All AP World History Units

Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (1200-1450)

1.1 - Developments in East Asia
→ Explain the systems of government employed by the Chinese dynasties and how they developed over time. (Political)

• Empires and states in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas demonstrated continuity, innovation, and diversity in the 13th century.

  • Song Dynasty - China

    • Confucianism: An ideology that places value on everyone filling their role in society with honor and loyalty; social relationships. Emphasis on filial piety (honoring elders/ancestors), patriarchy, loyalty, etc.

    • Imperial Bureaucracy: A government unit used to make decisions; staffed by men who scored highly on the Civil Service Exam, a merit-based test on Confucian teachings.

      • Scholar Gentry: Men in Bureaucracy, new social class

    • Mandate of Heaven: Ideology stating that the right to rule was given by heaven; opposing a ruler == opposing heaven

→ Explain the effects of Chinese cultural traditions on East Asia over time. (Cultural)

• Chinese cultural traditions continued, and they influenced neighboring regions.

  • Filial Piety (Confucian Value)

  • Neo-Confucianism: Revival of Confucianism during the Song Dynasty; syncretism w/ traits from Buddhism and Daoism, both which were also diffusing throughout East + Southeast Asia.

  • Buddhism: Non-theistic religion based on the teachings of the Buddha (4 noble truths + 8fold path)

    • Diffused along the Silk Roads, originating in India. Sometimes fused with other religions in order to become more appealing to local populations

      • Theravada: Strict adherence to original teachings

      • Mahayana: Postponing Nirvana (REFERENCE ITS A REFEREBCE) to help others achieve enlightenment

      • Tibetan: Blend of Buddhism and Shamanism; teaches that you can harness spiritual energy to achieve Nirvana in a single lifetime

  • Social expectations for women

    • Forced to obey men (patriarchy)

    • Foot binding - Prevented disobedience as women could barely move around

  • Literacy and Scholarly Traditions

    • Writing stamps + woodblock printing diffused to Korea and Japan

→ Explain the effects of innovation on the Chinese economy over time. (Economy, Technology/Innovations)

• The economy of Song China became commercialized while continuing to depend on free peasant and artisanal labor.

  • Commercialized Economy: Goods are produced for export, not local consumers

• The economy of Song China flourished as a result of increased productive capacity, expanding trade networks, and innovations in agriculture and manufacturing.

  • Trade Networks: Indian Ocean Trade, Silk Roads

  • Innovations:

    • Champa Rice: resistant crop, mass production led to food surplus, causing population growth

    • Transportation networks (ex. Grand Canal, connecting North + South China and encouraging trade)

    • Steel and Iron Production

    • Textiles and Porcelain, produced for export across the Silk Roads and Indian Ocean Trade Network

1.2 - Developments in Dar al-Islam

→ Explain how systems of belief and their practices affected society. (Cultural)

• Islam, Judaism, and Christianity shaped societies in Africa and Asia

  • Islam: Highly regarded merchants, women had (slighty) more rights than other regions, often theocracies, used Sharia to govern, highly prioritized education

→ Explain the causes and effects of the rise of Islamic States over time. (Political)

• As the Abbasid Caliphate fragmented (split into smaller empires), new political entities emerged, most of which were dominated by Turkic people.

  • Seljuk Empire: Former Abbasid slaves

  • Mamluk Sultanate: Former slaves

  • Delhi Sultanate: Islamic empire in South Asia, established after attacking India

    • Prevented Mongol conquest in South Asia

• Muslim rule expanded across Afro-Eurasia due to military expansion, merchants, missionaries, and Sufis

  • Sufism: Branch of Islam focused on introspection + spirituality

→ Explain the effects of intellectual innovation in Dar al-Islam. (Technology/Innovations)

• Muslim states and empires encouraged intellectual innovations and transfers

  • Advances in mathematics (trig)

  • Advances in literature

  • Advances in medicine

    • Theory bacteria might be making ppl sick, not god

  • Preservation + commentaries on Greek philosophy

  • House of Wisdom in Abbasid Baghdad attracted scholars from all over the region

    • Collab of diverse populations resulted in transfers of information to Christian Spain

1.3 - Developments in South and Southeast Asia

→ Explain how the various belief systems and practices of South and Southeast Asia affected society over time. (Cultural)

• Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, and their core beliefs and practices, continued to shape societies in South and Southeast Asia.

