Unit 1: Connecting Hemispheres

Students will understand how global connections reshape societies through interaction, conflict, and exchange. They will recognize that historical change often comes from contact between cultures rather than isolated development. Students will develop an understanding of causation, especially how economic motives, belief systems, and political power drive exploration and expansion. They will analyze continuity and change by examining how societies adapt, resist, or transform when exposed to outside forces. Students will also build perspective by comparing how different regions experienced and interpreted early globalization.

Students will analyze primary and secondary sources from multiple regions to identify perspectives and biases. They will compare societies before and after contact and discuss change over time. Students will engage in structured discussions and debates about motivations for exploration and the consequences of global interaction. They will write analytical responses that connect causes to effects and evaluate competing historical interpretations. Students will synthesize information across regions to identify global patterns rather than isolated events.

Students will make comparative global connections through written analysis, visual representations, and short reflections examining how at least three regions were affected by increased hemispheric connection.

Students must address causes, consequences, and perspective, and make an argument about whether early globalization created more continuity or more disruption.