BEFORE YOU WATCH: The Spanish Empire, Silver, and Runaway Inflation - Crash Course World History #25

Before you watch

While you watch

1. How was the Aztec government and society structured?
2. How did the Inca Empire’s administration work, and what were the differences between how the Aztec and Inca treated conquered peoples?
3. What resource did the Spanish find instead of gold, and how did they extract this resource?
4. What were the economic results of Spanish silver mining in the Americas?
5. What other country had a problem with inflation? How did they try to deal with it, and were they successful?
6. What were some effects of China’s new tax structure in the sixteenth century?
7. What were the overall global effects of Spanish silver mining?

After you watch

1. What evidence does this video provide to explain the continuities and changes in economic and labor systems from 1450 to 1750?
2. John Green argues that Spanish silver mining had a huge impact that was both global and long-lasting. He claims that “this process led to the life that you have today, one where I can teach you history through the magic of the Internet.” Is his argument convincing? What other sources or facts support, extend, or challenge his argument?