Download AP World History Summer Assignment

AP World History Summer Assignment
Section I: Summaries
Beer
Beer was the basically the first “elaborated” drink. Its origins are closely related to the
origins of civilization itself. The discovery of beer involved the switch from the huntergatherer lifestyle to a more settled life, and the beginning of the agricultural practices
because the “first” beer was derived from barley and wheat. It also involved the
development of tools and equipment to store and process grain that were meant to be
helpful in future food shortages. With these developments, the first civilizations started to
emerge. People began to band together, near the important religious or trading centers,
and eventually they formed the first cities. The two earliest examples of civilizations are
Egypt and Mesopotamia. They both saw beer as the important component of their cultural
and religious identity, and had great social importance. Moreover, with beer, writing also
emerged. As we can see, beer was the beginning of the modern world.
Wine
Though beer had not disappeared, wine started to gain popularity when the King
Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria served it in his feast, as a sign of his wealth to all the foreign
dignitaries invited. The origin of wine remains unclear, but the earliest evidence of its
making comes from a Neolithic village in the Zagros Mountains (about 5400 BCE). From
this place, knowledge of wine moved to the regions of modern-day Turkey, Syria,
Lebanon, Israel, and Greece, where it had a big impact. Wine was plentiful enough to be
widely affordable in Greece because of the climate and terrain, which were perfect for
viticulture. In ancient Greece, wine was symbol of sophistication, and more in the private
all-male aristocratic drinking parties called “symposions”. It was in these parties that
philosophy began to appear, as the gathered exposed truths and their thoughts. When
Rome took over Greece, the Romans actually adopted all Greek cultural aspects,
including the drinking wine tradition. However, different from the Greeks, Romans made
wine a symbol of social differentiation, a mark of wealth. Wine was accepted in the
medicine and Christian worlds, and the Islam rejected it because of the effects it could
have when drunk in excess.
Spirits
The time for the boom of the spirits was the colonial period. It played a very important
role in the establishment of the colonies; in the economical basis of the time: sugar and
slaves. Spirits were the first drinks to be transported around the world. They were drunk
by European colonists and slaves in the New World. They also had participation in the
start of the American Revolution for independence from England. The production of rum
had found market among slave traders, and Americans were importing sugar from the
French islands. This led to the British government to punish American producers by
passing laws like the Molasses Act (1733) which taxed the imports from France, Sugar
Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767) and the Tea Act (1773) which
ended up in the Boston Tea Party, which was the beginning of the revolution. Spirits
played a role in the enslavement and displacement of people, establishment of colonies
and countries, like the United States. Spirits marked a new era in the world, and in
history.
Coffee
In the seventeenth century, coffee emerged as the official drink of scientists, intellectuals,
merchants, and clerks, which were part of the Age of Reason that included the Scientific
Revolution and Enlightenment. New thinkers were questioning ancient Greek thought,
wishing to reach a new level, and started to analyze the known human knowledge and to
rebuild it. Coffee was believed to promote sharpness and clarity of thought. Although
wine was not accepted in the Islam, was not the case of coffee. Coffee was openly
accepted in Europe and in the Islam (introduced by the Arab world) and became a social
drink. The creation of coffeehouses allowed people to enjoy a new environment for
social, intellectual, political and even commercial exchange. Although the Arabs had the
monopoly of the coffee, it was broken by the Dutch and the French. They started their
own plantations in Netherlands, France, and in several colonies in the New World,
making Brazil the world’s dominant coffee supplier. Coffee is associated with advance,
reason and networking; and had a big impact in the course of history.
Tea
Tea is closely related to British history. Tea provided the basis for the European trade
with the East. Tea was in the beginning imported from China to Britain, the most tealoving country, with enormous historical consequences. Tea was being drunk for
everyone: from the wealthiest to the poorest. The rise of tea was due mainly to the actions
of the British East Company, which had the monopoly on imports to England from the
East. They displaced the Dutch East India Company in 1795, and obtained the total
control of the global tea trade. The British East Company had great influence in the
British government. This was because the company meant a big part of the total revenue
of the government. Every time the company was in need, they require the government to
pass laws in its favor, like was the Tea Act of 1773, which ended with the Boston Tea
Party. Tea marked the beginning of relationships with China, a rare nation, unknown to
some, which was ruined by the imperialism shown by Britain, thanks to the tea power.
Tea also meant the new interest of Britain in India, its new tea supplier after China. The
story of tea is associated with power and imperialism, and was the main part in the
expansion of the British Empire.
Coca-Cola
Coca-cola is the most known and most drunk beverage around the world. Its story has
marked world history tremendously. Coca-cola is always associated with American
values, including economic and political freedom of choice, consumerism and
democracy. The beginning of Coca-cola was soda water. Soda water was, in its
beginning, used mainly because of the similarity with mineral water, which were believed
to cure several diseases. As the time went by, soda water became very popular. Coca-cola
was created thanks to the temperance movement; people accepted it as an alternative to
the prohibited alcoholic drinks. What did possible the success of Coca-cola and allowed it
to become the national drink of the United States was, definitely, the hard times it passed
with Americans. It survived to the Great Depression, when everyone thought that would
be the end; Coca-cola showed it was the happy, family-friendly drink that Americans
needed in this time of difficulty. When the United States joined World War II and
soldiers were sent overseas to fight the conflict, Coca-cola went along with them. With
the war, Coca-cola reached almost every corner of the world, and was seen as the sign of
the American philosophy spreading out. Coca-cola was part of the rise and triumph of the
United States, of the victory of the capitalism over communism. Coca-cola played an
important role in the American history and marked the course of history surviving and
winning over territories that nobody thought it would.
