Download Week 1 - AP world history

AP World History-Student Syllabus
Time (Periodiazation) students will know why the time periods were chosen and what continuities and
change occurred. Students will know why a historian divides history into periods and why the specific
periods of World History chosen.
Period 1 = Big Bang to 600BCE
Period 2= 600BCE – 600CE
Period 3= 600 CE- 1450
Period 4= 1450-1750
Period 5=1750-1900
Period 6= 1900-Present
Themes (SPICE: Social, Political, Interaction, Cultural, Economic)
Over-arching theme is change and continuity over time:
Interactions between humans and environment
-Demography and disease
-Migration
-Patterns of settlement
-Technology
Development and interaction of cultures
-Religions
-Belief systems, philosophies and ideologies
-Science and technology
-The arts and architecture
State-building, expansion, and conflict
-Political structures and forms of governance
-Empires
-Nations and nationalism
-Revolts and revolutions
-Regional, trans-regional, and global structures and organizations
Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems
-Agriculture and pastoral production
-Trade and commerce
-Labor systems
-Industrialization
-Capitalism and socialism
Development and transformation of social structures
-Gender roles and relations
-Family and kinship
-Racial and ethnic constructions
-Social and economic classes
Habits of Mind: What do historians do? They use documents, they see patterns of change and
continuity, they understand diversity of interpretations, etc.
Four historical thinking skills:
1.) Crafting Historical Arguments from Historical Evidence in World History
-Historical Argumentation
-Appropriate Use of Relevant Historical Evidence
2.) Applying Chronological Reasoning Skills to World History
-Historical Causation
-Patterns of Continuity and Change and Continuity over Time
-Per iodization
3.) Applying Comparison and Contextualization Skills to World History
-Comparison
-Contextualization
4.) Applying Historical Interpretation and Synthesis to World History
-Interpretation
-Synthesis
Unit 1 To 600 BCE: Technological and Environmental Transformations
Key Concepts:
- Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth
- Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
- Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies
Topics for Overview include:
- Prehistoric Societies
- From Foraging to Agricultural and Pastoral Societies
- Early Civilizations: Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania
Week 1
From Human Prehistory to Early Civilization?
Stearns, Chapter 1
I. Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers.
 Late Paleolithic Developments
II. The Neolithic Revolution
 The Geography of Early Agriculture
 Patterns of Change and Continuity
 Further Technological Change and Continuity
III. Civilization
 Settled Societies
 Defining Civilization
 Tigris—Euphrates Civilization
 Egyptian Civilization
 Indian and Chinese River Valley Civilizations
 The Great Cities of the Indus Valley
 Early Civilization in China
IV. The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations
 Heritage of Early Civilizations
 New Societies in the Middle East
 Judaism
 Assessing the Early Civilization Period
Must be able to do:
Compare the main features of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.
What did the differences in values and organizations?
Evaluate the significance of Jewish monotheism in the religious history of early civilization.
Compare the advantages of an agriculturally based society with a hunter-gatherer society.
Compare the drawbacks of non-civilized societies with civilized societies.
Identify the characteristics that are critical for a society to become a civilization.
Periodization and why it is Important to Historians: 476 CE vs. 600 CE, 1750 CE vs. 1850.
Unit 2 600 BCE-600 CE: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies
Key Concepts:
-Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions
-Development of States and Empires
-Emergence of Trans-regional Networks of Communication and Exchange
Topics for Overview include:
- Classical Civilizations
- Major Belief Systems: Religion and Philosophy
- Early Trading Networks
Week 2
Classical Civilization: China
Stearns, Chapter 2
Kung Fuzi (Confucius)
I. Establishment of Political Order
 Cultural Traditions
II. Patterns in Classical China
 The Zhou dynasty
 Qin Dynasty
 The Han Dynasty
III. Political Institutions
 Strong Bureaucracy
 Role of the State
IV. Religion and Culture
 Confucianism
 Legalism
 Daoism
 Literature, Art, Science
V. Economy and Society
 The Confucian Social System
 Trade and Technology
 Gender and Family Life
VI. How Chinese Civilization Fits Together
 Social and Cultural Links to Politics
 Complexities in Classical China
Global Connections
 Classical China and the World
Must be able to do:
How was China able to accept two major belief systems, Confucianism and Daoism?
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of classical Chinese society.
Summarize why bureaucracy developed in classical China.
Identify the ways that Confucian philosophy supported the political structure in China.
Trace the rise of Confucianism.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of classical Chinese society.
Week 3
Classical Civilization: India
Stearns, Chapter 3
Ajanta and Ellora
I. The Framework for Indian History: Geography and a Formative Period
 Formative Influences
 The Great Epics
II. Patterns in Classical India
 The Rise and Decline of the Mauryas
 The Guptas
III. Political Institutions
IV. Religion and Culture
 The Formation of Hinduism
 Buddhism
 Arts and Sciences
V. Economy and Society
VI. Indian Influence and Comparative Features
 China and India Compared
Global Connections
 India and the Wider World
Must be able to do:
Trace the development of the caste system
Compare Buddhism and Hinduism.
Compare the caste system with Chinese and Greek societies.
Trace the development of Ashoka’s leadership approach.
Compare the family structures of India and China.
Compare the political implications of Hinduism and Confucianism.
Compare the caste system with the organization of Chinese and Greek society.
What features of Indian and Chinese geography help explain each area’s social patterns?
