History Flashcards
List four key beliefs in Hinduism.
- Reincarnation
- Caste system
- The cow is sacred
- Polytheism (multiple deities)
Name three significant causes that led to the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476.
- Ineffective political system (no formal system to choose emperors)
- Economic decline (and excessive taxes)
- Military invasion from Germanic and Asiatic tribes
Name the three branches of US government. Include one power of each.
Legislative - makes laws
executive - enforces laws
judicial - interprets laws
Name three military objectives the North had during the Civil War.
- Capture Southern capital at Richmond, Virginia.
- Blockade the South’s Atlantic seaports.
- Split the Confederacy at the Mississippi River.
Name a few consequences of the California Gold Rush in the US.
- Dramatic increase in population in California.
- California went from a territory to a state.
- Trade and commerce expanded.
- Transportation systems developed (extensive).
- Mistreatment of non-European peoples (Chinese, Indians) increased.
List three reasons for establishing the mission system in California.
- Convert Native Americans to Christianity.
- Provide agricultural land and food for the emerging Spanish population.
- Discourage English/Russian colonization in the area.
Where was Hammurabi’s Code developed? By Whom? When? What was it?
Mesopotamia. Babylonians. 1750 BC. Written law code.
Name the order of Mesopotamian civilizations, beginning with the Sumerians and ending with the Persians.
Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians.
What civilization established the first lasting monotheism?
Israelites - Saul established the first kingdom in Palestine in 1030 BC.
What early civilizations are associated with the Aegean Sea?
Ancient Greece: Minoan, Mycenaean, Hellenic, Hellenistic civilizations.
Describe the Peloponnesian War. When did it happen?
Conflict between Sparta & Athens - devastated both sides. Sparta was victorious, but unable to unite the Greek city-states. 431-404 BC.
What did Alexander the Great do? When?
Alexander the Great of Macedonia established the Hellenic Age in 356-323 BC.
- Conquered Persia, Asia Minor and Egypt.
- Established a bureaucratic government.
- Facilitated the fusion of Greek culture with the East.
How was Roman Republic society organized?
- Patricians (propertied class)
- Plebeians (main body of citizens)
- Slaves
When did Rome fall? Why?
Rome fell in 476 AD:
- repeated barbarian invasions by the Goths, Vandals and Huns.
- political instability, excessive taxation, and decline of military.
- rise of Christianity divided kingdom.
List some reasons for the spread of Christianity during the Roman period.
- The church was efficiently organized.
- Doctrines stressed equality and immortality.
- Constantine converted to Christianity in 313 AD.
- Establishment of Christianity as official Roman religion in 380AD.
- Supremacy of the pope during the disintegration of Rome.
Who founded the Byzantine Empire? How long did it last? What are some major accomplishments of the Byzantine Empire?
Constantine. 1,000 years!
- Constantine established a “New Rome” = Constantinople in AD 330.
- Codification of Roman law “Justinian Code”
- Center for world trade and cultural exchange - avoided military conflict through the use of diplomacy.
- Preservation of Greek language/culture.
Why did the Byzantine Empire fall? When?
- Constantinople was sacked during the 4th crusade in AD 1453.
- Geographic proximity and therefore vulnerability to the Arabs, Slavs, Seljuk Turks…
- Religious controversy and the split from the Roman Catholic Church.
Islam is based on the teachings of __________?
Mohammed.
Who ruled the Muslim Empire?
Arab caliphs
What was the Battle of Tours in 732AD?
Conflict between Muslim Empire and Franks (Germanic tribe). Muslim expansion was halted in Europe by the Frank leader, Charles Martel.
What event resulted in The Dark Ages?
The destruction of Rome and the subsequent period of decline (500-800AD)
Describe the political structure of feudalism.
Hierarchical and interdependent.
Church, Lords/Nobles, Vassals/Lesser Lords, Knights, Peasants.
What was the Treaty of Verdun?
When Charlemagne (revived Holy Roman Empire) divided his empire between his three grandsons in 843AD.
What was the Hundred Years War?
Between England and France. Booted English from France. 1337-1453.
