home | 6th-15th centuries | 18-19th centuries | 1901 to World War II | 1945 to 21st century
Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean – motives, local people and historical impact
Portuguese ahead of other Europeans in Africa and Asia – maritime trade to Africa and Asia
The Portuguese to America – Brazil, conquest and slavery
Spain's Empire expands, to the year 1600 – from the Caribbean, to Mexico, New Mexico and South America
Spain in Latin America in the 17th Century – including New Mexico and Texas
French, Dutch and English to America – north from Florida, 1550 to 1700
The Protestant Reformation – discontent, Luther's protest, spread of conflict and more Renaissance.
Thirty Years' War – 1618-48, origins, witches, pogroms, Peace of Westphalia
Dutch Capitalism and Liberalism – prosperity, tolerance and a modern liberal order
Stagnation and Decline in Spain – the landed and their value dominate
England, from James to William and Mary – from civil war to the Glorious Revolution
Russia, to 1700 – Ivan the Terrible, Status of Women, Peter the Great
African Empires, Slavery and Europeans – empires of blacks and white intrusions
Iran, the Safavids and Ottoman Expansion – Shia and Sunni conflict
Ottoman Empire: Economic and Military Decline – the Ottoman Empire
India: Mughals, Sikhs and Europeans – India fragmented and violent
China from Ming to Qing – integration, rebellion, conquest
Japan, to 1700 – the economy and wars for power among landowners
Korea's Joseon Dynasty – monarchy from the 1390s, Japan's intrusion and independence
The Malay Peninsula and Indonesian Archipelago, to 1700 – Hindus, Muslims, Portuguese decline and the Dutch
Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo – the earth's place in the heavens
René Descartes – a "rationalist" who starts with doubt
Baruch Spinoza – a "rationalist" among the Dutch
Hobbes, Locke and Newton – politics, empiricism and Newton's physics versus spiritualistic magic
Notes on Religion in 16th Century Europe – no admission of atheism; sensuality
Biblical Criticism by Spinoza – Enlightment reasoning and questions rather than mere faith.
Puritan Trials of Anne Hutchinson – "a woman not fit for our society"
Japan: Religious Diversity into the 1600s – sects, sub-sects and restricted freedom
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