Week 4
Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean and the Middle East
Stearns, Chapter 4
Persian Defeat at Marathon and Thermopylae
I. The Persian Empire: A New Perspective in the Middle East
 Political Styles and Innovations
II. Patterns of Greek and Roman History
 Stages of Greek Development
 Rome
III. Greek and Roman Political Institutions
 Greece
 Rome
IV. Religion and Culture
 Religious Values
 Philosophy and Science
V. Economy and Society in the Mediterranean
 Agriculture and Trade
 Slavery
VI. Toward the Fall of Rome

A Complex Legacy
Must be able to do:
Compare the political philosophical thoughts of the Greeks and the Chinese.
Compare the scientific achievements and approaches of classical India, China, and the
Mediterranean.
Assess how and why the Indians developed long-lasting polytheistic religions but the Greeks did
not.
Compare the main political, social, and economic features of the Roman Empire and Han China.
Evaluate the significance of the Hellenistic period in Asian and African history.
Compare Greek and Roman political structures.
Week 5
The Classical Period: Directions, Diversities, and Declines by 500 CE
Stearns, Chapter 5
I. Expansion and Integration
II. Beyond the Classical Civilizations
 Developments in Africa’s Kush and its Heritage
 Japan and Northern Europe
 Central America
 Polynesia
III. Decline in China and India
 The Han Collapse
 The End of the Gupta Empire
IV. Decline and Fall in Rome
 Symptoms of Decline
 Effort at Revival: An East/West Split
 The Early Byzantine Empire
 Zone 2: Western Europe and North Africa
V. The New Religious Map
 Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism
 Christianity and Islam
 The Spread of the Major Religions
 The World around 500 C.E.
Global Connections
 The Late Classical Period and the World
Must be able to do:
Compare the eastern and western portions of the Roman Empire.
How can it be argued that the Roman Empire did not really “fall” in 476 C.E.?
Could western Rome have possibly endured if handled differently?
Identify three examples of syncretism in the development of Christianity and Hinduism. Compare
the main features of the civilizations of Kush, Axum, and Ethiopia.
Compare the factors in the decline of the classical civilizations.
How can it be argued that the Roman Empire did not really “fall” in 476 C.E.?
Compare the eastern and western portions of the Roman Empire.
Unit 3 600-1450: Regional and Trans-regional Interactions
Key Concepts:
• Expansion and Intensification of Communication and Exchange Networks
• Continuity and Innovation of State Forms and Their Interactions
• Increased Economic Productive Capacity and Its Consequences
Topics for Overview include:
• Byzantine Empire, Dar-al Islam, & Germanic Europe
• Crusades
• Sui, Tang, Song, and Ming empires
• Delhi Sultanate
• The Americas
• The Turkish Empires
• Italian city-states
• Kingdoms & Empires in Africa
• The Mongol Khanates
• Trading Networks in the Post-Classical World
Week 6
The First Global Civilization: The Rise and Spread of Islam
Desert and Town: The Pre-Islamic World
Stearns, Chapter 6
 Clan Identity, Clan Rivalries, and the Cycle of Vengeance
 Towns and Long Distance Trade
 Marriage and Family in Pre-Islamic Arabia
 Poets and Neglected Gods
Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam
 Persecution, Flight, and Victory
 Universal Elements of Islam
 Arabs and Islam
The Arab Empire of the Umayyads
 Consolidation and Division in the Islamic Community
 Motives for Arab Conquest
 Weaknesses of the Adversary Empires
 The Problem of Succession and the Sunni-Shi'a Split
 The Umayyad Iperium
Must be able to do:
Identify how Islam addressed the fundamental problems in Arabian society.
Compare women in the Islamic world with women in other contemporary societies. Identify the
achievements of the Arab phase of Islamic development ending in 750 C.E. Compare the Abbasid Empire
with the Umayyad Empire.
Trace the events that led to the fall of the Umayyad.
Describe the Umayyad Empire.
Trace the succession dispute over the office of caliph.
Describe the nature of Bedouin society before Muhammad received his revelations.
Week 7
Abbasid Decline and the Spread of Islamic Civilization to South and Southeast Asia
The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Eras
Stearns, Chapter 7
 Imperial Breakdown and Agrarian Disorder
 The Declining Position of Women in the Family and Society
 Nomadic Incursions and the Eclipse of Caliphal Power
 The Impact of the Christian Crusades
An Age of Learning and Artistic Refinements
 The Full Flowering of Persian Literature
 Achievements in the Sciences
 Religious Trends and the New Push for Expansion
 New Waves of Nomadic Invasions and the End of the Caliphate
The Coming of Islam to South Asia
 Political Divisions and the First Muslim Invasions
 From Booty to Empire: The Second Wave of Muslim Invasions
 Patterns of Conversion
 Patterns of Accommodation
 Islamic Challenge and Hindu Revival
 Stand-off: The Muslim Presence in India at the End of the Sultanate Period
The Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia
 Trading Contacts and Conversion
 Sufi Mystics and the Nature of Southeast Asian Islam
Must be able to do:
Evaluate the Rise and Fall of the Abbasid Empire.
To what extent were Muslims successful in converting Indians to Islam?
Trace the stages of Islamic incursion into India.
Trace theological developments within Islam during the Abbasid Empire.
Describe the economy of the later Abbasid Empire.
Describe the position of women in the Abbasid Empire.
Evaluate the weaknesses of the later Abbasid Empire.
