Download AP World History

AP World History
Ms. Parks and Mr. Kroeger
Primary Text: Stearns, Peter, et.al. World Civilizations: The Global Experience. Pearson
Longman, 2005.
Supplemental Texts: Duiker, William J., et.al. World History. Thomson Wadsworth, 2004.
Spielvogel, Jackson J., World History: The Human Odyssey. West Educational Publishing. 1998.
Armstrong, Monty, et.al. The Princeton Review. Cracking the AP World History Exam. 20042005 Edition. Random House, Inc.
Stearns, Peter, Stephen S. Gosch, and Erwin P. Grieshaber. Documents in World History.
Vols. 1
& 2. New York: Longman. All editions published from 1998 to the present.
Themes (C3)
This course follows the six overarching themes that receive approximately equal attention
throughout the course.
1. The dynamics of change and continuity across the world history periods covered in this
course, and the causes and processes involved in major changes of these dynamics.
2. Patterns and effects of interaction among societies and regions: trade, war, diplomacy, and
international organizations.
3. The effects of technology, economic, and demography on people and the environment
(population growth and decline, disease, labor systems, manufacturing, migrations, agriculture,
weaponry).
4. Systems of social structure and gender structure (comparing major features within and among
societies, and assessing change and continuity).
5. Cultural, intellectual, and religious developments, including interactions among and within
societies.
6. Changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward states and political
identities (political culture), including the emergence of the nation-state (types of political
organization).
Course Outline
The course will have five basic units:
1. Foundations
14%
2. 1000-1450
22%
3. 1450-1750
22%
4. 1750-1914
20%
5. 1914 to the present
22%
3 weeks
4 weeks
4 weeks
3 weeks
4 weeks
The AP World History course is an academic course that meets for 18 consecutive weeks for 90
minutes each day. Students are expected to participate in class discussion, develop note taking
skills from lecture, group projects, individual and group classroom presentations, analysis of
original documents, map work, definition of important terms, audio-visual aids, and Unit Tests
containing both objective and essay test questions. The course is taught in chronological order.
Course Design
The AP course in World History invites students to take a global view of historical processes and
contacts between people in different societies, with an emphasis on the past thousand years.
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Students will be expected to learn selective factual knowledge in addition to certain analytical
skills, Major interpretive issues among historians will be explored, as well as the techniques
used in interpreting both historical evidence and secondary sources. Students will pay particular
attention to change and continuity over time, to the characteristic institutions and values of
societies, and to the way such institutions and values are affected as a result of cultural contacts
among peoples. In assigned readings and class discussions, there will be an emphasis on critical
thinking. (C1,C5, C6)
The course will be rigorous and rewarding. Attention will also be given to preparing students
with the skills necessary to engage the AP World History Examination given in the spring.
There is emphasis on reading and taking good notes. The ultimate benefits of this course will be
an informed view of how the world has dev eloped to the start of the third millennium, plus
stimulating intellectual growth. (C7)
Course Requirements:
C1: Periodization guidelines and course themes form the organizing principles for dealing with
issues of change, continuity, and comparison throughout the course.
C2: Periodization guidelines are used to select relevant course content from 8000 BCE to the
present.
C3: The six overarching themes articulated in the Course Description receive approximately
equal attention throughout the course.
C4: The course provides balanced global coverage, with Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe
all represented. No more than 30% of course time is devoted to European history.
C5: The course teaches students to analyze evidence and interpretations presented in historical
scholarship.
C6: The course includes extensive instruction in analysis and interpretation of a wide variety of
primary sources, such as documentary material, maps, statistical tables, works of art, and
pictorial and graphic materials.
C7: The course provides students with frequent practice in writing analytical and interpretive
essays such as document-based questions and thematic essays addressing issues of change,
continuity, and comparison.
Course Outline
Unit I (2 Weeks): World History Prior to 1000
Chapters 1 – 7 and 10 in primary text
(C1, C2, C4, C5, C7)
Fundamental Questions
1. What is world history and why should we study it?
a. What do we mean by geography and why is it important in the study of world history?
b. Does history develop in a deterministic fashion, or does free will apply?
c. Is history governed by personal or impersonal forces-or both?
d. What is “cultural diffusion” and why is it so important?
