ANNO atheneum 2

History for junior high; part two for the VWO level. This textbook covers the Early  Modern Era, beginning in the late 15th century and lasting until the early 19th century. The first chapter deals with the renewal of knowledge and the introduction of new ideologies, including the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Eighty Years War and the Dutch Golden Age. In the second chapter, the wealth that fueled the changes in the first chapter are traced back to their origins during the Age of Discovery and Conquest. European traders discovered new trade routes and cultures that brought prosperity to Europe, but at great cost to indigenous peoples, including the Indian cultures of the Americas, such as the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Incas. This is also the time wherein the darker side of our country’s history takes place: the slave trade. The events of the first half of the early Modern Era would spark the revolutions of the second half, especially during the 18th century, when Democratic Revolutions occurred in the United States, France and the Republic of the United Netherlands. The French Revolution had a great impact on Europe: while it promised the ideals of freedom, equality, and brotherhood to all, but dragged France and Europe into a series of brutal wars.