AP World History Period 2 (1450–1750) is the biggest period for exam questions — roughly 20% of the exam. It covers the transformation of global trade, the establishment of the Atlantic system, and the rise of gunpowder empires. Themes of colonialism, slavery, and cultural exchange dominate DBQ and LEQ prompts in this period.
The Columbian Exchange and Atlantic World
Columbian Exchange — the biological and cultural transfer between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after 1492: New World crops (potatoes, maize, tomatoes, tobacco, cacao, rubber) to Europe and Africa; Old World diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza), animals (horses, cattle, pigs), and crops (wheat, sugar) to the Americas. The demographic catastrophe — 50–90% indigenous population decline from disease — is the most consequential consequence. Atlantic slave trade — forced migration of 12.5+ million Africans (1500–1900); triangular trade: European manufactured goods → West Africa for enslaved people → Americas for sugar, tobacco, cotton → Europe; Middle Passage crossing with ~15% mortality. Plantation system — labor-intensive monoculture (sugar in Brazil and Caribbean, tobacco and cotton in North America) powered by enslaved African labor; European investors financed through joint-stock companies.
European Exploration and Colonialism
Portuguese Indian Ocean empire — established trading post empire (Estado da India) at key nodes (Goa, Malacca, Hormuz, Macau); controlled spice trade; relied on naval power rather than territorial conquest. Spanish Americas — encomienda then hacienda labor systems; mestizo society; Catholic Church as colonial institution (forced conversion, Inquisition). Joint-stock companies — Dutch VOC (1602) and British EIC (1600) — private shareholders funded exploration; combined private profit with state power; Dutch VOC was first multinational corporation. Mercantilism — colonies existed to benefit the mother country through resource extraction and trade surpluses; navigation laws restricted colonial trade.
Gunpowder Empires
Ottoman Empire — conquered Constantinople (1453); controlled Eastern Mediterranean trade routes; Devshirme system (Christian boys conscripted as Janissaries and bureaucrats); Suleiman the Magnificent at peak; declined as oceanic trade bypassed their routes. Safavid Empire (Persia) — Shia Islam as state religion vs. Ottoman Sunni; Persian culture; Abbas I at peak. Mughal Empire (India) — Babur founded; Akbar's religious tolerance (Din-i-Ilahi syncretic religion); Taj Mahal (Shah Jahan); Aurangzeb's religious persecution → Hindu backlash → decline. Ming Dynasty China — Zheng He's voyages (1405–33) to Southeast Asia, India, East Africa; largest wooden ships in history; voyages ended by Confucian court faction; China turned inward. Ming replaced by Qing (Manchu) Dynasty 1644.
Religious Transformations
Protestant Reformation — Luther's 95 Theses (1517); challenged Catholic Church authority; printing press spread ideas; Wars of Religion; peace of Westphalia (1648) established state sovereignty. Catholic Counter-Reformation — Council of Trent (internal reform), Jesuits (education and missions globally — China, Japan, Americas), Inquisition. Spread of Islam — Sufism spread Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia through mysticism and accommodation of local practices rather than rigid orthodoxy.
AP World practice questions · Period 1 Key Terms · Period 3 Key Terms · Grade a DBQ
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