The World is NOT Enough: Europe's Global Empires, 1400-1750

3 units

Non sufficit orbis (the world is not enough) became the motto for King Philip II of Spain, whose empire touched nearly every part of the globe. Europe's expansion to Africa, Asia, and the Americas was a transforming event for world history and for its willing and unwilling participants. This course examines the religious, political, and economic forces driving the overseas expansion of Europe, compares the experience of European sailors, soldiers, and merchants in different parts of the world, and analyzes the effect of empire on the colonizers, the colonized, and the balance of world power. Topics covered include: Portuguese and Spanish conquests in the East and West Indies, religious conversion and resistance, trade routes and rivalries, colonial practices and indigenous influence, the establishment of Atlantic slavery, and the rise of the Dutch and English empires.