Name______Date______
Social StudiesMrs. Kind
Review for the Final
Influential People
Ancient China
Shihuangdi
- First Grand Emperor
- Created a single system of writing and money
- Collected taxes
- Split empire into 36 provinces
- Weakened power of nobles by taking away their weapons
Confucius
- Chinese philosopher
- His ideas were called Confucianism
- Rulers should be fair and just
- Wanted to bring tradition back to China
- Respect within the family
Wudi
- First strong emperor of Han dynasty
- Created the Grand School
Ancient Greece
Homer
- Greek writer and poet who wrote Illiad and Odyssey
Pericles
- Greek Statesman
- Made sure the poor as well as rich citizen could take part in government
- People got salaries to sit on a jury
Socrates
- Philosopher who searched for the right way to live
- Questioned Athenian values
- Put to death for “urging young people to revolt”
Plato
- Student of Socrates who wrote down all of his teachings
Aristotle
- Alexander the Great’s teacher who taught him to appreciate Greek culture
Alexander the Great
- Became king of Macedonia at age twenty
- Conquered most of the Persian empire
- Spread Greek culture wherever he conquered
Ancient Rome
Julius Caesar
- Patrician who declared himself dictator of Rome
- Commander in the army
- Governor of Gaul
- Joined forces with Cleopatra for money to continue fighting
- Killed by Senate members because he was “destroying Roman traditions”
- Gave grain to soldiers
- Gave citizenship to people not born in Rome
- Changed the way we measure time-July named after him
Augustus Caesar
- “Honored One”
- Octavian
- His rule began Pax Romana
- Created aqueducts, new roads, census
- Created a system for police and fire safety
Jesus
- Mary’s son who was thought to be Messiah
- Told simple stories called parables
- People who followed him were called Christians
Pope
- Leader of the Roman Catholic Church
Ancient Arabia
Muhammad
- Prophet of Allah
- Hijra to Medina
- Holy city is Mecca
- Followers called Muslims
Avicenna
- Created the first medical textbook in Arabia
The Middle Ages
Charlemagne
- Charles the Great
- Leader of the Franks
- Biggest achievement was when Pope Leo II crowned him emperor
- Loved learning, horseback riding and archery
- Spread Christianity
King John I
- Forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215
- Magna Carta limited King’s power
- Gave right to a fair trial
The Renaissance
Lorenzo Medici
- Family gained great wealth through banking and trading
- Some considered Lorenzo a tyrant-unjust ruler
- He was a patron, or supporter, of the arts
- Lorenzo paid artist to work in Florence. As a result, Florence became a city of art and learner
- He became known as “Lorenzo the Magnificent”
Petrarch
- Italian humanist
- Studied works from Greece, Rome, and Arabia
- Poet who loved learning
Michelangelo
- Renaissance artist who used many classical ideas such as balance and form
- He was a painter, sculptor, and architect
- Known for his statue of the David and painting the Sistine Chapel in Rome
Leonardo da Vinci
- He was a scientist, engineer, musician and artist
- Loved to watch people and birds
- Painted Mona Lisa
- Wrote down all of his ideas in a notebook backwards
- Made sketches of inventions-flying machine
Nicolaus Copernicus
- Studied books of Greek and Arab astronomy
- Recorded positions of the stars
- In 1514, he discovered that the Earth orbited the Sun
The Reformation
Erasmus
- Humanist who criticized Roman Church
- Question policy concerning indulgences
- Wanted to reform the Roman church
Martin Luther
- German monk who also did not agree with indulgences
- He felt that the money should not be spent on the building of St. Peter’s Cathedral
- In 1517, Luther wrote 95 Theses, or statements of protests and put it on the Wittenberg Church door
- His protest started a movement called The Reformation (change)
- This protest also lead to another division of Christianity
- Luther’s followers became known as Protestants
- Thought convents and monasteries were unnecessary
- Thought church decorations and services should be simpler
Johannes Gutenberg
- In 1448 he built a printing press
- The printing press made writing easier, cheaper, and faster
- Printing press helped spread Luther’s criticism of Roman Church and a translation of the Bible
King Henry VIII
- Brought religious change to England
- Built a strong monarchy
- At first supported Roman Church, but when the Pope did not grant him a divorce, he stopped supporting Roman Church and began supporting Protestant Church
Queen Elizabeth I
- King Henry VIII’s daughter
- One of the most popular monarchs in England
- Renaissance arrived in England during her rule
- Religious conflicts cooled
- She enjoyed poetry and plays
- Supported work of William Shakespeare-actor poet and playwright
- During his rule, Spain wanted to gain control over Atlantic trade routes and wanted England to support Catholicism once again
- Under King Phillip II, Spain gathered an armada of 130 warships to attack England
- After 9 day, England defeated Spain with only 90 ships
- As a result, England became one of the greatest naval powers in the world
Galileo
- Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist
- His telescopes proved that the sun is the center of the solar system