First Semester
Prehistory and Early Civilization
A.
Characteristics of Early Human
History
1. Human
origins and migrations
2. Development
of farming and domestication of animals
B.
Characteristics of Early
Civilizations
1.
Importance of rivers
2. Cities
3. Government
4. Specialization
of labor
5. Complex
religions
6. Arts/architecture
7.
Public
works
8. Writing
9. Cultural Diffusion
10.
Barter
system
C. Mesopotamia
1.
Tigris/Euphrates
2.
Cuneiform
3.
Babylonia
a. Hammurabi develops written law code
b. Ziggurats
4.
Development of coin money by the
Lydians
5. Development
of the alphabet by the Phoenicians
6.
Judaism
a. Israelites
b. Abraham
c. Monotheism
d. Ten Commandments
e. Torah
D.
Egypt
1.
Importance of the Nile River
2.
Pharaohs
3.
Religious practices
(mummification, pyramids)
4.
Writing
5. Status of women
E. India
1.
Geographical concepts
a. Indus and Ganges Rivers
b. Monsoons
c. Isolation by Himalayas and
Hindu Kush Mountains
2.
Harappan civilization
a. Planned cities / Sewer
system
3.
Aryan Civilization
a. Caste System
b. Hindu Religion
1. Vedas
– sacred texts
2. Polytheism
3. Karma
4. Reincarnation
4. Mauryan Empire
a. Asoka - Spread of Buddhism
5.
Gupta Empire
a. Concept
of zero in math
b. Decimal
system
6.
Buddhism
a. Sidhartha Guatama
b. Sutras – sacred texts
c. Four
Noble Truths
d. Eightfold Path
e. Nirvana
f.
Rejection of
caste system
F. China
1.
Yangtze, Huang He
2.
Mandate of Heaven
3.
Chin Shi Huang Di (Shi
Huangdi)
a.
Unification of China
b.
Great Wall
4.
Silk Road
5. Confucianism
a. Confucius
b. Duty and responsibility to others
c. Importance
of education
6. Daoism
a.
Yin and Yang – balance between opposites
b.
Harmony with nature
c. “Best
government governs least”
II.
The Classical Civilizations
A. Ancient Greece
1. Geography
2. City-state/Polis
3. Polytheistic
religion
4. Types
of Government
a.
Autocracy
b.
Oligarchy/Plutocracy
c.
Democracy
5.
Sparta
6.
Athens
7.
Olympic
Games
8.
Slavery
9.
Persian
Wars – unity between city-states enabled Greek victory
10.
Peloponnesian
War – ended Greek unity
11.
Greek Philosophy
a. Socrates
b.
Plato
c.
Aristotle
12. Art
and Architecture
13. Drama
(Homer)
14. History
- Herodotus
15.
Alexander
the Great
a.
Empire stretches from Egypt to India and spreads
Hellenistic Greek culture
B. Ancient
Rome
1.
Geography
2.
Roman
Republic
a. Senate
b. Plebeians
and patricians
3.
Roman
Military
4.
Roman
Expansion
a.
Punic Wars
5.
Civil Wars
a.
Triumvirates
b.
1st Civil War
c.
Julius Caesar
(1) Dictatorship and reforms
(2) Assassination
d. 2nd Civil War
(1) Octavian
becomes Emperor Augustus
6. Roman
Empire
a. Augustus
established imperial power and made many reforms
b.
Diocletian - divided the empire
c.
Constantine
(1)
Moved the capital to Constantinople
(2) Legalized
Christianity
d.
Theodosius -made Christianity Rome’s
official religion
e. Pax
Romana-relative safety of commerce and travel within theempire.
6. Roman Society
a. Cultural absorption of Greek and Hellenistic civilizations
b. Preservation of Pompeii and Herculaneum by volcanic ash provides evidence
of everyday life, mosaic
art, etc.
c. Technology
- use of concrete, arches, domes, bridges, aqueducts, roads
d.
Law/Government (basis for American
society)
e. Entertainment
1. Gladiatorial combat / Chariot racing
f. Religion
1.
Originally polytheistic – adapting gods
of Greek and other cultures
2. Judaism
- Persecution of Jews led to the Jewish Diaspora
3. Christianity
a. Monotheism
b.
Jesus (founder)
c.
Beliefs
(1) Ten
Commandments, Old and New Testaments
(2) Teachings
d.
Roman persecution of Christians until
Constantine
(1)
Martyrdom
e.
Formation
of Roman Catholic Church based in Rome
7. Fall
of the Western Roman Empire
a.