Week 8
African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam
Stearns, Chapter 8
I. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
 Societies without States
 Common Elements in African Societies
 The Arrival of Islam in North Africa
 The Christian Kingdoms: Nubia and Ethiopia
II. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
 Sudanic States
 The Empire of Mali and Sundiata, the “Lion Prince”
 City Dwellers and Villagers
 The Songhay Kingdom
 Political and Social Life in the Sudanic States
III. The Swahili Coast of East Africa
 The Coastal Trading Ports
 The Mixture of Cultures on the Swahili Coast
IV. Peoples of the Forest and Plains
 Artists and Kings: Yoruba and Benin


Central African Kingdoms
The Kingdoms of the Kongo and Mwene Mutapa
Must be able to do:
Describe the connection between Africa and Islam
Where did cultures in Africa develop that were NOT affected by Islam?
Describe the nature of their organization
Where did cultures in Africa develop that were NOT affected by Islam?
Describe the nature of their organization.
Describe the connection between east Africa and Islam.
How did Islam and the beliefs of indigenous societies fuse among African peoples?
Describe the Sudanic states and how were they organized.
Trace how Islam entered Africa.
Describe the “common elements” in African societies.
Week 9
Civilization in Eastern Europe: Byzantium and Orthodox Europe
Stearns, Chapter 9
I. The Byzantine Empire
 Emperor Constantine
 Justinian’s Achievements
 Arab Pressure and the Empire’s Defenses
 Byzantine Society and Politics
II. The Split Between Eastern and Western Christianity
 The Schism
 The Empire’s Decline
III. The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe
 The East Central Borderlands
IV. The Emergence of Kievan Rus’
 New Patterns of Trade
 Institutions and Culture in Kievan Rus’
 Kievan Decline
 The End of an Era in Eastern Europe
Must be able to do:
How did Eastern Europe fall behind Western Europe in terms of political development? Describe
the influence of the Byzantine Empire on the development of Russia.
Evaluate the reasons for the decline of the Byzantine Empire.
Compare Byzantine and Chinese political organization.
Compare Orthodox Christianity to Roman Catholicism.
Compare the development of civilization in eastern and Western Europe.
Evaluate the significance of the Byzantine Empire to the civilization of Europe.
Week 10
A New Civilization Emerges in Western Europe
Stearns, Chapter 10
I. Stages of Postclassical Development
 The Manorial System: Obligations and Allegiances
 The Church: Political and Spiritual Power
 Charlemagne and His Successors
 New Economic and Urban Vigor
 Feudal Monarchies and Political Advances
 Limited Government
 The West’s Expansionist Impulse
 Religious Reform and Evolution
 The High Middle Ages
II. Western Culture in the Postclassical Era
 Theology: Assimilating Faith and Reason
 Popular Religion
 Religious Themes in Art and Literature
III. Changing Economic and Social Forms in the Postclassical Centuries
 New Strains in Rural Life
 Growth of Trade and Banking
 Limited Sphere for Women
IV. The Decline of the Medieval Synthesis
 Signs of Strain
The Postclassical West and Its Heritage
Must be able to do:
Identify the crises of the later middle ages.
Describe the signs of economic prosperity after 1000.
Identify the link of theology to classical rationalism during the middle ages.
Define manorialism and feudalism. Define the postclassical period in western Europe.
Week 11
The Americas on the Eve of Invasion
Stearns, Chapter 11
I. Post-classic Mesoamerica, 1000–1500 CE
 The Toltec Heritage
 The Aztec Rise to Power
 The Aztec Social Contract
 Religion and the Ideology of Conquest
 Feeding the People: The Economy of the Empire
II. Aztec Society in Transition
 Widening Social Gulf
 Overcoming Technological Constraints
 A Tribute Empire
III. Twantinsuyu: World of the Incas
 The Inca Rise to Power
 Conquest and Religion
 The Techniques of Inca Imperial Rule
 Inca Cultural Achievements
 Comparing Incas and Aztecs
IV. The Other Peoples of the Americas
 How Many People?
 Differing Cultural Patterns
 American Indian Diversity in World Context
Must be able to do:
Outline the social organization of the Aztec and Inca Empires.
Compare American societies with European societies.
Compare American societies with European societies.
Define the political and economic organization of the Aztec and Inca Empires.
Describe the relationship between the Aztecs and the Toltecs.
Week 12
Reunification and Renaissance in Chinese Civilization: The Era of the Tang and Song Dynasties
Stearns, Chapter 12
I. Rebuilding the Imperial Edifice in the Sui-Tang Eras
 Sui Excesses and Collapse
 The Emergence of the Tang and the Restoration of the Empire
 Rebuilding the World’s Largest and Most Pervasive Bureaucracy
 Institutionalizing Meritocracy: The Growing Importance of the Examination System
 State and Religion in the Tang and Song Eras
 The Anti-Buddhist Backlash
II. Tang Decline and the Rise of the Song
 The Founding of the Song Dynasty
 Song Politics: Settling for Partial Restoration
 The Revival of Confucian Thought
Roots of Decline: Attempts at Reform
 Reaction and Disaster: The Flight to the South
III. Tang and Song Prosperity: The Basis of a Golden Age
 A New Phase of Commercial Expansion by Land and Sea
 Expanding Agrarian Production and Life in the Country
 Family and Society in the Tang and Song Era
 The Neo-Confucian Assertion of Male Dominance
 Invention, Artistic Creativity, and China’s Global Impact
 Scholarly Refinement and Artistic Accomplishment
Must be able to do:
Discuss the Chinese and Portuguese Voyages in the Fifteenth Century
How might the world have been different if Zheng He and power projection continued?
