BIG IDEAS OF UNITS 1-5

Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (c. 1200 to c.

1450)

BIG IDEAS

1. Song China maintained and justified its rule through Confucianism and an imperial bureaucracy. Buddhism continued to shape China's society. The Song economy flourished during this period.

2. As the Abbasid Caliphate was falling apart, new Islamic political entities emerged, and they engaged in significant expansion, while creating the occasion for intellectual innovations and transfers.

3. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam deeply influenced state building in South and Southeast Asia.

4. The various civilizations of the Americas developed strong states, large urban centers, and complex belief systems.

5. African state building was facilitated through participation in trade networks and religion.

6. State building in Europe was characterized by religious belief, feudalism, and decentralized monarchies.

   Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (c. 1200 to c.

   1450)

   BIG IDEAS

   1. Networks of exchange expanded in geographical scope and led to increasing interactions between states.

   2. A major effect of the growth of trading routes was cultural diffusion.

   3. The increasing Interconnection facilitated by trading routes led to significant environmental consequences.

   4. The Mongols created the largest land based empire in history, which facilitated further Interconnection across Afro-Eurasia

Unit 3: Land-Based Empires (c. 1450 to c.

1750)

BIG IDEAS

1. Various land-based empires developed and expanded throughout 1450-1750, most significantly through the use of gunpowder.

2. Rulers of land-based empires gained power and maintained control by establishing bureaucracies, sponsoring the creation of art, centralizing tax collection, and developing large militaries.

3. Belief systems could play different roles in and among land-based empires.

In some cases, shared beliefs bound people together. In other cases, conflicting beliefs caused conflict.

Replies

Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections (c.

1450 to c. 1750)

BIG IDEAS

#1. New and updated maritime

technology facilitated transoceanic trade and the development of sea-based empires.

1. European state-sponsored exploration led to a rapid expansion of trade and trans-Atlantic contact with the Americas.

2. The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of animals, plants, foods, and diseases from Europe to the Americas and vice versa. As a result of new contact, Europeans sought to colonize the Americas

3. With transoceanic contact established, European states established empires fueled by mercantilist economic policy and coerced labor systems.

4. The development of maritime empires over time significantly changed the economies and societies in which they were established.

5. As states imposed their cultural, political, and economic will on various colonized and enslaved people, resistance occurred.

6. Social categories, rules, and practice were both maintained and underwent significant change during this period.

   Unit 5: Revolutions (c. 1750 to c. 1900)

BIG IDEAS

1. New ways of thinking embodied in the Enlightenment created the occasion for reform and revolution.

2. The ideas of the Enlightenment, combined with rising nationalism, led to various revolutions throughout the world.

3. The Industrial Revolution began in Britain and would eventually transform the world.

4. As western Industrialization spread, Middle Eastern and Asian countries' share in global manufacturing declined.

5. The advent of new technologies fundamentally changed the landscape of manufacturing

6. Significant economic shifts occurred during this period including the rise of free market capitalism, transnational businesses, and increased standards of living.

7. Industrialization caused change in existing social hierarchies and standards of living as well as calls for changes.