AP World History Unit 2 Overview (1200-1450)

Big Picture

• Focuses on the connection between states through networks of exchange.
• Networks, not just trading routes, facilitate cultural diffusion as well as economic interaction.

Major Networks of Exchange

1. Silk Roads
2. Indian Ocean Network
3. Trans-Saharan Trade

General Developments Among Networks

• Geographic range expanded significantly during 1200-1450.
• Innovations in commercial practices and technology influenced the expansion.
• States grew wealthy and powerful by participating in these networks.
• Some states and cities rose to power, while others collapsed.

Silk Roads

• Main Goods Traded: Luxury goods (e.g., Chinese silk, porcelain).
• Innovations:
  • Caravan Sarai: Inns along the route providing safety and cultural exchanges.
  • Commercial Practices:
    • Money economy (paper money in China).
    • Introduction of forms of credit (e.g., flying money, banking houses).
• Trading Cities: Kashgar grew due to its strategic location.

Indian Ocean Network

• Key Features:
  • Relied on knowledge of monsoon winds.
  • Traded common goods (textiles, spices) and luxury goods.
• Technological Innovations:
  • Improved magnetic compass, astrolabe, and ship designs like the Chinese junk.
• Commercial Practices: Similar to Silk Roads (credit systems).
• Notable States: Swahili city-states and influence of Muslim merchants.
• Cultural Diffusion: Example of diaspora communities leading to the spread of Islam.
• Zheng He's Voyages: Spread Chinese maritime technology and culture.

Trans-Saharan Trade Network

• Key Innovations:
  • Development of camel saddles for larger cargo.
• Important Empire: Mali Empire, known for wealth through gold trade and tax collection.
• Notable Leader: Mansa Musa, influential in trade and wealth growth.

Effects of Increased Connectivity

Cultural Consequences

• Religion and Beliefs: Spread of Buddhism and Islam.
• Literary and Artistic Transfers: Translations in Baghdad's House of Wisdom influencing the Renaissance.
• Technological Transfers: Spread of gunpowder from China to Europe.

Environmental Consequences

• Crops: Spread of Champa rice in China, leading to population growth.
• Diseases: Bubonic plague spread along trade routes, devastating populations.

The Mongol Empire

• Key Points:
  • Replaced powerful empires (Song, Abbasid).
  • Pax Mongolica: Period of peace that increased trade and connectivity under Mongol rule.
  • Facilitated technological and cultural exchanges (e.g., Uyghur script, medical knowledge).

• Additional Resources: AP World History Heimler Review Guide for further study.