World History & Geography (A)

2011 STUDY GUIDE

1. Why were Paleolithic people nomads?

Paleolithic people were hunters and gatherers; they had to follow animal migrations and
vegetation cycles
2. What was the real change in the Neolithic Revolution?
The real change in the Neolithic Revolution was the shift from the hunting of animals and
the gathering of food to the keeping of animals and the growing of food on a regular basis- what
we call systematic agriculture.
3. Food surpluses in Neolithic farming villages made it possible for people to do what?
The people could give up their nomadic ways of life and begin to live in settled
communities.
4. As trade brought civilizations into contact with one another, what did it lead to the transfer
of?
It led to the transfer of technology
5. What contributed to the efficient system of communication that was crucial to sustaining the
Persian
Empire?
It had an efficient road system and way stations (rest stops).
6. How did the religion of Judaism differ from the other religions of the time?
Judaism is monotheistic and the rest are polytheistic.
7. Define polytheism.
Polytheism is the belief in many gods.
8. Shock and awe nomad style brought the Gupta Empire to an end. What was the one reason
the invading
Hephthalites (The Who?) were successful warriors?
Advantages in their technology.
9. The growth of great urban centers and capital cities giving rise to an expanding demand for
commodities is
one of many impacts of what religious based empire in Afroeurasia?
The Islamic Empire
10. What was the trade route between the Roman Empire and China was known as?
The Silk Road
11. What did Buddha believe that suffering was caused by?
Ordinary life is full of suffering. This suffering is caused by our desire to satisfy ourselves.
The way to end suffering is to end desire for selfish goals and to see others as extensions of
ourselves. The way to end desire is to follow the Middle Path.
12. The Confucian belief that the government should be open to all men of superior talent is an
important
concept that became a crucial part of what countrys history?
China
13. In Hinduism, what is the belief that the individual soul is reborn in a different form after death
is called?
The belief is called reincarnation.
14. List three reasons that brought about the collapse of the Han Empire?
The major reasons behind the dynastys collapse are the overwhelming influence held by
powerful clans, the natural disasters that befell a disgruntled peasantry and the disintegration of
central authority within the empire.
15. The end of tyranny in Greece led to the development of what, a form of government by the
people?
Democracy
16. The government of Sparta was an oligarchy, which means it was ruled how?
It was ruled by few people
17. Whose conquests created the Hellenistic Era, an age that saw the expansion of the Greek
language and

Greek ideas to the non-Greek world?

Alexander the Great
18. Who was the first Christian ruler to rule the Eastern and Western Roman Empire?
Constantine the great
19. No single explanation can sufficiently explain the fall of a great empire. List 3-5 reasons that
may have
contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire?
The Roman government became more and more corrupt, stopped representing the
publics wishes and went bankrupt. It got to a breaking point and Rome fell.
20. In A.D. 380, the Romans adopted what religion as the official religion of the Roman Empire?
The Romans adopted Christianity
21. It was through the Muslim world that Europeans recovered the works of whom?
Recovered the works of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers
22. One of the Five Pillars of Islam, the hajj can be described as what?
Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is a pilgrimage to Mecca. A muslim must make this trip at
least once in a lifetime.
23. What bred centuries of mistrust between Muslims and Christians?
The crusades
24. What was a crucial factor in African trade across the Sahara for the Berbers?
Camels
25. Name three things the Bantu migration was integral in spreading.
Bantu Migrations spread farming, crops, and language.
26. Why might an anthropologist be interested in Ibn Battutas travels?
A anthropologist would love to know the cultural development of humans through Ibn
Battutas recorded impressions about the places he visited.
27. Of all the variety of items that made their way into the trade markets of the African
kingdoms, which item
was the most valued?
Salt
28. What group of people led by whom brought much of the Eurasian landmass under a single
rule, creating
the largest land empire in history?
The Mongols led by Genghis Khan
29. The Mongol state was unusual in surviving for as long as it did considering its lack of what?
Lack of rulers ruling over the people
30. In 1066, who invaded England, soundly defeating King Harolds forces at the Battle of
Hastings?
William Normandy
31. The Magna Carta was a document that eventually was used to strengthen the idea that a
monarchs
power was
limited
, not
absolute
.
32. Vassalage, which meant warriors swore loyalty to a lord, who in turn took care of their needs,
was at the
heart of what middle ages concept?
It was based off feudalism in the Medieval Age.
33. Define vernacular literature.
Vernacular Literature was literature written in the language of everyday speech in a
particular region.
34. The Black Death killed nearly 38 million people, resulting in what kind of consequence?
Resulting in severe economic consequences
35. What was the cause of the Plague (1347-1351) in Europe?
The plague is contracted through the bites of an infected rodent or flea.

