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Continuity & Change
1450–1750

Master the AP World History skill of identifying what persisted and what transformed during the early modern period: from maritime empires to the Columbian Exchange.

AP World History

What Are Continuity and Change?

Continuity
Patterns, institutions, beliefs, or practices that persisted over time despite pressures for transformation.
Change
Significant shifts in political systems, economies, social structures, or cultural practices within a defined period.

Why This Skill Matters

History is not a simple list of events. The AP exam rewards students who can identify underlying structures that endure across centuries alongside the disruptions that reshape societies. Continuity and Change analysis appears in:

1
Short Answer Questions (SAQs): "Identify one continuity AND one change in trade networks between 1450 and 1750."
2
Long Essay Questions (LEQs): Prompts that explicitly ask you to evaluate the extent of change vs. continuity.
3
Document-Based Questions (DBQs): Documents often show tensions between traditional practices and new forces of change.

The Early Modern World

The period from 1450 to 1750 witnessed an unprecedented acceleration of global connections. Yet many deep structures of human civilization remained remarkably stable.

1450 1600 1750 Columbian Exchange Atlantic Slave Trade Expands Enlightenment Ideas Patriarchal Social Structures Persist Land-Based Empires Continue (Ottoman, Mughal, Qing) CHANGES CONTINUITIES

The Analytical Framework

AP World History uses the CCOT framework (Continuity and Change Over Time). To earn full marks, your analysis must address four components:

1
Identify a specific continuity: Name a practice, institution, or belief that persisted throughout the period.
2
Identify a specific change: Name a transformation that occurred during the period, with a clear before/after.
3
Explain causation: Analyze why the continuity persisted or why the change occurred: what forces drove it?
4
Use specific evidence: Support each claim with concrete historical examples tied to a time and place.

Continuity vs. Change: Key Distinction

Continuity Change
Definition What stayed the same What became different
Key Question Why did it persist? What caused the shift?
Example (Trade) Silk Road routes remain active Atlantic trade eclipses overland routes
Example (Social) Caste system endures in South Asia New racial hierarchies emerge in Americas
Common Trap Confusing with "nothing happened" Overstating: total break from the past

Major Changes of the Period

Maritime Empires
European powers (Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, England) built ocean-based empires that fundamentally altered global trade patterns.
Columbian Exchange
Transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and peoples between hemispheres: creating new ecosystems and devastating Indigenous populations.
Coerced Labor Systems
The Atlantic slave trade, encomienda, and mita systems created new forms of forced labor tied to global commodity production.

Major Continuities of the Period

Land-Based Empires
The Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal, and Qing empires continued to dominate vast territories using established bureaucratic and military systems.
Patriarchal Systems
Gender hierarchies remained deeply entrenched across virtually all societies despite other political and economic transformations.
Religious Influence
Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism continued to shape law, culture, and governance across their respective regions.

How to Apply the Skill

1
Define the category: Are you examining political, economic, social, or cultural patterns? Choose one lens.
2
Establish a baseline: Describe the situation at the start of the period (around 1450). What was the status quo?
3
Trace developments: What events, processes, or forces acted on that baseline between 1450 and 1750?
4
Assess the endpoint: By 1750, what was the same as 1450 (continuity) and what was fundamentally different (change)?
5
Explain why: Identify the causes of both the continuity (structural resistance) and the change (disruptive forces).

Example: Trade Networks

1450 Trade Routes: ✓ Silk Road (overland) ✓ Indian Ocean maritime ✓ Trans-Saharan Key Players: Arab, Chinese, Indian merchants dominate CHANGE 1750 Trade Routes: ✓ Indian Ocean (still active) ★ Atlantic triangular trade ★ Pacific Manila galleons Key Players: European joint-stock companies now dominant

Example: Labor Systems

Labor is one of the most tested CCOT topics. The period 1450–1750 saw dramatic transformations in who worked, how they were forced to work, and why.

Continuity
Serfdom persisted in Russia (until 1861) and parts of Eastern Europe. Peasant agriculture remained the backbone of most economies.
Change
The Atlantic slave trade created an entirely new, racialized system of chattel slavery on a scale unprecedented in human history.

Example: State Power

1453
Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople
Consolidates land-based imperial power: continuity of gunpowder empires
1526
Mughal Empire Founded
Babur establishes Mughal rule in India: land-based empire model continues
1588
Defeat of Spanish Armada
Signals the rise of maritime power as a new model of state authority
1644
Qing Dynasty Established
Manchu conquest: new dynasty, but continuity of Confucian bureaucratic governance
1689
English Bill of Rights
Limits monarchical power: change toward constitutional governance in Europe

The Columbian Exchange

Americas Sent to Afro-Eurasia: Potatoes, maize, tomatoes Tobacco, cacao, rubber Silver (Potosi) Impact on Americas: 90% Indigenous population decline from disease New coerced labor systems Crops, silver → ← Disease, horses, wheat Afro-Eurasia Sent to Americas: Smallpox, measles, flu Horses, cattle, pigs Wheat, sugar cane Impact on Afro-Eurasia: Population growth from new calorie-rich crops Silver fuels commerce

Culture and Religion

Continuity
Major world religions continued to shape law, governance, and daily life. Confucianism guided Qing China. Sharia governed Ottoman courts. Hinduism structured Indian society.
Change
Syncretic belief systems emerged. Christianity blended with Indigenous practices in Latin America. Sikhism combined Hindu and Islamic elements. The Protestant Reformation fractured Western Christianity.

Writing a CCOT Response

Use this template when answering a Continuity and Change essay or SAQ prompt:

1
Thesis: "Between 1450 and 1750, [topic] experienced significant change in [specific area] due to [cause], while [specific area] remained continuous because [reason]."
2
Change paragraph: State the change → provide specific evidence → explain the cause → connect to broader historical processes.
3
Continuity paragraph: State the continuity → provide specific evidence → explain why it persisted → note any exceptions or nuances.
4
Conclusion: Evaluate: was the change more significant than the continuity, or vice versa? This earns the complexity point.

Common Mistakes

✕ Only Listing Changes
Students often write only about what changed and forget to analyze continuities. The prompt asks for both: you lose points for ignoring either.
✕ Vague Evidence
Writing "trade changed" is insufficient. You must specify: "The Atlantic triangular trade replaced the Silk Road as the primary engine of global commerce."
✕ Missing Causation
Identifying a change without explaining why it occurred. Always connect changes to specific causes: technology, disease, conquest, economic demand.

Question 1 of 5

Which of the following best represents a continuity in global trade between 1450 and 1750?

Question 2 of 5

Which statement best describes the point of disagreement between the two historians?

Question 3 of 5

The Atlantic slave trade represented a change in labor systems primarily because:

Question 4 of 5

A strong CCOT thesis must include which of the following elements?

Question 5 of 5

The Qing Dynasty's establishment in 1644 is best understood as: