Early Humans & Historical Thinking
This period, named for its primary tools, provides evidence of early egalitarian societies.
What is the Paleolithic Era?
This early legal code - written in cuneiform and supposedly sanctioned by the Sun God Shamash - reveals how laws enforced social hierarchy and property norms in Bablyon.
What is Hammurabi’s Code?
This polis (city-state) emphasized civic debate and direct participation for free males but excluded women and enslaved people.
What is Athens?
This belief, shared by Hinduism and Buddhism, explains the cycle of rebirth and is tied to a person’s actions.
What is samsara (and karma)?
This Roman term for peace describes the stable period initiated by Augustus, which helped consolidate imperial control at the beginning of the Roman Empire.
What is the Pax Romana?
This transformative development led to permanent settlements, surplus food, and population growth.
What is the Agricultural Revolution?
This ancient civilization thrived along a river with predictable flooding, a centralized government ruled by divine kings called pharaohs, a strong belief in the afterlife, and a strong system of record-keeping.
What is Egypt?
This 5th-century BCE structure reflects both religious devotion and the power of imperial Athens.
What is the Parthenon?
This Chinese philosophy, founded during the Warring States Period, emphasized filial piety, ritual, and social harmony.
What is Confucianism?
This written legal code, posted in public, reveals Roman values around property, citizenship, and class during the Roman Republic.
What are the Twelve Tables?
When evaluating the reliability of a Paleolithic cave painting as a source, a historian should consider this aspect. (Also required for 2 sources on an AP DBQ)
What is sourcing (who made it, when, why)?
This group’s monotheistic religious tradition, recorded in a sacred text, had lasting influence on later Abrahamic faiths.
Who are the Hebrews (or What is Judaism)?
This Athenian leader used tribute from the Delian League to fund major public works and expand democracy—but also increased imperial control.
Who is Pericles?
This Mauryan ruler adopted Buddhist principles, promoted religious tolerance, and inscribed his laws on stone pillars across India.
Who is Ashoka?
This set of practices—including prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage—created religious unity across the Islamic Caliphates.
What are the Five Pillars of Islam?
This is when a historian explains the background of a particular historical period. (Also the first part of your introduction in a DBQ)
What is historical contextualization?
This early civilization, known for its advanced urban planning, standardized weights, and mysterious script, developed along the Indus River around 2500 BCE.
What is the Harappan (or Indus Valley) civilization?
The conflict between this alliance led by Athens and a rival league led by Sparta ultimately weakened the Greek world and contributed to its decline.
What is the Peloponnesian War?
This philosophy, often seen as a contrast to Confucianism, teaches alignment with the natural world and emphasizes inaction over interference.
What is Daoism?
Both the Roman and Islamic empires used this strategy to integrate diverse populations, encouraging loyalty through roads, trade routes, and shared laws.
What is infrastructure and organized, unified systems of government?
This explains how the Agricultural revolution led to social, economic and political complexity.
What is food surplus, which led to specialization of labor, the rise of social and gender inequality, increased trading, and centralized governments?
This event around 1200 BCE disrupted trade and destroyed many eastern Mediterranean societies, marking the end of the Bronze Age.
What is the Bronze Age Collapse?
A historian evaluating how democratic Athens truly was might COMPARE voting rights with the roles of women and enslaved people, using this historical thinking skill.
What is corroboration?
This ancient Indian legal text outlined caste duties and reinforced patriarchal norms by stating that women should be subject to the authority of their fathers, husbands, and sons.
What is the Code (or Laws) of Manu?
This policy imposed on non-Muslims in Islamic territories helped maintain order and religious tolerance while reinforcing Islamic authority.
What is the jizyah (tax on non-Muslims)?