World History from 1500 to the Present
This domain tests the making of the modern world: oceanic expansion, the Columbian Exchange, slavery and colonialism, Enlightenment and revolution, industrialization, imperialism, total war, the Cold War, and decolonization.
1500–1750
- The Columbian Exchange moved maize, potatoes, and tomatoes east and wheat, horses, and smallpox west; epidemic collapse in the Americas reshaped labor systems and drove the Atlantic slave trade.
- Mercantilism and chartered companies (English East India Company, 1600; Dutch VOC, 1602) organized long-distance trade with state backing and private capital.
1750–1914
- The Enlightenment reframed authority around consent and rights; the American and French revolutions tested it, and the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) universalized it by abolishing slavery in Saint-Domingue.
- Industrialization began in Britain through a specific combination: coal and iron near water transport, capital from Atlantic commerce, agricultural surplus, patent law, and a wage-dependent workforce.
- New imperialism after 1880 divided Africa and much of Asia, justified by racial ideology and enabled by steamships, quinine, and telegraphs.
1914–present
- Total war, the League's failure, the Cold War, and decolonization.
Worked example
"Why did industrialization begin in Britain?" The stem asks about origin, not diffusion. The best answer pairs coal and iron fields with canals and coastal shipping that cut fuel costs, enclosure that pushed labor into wage work, and Atlantic profits funding investment. Weak options cite "inventive genius" (available anywhere) or the later spread to Belgium and Germany, which answers a different question.
Traps
- Confusing cause with consequence - empire as a source of industrial capital versus a product of it.
- Treating the Cold War as purely military, ignoring aid, espionage, and cultural competition.
- Assuming decolonization was uniform in timing or peaceful.
- Forgetting that the Columbian Exchange ran in both directions.