2. Prehistory and the Neolithic Revolution
a. What were the most important developments in prehistory?
b. What were the positive aspects of hunting and gathering as a way of life?
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c. What was the Neolithic Revolution and why is it considered so highly significant?
d. How do we define the words “civilization” and “civilized”?
3. Early River Valley Civilizations
a. Along what rivers were the early river valley civilizations located, and how were these
civilizations shaped by the characteristics of these rivers?
b. How much importance should we attach to the development of writing and metallurgy?
4. Ancient China
a. Why is so much importance attached to The Middle Kingdom and The Mandate of
Heaven?
b. What are the essential ideals found in Legalism, Taoism, and Confucianism?
c. Why is the Han Dynasty so highly regarded? What did it achieve?
5. Ancient India
a. What were the building blocks of Indian civilization, as established by the Aryans?
b. Why are Hinduism and Buddhism known as transcendental religions?
c. Is the caste system best viewed as a means of dealing with and controlling people?
6. The Hebrews
What are the key elements in their story as a “chosen people,” and why do many consider
their development of ethical monotheism as their defining contribution?
7. The Greeks
a. What were the most important contributions of the Greeks, in politics, religion, science,
and aesthetic values?
b. If the Greeks are so great, why didn’t their greatness as a thriving society last longer?
c. What did Alexander the Great accomplish, and did he spread Greek ideals?
8. The Romans
a. What were the most significant accomplishments in the Republic and the Empire?
b. Is it true that the greatest talents of the Romans consisted of building things that lasted
and knowing how to govern large and disparate territories?
c. How significant is it that Christianity began and developed in a roman world?
d. What major positions are claimed by those who debate the causes of Rome’s decline
and fall?
9. Muhammad and the Rise of Islam
a. What are the distinctive features of this religion as expressed its five pillars?
b. What was the major contribution of Islam to the nomadic peoples of the Arabian
Peninsula?
10. The Early Middle Ages
a. Were the Dark Ages really all that dark?
b. Is it fair to say that “civilization” failed to exist during the early middle ages?
Assessments: (C5, C6, C7)
1. Maps
2. Definition of major concepts
3. Essay: Discuss the positive aspects of hunting and gathering as a way of life compared
to changes caused by the Neolithic Revolution, with special regard for the changing roles of men
and women.
4. Group Assignment: Production of information in the form of an ancient “newspaper”.
5. Unit I Exam: Objective and essay.
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Unit II (4 Weeks): 1000 to 1450
Chapters 8, 9, and 11-15 in primary text
(C1, C2, C3, C4, C6)
Fundamental Questions
1. African Civilizations
a. What are the major achievements of African civilizations like Mali and Sundiata, the
Sudanic states, Songhay, and the Swahili coast?
b. What are some of the many similarities and differences among the many diverse
civilizations in Africa?
2. The Byzantine Empire
a. What role did the Byzantine Empire play in the spread of civilization to all of Eastern
Europe?
b. How did Christianity shape the Byzantine Empire?
c. How does the role of women in power in the Byzantine Empire affect the view of
women?
3. Europe in the High Middle Ages
a. Did the great achievements of this period, ranging from Gothic architecture to
flourishing universities, rest on an economic base? If so, how and why?
b. What characterized feudalism and how did it differ from manorialism?
c. Who were the Benedictines and why were they so influential?
d. What distinguished the conflict between King Henry II and Thomas Becket?
e. Have the Crusades been overemphasized in terms of historical significance?
f. How do you evaluate the significance of the Black Death and the Hundred Years War
as causes of the breakup of the Middle Ages?
4. The Americas
a. Did Polynesians travel to the Americas by boat?
b. Why didn’t the Amerindians develop the wheel or metallurgy?
5. China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
a. How influential was Buddhism?
b. In terms of the cultural uses of technology, why do you think the Chinese used their
invention of gunpowder for fireworks and not for cannon?
c. How interested were the Chinese in seafaring trade and in using the compass to
sharpen their navigational skills to open new markets?
d. What distinguishes the Ming dynasty?
e. Why didn’t the Chinese make more of Admiral Zhen he’s voyages to India and Africa?
f. What characterized Japan’s relationship with China during this period, and to what
degree were the Japanese successful in developing their own indigenous culture?
g. Why is The Tale of Genji so highly regarded as a novel and cultural indicator?
h. How effective was sinification of Korea and Vietnam during this time period?
