AP World History First Semester Study Guide
Unit 1
Birth of Civilization
o “Prehistoric”
o Neolithic Age
o Movement to agriculture
o Lucy
o Neandertal religion
o Slash-and-burn
Mesopotamia
o Development of cities
o Epic poetry
o Torah
o Phoenicians
o Hittites
o Indo-Europeans
Africa
o Old Kingdom pyramids
o Egypt vs Mesopotamian farming
o Egypt vs Mesopotamian role of women
o New Kingdom Egypt
o Bantu
o Bantu migrations
India
o Early Indus cities
o Aryans
o Caste system
o Varnas
o Sanskrit
China
o Mandate of Heaven
o Decentralization (Zhou)
Mesoamerica
o Beringia
o Maize
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Olmecs
Maya calendar
Maya codex
Moche
Unit 2
Persia
o Zoroastrianism
o Cyrus’ rule
o Royal Road
o Persian Wars with Greece
China
o Qin Shihuangdi
o Confucius, Laozi, Legalism
o Daoism
o Wudi and bureaucracy
o Han technological developments
o Silk production
India
o Spread of Buddhism
o Gupta Empire
o Mahayana vs Theravada Buddhism
o Indian numbers
o Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
o Ashoka’s conversion
Greece
o Why not unified
o Peloponnesian War
o Athenian democracy
o Trojan War
o Socrates
o Macedonian conquest
Rome
o Punic Wars
o First Triumvirate
o Roman Republic
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Pax Romana
Augustus
Diocletian
Reasons for decline
Opposition to Christianity
Spread of Christianity
Germanic invasions
Unit 3
Byzantium
o Justinian Code
o Slavic (Cyrillic) alphabet
o Great Schism
o Iconoclasm
o Vladimir
Islam
o Muhammad
o Abbasid bureaucracy
o Five Pillars
o “People of the book”
o Treatment of conquered peoples
o Sunni vs Shia
China and Japan
o Dynasties
o Civil service examinations
o Control over commerce and trade
o Contact with Japan
o Japanese government
o Shinto
o Hongwu
o Zheng He
India
o Silk roads
o Influence in southeast Asia
o Banking
o Angkor Wat
Middle Ages
o Feudalism
o Lords and vassals
o Charlemagne
o Chivalry
o Crusades
o Guilds
o Investiture Contests
o Battle of Hastings
o Reconquista
o Bubonic Plague
o Columbus’ voyages
o Reasons for exploration
o Renaissance
Mongols
o Golden Horde
o Genghis Khan
o Expansion
o Foreign bureaucrats
o Kamikaze
o Tamerlane and the Ottomans
Africa
o Axum Christianity
o Swahili
o Mansa Musa
o Great Zimbabwe
o Sundiata
o Spread of Islam
Americas
o Aztec hierarchy
o Anasazi
o Iroquois
o Pachacuti
o Quipu
o Ayllu
Unit 4
Europe
o Portuguese exploration
o Caravels
o Vasco da Gama
o Henry the Navigator
o Seven Years’ War
o Columbian Exchange
o Thirty Years’ War
o Louis XIV
o St. Petersburg
o English Civil War, Restoration, Glorious Revolution
o Heliocentric universe
o Martin Luther’s criticisms
Americas
o Treaty of Tordesillas
o Conquering Aztecs
o Encomienda system
o Fur trade