Timelines published by our users.
Advanced Placement World History: Modern. This deck covers Unit 4: 1450-1750. I will add more later.
Last updated
Apr 16, 2026
Cards
45
Dates
56
Links
07
Density
32
Columbus’s [1492] Atlantic voyage connected Afro-Eurasia and the Americas, creating sustained transoceanic contact and exchange.
Ferdinand and Isabella ordered Jews to leave Spain, reshaping Iberian religious life and diaspora patterns.
Spain and Portugal agreed to divide non-European claims, structuring early imperial competition and colonization.
1 linkJohn Cabot’s voyage gave England an early basis for territorial claims in the North Atlantic world. Cabot was sent to America to look for a northwest passage by Henry VII. He claimed lands from Newfoundland south to the Chesapeake Bay.
Vasco da Gama’s voyage around Africa linked Europe directly to Indian Ocean trade networks.
Pedro Cabral’s landfall strengthened Portugal’s claim to Brazil and tied it to Atlantic imperial expansion.
1 linkThe encomienda was a Spanish labour system that rewarded Spain's conquistadors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including military protection and education. In practice, the conquered were subject to conditions that closely resembled instances of forced labour and slavery. In [1503], the crown began to formally grant encomiendas to conquistadors and officials as rewards for service to the crown.
1 linkPortuguese forces built and fortified Goa, making it a strategic base for Indian Ocean trade and power.
1 linkPortugal seized Malacca to control a major choke point in Southeast Asian maritime commerce.
1 link[Start]
The Magellan expedition, sometimes termed the Magellan–Elcano expedition, was a Spanish expedition planned and led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It was the first circumnavigation of Earth. Its purpose was to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to open a trade route with the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in present-day Indonesia. Magellan didn't survive the trip; only 18 of 270 did. The nearly 3-year voyage achieved the first circumnavigation of Earth.
With Magellan’s arrival, Spain initiated formal claims in the Philippines, later consolidated by force.
Cortés and indigenous allies defeated the Aztec polity and established Spanish colonial rule in central Mexico.
[End]
The Magellan expedition, sometimes termed the Magellan–Elcano expedition, was a Spanish expedition planned and led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It was the first circumnavigation of Earth. Its purpose was to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to open a trade route with the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in present-day Indonesia. Magellan didn't survive the trip; only 18 of 270 did. The nearly 3-year voyage achieved the first circumnavigation of Earth.
[Start]
A major uprising in the Holy Roman Empire linked social grievances to religious upheaval and was violently crushed.
[End]
A major uprising in the Holy Roman Empire linked social grievances to religious upheaval and was violently crushed.
Mughal rule began in South Asia, creating one of the era’s most powerful land-based empires.
1 linkJacques Cartier’s second voyage advanced French geographic knowledge and made claims in northeastern North America. Reaching the St. Lawrence, he sailed upriver for the first time, and reached the Iroquoian capital of Stadacona, where Chief Donnacona ruled.
The New Laws, also known as the New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians, sought to restrict indigenous enslavement and curb encomienda abuses in Spain’s American colonies. They were issued by King Charles I of Spain.
1 linkBartolomé de Las Casas published a major condemnation of Spanish colonial brutality in the Americas.
[Start]
Akbar expanded Mughal authority while promoting pragmatic religious tolerance across a diverse empire.
1 linkSpanish forces returned and launched sustained conquest efforts to consolidate rule in the Philippine archipelago.
Spain established St. Augustine in Florida, later recognized as the oldest continuous European settlement in today’s United States.
Spain finished defeating major Inca resistance, deepening colonial extraction and governance in the Andes.
Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci reached Macau, expanding early modern religious and intellectual exchange with China.
English naval victory over the Spanish Armada weakened Spain’s maritime dominance and encouraged rival expansion.
1 linkToyotomi Hideyoshi ordered peasants disarmed, reinforcing social hierarchy and centralized control in Japan.
Pueblo resistance at Acoma challenged Spanish coercion and highlighted limits of colonial control in New Mexico.
[Start]
England chartered the East India Company, creating a joint-stock vehicle for Asian trade and later imperial expansion.
1 link[Established]
The Amsterdam stock exchange is considered the oldest "modern" securities market in the world. Dutch financial institutions scaled joint-stock investment and helped finance long-distance imperial trade.