6. Eurasia and the Steppe Peoples
a. What and where are the steppes?
b. How do you account for the rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongols?
c. Why did the Mongols become assimilated into distant lands and lose their distinctive
culture?
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Assessment: (C5, C7)
1. Read: U.S. News and World Report, August 16-23, 1999. How do you evaluate the
achievements of these civilizations in 1000 C.E.: Mali and Timbuktu, Muslims in India, Baghdad
and the Abassids, the Byzantine Empire, Vikings, Moorish Spain and China’s Song Dynasty?
Submit a 1,000 word essay on this subject.
2. Maps
3. Definitions of important terms
4. Group Assignment: Student Power Point presentations about early African
civilizations.
5. Unit II Exam: Objective and Essay
Unit III (3 Weeks): 1450-1750
Chapters 16-22 in the primary text
(C1, C2, C3, C4, C6)
Fundamental Questions
1. What happened in the early years of this period that causes historians to label it as the
birth of modern history?
2. The Renaissance and the Reformation
a. Is the Renaissance more than an artistic movement? If so, how?
b. How did the Renaissance differ between northern and southern Europe?
c. What is Renaissance humanism and how did Erasmus exemplify it?
d. Is the Reformation more than a religious movement? How political was it?
e. What were the essential teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin?
f. How did the roman Catholic church respond to the Reformation, and what were the
responses to that response?
3. European Voyages of Discovery
What motivated these voyages and what exactly was discovered?
4. Technology and the Scientific Revolution
a. What led to the development of the printing press and what were the consequences?
b. What connections do you see between Gutenberg, Copernicus, and Galileo?
5. Europe and the Old Regime
a. What happened in the Agricultural Revolution and what impact did it have on
population trends?
b. How did mercantilism affect the competition for empire in India and the Americas?
c. What were the distinguishing features of political absolutism, and where were its
greatest successes and failures?
6. The World Beyond Europe
a. How important was Tsar Ivan IV in terms of the rise of Russian autocracy?
b. How did the arrival of the Europeans in the Americas transform those early cultures?
c. In the African slave trade, what countries were involved and where were the slaves
sent?
d. What separated Shi’a from Sunni Muslims?
e. How did Muslims manage to build a great empire? Upon what was this empire based?
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f. What makes Suleiman in the Ottoman Empire so “Magnificent”?
g. How did Japan and China react to contacts with the West?
h. What were the defining features of Mughal India?
Assessments: (C5, C6, C7)
1. Write: 500 word analysis of the effect of slavery on Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
2. Read: Alfred Crosby’s The Columbian Exchange. Write a 500 word analysis of what
was exchanged between the old and the new world, and so what?
3. Maps
4. Definitions of important terms
5. Unit III Exam: Objective and Essay
Unit IV (4 Weeks): 1750-1914
Chapters 23-27
(C1, C2, C3, C4, C6)
Fundamental Questions
1. Changes in Europe
a. To what degree were Isaac Newton and John Locke the most influential thinkers on
major developments in eighteenth-century Europe?
b. Who were the leading philosophers, and what was the nature of their criticism?
c. How do you account for the growing religious influence of Methodists, Quakers, and
evangelicals in European society?
2. Political and Economic Revolutions
a. What was the Industrial Revolution and to what degree is the term misleading?
b. How can the Industrial Revolution be compared to the Neolithic Revolution, in terms
of historical significance?
3. European Hegemony in the Nineteenth Century and the World’s Reaction
a. What accounts for this European hegemony? Was it European strength and confidence,
or the relative weakness of rivals?
b. For what reasons did the Ottomans, Moguls, and Safavids decline?
c. In China, what connections do you see between the Opium Wars and the T’ai-p’ing
Rebellion? What connection is there between population growth and the so-called high-level
equilibrium trap?
d. What was “shocking” about the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny?
e. What was different about Japan’ reaction to Commodore Perry’ visit?
f. How important was the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?
g. What are the explanations for the “new imperialism” in Africa after 1850?