  • Bhakti movement: Strengthening your relationship with one specific god, challenging traditional Hinduism

  • Sufism

  • Buddhist Monasticism: Monks; living a life of discipline

→ Explain how and why various states of South and Southeast Asia developed and maintained power over time. (Political)

• State formation and development demonstrated continuity, innovation, and diversity, including the new Hindu and Buddhist states that emerged in South and Southeast Asia.

• These states controlled Indian Ocean Trade (know at least one)

  • Vijayanagara Empire - Hindu

  • Srivijaya Empire - Buddhist

  • Rajput kingdoms - Hindu

  • Khmer Empire - Hindu + Buddhist

  • Majapahit - Hindu + Buddhist

  • Sukhothai kingdom - Buddhist

  • Sinhala dynasties - Buddhist

1.4 - State Building in the Americas

→ Explain how and why states in the Americas developed and changed over time. (Political)

• In the Americas and Afro-Eurasia, state systems demonstrated continuity, innovation, and diversity, and expanded in scope and reach

• State systems in the Americas: (know at least one)

  • Maya city-states

    • Ruled by a king who claimed to be a descendant from god

    • Wars were fought btwn city-states for tributes

    • Technological innovations (concept of 0, rubber, advanced calendar)

  • Mexica/Aztecs

    • Utilized slavery to keep population obedient

    • Human sacrifice was used as a display of political power, in addition to religion

    • Conquered many nearby civilizations

  • Inca

    • Mit’a System: Mandatory public service

    • Priests were extremely significant, being in charge of medical diagnoses, solving crimes, determining sacrifices, in addition to predicting battle outcomes.

  • Chaco

  • Mesa Verde

  • Cahokia

• Communities formed around water, where soil was fertile → eventually grew into empires or city-states

1.5 - State Building in Africa

→ Explain how and why states in Africa developed and changed over time. (Political)

• In Africa, state systems demonstrated continuity, innovation, and diversity, and expanded in scope and reach.

  • Great Zimbabwe

    • Overgrazing of land led to populations abandoning the capital

    • Accumulated wealth through the gold trade

  • Ethiopia

    • One of the only Christian states in the region

  • Hausa Kingdoms

1.6 - Developments in Europe

→ Explain how the beliefs and practices of the predominant religions in Europe affected European society. (Culture)

• Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and the core beliefs and practices of these religions continued to shape societies in Europe.

  • Ex. They influenced art; many artists during this time period painted gods/other religious figures

• Europe was politically fragmented and characterized by decentralized monarchies, feudalism, and the manorial system

  • Feudalism: Land ownership in exchange for loyalty and service/labor

  • Manorial System: Economic system associated with feudalism; a system of manors is self-sufficient

• Europe was largely an agricultural society dependent on free and coerced labor, including serfdom

  • Serfdom: Peasants are bound to the land they work on, under a lord

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

2.1 - Silk Roads

→ Explain the causes and effects of growth of networks of exchange after 1200 (Economic)

• Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes (Silk Roads, Indian Ocean Trade Network, Trans-Saharan Trade Routes), promoting the growth of new trading cities

  • Money Economies: An economic system where money is used to trade, in contrast to bartering

  • Forms of Credit: Paper money, bills of exchange, banking houses

  • New Trading Cities: A city who’s economy is heavily dependent on trade; often hubs for the exchange of culture, ideas, and goods

    • Kashgar: Convergence of the silk roads

    • Samarkand: Trade city between China and India

• The growth of inter-regional trade in luxury goods (silk, spices, porcelain) was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies

  • Caravanserai: A temporary residence for traveling merchants where they could access food, water, shelter, and rest.

  • Money economies + forms of credit

• Trade increased because new innovations made transactions safer

• Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export. Manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.

  • The Crusades

  • Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca
    

2.2 - The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World

→ Explain the process of state building and decline in Eurasia over time (Political)

• As empires collapsed, they were replaced with new imperial states (Ex. Mongol Khanates replacing Abbasids)

  • Yuan Dynasty: Mongol-led Chinese dynasty. Tolerant of other religions/cultures, promoted unity throughout the empire

→ Explain how the expansion of empires influenced trade and communication over time (Economy, Political)

• As new innovations made trade safer and empires expanded (mainly the Mongols), trade routes became safer, encouraging more trade.