Describe the innovations of the Tang-Song era.
Appraise the overall effect of the Tang-Song era on Chinese history.
Describe the status of women during the Tang-Song era.
Describe the aspects of economic prosperity during the Tang-Song era.
Compare the strengths of the Song Empire with the Tang.
Trace the decline of the Tang dynasty.
Trace the Sui rise and fall from power.
Week 13
The Spread of Chinese Civilization: Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
Stearns, Chapter 13
I. Japan: The Imperial Age
 Crisis at Nara and the Shift to Heian (Kyoto)
 Ultra-civilized: Court Life in the Heian Era
 The Decline of Imperial Power
 The Rise of the Provincial Warrior Elite
II. The Era of Warrior Dominance
 The Declining Influence of China
 The Breakdown of Bakufu Dominance and the Age of the Warlords
 Toward Barbarism? Military Division and Social Change and Continuity
 Artistic Solace for a Troubled Age
III. Korea: Between China and Japan
 Tang Alliances and the Conquest of Korea
Sinification: The Tributary Link
 The Sinification of Korean Elite Culture
 Civilization for the Few
 Koryo Collapse, Dynastic Renewal
IV. Between China and Southeast Asia: The Making of Vietnam
 Conquest and Sinification
 Roots of Resistance
 Winning Independence and Continuing Chinese Influences
 The Vietnamese Drive to the South
 Expansion and Division
Must be able to do:
Compare and Contrast Eastern Asian Civilizations
Compare East Asian civilization with other postclassical civilizations.
Compare the common elements of Chinese culture of all three of the satellite civilizations.
Compare the cultural differences between Vietnamese and Chinese.
Describe the nature of Japanese society and economy during the period of the daimyos.
Compare the Japanese government between the Gumpei Wars and the Onin War.
Trace the failure of the Taika reforms and its political result.
Week 14
The Last Great Nomadic Challenges: Chinggis Khan to Timur
Stearns, Chapter 14
I. The Transcontinental Empire of Chinggis Khan
 The Making of a Great Warrior: The Early Career of Chinggis Khan
 Building the Mongol War Machine
 Conquest: The Mongol Empire under Chinggis Khan
 First Assault on the Islamic World: Conquest in China
 Long Distance Trade and Cross-Cultural Exchange: Life Under the Mongol Imperium
 The Death of Chinggis Khan and the Division of the Empire
II. The Mongol Drive to the West
 Russia in Bondage
 Mongol Incursions and the Retreat from Europe
 The Mongol Assault on the Islamic Heartlands
III. The Mongol Interlude in Chinese History
 Gender Roles and the Convergence of Mongol and Chinese Culture
 Mongol Tolerance and Foreign Cultural Influence
 Social Policies and Scholar-Gentry Resistance
 The Fall of the House of Yuan
 Aftershock: The Brief Ride of Timur
Must be able to do:
Trace the effects of Mongol occupation across Asia
Compare East Asian civilization with other postclassical civilizations.
Compare the common elements of Chinese culture of all three of the satellite civilizations.
Compare the cultural differences between Vietnamese and Chinese.
Describe the nature of Japanese society and economy during the period of the daimyos.
Trace the failure of the Taika reforms and its political result.
Week 15
The World in 1450: Changing Balance of World Power
Stearns, Chapter 15
I. Key Changes in the Middle East
 Social and Cultural Change and Continuity in the Middle East
 A Power Vacuum in International Leadership
 Chinese Outreach and Reconsideration
II. The Rise of the West
 Gradual emergence
 After bubonic plague destroyed feudalism
 Sources of Dynamism: Medieval Vitality
 Imitation and Commercial Problems
 Secular Directions in the Italian Renaissance
 Human Values and Renaissance Culture
 The Iberian Spirit of Religious Mission
III. Western Expansion: The Experimental Phase
 The Basis for Wider Exploration
 Colonial Patterns
IV. Outside Network
 Political Issues in the Americas
 Expansion, Migration, and Conquest in Polynesia
 Isolated Achievements by the Maori
 Adding Up the Changes and Continuities of the global balance of power
Must be able to do:
Summarize the transitions taking place in world history circa 1450.
Outline the relative decline of civilizations outside the world network.
Define the nature of early Western exploration and colonial patterns.
Describe the nature of the Italian Renaissance. To what extent was it strictly an Italian
experience?
Describe the signs of decline in the Middle East and in China.
Unit 4: 1450-1750: Global Interactions
Key Concepts:
• Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
• New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production
• State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
Topics for Overview include:
• Ming and Qing Rule in China
• Bringing the Eastern and Western Hemispheres Together into One Web
• Japanese Shogunates
• The Trading Networks of the Indian Ocean
• Effects of the Continued Spread of Belief Systems
Week 16
Part 4 The Early Modern Period: The World Shrinks
The World Economy
Stearns, Chapter 16
I. The West’s First Outreach: Maritime Power
 New Technology: A Key to Power
 Portugal and Spain Lead the Pack
 Northern European Expeditions
II. Toward a World Economy
 The Columbian Exchange of Disease and Food
 The West’s Commercial Outreach
 Imbalances in World Trade
 A System of International Inequality
 How Much World in the World Economy?
