Everything you need to master Unit 6 — the Industrial Revolution, the new wave of European imperialism, the rise of Marxism, the global migration of workers, and the resistance movements that shaped the 19th-century world.
12–15% of the AP exam
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Unit 6 covers the consequences of industrialization from 1750 to 1900 CE — when the Industrial Revolution that began in Britain transformed economies, generated unprecedented wealth and inequality, drove a new wave of European imperialism across Africa and Asia, and triggered massive global migration patterns.
The College Board wants you to understand how European maritime exploration connected the Americas to Afro-Eurasia for the first time, the Columbian Exchange that transformed biology and demography, the rise of the Atlantic slave trade as the economic engine of New World plantations, and how mercantilist policies and joint-stock companies built the first global economy.
Unit 6 makes up roughly 12–15% of the AP World History exam — one of the most heavily weighted units — and its industrial and imperial themes set up the global conflicts of the 20th century.
Key terms preview
A taste of what you'll find in The Essentials and Flashcards.
Industrial Revolution
Shift from agrarian to industrial economies starting in Britain ~1760; powered by coal, steam, and factories that transformed labor and trade.
Imperialism
19th-century European colonization of Africa and Asia, driven by industrial demand for raw materials and markets.
Scramble for Africa
Rapid European colonization of nearly all of Africa (1881–1914), formalized at the Berlin Conference.
Marxism
Karl Marx's theory that history is driven by class struggle and that workers would eventually overthrow capitalism.
Meiji Restoration
Japan's 1868 self-modernization program — rapid industrialization and Westernization to avoid being colonized.
Sepoy Mutiny
1857 Indian uprising against British East India Company rule; led to direct British Crown control of India.
1. Industrialization created unprecedented wealth — and unprecedented inequality
The Industrial Revolution generated wealth on a scale never seen before. But that wealth was distributed unequally between industrialized nations and the rest of the world, and between capitalists and workers.
2. Industrial power drove a new wave of imperialism
Industrial economies needed raw materials and markets. By 1914, European powers controlled over 80% of the world's land surface — a direct consequence of industrialization.
3. Colonized peoples resisted imperialism in diverse ways
Resistance took many forms: armed rebellion (Sepoy Mutiny, Zulu Wars, Ethiopian victory at Adwa), cultural preservation, religious revival, and self-modernization (Japan's Meiji Restoration).
4. Industrialization triggered massive global migration
Workers moved from Europe to the Americas; indentured laborers from India and China went to British colonies; formerly enslaved people navigated freedom. These movements reshaped global demographics.