36. The Maya, Inca, Aztec, Pueblo, and Woodland indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica ALL shared
the same
basis for their economy, which was what?
Agriculture based society
37.The religion of ALL the Maya, Inca, Aztec, Pueblo, and Woodland indigenous peoples of
Mesoamerica
included what?
Its polytheistic
38. Government among the Maya, Inca, Aztec, Pueblo, and Woodland indigenous peoples of
Mesoamerica
shared what in common?
Dynasty rulers and a counsel of people
39. The Maya, Inca, Aztec, Pueblo, and Woodland indigenous peoples of Mesoamericas
interaction with their
environment can best be described as what?
They were very intelligent and efficient
40. What are three aspects of social life found in any of the Maya, Inca, Aztec, Pueblo, and
Woodland
indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica?
Social divisions, enslaved labor, and respect for your ancestors
41. Which Renaissance person was a painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, and mathematician
and is
considered an excellent example of Renaissance Italys social ideal?
Leonardo da Vinci
42. What was the first Protestant faith?
Lutheranism
43. What was the main opposition that Martin Luther had with the Catholic Church when he
posted his
Ninety-five Theses?
The main opposition was that the church could not accept his ideas
44. Martin Luthers realization was that all people needed was what in order for God to grant the
righteousness people needed for salvation?
Faith
45. Humanism involves the study of what course of content?
Humanism is an intellectual movement of the Renaissance based on the study of the
humanities, which included grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history.
46. What is the name of the set of principles that dominated economic thought in the
seventeenth century?
Mercantilism
47. The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494, established what?
The treaty of Tordesillas established a line west to the Canary Islands known as the
demarcation line. The land discovered west of the line belonged to Spain and the land to the east
was for Portugal.
48. Europeans were motivated to explore distant lands by what three things?
The 3 Gs. God-desire to spread Christianity. Glory- to say they were the first to sail there.
Gold- to increase their wealth
49. Three negative effects of European exploration in the Americas are what?
Disease, Destruction, and slavery.
50. One positive result of the Columbian Exchange was what?
By enabling more people to survive on smaller plots of land, a rapid increase in population
was made possible.
51. Define absolutism.
Absolutism is a system in which a ruler holds total power.
52. What was the Glorious Revolution?

Dutch leader, William of Orange was invited to invade England. Williams wife, Mary was
James II daughter. James II and his family flee to France. William of Orange takes England without
any bloodshed.
53. Define divine right of monarchs.
Was put in place their by God.
54. Why is Louis XIV the best example of absolutism?
He was only a boy when he was given the throne.
55. What phrase refers to a ruler believed he received his power from God and was responsible
only to God?
Divine right of kings
56. To which religion did most Ottomans belong?
The ottomans were Sunni Muslims.
57. Gunpowder empires were empires that were formed by what?
Are formed by the use of gunpowder weapons
58. In the Ottoman Empire, religion was incorporated into the state, and the sultan was regarded
as what?
Regarded as the protector of Islam
59. By the end of the Safavid Empire, Shia clergy emerged with what new sense of power?
Increased sense of power
60. Although the Mughal Empire was a mixture of Persian, Mongol, and Indian culture, by its end,
what type
of law was imposed?
Shariah
61. List three important religious cities in the Middle East.
Jerusalem, Mecca, and Medina
62. When Europe was in transition, which three things are directly linked to the fall of the
Byzantine Empire?
The Renaissance, the scientific revolution, and the Enlightenment
63. The Chinese governments limited foreign trade resulted in what?
Being isolated means loss of trade, and loss of ideas for technology
64. The Ming/Qing governments and bureaucracies were based almost entirely on whose
philosophy and
ethics?
Confucius
Confucianism is the teachings of Confucius focusing on three areas: social philosophy,
political philosophy, and education. Confucius taught that relationships are based on rank.
Persons of higher rank are responsible for caring for those of lower rank. Those of lower rank
should respect and obey those of higher ranks.
65. The 15th century sea expeditions of the Ming Dynasty could have reached the Americas but
stopped
abruptly after reaching East Africa because of Confucian beliefs about what class of people?
Merchants
66. What was the greatest loss suffered by China due to closing its ports?
Loss of Technology
67. Name the two positive economic changes in Japan under the Tokugawa rulers.
He improves bank systems and started paper money
68. Who was the first to argue that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the universe?
Nicholas Copernicus
69. Whose universal law of gravitation showed how one law could explain all motion in the
universe?
Isaac Newton
70. Which English philosopher believed scientists should use inductive reasoning?
Francis Bacon
71. Whose ideas suggest that people were molded by their experiences?
John Locke
72.
Voltaire
and many other philosophers, believed the universe was like a

clock/watch.
73. Whose concept of a social contract was that an entire society agrees to be governed by its
general will?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
74. Explain Ptolemys belief of the universe.
He believed Earth was the center of the universe
75. Whose observations seemed to indicate that the sun was the center of the universe, and the
planets were
made of material substance?
Galileo
76. Who has been called the father of modern rationalism, which argues Intellectual reason is the
chief source
of human knowledge.
Rene Descartes
77. Whose lasting contribution to political thought was his analysis of the governmental system
of checks and
balances?
Baron de Montesquieu
78. Adam Smith believed in laissez-faire, which means what?
Believed the state should not regulate the economy
79. Who argued that since women have reason, they are entitled to the same rights as men?
Mary Wollstone craft
80. Two key characteristics of the Enlightenment were what?
Optimism and Rationality
81. What three things did the Enlightenment philosophers value?
They valued process, education, and rationalism.