AP World History Study Guide

Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (c. 1200 to c. 1450)

TOPIC 1.1: Developments in East Asia

China

• Song Dynasty: Wealth, stability, artistic and intellectual innovations.
• Manufacturing and Commercialization: Transition from local to market production.
• Bureaucracy and Meritocracy: Expanded, allowing social mobility.

Economic Developments

• Grand Canal: Facilitated trade.
• Gunpowder: Spread via Silk Roads.
• Agriculture: Irrigation systems, heavy plows increased productivity.

Societal Structure

• Aid to the poor and public hospitals.
• Women's roles: Foot binding as a symbol of patriarchy.

Religious Diversity

• Buddhism: Spread via Silk Roads, three forms emerged.
• Neo-Confucianism: Combined Confucianism with Daoism and Buddhism.

Japan

• Feudalism: Landowning daimyo controlled land, peasants farmed.
• Shogunate: Military leaders controlled regions.

Korea

• Connection to China: Tributary relationship; centralized government.
• Aristocracy: Powerful, limited social mobility.

Vietnam

• Social Structures: Independent villages, merit-based bureaucracy.
• Women's roles: Greater independence compared to China.

TOPIC 1.2: Developments in Dar al-Islam

Innovations

• Mathematics: Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's work in trigonometry.
• Literature: Aishah al-Bauniyyah, prominent female writer.
• Medicine: Advances in hospitals, medical examinations.

Social Structures

• Merchants: High status in Islamic society.
• Women's rights: Inheritance, property ownership, marriage rights.

Transfers

• Greek philosophy: Preservation and commentaries.
• House of Wisdom in Baghdad.
• Islamic Rule in Spain: Toleration and trade under Umayyad.

TOPIC 1.3: Developments in South and Southeast Asia

South Asia

• Political Structures: Chola Dynasty's stability vs. Northern India's upheavals.
• Religion: Hinduism vs. Islam differences.
• Social Structures: Caste system's continuity.
• Bhakti Movement: Emotional spiritual connection to deities.

Southeast Asia

• Sea-Based Kingdoms: Srivijaya and Majapahit Empires.
• Land-Based Kingdoms: Sinhala dynasties, Khmer Empire.

TOPIC 1.4: State Building in the Americas

Mississippian Culture

• Large-scale civilization with class structure and matrilineal society.

Maya

• Maya City-States: Government and theocratic rule.

Aztecs

• Hunter-gatherers to Empire: Founding of Tenochtitlan.
• Tributary system: Human sacrifices major religious practice.

Inca

• Empire Administration: Mita system and Sun worship.

TOPIC 1.5: State Building in Africa

Inland Africa

• Bantu migrations: Kin-based networks.

West and East Africa

• Trade: Mali, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia's wealth and diversity.

Social Structures

• Kinship, age, gender roles.

Cultural Life

• Music, visual arts, Griots.

TOPIC 1.6: Developments in Europe

Feudalism

• Social and economic system: Land-based wealth.

Political Trends

• Monarchies: Increased power over feudal lords.
• Roman Catholic Church: Influence, universities, Crusades.

Economic Changes

• Growth of middle class: Urbanization, trade, and markets.

TOPIC 1.7: Comparisons (c. 1200 to c. 1450)

State-Building

• New Empires: Song Dynasty, Abbasid Caliphate, Mali, Aztecs, Incas.
• Expansion through trade: Paper manufacturing, patriarchy, religion.

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange

TOPIC 2.1: The Silk Roads

Causes of Growth

• Crusades and Mongol Empire: Unification and safety of routes.
• Transportation improvements: Saddles, naval technology.

Effects of Growth

• Trade cities: Financial innovations, demand for luxury goods.

TOPIC 2.2: The Mongol Empire

Genghis Khan

• Empire Expansion: East Asia to Persia.

Long-Term Impact

• Trade routes and knowledge transfer.

TOPIC 2.3: Exchange in Indian Ocean

Causes and Effects

• Islamic spread, demand for goods, maritime tech.
• Diasporic communities, Swahili city-states.

TOPIC 2.4: Trans-Saharan Trade

Trade and Expansion

• Gold trade: Mali's profit and taxation.

TOPIC 2.5: Cultural Consequences

Religious Spread

• Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam: Spread through trade.

Technological Innovations

• Islamic scholars: Translation and preservation of texts.

TOPIC 2.6: Environmental Consequences

Agricultural Effects

• Champa rice, population pressures.

Epidemics

• Black Death: Spread and impact.