Topic 1: Dynamic Interactions Among Regions of the World
- Supporting Question: What kinds of global connections existed among humans in the past?
1. Explain different ways in which societies interact across regions (e.g., trade, cultural, religious, linguistic and technological exchange and diffusion; migration; exploration, diplomatic alliances; colonization and conquests).
2. Give examples of exchange of ideas and goods among ancient complex societies to c. 500 CE.
3. Explain how interactions among societies are affected by geographical factors such as the location of bodies of water, mountains, deserts, climate, the presence or scarcity of natural resources, and human factors such as population size and density, mortality rates, or migration patterns.
4. Demonstrate the ability to analyze primary sources, including texts, maps, diagrams, works of art and architecture.
5. Demonstrate the ability to construct graphic displays that convey information about interactions among and comparisons between societies.
Topic 2: Development and Diffusion of Religions and Systems of Belief, c. 500 BCE - 1200 CE
- Supporting Question: How did the development of religious and belief systems influence the political and cultural structures of the regions where they were produced?
1. Map how Buddhist, Christian, and Islamic religions spread from their places of origin to other parts of Eurasia and Africa to c. 1400 CE, and explain some of the means by which religions spread.
2. Describe the central tenets of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism Christianity and Islam; create a timeline that shows when and where each religion or belief system began.
3. Describe the historic commonalities among monotheistic religions (e.g., Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and how they differ from polytheistic religions (e.g., Greco-Roman religions, Hinduism).
4. Describe indigenous religious practices in Africa and explain how these practices survived and shaped African Christian and Islamic religions.
5. Locate on a map and analyze relationships between political power, religion, and cultural achievement in one empire that flourished between c. 100 and 1000 CE.
Topic 3: Interactions of Kingdoms and Empires c. 1000 - 1500
- Supporting question: How did the interactions of kingdoms and empires in this time period influence political, economic and social developments?
1. Explain the concepts of hereditary rule, kingdom, empire, feudal society, and dynasty and explain why these concepts are important in the analysis of political power and governments in different historical periods and in different places.
2. Map the geographic extent of one of the following kingdoms or empires; explain its central political, economic, cultural developments and its role in trade, diplomatic alliances, warfare, and exchanges with other parts of the world.
Africa
Kingdoms and empires based in Western, Central and East Asia
China
Japan
Korea
- Analyze the development of Korean society to 1800, including how Korea has been both a battleground and a cultural bridge between China and Japan.
India
- Describe the important economic, political and religious developments in Indian history to 1700, including the origins of the Indian civilization in the Indus Valley, the evolution and central principles of Hinduism and Buddhism, the development of the caste system, and artistic and intellectual achievements, including Buddhist, Hindu, and Mughal sculpture, architecture, printing, and literature and the development of a decimal system in mathematics.
Kingdoms and empires based in the Americas
Pre-Columbian Civilizations
- Identify the three major pre-Columbian civilizations that existed in Central and South America (Maya, Aztec, and Inca) and their locations. Describe the political structures, religious practices, economies, art and architecture, and use of slaves.
Colonial Period
- Effects of the European colonial period in South and Central America, including the major decline in population due to disease and warfare, the enslavement of indigenous peoples, and the impact of Christian missionaries on existing religious and social structures.
Kingdoms and empires based in Europe
- Describe the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries into North Africa, Eastern Europe and throughout the Middle East, including the capture of Constantinople.
Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab Revolt of 1916
- Describe the rise of Christianity and its teachings, achievements and fall of the Byzantine Empire, including the influence of Constantine, and the establishment of Christianity as an officially sanctioned religion, Emperor Justinian and the Code of Justinian, the preservation of Greek and Roman traditions, and the construction of the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia).
- Evaluate how the cumulative political, economic, and intellectual development in Europe of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries affected other societies, including the decline of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe during the late 17th century.
Image from the Penn Museum
3. Describe the goods and commodities traded east, west, north and south along the Silk Roads connecting Europe, Africa, and Asia, including horses, grain, wood, furs, timber, spices, silk, and other luxury goods.
4. Explain how travelers' accounts and maps contributed to knowledge about the world.
5. Explain the widespread practice in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas of enslaving captives of war and of buying and selling slaves from the 5th to the 8th centuries CE.
