SOL Themes

Big Ideas

100

Government should NOT interfere in business; free markets are best for economies and the people!

Adam Smith - Capitalism

200

Man is naturally violent and selfish; in order to have any security he must enter into a social contract in which he turns over his rights to an absolute ruler

Thomas Hobbes

300

Through reasoning, observation, hypothesizing, testing and analyzing we can find truth in how our world works.

Scientific Method

400

In order to be powerful, a country must accumulate as much gold and silver as possible, increase exports, and establish colonies that provide raw materials but also provide markets only for YOUR goods.

Mercantilism

500

There should be no private property; the "people" as a whole should own all of the means of production; eventually there will be no classes at all

Communism - Karl Marx

Big Conflicts

100

Religious war during the reformation that eventually became political...

30 Years War (Cardinal Richilieu entered Catholic France on the side of the Protestants to weaken the Hapsburgs and set France on a course to be dominant power in Europe)

200

American, British, Canadian invasion of Normandy which pushed the Germans east in WWII

D-Day; Operation Overlord

300

What were the long-term causes of WWI?

Nationalism, Imperialism, Militarism (Arms Race), Alliances

400

Why was the conflict between the US and USSR post-1945 called a "Cold" War?

Cold = they did not directly fight one another but supported third parties (proxy wars); War = the US and USSR support revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries to battle each others' ideology (Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Africa, Afghanistan, etc)

500

Indians and Chinese attempted to rebel or limit British rule/influence over their countries. What were these conflicts called and what were they over?

India - Sepoy Rebellion - Cultural insensitivities (failed); China - Opium Wars - right to sell drugs to Chinese (lost); China - Boxer Rebellion - forcing foreigners out & applying law more fairly (lost)

Innovations

100

What were the four major advancements during the Age of Exploration that helped fuel new "discoveries"?

Caravel - ship with triangular sails; Compass- direction; Astrolabe- latitude; improved maps

200

The use of this profoundly change warfare in the 20th century and continues to be a concern in warfare today.

Atomic bombs (nuclear weapons)

300

This invention (and inventor) inadvertantly fueled an increase in slave labor in the US.

Cotton Gin - Eli Whitney

400

There two inventions/discoveries greatly improved health during the industrial revolution.

Smallpox vaccine - Edward Jenner; Germ theory, how bacteria grows/works - Louis Pasteur

500

This invention could be called one of the most important inventions in the world; it was created in what is now Germany and may be one of the most important ways ideas spread.

Guttenburg Press

Big Moments

100

Egypt took back ownership of this important landmark under the leadership of this person who focused on Pan-Arab unity

Suez Canal; Abdul Nasser

200

This monarch ended a lot of fighting between Protestants and Catholics in their country by establishing this. Who is the monarch and what did they establish?

Elizabeth I; Anglican Church

300

The election of this president was a huge moment in this country's history because it symbollically indicated the official end to an extremely racist time period. Who was he? What was the racist government policy?

Nelson Madela - End of Apartheid

400

Russia withdrew from World War I because of this and officially became what kind of society with who as its leader?

Russian Revolution (Bolshevik Revolution); Communist society (USSR); Vladimir Lenin

500

There three individuals stand out for their efforts to liberate Latin American from colonial rule. Who worked to liberate Haiti, Mexico and South America?

Toussant L'Ouverture; Miguel Hidalgo; Simon Bolivar

Game Changers

100

This event changed the power dynamic of Europe in the 1500s; the actor that wielded the most power in Western Europe now had a challenger on the field

Martin Luther - 95 thesis - Protestant Reformation

200

This huge event in human history dramatically changed life for huge populations by introducing new plants, animals and germs to new parts of the world.

Columbian Exchange - (From West to East--> potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, corn, turkey; from East to West--> disesases, citrus, livestock, honeybees)

300

The world almost experienced a nuclear war when what happened?

US & USSR went head to head over Soviet missiles in Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis-1960s)

400

Which country was able to dominate a huge portion of the world and why?

Great Britain; it industrialized first and therefore had superior technology (and military) and was able to colonize parts of Africa and Asia

500

The old days of absolute monarchs were limited once these ideas began to circulate and take hold with the populace.

Enlightenment Ideas - challenged old ways of viewing government and its responsibilities; expectations for governments changed (Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire)