Transcript Foundations

I. “Cracking” the AP World History Exam:
Multiple Choice & FRQ’s
THE “WHAP” EXAM
1. 70 multiple-choice: 55 min.
2. 3 essays (9 pts ea.):
• 10-min. “reading period” (review DBQ docs!)
• 2 hours for DBQ, CCOT, & Compare/Contrast essays
The “Units”…
TimePeriod
% of Questions
# of Questions
“Foundations”:
8000 B.C.E.-600 C.E.
“Classical Empires”
600-1450
“Post-Classical”
1450-1750
Industrial Rev.
1750-1914
19-20%
13-14
22%
15-16
19-20%
13-14
19-20%
13-14
Contemporary
1914-present
19-20%
13-14
Total
70
Make an Educated Guess…
1. When Europeans arrived in sub-Saharan Africa
in the 1400-1500‘s the African slave trade was
(A) just beginning
(B) an institution Europeans had to establish
(C) well established and hundreds of years old
(D) still under the control of Ottoman traders
WORLD REGIONS
Unit 1:
8,000 B.C.E. – 600 C.E.
Big Picture

1st River Valley Civs: Neolithic Revolution

“Classical Empires”
• Nomads threat to empires

Religion/goods spread: merchants/missionaries

New trade routes (Silk Roads, Indian Ocean)

Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity
Beginnings:
8,000B.C.E – 1,000 B.C.E.
• Hunters & gathers
• Early humans spread from Africa
• 8,000 B.C.E. agriculture starts in
MESOPOTAMIA
Hunting and gathering societies were
marked by
I. widespread labor specialization
II. little specialization of labor
III. subsistence lifestyle
IV. limited trade
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
I, II, and III
II, III, and IV
I and III
II and IV
Civ. Characteristics:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Farming
Cities
Writing
Gov’t laws
Organized religions
Social inequality
Ancient Civilizations
Decline of Early Civs.
• By 1000 B.C.E. decline due to iron
• Minoans/Mycenaeans: influenced Greeks
• Phoenicians: trading empire (alphabet)
“Classical” Empires:
Rome, Han, Gupta
(1000 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.)
General Characteristics
• iron (agriculture; weapons)
• “Regional” Trade Routes
• Formal Religions & Social systems:
– Hinduism in India
– Confucianism in China
Classical Social Systems
Based upon inequality
1. India: Caste System
2. China: Confucianism (rigid hierarchy)
3. Mediterranean:
-Greeks (land-owning aristocrats; slaves)
-Romans (land-owning patricians; plebians; slaves)
Chinese Dynasties
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
Sui, Tang, Song
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Mao & Deng
Shang (1700 - 1027 BCE)
• Aristocracy ruled
• Writing, bronze, silk
• Ancestor worship
Zhou (1027 - 250 BCE)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Longest lasting Dynasty
Beginning of Mandate of Heaven
Taoism & Confucianism introduced
Feudal
Built roads, expanded trade
Ended with: “Warring States Period”
China: Qin & Han
• Qin dynasty– Legalist (strict & severe)
– Emperor Shi Huangdi (:Terra Cotta Warriors”)
– Great Wall
• Han dynasty– Confucianism:
– Mandate of Heaven
– “Meritocracy”: civil service exam & scholar-gentry
– Eunuchs gained power
– Silk Roads: paper, silk
Decline: corruption, nomads, loss of mandate,
crop failure, internal conflict
Qin (221 - 207 BCE)
Why was the Zhou dynasty in China so
long-lived?
(A)because their leaders were ruthless
(B) due to the lack of Confucianism and the rise
of Legalism
(C) due to the ideas of Confucianism
emphasizing the duty of emperors
(D)because average people were not allowed
weapons
Silk Roads
– brought Buddhism to China
– Chinese silk to Europe
Silk Roads
Classical India
Mauryan Dynasty:
- King Ashoka (wrote laws on Rock Pillars Edicts)
- Buddhism spreads
Gupta Dynasty: Hindu “golden age”
Gupta India
• Centralized
• Golden Age: military, math (pi, zero, numerals),
astronomy, medicine, lit.
• Extensive Trade: Silk Roads, Indian Ocean (dhow boat)
• A “theatre” state
• Hinduism: duty to caste; reincarnation
• Buddhism spreads due to inequality
• Nomads: Huns
Decline: corruption, poor leadership, nomads,
overexpansion, & too diverse
“Classical” India
Greeks:
– Independent city-states (internal warfare)
– Athenian “Golden Age” = Democracy,
art, philosophy, science
– Alexander conquers & spreads Greek
culture (Hellenistic Period)
Alexander the Great
Mediterranean
Rome:
–
–
–
–
–
–
At first a Republic
Capital: Rome (centralized)
Empire began after Julius Caesar
Augustus Caesar: “Pax Romana”
Built roads (“Appian Way”) & Aqueducts
Christianity develops, spreads
Decline: corruption, moral decline,
nomads, inflation
Roman Empire
Public Works
“The Great Builders”:
Columns, Domes,
Arches; Aqueducts,
Roads, Bridges,
Theaters, the Coliseum
Great Wall of China
Bridges, Roads, Canals
Terra Cotta Warriors
Fall of Roman Empire
Persians
• Centralized bureaucracy (divided into “Satraps”)
Golden Age: Royal Road, military, coins, postal service
• tolerance & trade
• Zoroastrianism: dual forces of good & evil
Decline: corruption, over taxation, Alexander
the Great
Persian Empire
In Africa:
• Bantu migrations: spread similar
cultural traits through Sub-Saharan
Africa
AMERICAN CIVILIZATION
The Maya, Aztecs, and Inca
Amerindian Civilizations
Maya (300 CE to 900)
From Olmec traditions
Independent citystates…decentralized
Astronomical
calendar
Number zero
Written language
American Civilizations
Aztec 1400-1521
militant warriors
tributary empire
decentralized empire
human sacrifice
Written language
Spanish conquered w/
guns & disease
American Civilizations
Incas 1400-1540
Rugged Andes Mts.
Centralized empire
terraces for farming
network of roads & bridges
NO WRITTEN LANGUAGE…but
used quipu
Spanish conquest
Causes of “Classical” Decline:
– Nomadic invaders
– Epidemics
– Corruption
– Internal decline
W. Europe:
– worst decline
– Byzantine Empire flourishes in East
China:
– 300 years of disunity
India:
– declines politically, but trade continues
– Hinduism spreads