Unit 6 Economic and Migration Patterns (Consequences of Industrialization) — AP World History: Modern

Global economic development (Unit 6)

How industrialization reshaped the world economy into a tightly connected system with regions taking on specialized roles (manufacturing/finance in industrial states; raw materials/cash crops in many of Asia, Africa, and Latin America).

Industrialization

The shift to factory-based production and industrial technologies that increased demand for raw materials, expanded markets for manufactured goods, and changed global economic power.

Uneven development

A pattern where industrialization creates unequal outcomes: some regions rapidly accumulate capital, technology, and infrastructure, while others grow in dependent ways tied to outside demand and investment.

Global division of labor

Industrial-era specialization in which core regions produced higher-value manufactured goods and controlled finance/shipping, while many peripheral regions exported raw materials and imported finished goods.

Core industrial regions

Industrialized states (e.g., parts of Western Europe, the United States, Japan) that specialized in manufacturing and finance and often controlled shipping, banking, and insurance.

Peripheral/dependent regions

Colonized or economically dependent areas that often specialized in exporting commodities (raw materials/cash crops) with fluctuating prices and relied on imported manufactured goods.

Commodity export economy

An economy centered on producing a few export commodities (agricultural or mineral), making growth and government revenue highly sensitive to world price changes.

Cash crops

Agricultural products grown primarily for sale/export rather than local consumption; expanded in scale under industrial-era global markets, sometimes reducing local food production.

Steamships

Industrial shipping technology that lowered travel times and costs, made routes more predictable, and helped integrate global trade and migration.

Railroads (extraction-oriented)

Rail lines that linked mines/plantations to ports to move commodities for export—often built to serve extraction rather than connect local markets.

Telegraphs

Long-distance communication technology that allowed coordination of prices, shipments, and credit across regions, tightening global market integration.

Capital export

The flow of investment money from industrial powers to other regions to finance projects like railways, mines, plantations, and ports—often increasing foreign leverage.

Foreign investment

Overseas financing and ownership stakes (e.g., in railways, mines, plantations, utilities, ports) that could shape what a country produces and who profits.

Economic imperialism

Control or influence over another region mainly through economic tools (loans, investment, concessions, trade privileges) rather than direct annexation or formal colonial rule.

Formal imperialism

Imperial control through direct political rule (colonies/protectorates with strong administrative authority).

Informal empire

A situation where a state remains officially independent but has its economic choices heavily shaped by stronger powers through unequal arrangements (economic imperialism).

Unequal trade arrangements (unequal treaties)

Coerced agreements that grant powerful states trade advantages (e.g., low tariffs and special rights), limiting the weaker state’s ability to control commerce and regulation.

Treaty ports

Ports opened to foreign trade under unequal agreements, often giving foreign merchants special access and advantages; associated with reduced sovereignty (e.g., in 19th-century China).

Spheres of influence

Areas within a nominally independent state where foreign powers claimed dominant economic privileges and influence without fully colonizing the entire country.

Concessions

Granted rights or privileges to foreign powers/companies (e.g., to build railroads, extract minerals, manage ports), often reducing local control over key resources or infrastructure.

Debt dependency (financial pressure)

A condition where reliance on foreign loans lets creditors influence policy (e.g., control of customs revenue, demands for repayment priority, lowered tariffs, or added concessions).

Push factors

Conditions that drive people to leave (e.g., land loss, rural poverty, taxes payable in cash, political conflict, persecution).

Pull factors

Conditions that attract migrants to a destination (e.g., higher wages, factory jobs, promised land in settler colonies, chain migration networks).

Enablers (of migration)

Factors that make migration possible at large scale, such as steam transport, recruitment networks, labor contracts, and imperial connections.

Indentured/contract labor

Labor migration under time-limited contracts (expanded after abolition in many regions), often shaped by deception, debt, and restricted rights; legally distinct from slavery but could be harsh and coercive.