• This facilitated communication as people were drawn into their conqueror’s new, large economies and trade networks

→ Explain the significance of the Mongol Empire in larger patterns of continuity and change (Political)

• Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires, including the Mongols, encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers

  • House of Wisdom, Baghdad: A major public library/academic center in Baghdad where scholars from around the world came to collaborate; a significant location along the Silk Roads

    • Allowed transfer of ancient Greek knowledge w/ additional comments from Islamic scholars to diffuse to Europe (Contributes to Scientific Revolution)

  • Promoted unity due to a tolerance of diverse cultures, facilitated cultural exchange

    • Transfer of Indian numbering system to Europe

    • Adoption of the Uyghur script across the Mongol empire

  • Pax Mongolica: Period of peace and stability due to Mongols

2.3 - Exchange in the Indian Ocean

→ Explain the causes of the growth of networks of exchange after 1200 (Economic)

• Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes, including the Indian Ocean, prompting the growth of new trading cities

  • Transportation Technologies: Magnetic Compass, Astrolabe, Caravans, Larger Ship Designs (Junk + Dhow)

  • Commercial Practices: Money Economies, Paper Money, Banking Houses, Bills of Exchange

  • Trading Cities:

    • Swahili Coast City-States

    • Gujarat

    • Sultanate of Malacca (Controlled the Strait of Malacca ∴ controlled significant amount of Indian Ocean Trade)

→ Explain the effects of the growth of networks of exchange after 1200 (Economic)

• In key places along important trade routes, merchants set up diasporic communities where they introduced their own cultural traditions into indigenous cultures and, in turn, indigenous cultures influenced merchant cultures.

  • Diasporic Communities: A community of people with the same nationality that migrated into foreign territory, usually for trade; concentrated population in the same region. This encouraged cultural diffusion and cultural syncretism

    • Cultural Diffusion: Spread of a culture

    • Cultural Syncretism: As ≥2 cultures interact, they incorporate traits from one another

    • Arab and Persian communities in E Africa, Chinese merchant communities in SE Asia, communities in the Indian Ocean Basin

• Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers, including during Chinese maritime activity led by Ming Admiral Zheng He (1405)

→ Explain the role of environmental factors in the development of networks of exchange in the period from 1200 - 1450 (Interactions with the Environment)

• The expansion and intensification of long-distance trade routes often depended on environmental knowledge, including advanced knowledge/understanding (not invention) of the Indian Ocean Monsoon Winds

2.4 - Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

→ Explain the causes and effects of the growth of trans-Saharan trade (Economic)

• Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes, including the trans-Saharan trade network.

  • Transportation Technologies: Camel Saddle, Caravans

    • Caravans: Groups of merchants and their camels traveled together

  • Commercial Practices: Money Economies, Paper Money, Banking Houses, Bills of Exchange

→ Explain how the expansion of empires influenced trade and communication over time

• The expansion of empires facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into the economies and trade networks.

  • Mali in West Africa, 1324: Mansa Musa made a lavish pilgrimage to Mecca, displaying the empire’s wealth in gold and causing European interest in African trade

2.5 - Cultural Consequences of Connectivity

→ Explain the intellectual and cultural effects of the various networks of exchange in Afro-Eurasia from 1200-1450 (Cultural)

• Increased cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions, as well as scientific and technological innovations

  • Buddhism → East Asia

  • Hinduism + Buddhism → Southeast Asia

  • Islam → Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Chinese Gunpowder and Paper

• The fate of cities varied greatly, with periods of significant decline and periods of increased urbanization, buoyed by rising productivity and expanding trade networks.