4. New Developments, 1860-1914
a. What is similar, what is different in regard to Italian and German unification?
b. What makes the second Industrial Revolution different from the first?
c. How did the combined influence of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and
Albert Einstein cause a major revolution in Western thought?
d. What is important about the Boer War and its consequences?
e. What is important about the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05, and its consequences?
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f. What is important about the Meiji Restoration and Japan’s effort to “catch the West”?
Assessment: (C5, C6, C7)
1. View: Video “The Drive for Power” from J. Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man
Write essay explaining how the people involved in political and economic revolutions during this
era were often the same and shared much in common.
2. Read: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Write a 500 word report explaining why
this novel is so highly regarded and what we learn about the impact of imperialism on traditional
cultures.
3. Maps
4. Definitions of important terms
5. Group presentations: Student Power Point presentations about the Ottomans, Moguls,
and Safavids
6. Unit IV Exam: Objective and Essay
Unit V (4 Weeks): 1914 to the Present
Chapters 28-36 in primary text
(C1, C2, C3, C4, C6)
Fundamental Questions
1. World War I
a. For one of the most studied events of the twentieth century, what do you consider to be
the primary causes?
b. Why is it known widely as “The Great War”?
c. In view of it being known as a “literary war”, who were the war poets and what was
poignant and memorable about their poetry?
d. How do you explain Lenin’s success in bringing the Bolsheviks to power as a result of
the Russian Revolution?
e. What influence did the United States have by entering the war in 1917?
f. What attitudes help explain the Treaty of Versailles, and was this really a bad treaty?
2. The World Between the Two World Wars
a. What was the appeal of Hitler, Mussolini, and fascism?
b. What was the appeal of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and was it naïve?
c. What was the appeal of Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh in 1927?
d. How did the Great Depression affect different areas of the world, economically and
politically?
e. Why wasn’t there more resistance to Japan’s expansion in the Pacific?
3. World War II
a. How do you assess the influence of Winston Churchill in the outcome of this war?
b. Could the holocaust have been stopped by the Allies or by the Germans themselves?
c. Was Germany’s invasion of Russia the turning point in this war?
d. What is the conspiracy theory surrounding Pearl Harbor, and do you believe it?
e. How does watching the first thirty minutes of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” affect
your views of the Normandy invasion, Operation Overlord?
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f. What is the debate concerning the use of atomic weapons on Japan in 1945?
g. Did the war end in a way that contributed to the start of the Cold War?
4. The Dissolution of Empires and Decolonization
a. What made Gandhi so successful in confronting the British in India?
b. What made Nkrumah in Ghana distinctive?
c. Since they used partition in India, why didn’t the British use partition in Palestine to
create separate states for the Jews and the Palestinians?
d. By relying on glasnost and perestroika, did Gorbachev insure the breakup of the Soviet
empire?
e. Can China’s view of Hong Kong-two systems, one country-work? In Taiwan?
5. China After WWII
a. How do you account for the success of Mao Tse-tung, and for what ppurposes did he
use the Red Guard and the Great Leap forward?
b. Is china becoming westernized and a threat to the West simultaneously?
6. Modern Times
a. What accounts for the progress made in the civil rights movement and the women’s
movement?
b. What are the major conflicting viewpoints concerning the rise in the earth’s population
(to over 6 billion), the state of the environment, economic expansion among the “have nots”, and
space exploration?
c. Are there limits (and should there be limits) to advances in medicine and science, the
new frontier?
d. Are the great powers now limited in their ability to use great power?
e. What are the implications of a smaller, more interconnected world, now linked by
instant communications? Can the world handle the resulting rise in expectations?
f. What are your reactions to William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech and to
The Family of Man book of photographs?
Assessments: (C5, C6, C7)
1. Read: Original writings of Hitler and Mussolini. Compare the ideas of Hitler to those
of Mussolini and discuss how you feel when you read their plans for a new order.
2. Cartoon Analysis Project: Find and evaluate 4 political cartoons from WWII and
explain their meaning to the class as a presentation.
3. Maps
4. Definition of important terms
5. Unit V Exam: Objective and Essay
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