What was the Battle of Hastings?
1066 - ended Anglo-Saxon rule in England.
Name the most important document in English constitutional law. What did it do?
Magna Carta (1215).
- It limited the king’s power! (constitutionalism)
- It declared the rights of the king’s subjects (habeas corpus)!
- It established legal procedures! (due process)
How was English Parliament divided?
House of Lords and the House of Commons composed Parliament.
When was the Renaissance? Where did it emerge? Name three characteristics.
1350-1600. Italy.
- Emphasis on man, not god.
- Reawakening of classical models of thought (humanism)
- Universal man.
What was the Act of Supremacy and why was it significant?
1534 - Marked the beginning of the English Reformation. King Henry the 8th wanted an annulment, it wasn’t granted, he established himself as the head of the church and converted to Protestantism and established the Anglican Church.
Who wrote “Ninety-Five Theses”? What did it question?
Martin Luther questioning the right of the pope to grant indulgences.
Name a few philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment:
Voltaire, Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau.
Who wrote the Wealth of Nations? What did it advocate?
Adam Smith. Manufacturing as the true source of a nation’s wealth.
Name three causes of the French Revolution.
- Inequitable class structure.
- Disorganized political/legal structure.
- Bankrupt treasury.
- Enlightenment philosophy.
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
What was the 1815 Battle of Waterloo?
Napoleon (France) versus the rest of Europe…Napoleon was defeated and exiled to St. Helena.
Name three results of the Industrial Revolution.
- Increase in productivity due to factory system.
- Demographic changes (from rural to urban).
- Division of society into classes.
- Development of modern capitalism.
Name the four rivers important to Africa’s economic history.
Nile, Zambezi, Niger, Congo.
What are the three topographic regions in Africa?
Desert, savanna, tropical rainforest.
Name three consequences of the Spanish Conquest on the indigenous peoples in the Americas.
- Disease ravaged native populations
- Mass transfer of wealth from Americas to Spain
- Conversion to Christianity
- Loss of native culture
- End of political/economic independence of native peoples
What did the Council of Trent do?
1545-63…The Council of Trent defined the doctrines of Catholicism and reinforced papal authority during the Counter Reformation.
Name three effects of the Reformation.
- Growth in spirit of modern nationalism
- Authority of the state was strengthened
- Middle class was strengthened
What prompted the Renaissance (1350-1600)?
- Conflicts between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire resulted in regional autonomy for Italy city/states.
- Greek & Roman culture contributed
- Crusades were focused elsewhere (Greek and Near East)
- General movement towards secularization
What was the House of Burgesses? The Mayflower Compact?
In 1619, the House of Burgesses was an early colonial attempt at representative self government. The Mayflower Compact was the basis for government by the consent of the government.
What war ended the French threat in America? When?
French and Indian War from 1756-63. English victory.
Name three causes of the American Revolution (1763-76).
- English mercantile policy discouraged colonial economic independence. “taxation without representation”
- Increased frequency of colonial opposition to British actions - petitions, boycotts, etc.
- Formation of the Declaration of Independence.
Name three important battles in the Revolutionary War.
- Fort Ticonderoga (1775) - American Victory - Americans seized 100 cannons which were badly needed!
- Bunker Hill (1775) - British Victory - Huge british losses, Americans held their own and proved how badly they wanted independence.
- Princeton (1777) - American Victory - GW - French sent supplies to help the colonists.
- Yorktown (1781) - American Victory - GW - Tartleton surrendered. Cornwallis defeated. Britain recognizes US independence.
Name three things that contributed to America’s deteriorating relationship with Britain during the American Revolution.
- Proclamation Act (1763) - Banned settlement beyond Appalachian Mountains.
- Townshend Revenue Act (1767) - New taxes on paper, tea, glass, lead, paint.
- Boston Massacre (1770) - Boston mob protesting British soldiers were fired upon point blank.
- Coercive Acts (1774) - British power shut down port of Boston, created new Quartering Act.
- Lexington & Concord (1775) - British troops search and destroy militia weapons.