) transoceanic travel become more prominent in the period after 1400. Your course documents this week look at some of the navigational aids that made global exploration by boat a reality and ask you to consider the impact of the Treaty of Tordesillas and Hugo Grotius's Freedom of the Seas (1609).

Course Documents: Please make sure that you have read the assigned readings and reviewed the weekly PowerPoint before consulting these course documents.

Secondary Source--Article, Gerardus Mercator revolutionized mapmaking. He was almost executed for it. (2015) (Links to an external site.)

Primary Source--Hugo Grotius's Freedom of the Seas (1609)

Primary Source--Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)