Essay writing

 Choose one of the following prompts and, in a 5-6 page essay, answer the question in essay formatbased on the assigned textbook and primary source readings. Suggested primary sources to consult are listed below each question. Choose at least two (2) primary sources to include in your essay.

Essay 1 is due on Sunday, March 26th by 11:59 pm to Essay 1 dropbox on e-learn.

1. Identify AND analyze at least two (2) new patterns of development that are visible in the empire-building projects of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

Primary sources to consult: Cortes and the Aztecs, Portuguese Views of the Chinese, “Silver, the Devil, and the Coca Leaf in the Andes”, Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince excerpts, Olaudah Equiano excerpt, Declaration of Independence

2. Asians, Africans, and Native Americans experienced early modern European expansion in quite different ways. Analyze, in what respects were these people active agents in the historical process than simply victims of European actions? How do they challenge a Eurocentric understanding of the early modern era in light of the growing role of Europeans on the global stage?

Primary sources to consult: Cortes and the Aztecs, Portuguese Views of the Chinese, “Silver, the Devil, and the Coca Leaf in the Andes”, Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince excerpts, Olaudah Equiano excerpt, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, Declaration of Independence, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

3. How did European expansion give rise to new ideas about race? How did global expansion complicate European’s understanding of themselves and their place in the world?

Primary sources to consult: Portuguese Views of the Chinese, “Silver, the Devil, and the Coca Leaf in the Andes”, Olaudah Equiano excerpt, Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince excerpts

4. Identify and analyze two or three of the most important motivations behind European expansion? Use evidence from the assigned readings to support your claims.

Primary sources to consult: Cortes and the Aztecs, Portuguese Views of the Chinese, “Silver, the Devil, and the Coca Leaf in the Andes”, Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince excerpts, Olaudah Equiano excerpt, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, Declaration of Independence, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

5. Compare AND contrast at least two (2) revolutions that occurred in the world between 1750 and 1850. What ideas inspired these changes? To what extent did these impact revolutions influence early modern historical developments?

Primary sources to consult: Declaration of Independence, Haitian revolution documents, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen