Download the world since 1492

THE WORLD SINCE 1492
Study Guide for the Final Examination
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The Final Examination covers material from the beginning of the semester. It will consist of
three sections: (I) some number of key terms, (II) some number of short essay questions, and
(III) one of three longer essay question.
I. The Key Terms. For each key term, you should provide a concise and precise definition. In
addition, for any key term that is not tied to a specific social context, you should also give an
illustration, or example, for the key term. Any such illustration or example should be located in
both time and geography. (Remember, however, that a time location does not have to be a
specific year, any more than it has to be a specific minute in history; a span of time is often
appropriate and such spans may or may not have sharp boundaries. This same general idea
applies to locations in geography, by the way.) Furthermore, be sure that when you define the
key term, you discuss the term’s significance in this course. Finally, please note that when we
construct the examination, we will select “key terms” that complement, rather than replicate, the
essay questions we select.
II. Short Essay Questions. Be prepared to answer any of the following “short essay” questions.
We are not sure how many you will have to answer, but we expect you will have some choice on
the exam (so we might construct two groups of four questions and require that you answer three
of the four from each of the two groups; it might not be quite that, but that gives you some idea
of what you will find on the exam). Please note: when we are grading your answers, you will be
rewarded for making appropriate use of (a) key terms and (b) material from the weekly reading
assignments and/or movies, if such material is relevant. Finally, for every key term you use in
your essay, be sure to give it an explicit and clear definition.
1. Columbus famously went forth to reach one “Indies” and unintentionally reached a second
one. Compare the activities and impacts of persons from Latin Christendom in the “two Indies”
between 1500ish and 1700ish.
2. Discuss two examples of states pursuing “modernization” or countering “backwardness” in
response to late 18th-century and 19th-century Western European and U.S. industrialization
and/or imperialism.
3. In this course, we have emphasized that “Europe” and “Europeans” did not exist before
1700ish, nor did the idea of the scientific revolution. In what important ways are these
observations interconnected?
4. Identify and discuss at least two examples—selected from at least two different geographic
locations in the world since 1492—that illustrate how and why gender roles in societies have
transformed as part of the economic and political changes brought about by the spread of
capitalism and/or European colonialism.
5. Assess the following claim: In the nineteenth century, European states and the U.S. supported
the principle of "free trade" or "economic liberty" in East Asia and/or South Asia.
6. In this course we have examined various challenges of overproduction in capitalist economies.
Identify and explain at least two historical examples of capitalists or states grappling with this
problem.
7. Identify and discuss at least two distinct ideologies that have served to legitimate states in the
world since 1500ish.
8. Explain the principles of “political nationalism,” being sure to make visible the underlying
premises, or presuppositions, of “nationalism” and “nationalist movements.” Compare those
premises to the premises about “race” and “races” in racial ideologies. Discuss one example of
political nationalism and its operation and consequences.
9. In this course, we have discussed the importance, in world history since 1750ish, of the
massification of politics, human migration, and killing. Explain and discuss one of these
instances, or aspects, of massification and its role in world history since 1750ish.
10. Between 1926 and 1933 (think about these dates), the British government established a body
known as the “Empire Marketing Board,” with one primary purpose of the Board being to
encourage the citizens of the United Kingdom to “buy Empire,” that is, to buy goods from the
British Empire. The Empire Marketing Board produced a number of striking advertising
posters. Most of those are explicitly about “good stuff” UK consumers could purchase that was
imported to the UK from Britain’s colonies. The following pair of posters involve something
else. Interpret this pair of posters, identifying what you understand their overall message to
be. Be sure to notice and discuss the visual details of the posters. What “ideologies of
domination” do the posters express? Be sure to consider the role of gender representations in
these posters and their messages.
11. What changes can you identify since 1980ish in the capacities and activities of “the state”—
as represented by the state within whose sovereign borders you reside at this moment, as you
take the exam. Consider both capacities and activities that may have diminished in this timespan
and those that may have increased or been intensified.
III. Longer Essay Questions
Be prepared to answer any one of the following “longer” essay questions. The same points about
key terms and materials from the weekly assignments apply to answering the “longer” essay
question as to the “shorter” essay questions. You will have to answer only one “long” essay
question on the exam, and we expect you will not have any choice about which one it will be.
1. Compare the European feudal manor, the post-Columbian plantation, and the globally
dispersed modern factory. Your discussion should consider their historical order (when did each
occur) and the ways any one of these may have shaped or influenced any one of the others. In
your discussion, you should examine how various workers experienced these sites of production
(be sure to consider gender, race, geographical location of workers, and workers’ modes of
resistance).
2. Formulate what you now judge to be the three or four primary differences between the world
of 1500ish and the contemporary world. After you have sketched and briefly explained each of
the differences you have formulated, select one of them and then narrate and account for its
history, from 1500ish to the present. You will likely find gaps in your narration and account of
this difference; if you do, explicitly acknowledge those gaps, along with your narration and
account of it.
3. This course has examined various instances of colonialism from 1492 to the present. Drawing
on the course material, identify and illustrate three different forms of colonialism. For each
form, discuss their distribution in time and geography, and distinguish each by its economic
relations, ideologies, and social effects.