1200-1450
Identify the 13th-century empire that created the largest contiguous land empire in history and facilitated the Pax Mongolica.
The Mongol Empire
Identify the 1492 event that initiated the first permanent contact between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
The arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas (The Columbian Exchange).
Identify the 18th-century movement that applied logic and reason to human society, fueling political revolutions.
The Enlightenment
Identify ONE 20th-century ideological struggle that divided the world into two main blocs after World War II.
The Cold War
Identify the labor system used in the Americas that involved a period of service in exchange for passage to the New World, later largely replaced by chattel slavery.
Indentured Servitude
Identify the specific belief system that spread via the Silk Roads and took on new forms like "Mahayana" and "Zen" as it moved into East Asia.
Buddhism
Identify ONE maritime empire that utilized joint-stock companies to finance and manage their overseas colonies.
The British or the Dutch.
Identify ONE technology that allowed European empires to expand their reach into the interior of Africa and Asia.
Steamships, Quinine, or the Maxim Gun.
Identify ONE leader who utilized non-violence as a method to challenge colonial rule during the 20th century.
Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela
Identify the specific mountain in the Andes (modern-day Bolivia) that became the world’s largest silver mine and the primary source of wealth for the Spanish Empire.
Potosi.
Explain ONE way in which the expansion of empires, such as the Mali Empire, facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication.
They provided political stability, protected trade routes, and standardized currencies. Islam also provided a common legal framework across Dar-al-Islam.
Explain ONE way in which land-based empires, such as the Ottoman or Mughal, used monumental architecture to legitimize their rule.
Structures like the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia, Palace of Versailles, the Winter Palace, or Taj Mahal displayed immense wealth and power, physically manifesting the ruler's authority.
Explain ONE way in which the Industrial Revolution altered the social structure of Western Europe.
The rise of a new middle class (bourgeoisie) and an urban working class (proletariat), alongside a shift in gender roles.
Explain ONE way in which the First World War was a "Total War."
Governments mobilized their entire populations, used propaganda, and redirected their entire industrial economies toward the war effort.
Explain ONE way in which the process of "syncretism" is reflected in the development of a specific religion or cultural tradition between 1200 and 1750.
Neo-Confucianism (Confucianism with Buddhist/Taoist elements) OR the development of Vodun in the Caribbean
Explain ONE way in which the Song Dynasty utilized traditional Confucianism to maintain or justify its political rule.
Through the Civil Service Exam system, which ensured a loyal bureaucracy and reinforced social hierarchy/filial piety.
Explain ONE way in which the development of the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty altered the social or political structures of China.
They maintained a separate ethnic identity from the Han while adopting the Confucian bureaucracy to rule.
Explain ONE way in which Enlightenment ideals contributed to the Haitian Revolution.
Concepts of natural rights and equality inspired enslaved populations to challenge the French colonial and racial hierarchy.
Explain ONE way in which the Green Revolution changed the relationship between humans and the environment.
It increased food supply via GMOs and pesticides but led to habitat loss, decreased biodiversity, and reliance on chemical runoff.
Explain ONE way in which patriarchy or gender roles were challenged by a specific political or social movement after 1750.
The Suffrage movement (Enlightenment ideals) OR the entry of women into the industrial workforce OR revolutionary roles (e.g., the Women's March on Versailles).
Explain ONE environmental effect of the various exchange networks (Silk Roads, Indian Ocean, or Trans-Saharan) during this period.
The spread of pathogens like the Bubonic Plague OR the diffusion of crops like Champa Rice and Bananas, which altered populations.
Explain ONE significant continuity in the global economy despite the incorporation of the Americas into the world trade network.
The dominance of Asian goods (silks, spices, porcelain) and the continued flow of global wealth toward China and India.
Explain ONE way in which the global economy led to increased migration in the 19th century.
The demand for labor in plantations or mines led to the movement of indentured servants (e.g., Indians to the Caribbean, Chinese to the US).
Explain ONE way in which the end of the Second World War contributed to the process of decolonization in Africa or Asia.
European powers were economically and militarily exhausted, which weakened their ability to maintain colonial rule (OR the war undermined the myth of European racial/military superiority).
Explain ONE significant continuity in the role of religion in state-building or legitimation across ANY two time periods.
Rulers using religious titles (Caliph, Tsar) or divine right (Mandate of Heaven, Divine Right of Kings) to justify their authority over their subjects.