Transformation in the Late Postclassical World (Ch. 14, 11)

...is about exploring the changes taking place toward the end of the postclassical period as the world transitions into a new era as well as evaluating how the Americas fit postclassical patterns.

What historical lessons or big ideas did you learn from the Post-Classical Period?:

  • - Humans need to adapt to environments has necessitated technological innovation.
  • - Cultures spread through syncretism.
  • - Economic conditions and religion are key components in legitimizing or undermining government.
  • - Ever intensifying trade is a powerful force for social and political change.
  • - Social inequality is source of conflict yet ever-present in civilizations.

Objectives:

  1. Analyze the historical significance of the Mongols.
  2. Explain the degree to which the Mongols wanted to and were able to transform China.
  3. Evaluate the consequences of plague pandemics in the fourteenth century.
  4. Describe the religion of the Aztecs and Inca.
  5. Compare Aztec and Inca economic systems, attitudes toward local autonomy, and justifications for expansion.
  6. Summarize the global transitions taking place in the 15th century.
  1. Analyze the causes and effects of broadening transregional trade networks during the postclassical period.
  2. Discuss arguments for and against the assertion that there was a world economic network during this period.
  3. Assess the validity of the claim that the Incan and Aztec empires are best viewed as variations of similar patterns and processes seen elsewhere in the postclassical world.
  4. Compare the impacts of Islam, Christianity, and Neo-Confucianism on their respective cultural regions.

Key Concepts:

Explain the definition, role, and significance of…

Genghis Khan
Pax Mongolica
Khanate
Kublai Khan
Yuan
Ming / Moscow
Marco Polo
Ibn Battuta
Zheng He
Black Death
Bubonic Plague
Henry the Navigator / Olmecs
Maya
Aztecs
Chinampas
Tenochtitlan
Tribute
Corn
Human sacrifice / Inca
Split Inheritance
Socialism
Potato
Mita
Quipu

Cumulative Content:

Important, relevant, and testable material from previous chapter…

Islam
Umayyad
Abbasid
Cultural interactions in India / Spread of Islam in SE Asia & Africa
Gold-Salt Trade
Ghana / Mali / Songhay
Swahili Coast / Byzantium
Kiev-Rus
Early Middle Ages
High Middle Ages / Tang
Song
Japan

Guided Timeline:

S/SE Asia / Mid-East / China / East Asia / W. Eur / E.Eur / Africa / Americas
Early Middle Ages / Peak of Byzantium
Rise of Russia / Ghana / 500s – 1300s
600 / Rise of Islam & Umayyad / Tang / Chinese influence in Korea, Vietnam, & Japan
First Muslim Contacts
Peak of Abbasid
1000 / Deeper Muslim Contact / Decline of Abbasid / Song / Return to native heritage in Korea, Vietnam, & Japan / High Middle Ages
Delhi Sultanate & conversion in SE Asia / Decline / Mali
peak of
E. Africa
city-states
the Mongol moment
Late Middle Ages / 1300 – 1492
Ming
1450 / Rise of the Ottomans / Return to Isolation

Eurasia

Key Places:
Locate on the maps…
Mongolia / Mongol core
Eurasian Steppes
Karakorum
Samarkand
Himalaya Mountains
Southern Song
Yuan / Kievan-Rus
Golden Horde Empire
Moscow
Abbasid Empire
Khwarezm
Il-Khan Empire
Baghdad
Constantinople
Djagatai Empire / Genoa
Venice
Ottoman Empire
Spain
Portugal
Zheng He’s expeditions
Vasco da Gama’s expeditions

The Americas

Key Places:
Yucatan Peninsula
Maya
Sierra Madre Mtns
Aztec Empire
Lake Texcoco
Tenochtitlan
Andes Mtns
Atacama Desert
Inca Empire
Cuzco