AP Exam Unit 1 and 2 Flashcards
What is the evidence that explains the earliest history of humans and the planet?
Archeological evidence
Where did humans first appear on Earth?
East Africa
What were the characteristics of their society?
Relatively egalitarian
What were the characteristics of their technology?
Adapted their technology to new climate regions
What were the characteristics of their culture?
Adapted their culture to new climate regions
What were the uses of fire?
Aid hunt and foraging
Protect against predators
Adapt to cold environments
How did the earliest humans’ society help them procure enought supplies to survive?
Economic structures focused on small kinship groups of hunting and gathering.
Through exchanges of people, ideas, and goods
What were the long term demographic effects of the Neolithic Revolution?
There was a moire reliable, but not necessarily more diversified food supply
Populations increased
What were the long term environmental effects of the Neolithic Revolution?
There was intensive cultivation of some plants and the exclusion of others
What were the long term social effects of the Neolithic Revolution?
Family groups gave way to village and later urban life
Patriarchy and forced labor systems developed giving elite men concentrated power
How did pastoral societies resemble early agricultural societies?
Like early agriculturalists, pastoralists tended to be more socially stratified than were hunter forages
Name two results of pastoralists’ mobility
- Rarely accumulated large amounts of material posessions
2. Serve as an important conduit for technological change as they interacted with settled populations
How did the Neolithic Revolution affect human societies economically and socially?
The Neolithic Revolution led to the development of new and more complex economic and social systems
Why did the Neolithic Revolution start?
As a response to climatic change
Where did the Neolithic Revolution first transform human populations?
- Mesopotamia
- Nile River Valley
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Indus River Valley
- Yellow River and Huang He Valley
- Papua New Guinea
- Mesoamerica
- Andes
Where did pastoralism persist even after the Neolithic Revolution?
Grasslands of Afro-Eurasia
What various crops and animals were developed or domesticated during the Neolithic Revolution?
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What labor adjustments did humans make in order to facilitated the Neolithic Revolution?
They worked cooperatively to clear land and to create water control systems
What is a civilization?
Large societies with cities and powerful states
What are the defining characteristics of a civilization?
Agricultural surpluses that permitted significant specialization of labor
Complex institution (bureaucracies, armies, religious heirarchies)
Social hierarchy
Long distance trading relations
How did civilizations develop and grow more complex before 600 BCE?
Competition for surpluses (food) led to greater social stratification, specialization of labor, increased trade, more complex systems of government and religion, and the development of record keeping
What were the effects of increasing complexity?
Spurred warfare between communities and/or with pastoralists – this violence drove the development of new tecnolgies of war and urban defense
Where did the earliest civilizations develop (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mohenjo Daro and Harrapa, Shang, Olmecs, Chavin)?
Mesopotamia: Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys
Egypt: Nile River Valley
Mohenjo Daro and Harrapa: Indus River Valley
Shang: Huang He Valley
Olmecs: Mesoamerica
Chavin: Andean South America
Why did they develop in these locations?
Because these locations had geographical and environmental settings where agriculture coudl flourish
What is a state?
A powerful new system of rule that mobilized surplus labor and resources over large areas
Which segments of society usually supported the ruler?
Military
Why were some states able to expand and conquer neighboring states?
They were more favorably suited which allowed them to produce more surplus food and experience growing populations
How were the Hittites more favorably suited than other states?
They had access to iron
Give four examples of early empires in the Nile
–
Give four examples of early empires in the Tigris and Euphrates
–
What role did pastoralists play for civilizations?
They developed and spread new weapons and modes of transportation
What were two weapons the pastoralists helped spread?
Compound bows and iron weapons
What were two modes of transportation that pastoralists helped spread?
Chariots and horseback riding
How did culture play a role in unifying populations?
Through law, language, literature, religion, myths, and monumental art
What architectural forms did early civilizations produce?
Ziggurats, pyramids, temples, defensive walls, streets and roads, sewage, and water systems
Which social strata encouraged the development of art in ancient civilizations?
Elites
What forms record keeping developed in ancient civilizations?
Cuneiform, hieroglyphics, pictographs, alphabets, quipu
What was the relationship between literature and culture in ancient societies?
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The Code of Hammurabi relfected what?
Social hierarchy
What pre 600 BCE relgions strongly incluenced later eras?
Vedic relgion, Hebrew monotheism, Zoroastrianism
Give two examples of trade relations prior to 600 BCE?
Egypt and Nubia
Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley
How did social and gender identities develop pre 600 BCE?
They intensified as states expanded and cities multiplied
How did religion help strengthen politcal ties within society?
Rulers used relgion to justify their rule (some were even considered divine)
Reinforced political stratification
How did religion help strengthen economic ties within society?
It reinforced economic stratification
How did religion help strengthen cultural ties within society?
