Overview

The Portuguese and Spanish sailed to distant lands to find wealth. Hernan Cortes landed on the coast of Mexico and wiped out the Aztecs. Francisco Pizarro did the same thing to the Incas. Then to find laborers to work on their newly acquired land they captured Africans to be slaves. These conquests had a huge impact on the world. Monarchies developed and the world began to transition from medieval nations to kings and monarchies. Louis the XIV made it very clear that the king of the region made the laws, and no one else had any say in it. Eventually after quite a few overbearing kings, Parliament became the maker of laws not the monarchy.

When the monarchs ruled the land they taxed people to pay for their lavish lifestyles. They also developed armies to protect themselves from being invaded. Religious uniformity became increasingly popular. The Jewish population was kicked out of Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The 30 years war started in Bohemia which was mostly Protestant. They were angry with their new King Ferdinand's intolerance towards their religious beliefs. So they threw two of his Catholic advisors out of a window.

During the French Wars of Religion, which started in 1562, the aristocracy and monarchy both battled for supremacy. King James issued a Declaration of Indulgence, which allowed office holders the freedom of worship. William and Mary took over the throne after King James was overthrown. They formed a Constitutional Settlement to address issues such as: elections to parliament were to be free of royal interference and Civil law would govern the army not a royal.

The Protestant Reformation changed families. In Protestant areas, the home became the center of Christian life not the church. The role of men and women changed dramatically as well.