Ap History exam review

• There were environmental consequences that arose from the various trading connections across the world in 1200 to 1450
• The focus will be on agricultural transfers and transfers of people's nasty germs, which is to say disease
• With all these states being linked through trade routes like the Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean trade, and the trans-Saharan trade, lots of people were moving around and intermingling
• They were introducing new crops to various places
• Agricultural transfers


  • Bananas in Africa
  • Champa rice in East Asia
  • Citrus fruits like sour orange and limes in Europe and North Africa
• Bananas in Africa


  First domesticated in Southeast Asia, introduced to Africa through merchants crossing the Indian Ocean, flourished in the lush rainforests of sub-Saharan Africa, expanded the diets of the people and led to population growth
• Champa rice in East Asia


  Drought-resistant grain of rice introduced to China from the Champa Kingdom in Vietnam, matured quickly and could be harvested more than once a season, led to a population explosion in China
• Citrus fruits in Europe and North Africa

  Introduced by Muslim traders into Europe via the Mediterranean trade routes, spread throughout Europe and North Africa, led to more variation in diets and better health
• The environmental drama in this period was the spread of the Bubonic plague
• The Mongols increased the pace and volume of geographical extent of trade by keeping the various trade routes safe (Pax Mongolica)
• In 1331, the Bubonic plague erupted in northern China and spread rapidly across the Silk Roads and through the Indian Ocean trade route
• The Bubonic plague had a devastating effect, killing nearly a third of the population in the Middle East and half the population in parts of Europe
• Whether it was crops or germs, the consequences of connectivity during this period were significant
• These land-based Empires that sprang up in the wake of the fall of the Mongol empire were growing in the period 1450 to 1750
• Land-based Empires


  • Their power came from the extent of their territorial Holdings
  • They were expanding during this period
  • The main cause of that expansion was their militaristic use of gunpowder
• Gunpowder Empires


  Land-based Empires that used gunpowder weapons to expand
• Ottoman Empire


  The most significant Islamic empire during this period, founded in the 14th century after the Mongol Empire
• Ottoman Empire expansion


  1. Controlled the Dardanelles, a strategic choke point

  2. Developed and used gunpowder weapons

  3. Sacked Constantinople in 1453
• Safavid Empire


  Established in the early 1500s, declared itself a Shia Muslim state
• Safavid declaration of Shia Islam


  Put them in conflict with neighboring Sunni Muslim empires like the Mughals and Ottomans
• Mughal Empire


  Replaced the Delhi Sultanate in the 16th century, expanded under Babur and Akbar
• Mughal Empire


  • Used gunpowder weapons to expand
  • Akbar was tolerant of religious beliefs
• Ming Dynasty


  Ethnically Han Chinese dynasty that established peace and order in East Asia
• Qing Dynasty


  Established by the Manchu people, conquered former Ming territory
• The land-based Empires clashed with each other due to conflicting religious beliefs and political goals
• Conflicts between Empires


  • Safavid-Mughal conflict
  • Songhay-Moroccan conflict
• Safavid-Mughal conflict


  Erupted due to religious rivalry between Shia Safavids and Sunni Mughals, fought over expansion into Persian Gulf and Central Asia
• Songhay-Moroccan conflict


  Moroccan invasion of the weakening Songhay Empire to gain control of trans-Saharan trade routes, Moroccans had gunpowder weapons Songhay lacked
• State Building


  The process of establishing and strengthening a political authority over a territory and population
• Time period covered


  1200 to 1450
• Maya civilization


  • Ran from 250 to 900 CE
  • Had the most sophisticated writing system in the Americas at the time
  • Decentralized collection of city-states frequently at war
  • Conquered neighboring regions to create a network of tributary states
  • Practiced human sacrifice
• Aztec Empire


  • Ran from 1345 to 1528
  • Began as the semi-nomadic Mexica people who consolidated power and formed alliances
  • Ruled through a decentralized political structure with tributary states
  • Expanded for religious reasons to provide human sacrifice to the sun god
  • Had a capital city of Tenochtitlan with a population of 150-200,000
  • Developed a commercialized economy with large marketplaces
• Inca Empire


  • Established in the mid-1400s
  • Borrowed from earlier Andean civilizations like the Wari
  • Centralized power structure with a massive bureaucracy
  • Conquered peoples were required to provide labor rather than tribute payments
  • Utilized infrastructure and religion-centered political structure of earlier civilizations
• Mississippian culture


  • Emerged in the 8th/9th century CE in the Mississippi River Valley
  • Hierarchical political structure dominated by powerful chiefs
  • Known for extensive mound building projects as burial sites and for religious ceremonies
  • Largest urban center was Cahokia
• Chaco and Mesa Verde societies


  • Established in the American Southwest after the Mississippian culture
  • Developed innovative ways to transport and store water in the dry climate
  • Built massive structures using carved sandstone blocks and imported timber
  • Mesa Verde people built housing complexes into cliff sides
• Swahili civilization emerged on Africa's East Coast around the 8th Century
• Swahili civilization


  • Collection of independent city-states
  • Rose to prominence due to strategic location on the coast which gave them access to the bustling Indian Ocean trade
• Swahili city-states focused mostly on trade, importing many goods from the African interior
• Islam


  Became a dominant belief system in the Swahili civilization, with conversion among the Swahili Elite taking place voluntarily
• Swahili language


  Hybrid between the Bantu family of languages and Arabic