6. Describe coexistence, tolerance, and trade between Arab and Christian kingdoms in the 8th to early 10th centuries CE.
7. Explain the consolidation of wealth of the Catholic Church and the power struggles within the church in the 11th century CE, the development of the practices of feudalism, knighthood, and chivalry in Europe, and the emergence of the concept of rights in England.
- Describe developments in medieval English legal and constitutional history and their importance in the rise of modern democratic institutions and procedures, including the Magna Carta, parliament, and habeas corpus.
- Analyze the major political, economic, and social developments that took place in medieval Europe.
8. Evaluate the causes, course, and consequences of the European Crusades in the Mediterranean region in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries CE.
9. Explain the global consequences of diseases, focusing on the Bubonic Plague and its spread through the Eurasian and African trade several times, in particular the severity of the impact of the disease on mortality rates in Europe, Africa and Asia in the 15th century CE.
Topic 4: Philosophy, the Arts, Science and Technology c. 1200 - 1700
- Supporting question: How did increasing global connectedness lead to the developments in philosophy, arts and sciences in the early modern world?
1. Explain how classical learning survived into the medieval world.
2. Explain the global spread and consequences of Chinese inventions and technologies.
3. Analyze the Agricultural Revolution (Arab or Green Revolution) in Africa, Europe, and Asia, including the diffusion of plants from Asia and Africa into medieval Spain and the construction of large-scale systems of irrigation (e.g., canals, windmills, and aqueducts)
4. Describe the importance to India's medieval economy of textile technologies and the importance of cotton cloth as an export to Africa and Europe.
5. Describe the origins and development of the European Renaissance, the emerging concept of humanism, and the influence and accomplishments of key artists, writers, and inventors of the Italian Renaissance and the Renaissance in Northern Europe.
6. Describe the political and religious origins of the Protestant Reformation and its effects on European society, including the reasons for the growing discontent with the Catholic Church; the main ideas of Martin Luther and John Calvin; the spread of Protestantism across Europe, and the formation of the Anglican Church.
7. Explain the purposes and policies of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, including the influence and ideas of Ignatius Loyola.
8. Identify the role that the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation played on shifting political power in Europe, the persecution of religious minorities, and wars among European nations in the 15th and 16th centuries.
9. Explain the emergence of a wealthy Protestant middle class in 17th century Northern Europe, its involvement in global trade, and its patronage of the arts and sciences.
10. Summarize how the scientific method and new technologies led to new theories of the universe, describe the accomplishments of at least two figures of the Scientific Revolution; explain how advances in shipbuilding contributed to European exploration and conquest.
Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, used in the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Topic 5: Global Exploration, Conquest, Colonization c. 1492 - 1800
- Supporting Question: What was the effect of European conquests on the political and social structures of other regions of the world?
1. Describe the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula after the Treaty of Granada (1942), the rise of Spanish and Portuguese Kingdoms, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Spanish expeditions to conquer and Christianize the Americas, the Philippines and Portuguese conflicts with Muslim states.
2. Explain the motivations for European nations to find a sea route to Asia.
3. Identify the major economic, political, demographic, and social effects of the European colonial period in the Americas and the Caribbean Islands, the so-called "Columbian Exchange"; the impact of Christian missionaries on existing religious and social structures in the Americas, and the expansion of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
4. Map the extent of the Ottoman, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, and British Empires in the 17th century and research and report on an account of travel, trade or diplomacy of the 17th century.
Topic 6: Philosophies of Government and Society
- Supporting Question: How did philosophies of government shape the everyday lives of people?
1. Identify the origins and ideals of the Enlightenment, such as happiness, reason, progress, liberty, and nature, and how intellectuals of the movement exemplified these ideals in their work.
2. Explain historical philosophies of government, giving examples from world history: the Chinese doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, absolute monarchy, enlightened absolutism (e.g., in Russia under Czars Peter the Great and Catherine the Great), constitutional monarchy.
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3. Explain why England was the main exception to the growth of absolutism in royal power in Europe.
4. Explain the development of constitutional democracy following the American Revolution, the United States Constitution (1787), and the Bill of Rights (1791).
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