​Unit 1 Review: The Global Tapestry: Review

​Unit 1 Review: The Global Tapestry: Review

By Isiah Jones

Objective: Scholars will be able to articulate the key characteristics of major states and empires from c. 1200 to c. 1450 and analyze their methods of maintaining power by engaging in collaborative review, completing a companion worksheet, and applying their knowledge to a practice exam.

Multiple Choice

“Seeing that it is a girl’s destiny, on reaching womanhood, to go to a new home, and live in submission to her father-in-law and mother-in-law, it is even more incumbent upon her than it is on a boy to receive with all reverence her parents’ instructions. Should her parents, through excess of tenderness, allow her to grow up self-willed, she will infallibly show herself capricious and thus alienate his affection.”

Kaibara Ekken, Japanese author, Greater Learning for Women, 1716

The excerpt above exemplifies the continued influence on eighteenth-century Japan of which of the following?

• The Christian tradition of children respecting their parents

• The Buddhist encouragement of female spirituality

• The Islamic practice of women appearing modestly in public

• The Confucian emphasis on filial submission

Multiple Choice

“What they [the Franks] learned from the Arabs was indispensible in their subsequent expansion. The heritage of Greek civilization was transmitted through Arab intermediaries. In medicine, astronomy, chemistry, geography, mathematics, and architecture, the [Franks] drew their knowledge from Arabic books, which they assimilated, imitated, and then surpassed. . . . In the realm of industry, the Europeans first learned and then improved upon the processes used by the Arabs in papermaking, leather-working, textiles, and the distillation of alcohol and sugar.”

Amin Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, 1984

The passage above best illustrates which of the following?

• Muslims’ examination of their own cultural and economic decline after the Crusades

• The debt the Arab world owed Europe for preserving Arab scientific knowledge and cultural history

• The reason European industrial expertise far surpassed that of the Arab world

• The effects of interregional contact on the development of European culture and technology

Multiple Choice

In the period 600 C.E. to 1450 C.E., states in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam had which of the following in common?

• All successfully excluded European merchants.

• All were conquered by the Mongols.

• All rejected both Buddhism and Christianity.

• All were culturally influenced by China.

Multiple Choice

In the period 900 to 1500 C.E., the Ottomans and the Aztecs were similar in that both peoples were

• isolated from the major Eurasian trade routes

• nomadic groups that migrated to already settled regions and conquered them

• politically unified by the adoption of a monotheistic religion

• able to dominate other societies with large horse-mounted armies

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was most responsible for the initial spread of Islam to West Africa?

• Soldiers who fought on behalf of the Abbasid caliphate

• Officials in Sudanese empires

• Merchants on the trans-Saharan trade routes

• Muslims fleeing persecution on the Iberian peninsula

Poll

Rank your confidence with Unit 1 material on a scale of 1-5 (1=lost, 5=ready for the exam).

• 1 = lost

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5 = ready

​Unit 1 Review: The Global Tapestry: Review

By Isiah Jones

Objective: Scholars will be able to articulate the key characteristics of major states and empires from c. 1200 to c. 1450 and analyze their methods of maintaining power by engaging in collaborative review, completing a companion worksheet, and applying their knowledge to a practice exam.

The Big Idea: Continuity, Innovation, & Diversity

• ​This unit is about the diverse and complex societies that existed before Columbus and major global connection.

• While they were separate, they were also innovating and getting stronger.

• Ask yourself for every region: How did they maintain power? and What belief system unified them?

1.1 Song China: The Superpower

• Government: Used a merit-based bureaucracy (Civil Service Exams) based on Confucianism. This meant smart people ran the government, not just nobles.

• Economy: Was incredibly wealthy! Why?

  • Agricultural Innovation: Champa rice = more food = population boom.

  • Transportation: The Grand Canal helped move goods and food.

  • Commercialization: They used paper money to make trade easier.

  • Production: Made lots of iron, steel, and porcelain for export.

• Culture: Filial piety and patriarchal structures (like foot binding) were important. Buddhism coexisted with Confucianism.

​ 1.2 Dar al-Islam: A Network of States

• ​What is it? "House of Islam" – not one empire, but many states (Seljuk, Mamluk, Delhi Sultanates) sharing the Islamic faith.

• How did it spread? Through military expansion (Turks), trade (merchants), and mystics (Sufis).

• Major Contributions: They were the knowledge keepers!

  • House of Wisdom in Baghdad preserved Greek and Roman knowledge.

  • Advanced math, science, and medicine.

• Cultural Blending: In places like India and West Africa, Islam mixed with local cultures (e.g., Hindu and Islamic art).

1.3 South & Southeast Asia: Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims

• ​India: Dominated by Hinduism (with its caste system) and the rise of Islam under the Delhi Sultanate.

• Bhakti Movement: A Hindu movement that emphasized devotion to gods, challenging the strict caste system.

• Southeast Asia: Powerful states grew from trade.

  • Srivijaya Empire: Buddhist thalassocracy that controlled sea routes.

  • Khmer Empire: Hindu/Buddhist empire famous for Angkor Wat.

1.4 The Americas: Powerful & Isolated

• Mesoamerica: The Aztec (Mexica)

  • Power: Huge military, capital at Tenochtitlan.

  • Economy: Tribute system from conquered people.

• South America: The Inca

  • Power: Centralized government in Cuzco, massive road system.

  • Economy: Mit'a system (labor tax), terrace farming.

• Key Similarity: Both were large, centralized empires with strong militaries, but they had NO CONTACT with the Eastern Hemisphere.

1.5 Africa: Gold, Kingdoms, and Trade

• West Africa: Mali Empire

  • Wealth Source: Controlled Trans-Saharan Trade of gold and salt.

  • Famous Ruler: Mansa Musa – his hajj to Mecca put Mali on the map and showed its incredible wealth.

  • Culture: Adopted Islam, which linked them to the wider world.

• East Africa: Great Zimbabwe

  • Wealth Source: Controlled gold trade to the Swahili Coast.

  • Evidence: Stone ruins show power and wealth.

1.6 Europe: Feudalism & Faith

• Political System: Feudalism – decentralized system based on land for loyalty (Lords, Knights, Serfs). No strong central government.

• Economic System: Manorialism – self-sufficient estates (manors).

• Unifying Force: The Roman Catholic Church. It was the main source of education, art, and power.

• Major Events:

  • Crusades: Failed wars to take Holy Land, but increased trade and cultural contact.

  • Magna Carta: Limited the king's power (first step toward rights in England).

Your Game Plan for Success

• Multiple Choice: Look for key words! Is it asking for a comparison, a cause, or an effect?

• Short Answer (SAQ): Answer ALL parts (A, B, C). Be direct and use specific evidence.

  • Example: "One innovation was..." "This caused..."

• Think Like a Historian:

  • For each question, ask: "Which region is this?" and "What is the main theme (GOV, ECN, CDI, SIO, ENV)?"

• Final Reminder: You have the study guide. Your mission is to know it. You've got this!