Military
causes
b.
Social
causes
c.
Political
causes
d.
Economic
causes
e.
Rome
conquered by Germanic tribes in 476 A.D.
C. The Byzantine Empire
1. Background
of the Byzantine Empire
a.
Constantinople located in ideal military
and trading location
1. Controlled Western end of the Silk
Road
b.
When Rome fell the Eastern section
became the Byzantine Empire
c.
Blend of Greek, Roman, Christian,
Hellenistic, Islamic and Asian traditions
2.
Justinian Code preserved Roman
law
3. Eastern
Orthodox Church
a. Great Schism
b. Icons
c. Influence on Russian culture
(Cyrillic Alphabet, Orthodox, Christianity)
4.
Conquest by Ottoman Turks
III. The
Middle Ages
A.
Europe
1. Charlemagne
a. United
Germanic tribes in effort to restore Roman Empire
b.
Increased power of the Roman Catholic
Church and forced conversions of non-Christians
c.
Increased education
2. Vikings
a. Explored, traded, and raided from North
America to Russia
b. Established
Duchies of Moscow and Kiev (later Russia and Ukraine)
c. Pushed development of feudalism in Western Europe as a defense against raids
because there were no great empires
to provide safety
3. Feudalism
a.
Political system of military obligations
b. Social
hierarchy
c. Code
of Chivalry
d. Manorialism
1.
Lack of trade and travel
2.
Manorial self-sufficiency
4. Medieval
Roman Catholic Church
a. Pope’s
supremacy
b. Political
and economic power
c. Cultural
Domination
d. Monastic
life
1. Monks and nuns cared for sick and
poor
2.
Illuminated manuscripts
5.
Jewish communities suffered
anti-Semitism and persecution
6. Commercial
Revolution
a.
Use of money returns following the
Crusades
b.
Banking
c.
Middle class grows
d.
Guilds
1. Prevention of competition
2.
Support
for widows and orphans
7. England
a.
William the Conqueror - Norman Invasion
b. John I/Magna Carta resulted in a weakening
of royal power
8. Crusades
a.
Causes
1.
Desire for Christian control of the Holy
Land
2.
Desire for profits from the Far East
trade
b.
Results
1. Europe gains much wealth from plunder and the Far East trade
leading to a renewal of a money
economy
2.
Increased persecution of Jews and
heretics
3.
End of European isolation
9.
Reconquista
a.
Ferdinand and Isabella united Spain and
defeated the Moors
b. Forced Catholic conversion or expulsion for
all Muslims, Jews, and Christian “heretics”
10. Black Death
a. Bubonic and Pneumonic Plague
b. Origin in Asia - spread by fleas on rats
c.
Results
1. One
third of Western European population dies
2. Increased
persecution of Jews blamed by some Christians for the plague
3. Higher
wages due to shortage of workers
4. Economic
inflation due to higher wages
11. Hundred Years War
a.
Joan of Arc
b.
Growth of nationalism
c.
New
weapons - long bow and cannon
A. Rise
of Islam
1. Muhammad
2. Importance
of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem
3. Teachings of Islam
a.
Monotheism
b.
Quran
c.
Five Pillars
4. Sunni/Shiite sects
B.
Spread of Islam
1.
Islamic Empire ruled by Caliphs
a.
Extends from North Africa to Persia
b.
Capital of Baghdad becomes wealthiest city in the world
2. Moors invaded Europe
a. Stopped in France at the Battle of Tours
b. Ruled Spain for seven centuries
C.
Culture
1. Preservation of Classical knowledge
2. Increased education of the middle class
3. Patronage of the arts
4. Advanced medicine, science, mathematics
D.
Trade
1. Control of the Silk Road
2. Superior ships and navigation allow trade
by sea from West Africa to the Spice Islands
A. Saharan
Empires
1.
Ghana
a. Wealthy
gold trade
b. Converts
to Islam
2.
Mali
a.
Mansa Musa
1. Greatly
expanded the empire
2. Pilgrimage
to Mecca
3. Timbuktu becomes a leading center of learning and trade
Islamic scholar Ibn Battuta, educated at Timbuktu, makes a
75,000 mile journey and writes an account of his travels
3.
Songhai
a.
Askia Muhammad expanded Islam
4. Significant
influences of North African Islamic empires
a.
Increase in the trading of African
slaves
b.
Increase in formal education and
development of university system
1. Early European universities like Bologna, Paris, and Oxford
follow pattern of Timbuktu University
c.