2 links[Start]
The VOC combined private capital and state backing to project Dutch commercial power across the Indian Ocean and East Asia.
2 links[Start]
The Tokugawa regime consolidated political authority and inaugurated Japan’s last feudal military government.
[End]
Akbar expanded Mughal authority while promoting pragmatic religious tolerance across a diverse empire.
1 linkSamuel de Champlain’s expeditions expanded French mapping, alliances, and influence in interior North America. He made between 21 and 29 voyages across the Atlantic Ocean during his career, created the first accurate maps of North America's eastern coastline and the Great Lakes region, combining direct observation with information provided by Indigenous peoples, and established Quebec in this year.
France established Quebec as a durable colonial foothold tied to the fur trade and missionary activity.
He landed in North America on behalf of the Dutch East India Company and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area. Looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia, he sailed up the Hudson River, which was later named after him, and thereby laid the foundation for Dutch colonization of the region.
[Start]
A major European conflict with religious and dynastic dimensions reshaped balance of power and state development.
The Dutch displaced Portuguese influence in key spice routes, and the English. After razing the established Jayakarta, they established Batavia in this year. The area corresponds to present-day Jakarta, Indonesia. Batavia became the center of the Dutch East India Company's trading network in Asia.
Ana Nzinga took power in Ndongo and became a key African leader resisting Portuguese expansion.
[Start]
Manchu conquest established Qing rule over China, creating a new imperial order under non-Han leadership.
[End]
A major European conflict with religious and dynastic dimensions reshaped balance of power and state development.
England seized Jamaica from Spain, turning it into a major plantation colony in the Atlantic system.
Pueblo and Apache resistance in New Mexico expelled Spanish control for years and challenged the imperial authority.
[Start]
Sustained war between Marathas and Mughals eroded Mughal control and shifted South Asian political power.
James II’s accession heightened confessional and constitutional tensions inside the English monarchy.
William’s intervention displaced James II and reinforced parliamentary constraints on royal authority in England.
Peter the Great visited Western Europe to study military and technical methods for Russian state reform.
[Start]
The death of Charles II of Spain in November 1700 without children resulted in a succession crisis. Philip of Anjou was backed by his grandfather Louis XIV of France. His opponent, Archduke Charles of Austria, was supported by the Grand Alliance. After many intermediate battles, Philip was confirmed as King of Spain and, in return, renounced his place in the French line of succession, while Britain retained the Spanish ports of Gibraltar and Menorca along with trade concessions in the Americas.
[End]
Sustained war between Marathas and Mughals eroded Mughal control and shifted South Asian political power.
[End]
The death of Charles II of Spain in November 1700 without children resulted in a succession crisis. Philip of Anjou was backed by his grandfather Louis XIV of France. His opponent, Archduke Charles of Austria, was supported by the Grand Alliance. After many intermediate battles, Philip was confirmed as King of Spain and, in return, renounced his place in the French line of succession, while Britain retained the Spanish ports of Gibraltar and Menorca along with trade concessions in the Americas.
[Start]
Maroons fought British colonial forces in Jamaica and secured treaty recognition of autonomy in parts of the island.
[End]
Maroons fought British colonial forces in Jamaica and secured treaty recognition of autonomy in parts of the island.
[Start]
A global conflict involving most of the European great powers, fought primarily in Europe and the Americas. One of the opposing alliances was led by Great Britain, primarily supported by Prussia. The other alliance was led by France, backed by Spain, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. As a result of the war, France's supremacy in Europe was halted, Prussia confirmed its status as a great power, France lost its possessions in North America, while Britain established its commercial dominance in India.
[End]
A global conflict involving most of the European great powers, fought primarily in Europe and the Americas. One of the opposing alliances was led by Great Britain, primarily supported by Prussia. The other alliance was led by France, backed by Spain, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. As a result of the war, France's supremacy in Europe was halted, Prussia confirmed its status as a great power, France lost its possessions in North America, while Britain established its commercial dominance in India.
[End]
The VOC combined private capital and state backing to project Dutch commercial power across the Indian Ocean and East Asia.
2 links[End]
The Tokugawa regime consolidated political authority and inaugurated Japan’s last feudal military government.
[End]
Manchu conquest established Qing rule over China, creating a new imperial order under non-Han leadership.