• Travelers documented their journeys:

  • Ibn Battuta: Muslim scholar who traveled across Afro-Eurasia

  • Margery Kempe: Christian woman who wrote the first autobiography

  • Marco Polo: European explorer who went to China through the Silk Roads, sparking European interest in East Asian trade

2.6 - Environmental Consequences of Connectivity

→ Explain the environmental effects of the various networks of exchange in Afro-Eurasia from 1200-1450

• There was a continued diffusion of crops and pathogens, with epidemic disease spreading along trade routes

  • Bubonic Plague: Spread along the Silk Roads (w/ help of caravans + caravanserai), killing 50 million people and a third of Europe and resulting in the Black Death

    • Deaths resulted in fewer serfs, therefore survivors demanded improved treatment - higher wages, better diets, more rights, increased job availability

  • Diffusion of Crops: Bananas in Africa, Rice Varieties (Champa Rice) in East Asia, Citrus in the Mediterranean

    • Caused population growth

    • Increased life expectancy

Unit 3: Land Based Empires

3.1 - Empires Expand

→ Explain how and why various land-based empires developed and expanded (Political)

• Imperial expansion relied on increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres.

  • Gunpowder Empires: Large, Islamic, multiethnic states in Asia that relied on the use of firearms + gunpowder weapons (ex. canons) to conquer and control territories. Spoke Turkic languages. Europeans were occupied with internal conflicts, leaving no competition for these empires to expand - except for each other.

    • Mughal: India

      • Sunni Islam

      • Very tolerant of different religions, facilitating cultural diffusion + syncretism, leading to the development of Sikhism

    • Ottoman: Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Europe

      • Sunni Islam

    • Safavids: Iran

      • Shia Islam

    • Conflicts arose due to religious differences/disagreements and land disputes

      • Safavid-Mughal Conflict

      • Safavid-Ottoman Conflict

  • Ming Dynasty: Ethnically Han (Chinese) empire. Attempted to undo all traces of the Mongols, enacted isolationist policies, rebuilt the great wall, etc.

  • Qing/Manchu Dynasty: The last Chinese dynasty, led by the Manchus (not native Chinese) after overthrowing the Ming Dynasty

    • White Lotus Rebellion: Failed peasant uprising during the Qing Dynasty

3.2 - Empire Administration

→ Explain how rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires (Political)

• Recruitment and use of bureaucratic elites, as well as the development of military professionals, became more common among rulers who wanted to maintain centralized control over their populations and resources

  • Ottoman Devshirme: Conscription of Christian boys into the military

  • Ottoman Janissaries: Elite army/guards of the empire, recruited through the Devshirme

  • Japanese Samurai: Elites appointed by the Daimyo to manage finances and local affairs. Paid with a salary in contrast to other Samurai so they could focus on bureaucratic tasks

• Rulers continued to use religious ideas, art, and monumental architecture to legitimize their rule

  • Mexica human sacrifices were used as a show of political power to keep people civilized, in addition to the religious meaning

  • European rulers utilized divine right to rule, the idea that rulers were approved by god; therefore, going against a ruler is going against god himself

  • Incan Sun Temple connected rulers to god to legitimize their rule

  • Portraits were often used as propaganda

    • Louis XIV: Portrayed himself as god in portraits around Versailles, nobles fought for his attention.

    • Versailles: Large, extravagant building to show off wealth + keep nobles busy

    • Qing Dynasty Imperial Portraits: Rulers were depicted wearing expensive clothing and accessories as a show of wealth and power

  • Ottoman Millet System: Granted groups with different cultures the right to govern themselves according to their values (autonomy)

• Rulers used tribute collection, tax farming, and innovative tax-collection systems to generate revenue in order to forward state power and expansion

  • Mughal Zamindars: Local administrators (sovereign landowners) collected taxes on behalf of the empire, and got to keep a designated amount of it for their salaries

  • Ottoman Tax Farming: Local administrators collected tax on behalf of the empire, got to keep a designated amount of it for their salaries

  • Mexica Tribute Lists: Conquered civilizations were required to contribute desired resources to the Mexica (Aztecs)

  • Ming Currency: Taxes were collected in standardized coins, primarily made from copper before the widespread use of silver

3.3 - Empire Belief Systems

→ Explain continuity and change within the various belief systems (Cultural)

• Protestant Reformation: Emphasis on individual knowledge/experimentation, called out corruption within the church (ex. indulgences), marked a break with existing Christian traditions

• Catholic Reformation: Response to Protestant Reformation; addressed corruption/criticisms within the church