Section II: Questions
1. How might beer have influenced the transition from hunting and gathering
to agricultural-based societies?
Before beer was discovered, humans used to be nomads, looking for new species
to hunt in every different territory. When beer was discovered, it made necessary
the cultivation of the grains of which beer was made of, and because beer allowed
the creation of new technologies for the storage of the grain. As more people
reunited in one territory and practiced agriculture and made beer, the first
civilizations emerged.
2. What opportunities associated with wine drinking did men have in ancient
Greece that women did not?
Wine was believed to “awake” the wisdom of the drinker. Men gathered in winedrinking parties, and they shared and discussed with each other the way they
thought, and that is how philosophy began to take shape. However, women were
totally excluded from parties and were not allowed to drink wine.
3. Why was wine adopted in Christianity, but Islam prohibited the use of
alcohol?
Wine was totally adopted in Christianity because was associated with some of the
Jesus’ miracles. Islam prohibited the use of alcohol because of the effects
alcoholic drinks had in the drinkers. The teachings of the Prophet Mohammed
regarded wine as the cause of incidents between people and as hated by Allah. By
forbidding wine, Muslims were rejecting the old nations of civilization.
4. Describe coffee’s effect on the balance of power between various regions of
the world.
When coffee started to be popular, the Arabs were the ones who have the
monopoly as the supplier of coffee. As the demand increased, other countries
searched the way to have their own plantations of coffee. That is how
Netherlands, first, displaced Portugal as the dominant nation ruling the East
Indies, taking the control of the trade overseas and started to produce coffee.
Then, France started its own harvesting of coffee. The taking over of the Arab
monopoly of coffee allowed other regions in South America to grow and export
the coffee plant.
5. Why was tea important to China’s economy and its relationships with other
countries?
Tea was the main crop grown in China, and its trade was the basis for China’s
economy. Countries like Britain and Portugal imported Chinese tea. Thanks to the
production of tea, China became an important place for trade in which many
countries were fighting over the rights to place ports in China to guarantee tea
trade.
6. How did tea change history in India?
British producers of tea were looking for a new territory in which to grow tea
because Britain did not want to depend anymore on the Chinese monopoly. They
went to India and found a new reliable source of tea. Growing tea in India would
benefit both the British and Indians. Indians would have a new source of job and
the entering to the world trade. After a few years, India dethroned China as the
main tea producer, and still is nowadays.
7. How did Coca-cola become the world’s most recognized product?
Coca-cola was American culture itself. With the entering to the world stage of the
United States due to the intervention in both World War I and II, so did Cocacola. Coca-cola traveled every corner of the world where the United States was
present.
8. How does Coca-cola affect, and how is it affected by, people’s views of the
United States?
Coca-cola is the representation of the American life wherever it is present. Cocacola represented the American ideals of spreading consumerism and democracy.
It was seen as the national drink for Americans. They identified themselves with
Coca-cola, and that was the id which they introduced America to the world.
9. One criticism of this book is that the author focuses too much on Europe and
not on other parts of the world. Do you agree or disagree with this criticism?
Which parts of the world do not receive much attention in this book?
The book focuses mostly in Europe, I think because most of the modern history
took place in the old world. However, there are other parts of the world mentioned
in the book, though not as much as is Europe. The part of the world in which the
author does not focus his attention is mostly in Latin America. The author does
not focus in how the Latin American cultures took everything that was going on
around them. The criticism may be true; however the book gives a general view
of the course of history.
10. What do you think of Standage’s approach to history? Is this a useful way to
think about history? What other approaches might one take?
The approach of Standage in this book is very interesting. Usually we think of
history as boring, not-able-to-see facts in chronological order. However, this book
gives us a new way to think of history: through the different types of beverages in
each period of time. It is amazing how something as simple as a beverage may
affect, not only history, but the future too. As Standage made an approach to
history through the drinks, people can make other approaches like dances or other
cultural aspects of a certain period of time and see how everything is related to
history.
11. What do you think will be the next drink to influence world history? Why?
Before I read the epilogue, I was thinking about this question and I thought a good
answer may be the energetic drinks. This kind of drink has become very popular,
especially among the youth. It is not a surprise to see a young person drinking
Red Bull or another energetic drink. The routine and speed which all of us are
living in the twenty-first century, require a new source of energy, because is really
tired. However, after I read the epilogue, I kind of agree with the author, with the
fact that we are going back to the source: water. It is not a surprise, either, to see
people carrying their own bottled water. Maybe the spot of the next drink to
influence world history will be disputed between water and Red Bull.
12. Did you like this book? Why or why not?
This book is very interesting. Personally, I liked it because after you read it, you will
never drink a coup of coffee or a coke in the same way. It is unbelievable how you
have a piece of history in your hands when you are drinking coffee, a coke, tea or a
beer. It makes you think that history is not just a narration of things that happened in
the past, but it is also present and is around us.