 The Expansionist Trend
III. Colonial Expansion
 The Americas: Loosely Controlled Colonies
 British and French North America: Backwater Colonies
 North America and Western Civilization
 Africa and Asia: Coastal Trading Stations
 Impact on Western Europe
 The Impact of a New World Order
Must be able to do:
Describe the technological innovations the made the global domination of the West possible.
Trace the early exploration of the world by the West.
Define the Colombian Exchange.
Evaluate the results of the creation of a world economy.
Compare British and French North America with other European colonies.
Week 17
The World Economy
Stearns, Chapter 17
I. The First Big Changes: Culture and Commerce, 1450–1650
 The Italian Renaissance
 The Renaissance Moves Northward
 Changes and Continuity in Technology and Family
 The Protestant and Catholic Reformations
 The End of Christian Unity in the West
II. The Commercial Revolution
 The Impact of the World Economy
 Social Protest

III. The Scientific Revolution: The Next Phase of Change and Continuity
Did Copernicus Copy?
 Science: The New Authority
IV. Political Change
 Absolute Monarchies
 Parliamentary Monarchies
 The Nation-State
V. The West by 1750
 Political Patterns
 Enlightenment Thought and Popular Culture
 Ongoing Change and Continuity in Commerce and Manufacturing
 Innovation and Instability
Must be able to do:
Identify the elements of absolute monarchy.
Trace the development of absolute monarchs.
Define the Scientific Revolution. Describe some of its major discoveries.
Generalize the causes and results of the commercial revolution.
Appraise whether the religious differences between Europeans resemble the arguments between
different groups of believers in the other major world religions.
Describe the Protestant churches that were established because of the Reformation. Define the
nature of religious warfare.
Compare the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance.
Describe the major changes in Western Europe in this era.
Week 18
The Rise of Russia
Stearns, Chapter 18
Russia's Expansionist Politics under the Tsars
 End of Mongol rule and need for revival
 Patterns of Expansion
Russia's Westernization (1690-1790)
 Tsarist Autocracy of Peter the Great
 What Westernization Meant
 Consolidation Under Catherine the Great
Themes in Early Modern Russian History
 Serfdom: The Life of East Europe’s Masses
 Trade and Economic Dependence
 Social Unrest
Must be able to do:
Compare Russian and Japanese industrialization
Week 19
Early Latin America
Stearns, Chapter 19
Spaniards and Portuguese: From Re-conquest to Conquest
 Iberian Society and Tradition





The Chronology of Conquest
The Caribbean Crucible
The Paths of Conquest
The Conquerors
Conquests and Morality
The Destruction and Transformation of American Indian Societies
 Exploitation of the Indians
 Colonial Economies and Governments
 The Silver Heart of Empire
 Haciendas and Villages
 Industry and Commerce
 Ruling an Empire by the state and Church
Brazil: The First Plantation Colony
 Sugar and Slavery
 Brazil’s Age of Gold
Multiracial Societies
 The Society of Castas
 The 18th Century Reforms
 The Shifting Balance of Politics and Trade
 The Bourbon Reforms
 Pombal and Brazil
 Reforms, Reactions, and Revolts
Must be able to do:
What were dominant beliefs of Europeans about Native Americans? How did these impact their
social interactions?
Why were the Europeans able to conqueror so easily?
Week 20
Africa and the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Stearns, Chapter 20
The Atlantic Slave Trade
 Trend Toward Expansion
 Demographic Patterns
 Organization of the Trade
African Societies, Slavery, and the Slave Trade
 Slaving and African Politics
 Asante and Dahomey
 East African and the Sudan
White Settlers and Africans in Southern Africa
 The Mfecane and the Zulu Rise to Power
The African Diaspora
 Slave Lives
 Africans in the Americas
 American Slave Societies
 The People and Gods in Exile
Must be able to do:
What impressions of slavery did the slave traders hold? Can their opinions be accepted based on
the historical period in question?
Have human rights always existed or have they evolved with human history?
Week 21
The Muslim Empires
Stearns, Chapter 21
The Ottomans: From Frontier Warriors to Empire Builders
 A State Geared to Warfare
 The Sultans and Their Court
 Constantinople Restored and the Flowering of Ottoman Culture
 The Problem of Ottoman Decline
 Military Reverses and the Ottoman Retreat
The Shi’a Challenge of the Safavids
 Politics and War Under the Safavid Shahs
 State and Religion
 Elite Affluence and Artistic Splendor
 Society and Gender Roles: Ottoman and Safavid Comparisons
 The Rapid Demise of the Safavid Empire
The Mughals and the Apex of Muslim Civilization in India
 Akbar and the Basis for a Lasting Empire
 Social Reform and Social Change and Continuity
 Mughal Splendor and Early European Contacts
 Artistic Achievement in the Mughal Era
 Court Politics and the Position of Elite and Ordinary Women
 The Beginnings of Imperial Decline
Must be able to do:
Why were Europeans impressed by the Gunpowder Empires?
Why did the Russian Empire last longer than rest?
What were characteristic weaknesses in the gunpowder empires?
What impact did these have?
How did the expansion model of the Ottoman Empire impact its long-term strength from 14001600CE?
Week 22
Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change
Stearns, Chapter 22
The Asian Trading World and the Coming of the Europeans
 Bonds of Commerce: The Asian Sea Trading Network, c. 1500
Trading Empire: The Portuguese Response to the Encounter at Calicut
 Portuguese Vulnerability and the rise of the Dutch and English Trading Empires
 Going Ashore: European Tribute System in Asia
 Spreading the Faith: The Missionary Enterprise in South and Southeast Asia
Ming China: A Global Mission Refused
 Another Scholar-Gentry Revival
 Reform: Hongwu’s Efforts to Root Out Abuses in Court Politics
 A Return to Scholar-Gentry Social Dominance
 An Age of Growth: Agriculture, Population, Commerce, and the Arts



An Age of Expansion: The Zhenghe Expeditions
Chinese Retreat and the Arrival of the Europeans
Ming Decline and the Chinese Predicament
Fending off the West: Japan’s Reunification and the First Challenge
 Dealing with the European Challenge
 Japan’s Self-Imposed Isolation
Must be able to do:
What role did the Scholar-Gentry play in Ming China's attitudes toward global interaction and
trade?
Discuss the opium Addiction in China in the 19th Century and its impact on foreign intervention
Unit 5 1750-1900: Industrialization and Global Integration
Key Concepts:
• Industrialization and Global Capitalism
• Imperialism and Nation-State Formation
• Nationalism, Revolution and Reform
• Global Migration
Topics for Overview include:
• The Age of Revolutions:
-English Revolutions, Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment,
- American Revolution, French Revolution and its fallout in Europe, Haitian &
-Latin American Revolutions
• Global Transformations:
- Demographic Changes, the End of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Industrial Revolution and
Its Impact, Rise of Nationalism, Imperialism and its Impact on the World
Week 23
The Emergence of Industrial Society in the West, 1750-1914
Stearns, Chapter 23
The Age of Revolution
 Forces of Change
 The American Revolution
 Crisis in France in 1789
 The French Revolution: Radical and Authoritarian Phases
 A Conservative Settlement and the Revolutionary Legacy
 Industrialization and the Revolutions of 1848
The Consolidation of the Industrial Order, 1850-1914
 Adjustments to Industrial Life
 Political Trends and the Rise of New Nations
 The Social Question and New Government Functions
Cultural Transformations
 Advances in Scientific Knowledge
 New Directions in Artistic Expression
Western Settler Societies
 Emerging Power of the United States
 European Settlements in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
Diplomatic Tensions and World War I
 The New Alliance System
 Diplomacy and Society
Must be able to do:
What were the shared principles of the Atlantic Revolution?
What underlying ideas of human nature were applied to government?
How was the American Revolution different that the French Revolution? Were they fighting for
different principles?
Timeline world events from 1700CE-1900CE
What impact did the revolutions of 1848 have on greater Europe?
Week 24
Industrialization and Imperialism: The Making of the European Global Order
Stearns, Chapter 24
The Shift to Land Empires in Asia
 Prototype: The Dutch Advance on Java
 Pivot of World Empire: The Rise of the British Rule in India
 The Consolidation of British Rule
 Early Colonial Society in India and Java
 Social Reform in the Colonies
Industrial Rivalries and the Partition of the World, 1870-1914
 Unequal Combat: Colonial Wars and the Apex of European Imperialism
Patterns of Dominance: Continuity and Change
 Colonial Regimes and Social Hierarchies in the Tropical Dependencies
 Changing Social Relations between Colonizer and Colonized
 Shifts in Methods of Economic Extraction
 Settler Colonies in South Africa and the Pacific
 South Africa
 Pacific Tragedies
 New Zealand
 Hawaii
Must be able to do:
What nature did individualism play in the Western middle-class?
How did Confucianism affect attitudes toward business and entrepreneurship?
How did the differing attitudes of the middle class in the West and Japan impact the role of
government?
Week 25
The Consolidation of Latin America, 1830-1920
Stearns, Chapter 25
From Colonies to Nations
 Causes of Political Chang and Continuity
 Spanish American Independence Struggles
 Brazilian Independence
New Nations Confront Old and New Problems
 Cuadillos, Politics, and the Church
Latin American Economies and World Markets 1820-1870
 Mid-Century Stagnation
 Economic Resurgence and Liberal Politics
 Mexico: Instability and Foreign Intervention


Argentina: The Port and the Nation
The Brazilian Empire
Societies in Search of Themselves
 Cultural Expression after Independence
 Old Patterns of Gender, Class, and Race
The Great Boom: 1880-1920
 Mexico and Argentina: Examples of Economic Transformation
 Uncle Same Goes South
Must be able to do:
How did the Russian emancipation compare to those of Latin America?
What impact did the emancipations of the social structures of the societies they occurred in look
like? How did these social changes vary from culture to culture?
What impact did the Spanish-American War have on the United States becoming a global player?
Week 26
Civilizations in Crisis: The Ottoman Empire, the Islamic Heartlands, and Qing China
Stearns, Chapter 26
From Empire to Nation: Ottoman Retreat and the Birth of Turkey
 Reform and Survival
 Repression and Revolt
Western Intrusions and the Crisis in the Arab Islamic Heartlands
 Muhammad Ali and the Failure of Westernization in Egypt
 Bankruptcy, European Intervention, and Strategies of Resistance
 Jihad: The Mahdist Revolt in the Sudan
The Last Dynasty: The Rise and fall of the Qing Empire in China
 Economy and Society in the Early Centuries of Qing Rule
 Rot from Within: Bureaucratic Breakdown and Social Disintegration
 Barbarians at the Southern Gates: The Opium War and After
 A Civilization at Risk: Rebellion and Failed Reforms
 The Fall of the Qing: The End of a Civilization?
Must be able to do:
Discuss the Western dominance and the decline of civilizations
Week 27
Russia and Japan: Industrialization outside the West
Stearns, Chapter 27
Russia’s Reforms and Industrial Advance
 Economic and Social Problems: The Peasant Question
 The Reform Era and Early Industrialization
Protest and Revolution in Russia
 The Revolution of 1905
 Russia and Eastern Europe
Japan: Transformation without Revolution
 The Final Decades of the Shogunate
 The Challenge to Isolation
 Industrial and Political Change and Continuity in the Meiji State
 Japan’s Industrial Revolution


Social and Cultural Effects of Industrialization
The Strain of Modernization
Must be able to do:
Why did Russian conservatism change between the 1860's and 1880's?
How does conservative nationalism differ from liberal/radical nationalism?
Unit 6 1900-present: Accelerating Global Change and Realignments
Key Concepts:
• Science and the Environment
• Global Conflicts and Their Consequences
• New Conceptualizations of Global Economy and Culture
Topics for Overview include:
• Crisis and Conflict in the Early 20th Century:
- Anti-Imperial Movements, World War I, Russian, Chinese and Mexican Revolutions,
Depression, Rise of Militaristic and Fascist Societies, World War II
• Internationalization:
-Decolonization, the Cold War World, International Organizations, the Post-Cold War
World, Globalization
Week 28
Descent into the Abyss: WWI and the Crisis of the European Global Order
Stearns, Chapter 28
The Coming of the Great War
 Hostile Alliances and Armaments Races
 The Outbreak of the War
A World at War
 The war in the East and in Italy
 The Home Fronts in Europe
 The War outside Europe
 Endgame: The Return of Offensive Warfare
 Failed Peace
World War I and the Nationalist Assault on the European Colonial Order
 India: The Makings of the Nationalist Challenge to the British Raj
 Social Foundations of a Mass Movement
 The Rise of Militant Nationalism
 The Emergence of Gandhi and the Spread of the Nationalist Struggle
 Egypt and the Rise of Nationalism in the Middle East
 War and Nationalist Movements in the Middle East
 Revolt in Egypt, 1919
 The Beginnings of the Liberation Struggle in Africa
Must be able to do:
How did the European balance of power evolve from a peace-making mechanism to the trigger
of a global conflict?
What impact did the Great War have on the European monarchies?
Week 29
The World between the Wars: Revolutions, Depression, and Authoritarian Response
Stearns, Chapter 29
The Roaring Twenties
 Bouncing Back?
 Other Industrial Centers
 New Authoritarianism: The Rise of Fascism
 The New Nations of East Central Europe
 A Balance Sheet
Revolution: The First Waves
 Mexico's Upheaval
 Culture and Politics in Post-revolutionary Mexico
 Revolution in Russia: Liberalism to Communism
 Stabilization of Russia's Communist Regime
 Toward Revolution in China
 China's May Fourth Movement and the Rise of the Marxist Alternative
 The Seizure of Power by China's Guomindang
 Mao and the Peasant Option
The Global Great Depression
 Causation
 The Debacle
 Responses to the Depression In Western Europe
 The New Deal
The Authoritarian Response
 The Rise of Nazism
 The Spread of Fascism and the Spanish Civil War
 Economic and Political Changes and Continuity in Latin America
 The Great Crash and Latin American Response
 The Vargas Regime in Brazil
 Argentina: Populism, Peron, and the Military
 The Militarization of Japan
 Industrialization and Recovery
 Stalinism in the Soviet Union
 Economic Policies
 Toward an Industrial Society
 Totalitarian Rule
Must be able to do:
How did the Mexican and Russian revolutions compare?
How did the communist approach to revolution compare to Mexican and Chinese approach?
What were the different political and social goals of the three revolutions?
Why was fascism opposed to socialism?
How did the fascist state contrast with the liberal idea of the state?
Why might elements of European fascism prove attractive in the Latin American political context
after WWII?
Compare the Russian and Chinese revolutions
Week 30
A Second Global Conflict and the End of the European World Order
Stearns, Chapter 30
Old and New Causes of a Second World War
 Rehearsals: Dictators, Militarism, and the Agony of the Spanish Civil War
Unchecked Aggression and the Coming of War in Europe and the Pacific
 The Japanese Invasion of China
 The Partition of Poland and Nazi Preparations for War in the West
The Conduct of a Second Global War
 Nazi Blitzkrieg, Stalemate, and the Long Retreat
 From Persecution to Genocide: Hitler's War Against the Jews
 Anglo-American Offensives, Encirclement, and the End of the 12-Year Reich
 The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific War
War's End and the Emergence of the Superpower Standoff
 From Hot War to Cold War
Nationalism and Decolonization in South and Southeast Asia and Africa
 The Winning of Independence in South and Southwest Asia
 The Liberation of Non-settler Africa
 Repression and Guerrilla War: The Struggle for the Settler Colonies
 The Persistence of White Supremacy in South Africa
 Conflicting Nationalisms: Arabs, Israelis, and the Palestinian Question
Must be able to do:
What were Truman's motives for dropping bomb? Was dropping the bomb a "war crime"?
Why did the bomb experience have such different impacts in the United States and Japan?