It provided a bond among people and an ethical code to live by
How did religions promote a sense of unity?
Through providing providing an ethical code to live by
The codification of Hebrew Scriptures relfects what?
The influence of Mesopoamian cultural and legal traditions
Which three empires conquered various Jewish states?
Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman
Where did Jewish diasporic communited grow?
Around the Mediterranean and Middle East
What are characeteristics and core teachings of Hinduism?
Reincarnation
Caste System
What is a universal religion?
A religion that anyone can practice
The core beliefs of Buddhism are recorded into what?
Sutras and other scriptures
What was Buddhism a reaction to?
Vedic beliefs
How did Buddhism spread?
Support of the Mauryan Emperor Asocka
Efforts of missionaries and merchants
Establishment of Asian institutions
Where did Buddhism spread by 600 CE?
Throughout Asia
What are the core teachings of Confucianism
Social harmony can be acheived through proper rituals and relationships
What is a major Daoist writing?
Daodejing
Which parts of Chinese culture did Daoism influence?
Medical theory
Poetry
Metallurgy
Architecture
What is the core belief of Daoism?
Balance between human and natural
What was Christianity based off of>
Judaism
What was Christianity’s originial attitude toward Roman and Hellenistic influences?
Rejected it (there was Roman imperial hostility)
How did Christianity spread?
Missionaries
Merchants
Under which Roman emperor did Christianity gain imperial support?
Constantine
What are the core ideas in Greco-Roman philosophy?
Science based logic
Empirical observation
Nature of political power
Hierarchy
How did Buddhism affect gender roles?
Through encouraging a monastic life
How did Confucianism affect gender roles?
Through its emphasis on filial piety
What other religions and cultural traditions were common by 600 CE?
Shamanism
Animism
Ancestor veneration
In which regions did ancestor veneration persist?
Africa
Mediterranean
East Asia
Andean
How did the number and size of Classical Empires compare to the Ancient Era and how did they accomplish this
Larger
Through imposing politcal unity
Name Location
Persian Empires
Southwest Asia
Name Location
Qin and Han
East Asia
Name Location
Maurya and Gupta
South Asia
Name Location
Phoenicia and its polonies, Greek city states, Hellenistic and Roman empires
Mediterranean
Teothuacan, Maya city states
Mesoamerica
Moche
Andean South America
What new political methods were created in order to rule the larger empires in the Classical Empires?
- Centralized governments
- Elaborate legal systems
- Bureaucracies
Which empires adminstered these new political methods?
China
Persia
Rome
South Asia (India)
How did imperial governments project military power over large areas?
- Diplomacy
- Supply lines
- Fortifications
- Defensive walls
- Roads
- Drawing new groups of military officers and soldiers from the local populations or conquered peoples
How did empires promote trade and economic integrations? (2)
- Building roads
2. Issuing currencies
What function did imperial cities perform? (3)
- Centers of trade
- Public performance of religious rituals
- Politcal adminstration centers
What social classes/occupations were common in empires? (6)
- Cultivators
- Laborers
- Slaves
- Artisans
- Merchants
- Elites
What were common labor systems in the Classical Era? (5)
- Corvee
- Slavery
- Rents and tributes
- Peasant communities
- Family and household production
What gender and family structue continued throughout the Classical Era?
Patriarchy
What caused Classical Empires to decline, collapse, or transform into something else?
Politcal, cultural, and adminstrative difficulties
Through excessive mobilization of resources, imperial governments caused environmental damage such as… (4)
- Deforestation
- Desertificaiton
- Soil erosion
- Silted rivers
What generated social tensions and economic difficulties?
Concentration of wealth in the hands of the elite
What external problems did China face?
Xiongnu
What external problems did the Gupta Empire face?
White Huns
What external problems did the Romans face?
Northern and Eastern neighbors
Why did long distance trade increase dramatically in period 2?
Increased demand for raw materials and luxury goods
What was commonly traded along these networks?
- People
- Technology
- Religous and cultural beliefts
- Food crops
- Domesticated animals
- Diseases
What new technologies permitted the use of domesticated pack animals to transport goods across longer routes? (3)
- Yokes
- Saddle
- Stirrup
What were the primary domesticated pack animals used for long distance trade? (4)
- Horses
- Oxen
- Llamas
- Camels
What innovations in maritime technology arose in period 2? (3)
- Lateen sail
- Dhow ships
- Knowledge of monsoon winds
What crops spread from South Asia to the Middle East in period 2? (2)
- Rice
2. Cotton
What was the result of this diffusion of crops?
Changes in farming and irrigation techniques (development of the qanat system)
What effects did dieases have on Classical empires?
- Diminished urban populations
2. Contributed to the decline of some empires (Rome and and China)
What was the relationship between trade networks and religions?
As religions traveled across trade routes, the transformed
