1c. 1400–1500
Worlds in 1450
Global
What major states and networks existed before sustained Atlantic connection?
Establish a genuinely global baseline before European maritime expansion.
Required anchors: Ming China, Vijayanagara, Ottoman Empire, Mali/Songhai, Kongo, Mexica, Inca, Pacific networks
2c. 1450–1750
Oceanic Connections and Conquest
Global
Why did oceanic expansion produce such unequal consequences?
Analyze maritime technology, Indigenous diplomacy and resistance, conquest, disease, ecological exchange, and competing empires.
Required anchors: Indian Ocean continuity, Atlantic voyages, Spanish invasion of Mexica and Inca states, Indigenous resistance
3c. 1450–1800
Empires, Enslavement, and Resistance
AfricaIndigenous AmericasLatin America and the CaribbeanWest and Central AsiaSouth AsiaEast Asia
How did states and coerced labor systems expand, and how did people resist?
Compare Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal, Qing, Kongo, Atlantic plantation, and colonial systems without collapsing distinct experiences.
Required anchors: Ottoman and Safavid, Mughal, Qing, Kongo, transatlantic slave trade, maroon communities
4c. 1750–1850
Revolutions and New Political Claims
United States and CanadaEuropeLatin America and the CaribbeanAfrica
Who gained freedom in the age of revolutions, and who did not?
Compare revolutionary causes, political claims, violence, and limits.
Required anchors: American Revolution, French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, Latin American independence
5c. 1750–1914
Industry, Imperialism, and Global Migration
Global
How did industrial power reorder work, migration, and empire?
Analyze industrialization, capitalism, labor, European and Japanese imperialism, African and Asian resistance, and migration.
Required anchors: Britain and industrialization, India under British rule, Opium Wars, Meiji Japan, Scramble for Africa, Ethiopian resistance, indentured migration
6c. 1914–1945
World Wars, Genocide, and Mass Politics
Global
How did total war transform states and civilian life?
Study the world wars globally, including colonial troops, revolutions, genocide, and Asian and African theaters.
Required anchors: World War I, Armenian genocide, Russian Revolution, Holocaust, war in East Asia, colonial soldiers
7c. 1945–present
Decolonization and the Contemporary World
Global
How did people challenge empire and shape new nations?
Compare independence, Cold War pressures, civil and human rights, development, migration, and continuing Indigenous sovereignty.
Required anchors: India and Pakistan, Ghana, Algeria, Congo, China, Korea and Vietnam, Caribbean independence, Pacific decolonization