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I'll be covering mercantilism in a couple weeks.  Here are a few resources I found. They include two video clips, an essay from the Economist, and a mercantilism simulation. The first video clip is very short, but a good overview of the basic idea behind mercantilism, more exports than imports. It's only two minutes long and good for class. The second clip comes from Tom Richey and runs 18 minutes. He adds a lot more history and context to mercantilism and ties it to absolutism. Another resource includes an essay in the Economist called, What is Mercantilism .  The author shows how mercantilist themes continue in current debates. For example, he notes that "China and Germany are often envied for their trade surpluses or seen as economic models, and China especially has very deliberately subsidised exports." Finally, here's a simulation students can play. The game includes 11 role-playing cards. Each card has a set of circumstances "that slant “your” perspect

Studying the Ottoman Empire? 15-minute History, a podcast from the University of Texas at Austin, has a terrific two-part history about the Ottomans. The first part reviews the origins of the empire and the second part considers the empire's long decline and whether the empire was truly the Sick Man of Europe by the 20th century. In addition to listening to the podcast, you can also read the transcript which might be good for students who don't have the patience for listening. The host of 15 Minute History is Christopher Rose, Outreach Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and his guest for the two-part podcast was Barbara Petzen, Director of  Middle East Connections. The podcast includes a link to a primary source collection about the Ottoman Empire from Primary Source.  You can read, for example, about the devshirme system in a short document called " The Tribute of Children, 1493. "

In this 2012 review of Mughal art, William Dalrymple offers a terrific portrait of the Mughal emperors -- Akbar, Humayun, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. All four promoted and patronized art.  That art was colorful and liberal, at least by Muslim standards. Persians, for example, were scandalized by the art calling it "too ripe and rounded' and "too bright and colorful."  According to Dalrymple, that was because the art did not show the "restraint and geometric perfection of Safavid painting." The Mughal love for art and its emphasis on liberalism shows a strong humanist streak in many Mughal emperors and especially, Akbar. According to Dalrymple,  Akbar "succeeded in uniting Hindus and Muslims in the service of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious state, promoting Hindus in his civil service, marrying Hindu princesses and entrusting his army to the Rajput ruler of Jaipur." Akbar's love for art included religious Christian art like frescoes of Christain

Wow! The first map below is very likely the one that Columbus used to chart his voyage to Asia.  And the second map shows Europeans what America looked like after the voyage of Columbus and Vespucci. It shows the existence of the Pacific Ocen for the first time. Here's the story about the first map , the one Columbus probably used, from Wired Magazine. And here is a story about the second map , the one that was made after Columbus returned. It's from the Smithsonian Magazine. the first map was made by Henricus Martellus, probably in 1491.