AP World History
Unit 3- Part 1
Homework
Unit 3: Period 3: Regional and Trans-regional Interactions, 600 CE-1450 CE
Key Concepts
3.1 Expansion and intensification of Communication and exchange networks
3.2 Continuity and innovation of State forms and their interactions
3.3 Increased economic productive capacity and its consequences
Part 1: Commerce and Culture, 500-1500
LEARNING GOALS
· To consider the significance of trade in human history
· To explore the interconnections created by long-distance trade in the period of third-wave civilizations
· To examine the full range of what was carried along trade routes (goods, culture, disease)
· To explore the differences between the commerce of the Eastern Hemisphere and that of the Western Hemisphere and the reasons behind those differences
Primary Text: Robert W. Strayer Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources
1. Read and highlight the introduction to the unit on pp 307-311
2. Read pp 318-325 and respond to the following:
1.How would you describe the relationship between the ‘steppe people’ of the outer zones and their agricultural neighbors?
2. What was the connection between ‘strong states’ (such as Alexander the Great’s empire, the Tang dynasty and the Abbasid dynasty) and the functioning of the Silk Road as a trade route?
3. Support or refute the following statement with specific evidence: “Calling the Eurasian trade route “The Silk Road” is misleading because it puts too much emphasis on silk, at the expense of goods that were equally important.”
4. Briefly summarize the role that trade played in the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia.
5. In what ways did Buddhism’s association with commerce change the religion itself?
6. “Throughout history an unfortunate effect of trade,has been the spread of infectious disease.” List several examples that Strayer gives to support this point, along with the most pertinent details (including relevant ‘side effects’ of these incidents).
3. Read pp 324 – 333 and respond to the following:
1. In what ways did the Indian Ocean trading network differ from that of the Silk Road? In your
response, use the following terms, and be sure to use the map on p. 325
Maritime, bulk goods, luxury goods, monsoons, Maluku Islands, Madagascar, East Africa
2. What lay behind the flourishing of Indian Ocean commerce in the post classical millennium?
3. At one ‘end’ of the Indian Ocean trade route, Srivijaya was a popular destination for traders between 670 to 1025. Provide at least five reasons why somebody would be interested in at least visiting Srivijaya, and identify who those people would be. For example, “A Buddhist monk may want to visit to worship at the great temple at Borobudur.” (that’s oneJ)
4. It was said that parrots in Srivijaya could speak 4 languages—what do you think those languages were? If you wanted to purchase such a parrot, what would you have offered in exchange?
5. Describe the various cultural traditions that combined to influence the development of a unique Swahili civilization.
6. In what ways were the Swahili cities of the east coast of Africa tied in with the African hinterland and in what ways were they almost like their own separate worlds?
4. Read pp 334-337 and respond to the following:
1. In what way did the camel bring about a massive shift in Trans-African trading patterns? What did those patterns look like before the camel, and what did they look like after?
2. In what ways was the slavery practiced in West Africa similar to the slavery that would be practiced in the United States, and in what ways was it different?
3. Finish this statement, and support with evidence: “The wealth of the Kingdom of Mali was due mainly to ______.”
5.Read pp 337-341 and respond to the following:
1. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the potato never made its way from the Andes to Mesoamerica (about 3,000 miles), while over in Eurasia silks from China regularly ended up in Rome (about 8,000 miles). What are the explanations for why this was the case?
2. Support the following statement with several specific examples: “Although no long-distance trade routes akin to the Silk Road developed in America, regional trade routes and economic exchange played an extremely important role in American civilizations between 500 and 1500.”
3. To make sure that we don’t get too carried away in thinking that the period 500-1500 brought about a truly global economy, Strayer finishes the chapter by emphasizing ways in which the commerce of this period differed widely from the global trade that we take for granted today. What are some of those major differences?