Expanded trade with Europe and Asia
B. Great
Zimbabwe
1. Monumental stone architecture
2.
Important
manufacturing and trading center
A. Genghis
Khan
1.
Conquered a vast empire from the Caspian
Sea to northern China
2.
Established universal legal code called
the Yasa
B.
Other conquests
1.
Golden Horde under Batu Khan invaded Russia
a.
Introduced absolute rule
b.
Isolated Russia from Western Europe
2. Kublai Khan completed conquest of China, Korea, and Indochina establishing the
Yuan Dynasty
3. Invaded the Islamic empire and destroyed
Baghdad
4. Mongols and related Turkic tribes invaded northern India and established
the Islamic Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire
a. Conflict between Muslims and Hindus still persist, especially in the region of
Kashmir
C. Innovations
and significant influences
1.
Military - stirrups, recurved bows,
cavalry tactics, new siege tactics
2.
Established complete freedom of religion
a.
No taxes for clerics or religious
institutions
b. Most
Mongols converted to Islam
3.
Reliable long-distance postal service
4.
Principles
of international diplomacy, concept of diplomatic immunity
5. Expanded trade on the Silk Roa
VII. Japan
A. Japan
- Feudalism
1.
Emperor – divine in Shinto belief
2.
Shogun
3.
Daimyo
4.
Samurai/ Zen
5.
Peasants
6. Code of
Bushido
VIII. The Renaissance
A.
Renaissance
1.
Time of political, social, economic,
artistic and cultural change in Europe
2.
Began in the Italian city-states due to
wealth gained from the Crusades and the Far East Trade
B. Economics
1.
Di Medicis began the modern idea of
banking, loans, and credit
2.
Middle class and artisans benefit from
purchases and patronage by the wealthy
C. Humanism
1.
Emphasis on education and the
development of the individual
2.
Helped push the rebirth of classical
knowledge
3.
Secularized society, reducing Church
power
D. The
Arts
1.
Patronage system
2.
Freedom of artists to innovate and depart from
religious subjects
a.
Development of perspective in painting
b.
Inspiration from classical mythology
c.
Leonardo da Vinci
1.
Innovative painter, anatomist (human
dissection), engineer
d.
Michelangelo
1.
Sculptor, painter, architect, poet
2.
Sistine Chapel ceiling
e.
Shakespeare-playwright and poet
E.
Scientific Revolution
1. Scientific Method was established
2.
Copernicus - theory of a heliocentric universe
3.
Galileo
a.
Also stated the solar system is
heliocentric
b.
Invented a telescope and discovered four
moons orbiting Jupiter
c.
Persecuted by the Church and forced to
deny the truth
4.
Newton
a.
Theory of gravity
b.
Determined the physical Laws of Motion
c.
Helped invent calculus
F. Printing press
1. Invention
of movable type by Johannes Gutenberg
a. His
first printed book was the Bible
2. Books
were now much less expensive
a.
New ideas could be spread rapidly
b.
Education greatly expanded
IX. The Reformation
A. Protestant Reformation
1.
Martin Luther
a.
95 Theses criticizing the sale of indulgences
and other forms of corruption
b.
Excommunication and founding of new
Lutheran “Protestant” Church
c. Luther’s
teachings
1. Salvation
was achieved through faith alone
2. The
Bible was the sole source of religious truth
3.
The Catholic hierarchy had no special
powers or authority
2.
John Calvin - Doctrine of predestination
3.
English Reformation
a.
Henry VIII
b.
Wanted a divorce, but the pope refused
to allow it
c. Took all of England out of the Roman Catholic Church and started a new
Church of England with himself as its
leader
B. Catholic Reformation/Counter-Reformation
1.
Council of Trent
a.
Reaffirmed most Catholic doctrines
b.
Established penalties for corruption within
the Church
c.
Increased education for priests
2.
The Inquisition
a. Special Church court to punish heretics and enforce Catholicism in Catholic
nations like Spain
b.
Frequently used torture to force
confessions of heresy
3.
Jesuits
a. Society of Jesus established as a special order of monks dedicated to enforcing
Catholic obedience
4.
Trained missionaries to travel all over
the world to convert native peoples to
Roman Catholic Christianity
C. Results of the Reformation
1.
End of religious unity in Western Europe
2.
Religious violence between various
Christian groups within countries
3.
Religious wars between Christian nations
4.
Increased anti-Semitism and persecution
of Jews
5.
Continued formation of new Protestant
churches (i.e. Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc.)