AP World History Unit 2 Overview
Time Period: 1200 to 1450
- Focus on networks of exchange connecting states and empires.
- Networks facilitated not just economic interaction but also cultural diffusion.
Major Networks of Exchange
- Silk Roads
- Indian Ocean Network
- Trans-Saharan Trade
General Developments
- Geographical Expansion
- Networks expanded geographically, increasing connections among states.
- Innovations in Commercial Practices and Technology
- Advanced technologies and commercial practices facilitated expansion.
- Wealth and Power
- States grew wealthier and more powerful through participation.
- Rise and Fall of States
- Increased interconnectivity led to the rise of some states and the fall of others.
Detailed Overview of Each Route
Silk Roads
- Goods Traded: Mainly luxury goods like Chinese silk and porcelain.
- Innovations:
- Transportation: Caravanserai provided safety and cultural exchange points.
- Commercial: Money economies and new forms of credit, like the flying money system and banking houses.
- Powerful Trading Cities: Example - Kashgar, located at convergence of major routes.
Indian Ocean Network
- Goods Traded: Bulk goods like textiles and spices, alongside luxury items.
- Innovations:
- Maritime Technology: Magnetic compass, improved astrolabe, Chinese junk ships.
- Commercial Practices: Similar to Silk Roads, including credit systems.
- Growth of States: Example - Swahili city-states grew through trade and Islamization.
- Cultural Diffusion: Establishment of diaspora communities, spread of new languages like Swahili.
Trans-Saharan Trade Network
- Innovations: Improved camel saddles for transporting goods.
- Growth of Empires: Mali Empire grew rich through gold trade and taxation.
Effects of Connectivity
Cultural Consequences
- Religion and Belief Systems: Spread of Buddhism via the Silk Roads.
- Artistic and Literary Transfers: Islamic scholars' translations and contributions led to the European Renaissance.
- Scientific and Technological Transfers: Spread of gunpowder from China to Muslim empires and Eastern Europe.
Environmental Consequences
- Crop Transfers: Introduction of Champa rice to China led to population growth.
- Disease Transfers: Spread of the Bubonic plague along trade routes.
Mongol Empire
- Empire Expansion: Replaced powerful empires like the Song Dynasty and Abbasid Empire.
- Facilitated Exchange: Ensured safety and commerce along Silk Roads (Pax Mongolica).
- Cultural and Technological Transfers: Greek and Islamic medical knowledge to Europe; adoption of Uyghur script.
These notes provide a comprehensive overview of AP World History Unit 2, focusing on the key networks of exchange and their impacts on states and cultures during the period 1200-1450.