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Big Idea 1: Although Afro–Eurasia and the Americas remained separate from one another, this era witnessed a deepening and widening of networks of human interaction within and across regions. The results were unprecedented concentrations of wealth and the intensification of cross-cultural exchanges. Innovations in transportation, state policies, and mercantile practices contributed to the expansion and development of commercial networks, which in turn served as conduits for cultural, technological, and biological diffusion within and between various societies. Pastoral or nomadic groups played a key role in creating and sustaining these networks. Expanding networks fostered greater interregional exchanges while at the same time sustaining regional diversity. Islam, a new monotheistic religion, spread quickly through practices of trade, warfare, and the diffusion that was characteristic of this period.
1) Existing trade routes flourished and promoted the growth of powerful new trade cities. Name the three major Eurasian trade routes.
Indian Ocean Silk Road Trans-Saharan
2) Name a communication & exchange network that developed in the Americas.
Mississippi River Valley • Mesoamerica • Andes
3) Trade allowed some states to rise to power during Era 3. Name one from West Africa and one from Southeast Asia.
West Africa: Ghana, Mali, Songhay Southeast Asia: Srivijaya
4) New transportation and commercial technologies aided trade. Identify an example.
Caravanserai • Compass • Astrolabe • Larger ship design
5) New forms of credit or money economies aided in trade. Identify one of these innovations.
Bills of exchange • Credit • Checks • Banking houses • Use of paper money
6) States often facilitated commercial (trade/business) growth. Identify an example of this.
Incas developing a road system • Trading organizations (Hanseatic League of northern Europe) • China’s Grand Canal • Mongol trade policies
7) The expansion and intensification of long distance trade routes often depended on environmental knowledge and technological adaptations to the environment. Identify an example of this.
The way Scandinavian Vikings used their longships to travel in coastal and open waters as well as in rivers and estuaries • The way the Arabs and Berbers adapted camels to travel across and around the Sahara • The way Central Asian pastoral groups used horses to travel in the steppes
8) Some migrations had a significant environmental impact. How did the Bantu migrations affect the environment of sub-Sahran Africa?
Brought iron working and agricultural techniques to Sub-Saharan Africa
9) Some migrations and commercial contacts led to the diffusion of languages throughout a new region or the emergence of new languages. Identify two of these languages.
Turkic languages • Arabic • Bantu languages
10) In key places along important trade routes, merchants set up diasporic communities where they introduced their own cultural traditions into the indigenous culture. Identify two diasporic communities.
• Muslim merchant communities in the Indian Ocean region • • Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia • • Sogdian merchant communities throughout Central Asia • • Jewish communities in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean basin, and along the Silk Roads
11) As exchange networks intensified, an increased number of travelers within Afro–Eurasia wrote about their travels. Identify two of these travelers.
Ibn Battuta • Marco Polo • Xuanzang
12) Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions, as well as scientific and technological innovations. Identify three examples of this.
The spread of Christianity throughout Europe • The influence of Neoconfucianism and Buddhism in East Asia • The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia • The spread of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia • The influence of Toltec/Mexica and Inca traditions in Mesoamerica and Andean America
13) There was continued diffusion of crops and pathogens, including epidemic diseases, along trade routes. Identify two examples.
Bubonic plague • Bananas in Africa • New rice varieties in East Asia • The spread of cotton, sugar, and citrus
Big Idea 2: State formation in this era demonstrated remarkable continuity, innovation, and diversity in various regions. In Afro–Eurasia, some states attempted, with differing degrees of success, to preserve or revive imperial structures, while smaller, less centralized states continued to develop. The expansion of Islam introduced a new concept—the caliphate—to Afro–Eurasian statecraft. Pastoral peoples in Eurasia built powerful and distinctive empires that integrated people and institutions from both the pastoral and agrarian worlds. In the Americas, powerful states developed in both Mesoamerica and the Andean region.
14) Following the collapses of empires, imperial states were reconstituted (or reformed/remade) in some regions. Name an east Asian empire that was reconstituted.
Chinese dynasties • Sui • Tang • Song
15) The reconstituted empires (mentioned in the previous question) used both traditional sources of power/legitimacy as well as innovative sources of power/legitimacy. Provide an example of each.
Traditional Sources: • Patriarchy • Religion • Land-owning elites • Innovative Sources: • New methods of taxation • Tributary systems • Adaptation of religious institutions
16) In some places, new political entities (states) emerged. Identify four.
East Africa: Swahili city-states • South and Southeast Asia: Buddhist and Hindu states • Europe/Japan: Feudal (decentralized) governments • Various Islamic states • Italian city-states • Mongol khanates
17) Some states synthesized local with foreign traditions. What foreign culture heavily influenced the Islamic states? What culture heavily influenced Japan?
Islamic states: Persian culture (adopted voluntarily, became a strong influence under the Abbasid dynasty) Japan: Chinese culture (was adopted voluntarily, unlike Korea and Vietnam, where it was forced)
18) In the Americas, as in Afro–Eurasia, state systems expanded in scope and reach; networks of city-states flourished in the Maya region and, at the end of this period, imperial systems were created by the _________ and __________.
19) Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers. Identify an example for each of the following regions: • Mediterannean in the Crusades – Who was this between? • An empire that covered much of Eurasia. What empire was that? • The Abbasids from an East Asian source. What was that source? • The Chinese in the Indian Ocean basin. Who led the voyages? • Where did Europe gain much of its medical knowledge from? • Spain. Where did this influence come from?
Mediterannean in the Crusades – Who was this between? Western Euorpean Christians and Muslims • An empire that covered much of Eurasia. What empire was that? Mongol Empire • The Abbasids from an East Asian source. What was that source? China (received technology of block printing from China; China received medicinal knowledge from the Muslims) • The Chinese in the Indian Ocean basin. Who led the voyages? Zheng He • Where did Europe gain much of its medical knowledge from? From the Muslims (who also passed along ancient Greek knowledge) • Spain. Where did this influence come from? Muslims who conquered Spain
Big Idea 3: Changes in trade networks resulted from and stimulated increasing productive capacity, with important implications for social and gender structures and environmental processes. Productivity rose in both agriculture and industry. Rising productivity supported population growth and urbanization but also strained environmental resources and at times caused dramatic demographic swings. Shifts in production and the increased volume of trade also stimulated new labor practices, including adaptation of existing patterns of free and coerced labor. Social and gender structures evolved in response to these changes.
20) Agricultural production increased significantly due to technological innovations. Identify each of the following examples: • The chinampafield systems • • Waruwaruagricultural techniques in the Andean areas • • Improved terracing techniques • • The horse collar • • Three field rotation • • Swamp draining
The chinampafield systems: Aztecs made “islands” of reeds and dirt to grow food on. These were floated onto water. • • Waruwaruagricultural techniques in the Andean areas: See next slide for a visual description. • • Improved terracing techniques: Allowed for hills/mountains to be used for agricultural production. See next slide for a visual. • • The horse collar: Allowed horses to pull heavier plows, which allowed for new land to be cultivated in Europe • • Three field rotation: A planting system that prevented the soil from becoming exhausted (running out of nutrients). Allowed for better agriculture in Europe. • • Swamp draining: Draining swamps increases the amount of land that can be put to use agriculturally.
WaruWaru Inca terracing Chinese terracing
21) Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro–Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; industrial production of ________ and _________ expanded in China.
22) Multiple factors contributed to the decline of urban areas in this period. Identify two.
Invasions • Disease • Decline in agricultural productivity
23)Multiple factors contributed to urban revival. Identify three.
End of invasions • Availability of safe and/or reliable transport • Rise of commerce • Warmer temperatures