1. Technological and Environmental
Transformations
8000 BCE – 600 BCE
• Of all the time periods covered in the AP World
History curriculum, Foundations (8000 BCE - 600 BCE)
spans the largest number of years. It begins with an
important Marker Event - the Agricultural Revolution
- and ends with the rise of three major classical
civilizations - Rome in the Mediterranean region, Han
China, and the Gupta Empire of India.
• Ancient Empires – Four River Valley Civilizations –
Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus, and Shang China plus the
Olmec & Chavin in the Americas.
• Classical Empires – Greece, Rome, Gupta of India and
Han China.
2. Organization and Reorganization of
Human Societies
600 BCE – 600 CE
• Sometimes called the Classical Period, this time
period traces the development and the fall of the
major historical empires which shaped our own
modern cultures and economies.
• Classical Empires – Greece, Rome, Gupta of India and
Han China. Also included here, although out of
chronological context is the Mayan Empire in the
Americas.
• As states and empires increased in size and contacts
between regions multiplied, religious and cultural
systems were transformed and transmitted over wide
distances
3. Regional and Transregional
Interactions
600 CE to 1450 CE
• It begins with the birth of Mohammed. Islam is the
story of the Post-Classical period. Mostly because so
many other stories are contingent upon it. Pay
attention to how the religion operates as both a
spiritual and secular force. We started with three
principal classical civilizations and in this period we
will see those three expand to breed other
civilizations,
• The world gets more complicated now. This is the
period of "World Religions", belief systems being
exported like trade goods. As you might imagine, at
times, it causes some problems.
• Interregional to Global Networking. The
establishment of interregional trade networks that
link areas far more expansive than we saw during the
Classical Period. It ends with the new extended use of
the Printing Press.
4. Global Interactions
1450 CE -1750 CE
• In the preceding era trade was existent but was slow, different
regions were connected but there wasn't a true, complete feeling
of globalization.
• In the pre-modern era, trade increased significantly due to
maritime exploration by Europeans, who sought silver, sugar, slaves
and converts.
• Era of Absolute Rulers.
• New ideals of government arose and led to revolutions in the
Modern Period which replaced those Absolute monarchs.
• It begins with the beginning of the extended use of the printing
press to spread information and new ideas and with the discovery
of the NEW WORLD.
• It ends with the coming Industrial Revolution and the extensive use
of the steam engine in industry and agriculture.
5. Industrialization and Global
Integration
1750 CE – 1900 CE
• This period begins with the Industrial
Revolution and ends with the logical
conclusion of Industrialization and
Imperialism – The First World War – WWI.
• It is a time when nations attempted to
expand into empire in an effort to capture
raw materials for industry and to find
markets for their manufactured goods.
6. Accelerating Global Change and
Realignments
1900 to Today
• Two
world wars and the Cold War marked the
conflicts of the Twentieth Century.
• Atomic Bomb and other WMDs.
• TECHNOLOGY!!! SPACE!!!!
• Rise and fall of Communism
• GLOBALIZATION
• ENERGY DOMINATONS. Rise of OPEC
and Arab nations.
• Populations continually moved and shifted.
• Communications in the form of telegraphs,
radio, movies, telephones, television and
computers highlight the era.