Essay --

1. The 4 most important technological developments were round-hulled sailing ships, the compass, and improved map-making innovations, and knowledge of explosives/gunpowder weapons. These round-hulled ships allowed for further voyages into the Atlantic Ocean and for being able to carry large amounts of goods to trade in other places. The compass gave European’s the navigation tool they always needed to insure the y were going the correct way, allowing for more daring voyages to take place. Improved map making innovations also gave the Europeans a better idea of where they were and gave more confidence for more exploring and traveling to trade in distant lands. Finally gunpowder weapons gave Europeans the military advantages they needed over all the other civilizations in the world and allowed them to come and take port cities or entire civilizations. 2. Hongwu made notable reforms to the scholar-gentry influence and developed ways to check the abuses of other factions. He also tried to get more loyal bureaucrats by adding public beatings for disloyal or corrupted officials. In the first few years of the Ming dynasty, an economic boom happened as China began to contact other civilizations overseas. Population boom also occurred due to introduced crops from the Americas such as maize and potatoes. The merchant class became very wealthy off the economic boom and used their wealth to purchase land, increasing their social status. Chinese expansion occurred at a rate that a never been seen before. The Chinese began to push further out of Central Asia. The main motives for this were to explore other lands and to spread the glory of the Ming Empire. 3. Europeans Americas Cows Potatoes Horses Maize Diseases Sweet potatoes Onions Peanut... ...n put Confucian Scholars at the top and tried to cast aside anything other than Confucian thinking. Hindus became under attack by Mughal leaders that wanted to convert more to Islam. As he Mughals kept pushing deeper into India, tensions heated up as more people converted from Hinduism to Islam. After Newton published his book, it showed of a universe with simple laws and rules. It used rational hypothesis and generalization. It relied less on blind traditions of religious faith. Soon writers affected by the new science, although not scientist, began to attack traditional religious ideas such as miracles. Political change was complicated due to the absolute monarchy that arose in France vs the parliamentary monarchy that arose in England and Holland. These more effective central governments helped Europeans catch up in political forms that had been developed before