Compare the world stage of 1945 to 1938.
Week 31
Western Society and Eastern Europe in the Decades of the Cold War
Stearns, Chapter 31
After World War II: A New International Setting for the West
 Europe and Its Colonies
 The Cold War
The Resurgence of Western Europe
 The Spread of Liberal Democracy
 The Welfare State
 New Challenges to Political Stability
 The Diplomatic Context
 Economic Expansion
Cold War Allies: The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
 The Former Dominions
 The "U.S. Century"?
Culture and Society in the West
 Social Structure
 The Women's Revolution
 Western Culture
 A Lively Popular Culture
Eastern Europe after World War II: A Soviet Empire
 The Soviet Union as Superpower
 The New Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe
 Evolution of Domestic Policies
Soviet Culture: Promotion New Beliefs and Institutions
 Economy and Society
 De-Stalinization
Must be able to do:
What previous ideas and movements help explain the nature of the international women's rights
agenda?
Why might upper-class Indian and African women differ about the directions of change in their
societies in the twentieth century?
Was the Marshall Plan's purpose nation-building or U.S. dominance?
Week 32
Latin America: Revolution and Reaction into the 21st Century
Stearns, Chapter 32
Latin America after World War II
 Mexico and the PRI
 Guatemala: Reform and U.S. Intervention
 The Cuban Revolution: Socialism in the Caribbean
The Search for Reform and the Military Option
 Out of the Barracks: Soldiers Take Power
 The New Democratic Trends
 The United States and Latin America: Continuing Presence
Societies in Search of Change and Continuity
 Slow Change in Women's Roles
 The Movement of People
 Cultural Reflections of Despair and Hope
Must be able to do:
What kinds of peoples were most open to western-inspired cultures?
What kind of histories shaped Mexico?
Why were many twentieth-century African and Latin American intellectuals particularly
preoccupied with issues of cultural identity?
Week 33
Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in the Era of Independence
Stearns, Chapter 33
The Challenges of Independence
 The Population Bomb
 Parasitic Cities and Endangered Ecosystems
 The Subordination of Women and the Nature of Feminist Struggles in the Postcolonial Era
 Neocolonialism, Cold War Rivalries, and Stunted Development
Post-Colonial Options for Achieving Economic Growth and Social Justice
 Charismatic Populists and One-Party Rule
 Military Responses: Dictatorships and Revolutions
 The Indian Alternative: Development for Some of the People
Delayed Revolutions: Religious Revivalism and Liberation Movements in Settler Societies
 Iran: Religious Revivalism and the Rejection of the West
 South Africa: The Apartheid State and Its Demise
Must be able to do:
What is a viable definition of democracy that fits global, and not just Western, conditions?
Is democracy an easy system to establish in areas that lack explicit democratic precedents?
Why, by the late 1980's and 1990's, was Africa friendlier to the installation of new democracies
than China or the Middle East?
Map the emergence of new nations in Africa post WWII
Week 34
Rebirth and Revolution: Nation-Building in East Asia and the Pacific Rim
Stearns, Chapter 34
East Asia in the Postwar Settlements
 Japanese Recovery
 Korea: Intervention and War
 Emerging Stability in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore
 Japan, Incorporated: A Distinctive Political and Cultural Style
 Post-War Politics and Culture
 The Economic Surge: Japan Challenges the Superpowers for Economic Supremacy
The Pacific Rim: More Japans?
 Development from the Top Down
 Advances in Taiwan and the City-States
 Common Themes and New Problems
Mao's China: Vanguard of World Revolution?
 The Communists Come to Power
 Planning for Economic Growth and Social Justice
 The Great Leap Backward
 "Women Hold Up Half of the Heaves
 Mao's Last Campaign and the Fall of the Gang of Four
Colonialism and Revolution in Vietnam
 Vietnamese Nationalism: Bourgeois Dead End and Communist Survival
 The War of Liberation Against the French
 The War of Liberation Against the United States
 After Victory: Salvaging Communism in an Era of Globalization
Must be able to do:
Discuss Mao's China
Week 35
Power, Politics, and Conflict in World History, 1990-2010
Stearns, Chapter 35
The End of the Cold War
 Factors in Soviet Decline
 The Explosion of the 1980's and 1990's
 The Age of Reform
 Dismantling the Soviet Empire
 Renewed Turmoil in the 1990's
The Spread of Democracy
 Patterns of Change and Continuity
 Endemic Conflicts
 Ethnic and Other Conflicts: A New Surge
The United States as Sole Superpower
 The United States and Other Power Centers
 Anti-American Terrorism and Response
Must be able to do:
Discuss the symbolism in the breakdown of the Soviet Bloc
Discuss terrorism and the 21st Century
Map Cold War Bipolarity
Week 36
Globalization and Resistance
Stearns, Chapter 36
Globalization: Causes and Processes
 What Globalization Means
 The New Technology
 Economic Globalization: Business Organization and Investment
 Migration
 Cultural Globalization
 Nationalism and New Religious Currents
The Global Environment
 Environmental Issues as Global Concerns
 Disease
 Globalization and Global Balance
Toward the Future
 Projecting from Trends
 Big Changes and Continuity
 The Problem of the Contemporary Period
Must be able to do:
Does successful consumerism promote human happiness?
Are protests against global consumerism likely to gain ground?
How does the analysis of global consumerism relate to larger issues in world history?
Discuss protests against globalization resistance and alternatives