Student _______________________
Global 9A
April 2016
Ms. Canone
“Southernization” Assignment
Directions: Read the article “Southernization” by Lynda Shaffer and answer the following questions. Your
responses will be much more thorough if you read carefully.
1. What is southernization? What is the main point that Shaffer is arguing about southernization? In other
words, what is her thesis?
2. The Indian Beginning
a. What were some key developments that took place in southern Asia?
b. How did these developments lead to increased interaction across cultures?
c. What innovations or ideas did Malay sailors use to navigate to far-away lands?
d. What spices did Malay sailors trade?
e. Why did Malay sailors (along with Indian traders) open up all-sea routes to China?
f. Explain the influence of the Moluccas (islands east of Java) on international markets?
g. What were some significant contributions of the Guptas?
3. The Southernization of China
a. How did the developments discussed in the previous section influence China?
b. How did the introduction of Champa rice change China’s landscape, population, and distribution of
people?
c. How does the author link Tang Dynasty inventions of printing and gunpowder to the process of
southernization?
d. What Chinese invention led to their increased participation in overseas trade?
4. The Muslim Caliphates
a. What were some crops that Arabs helped spread to areas within their huge empire? How did these
crops lead to changes in labor and agriculture?
b. Besides crops, what other innovations spread throughout the Islamic world?
c. How did Arab searches for new sources of bullion change trade routes?
5. Development After 1200: The Mongolian Conquest and the Southernization of the European Mediterranean
a. On a separate sheet of paper, write down at least 5 key ideas from this section focusing on how
Shaffer connects the Mongols to the process of Southernization.
6. The Rise of Europe’s North and Conclusion
a. On a separate sheet of paper, write down at least 5 key ideas from this section. What do you think
Shaffer was ultimately trying to prove in writing this article? How did southernization come to
Europe and how does it relate to westernization?