Welcome to Ms. Sherien’s Global Regents Prep Review!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me:
sheriens@yahoo.com
In this workbook, you will find notes on the most common questions asked on the
regents. The questions are broken down by topics. Use the table of contents to help you
find these topics.
The global regents covers A LOT of topics. I have tried my best to find the most common
questions asked on the regents and have created these notes to help familiarize you with
the content. I can write a million notes for you BUT IF YOU DO NOT STUDY THIS
WORKBOOK WILL NOT HELP YOU.
Best ways to study:
1. Create flash cards.
2. Create word walls. Hang them up on your walls in your bedroom. Read them in
the morning when you wake up, read them at night before you go to sleep.
3. Visit nysed. Take old regents. Check the answers you got wrong. Learn why you
got them wrong.
Remember, the regents wants to see if you have the ability to THINK. You do not need to
know everything in order to pass the regents. You just need to read the question
correctly and THINK!
I promise that if you take this seriously you WILL pass
the Global Regents this January.
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Table of contents
1. GEOGRAPHY – Geography affects the way countries develop. Geographic
features are very important on the regents. In this section, you will learn about the
different geographic features of some countries.
2. ANCIENT CIVILATIONS
– Once we stopped being nomads because of
the Neolithic revolution, we started developing civilizations. Find out here what
similarities ancient civilizations had and what unique aspects each had. The regents
wants to know that you understand how civilizations developed and what contributions
they gave us.
3. GOLDEN AGES AND GREAT EMPIRES – What makes a great
empire? What makes a golden age? Both empires and golden ages are positive features.
The regents wants to see if you know what positive things came out of golden ages and
empires.
4. JUSTICE and HUMAN RIGHTS –
Laws. Why do we need them?
Laws give us rules of society. In this section, read about the most common forms of law
in global history. Also read about how individuals have violated human rights.
5. THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE CRUSADES –
After the
Roman empire collapsed because of political corruption, feudalism developed in Europe.
In this section you will read about Europe during the middle ages. You will also read
about the effects of the Crusades, the holy wars for control of Jerusalem.
6. EUROPE AFTER THE MIDDLE AGES –
The Renaissance,
Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, Absolutism.
7. AGE OF EXPLORATION
8. INDUSTRIALIZATION AND MODERNIZATION
9.IMPERIALISM AND COLONIALISM
10.CONFLICT
11. QUICK NOTES
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9.
10. REVOLUTIONS
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GEOGRAPHY
Learning about the geography of a country can tell you a lot about it. For example, if a
country has many mountains it becomes very difficult to travel. If you can’t travel, you
can’t unite a country.
Geographic features
Peninsula: A peninsula is a body of land that sticks out and is surrounded by water. It’s
important to know what a peninsula is because it is often asked on the regents.
Famous peninsulas:
India
Korea – Is the cultural bridge between Japan and China
Spain and Portugal: This is important because Spain and Portugal were the two
European countries that led the age of exploration.
Geography of countries
Russia is FREEZING. It is such a cold country that the climate stopped invaders from
taking it! For example, both Hitler and Napoleon tried to invade Russia. You know what
stopped them? The weather! Their armies FROZE TO DEATH!
Italy was able to become the richest country in Europe during the Renaissance because
of its location. Venice, a city in Italy, became the center of trade and became a very rich
city.
Constantinople was the most famous Byzantine city. It connected Europe and Asia
and became the center of trade.
South America has the Andes Mountains and the Amazon River.
River valleys – Helped many of the ancient civilizations grow
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Ancient civilizations
A very long time ago, around the time of the dinosaurs, human beings were nomads. A
nomad is a person that travels from place to place looking for food. They could not settle
down anywhere because there were no refrigerators to store food. If you wanted to eat,
you needed to go out and hunt for food.
One of the most famous nomads were the Bantu. They were a group of African nomads
who migrated (moved) from place to place to find food. Remember them! They show up
on the regents.
After a while, the weather started changing on earth. It started to get warmer and we
were able to start growing plants. This meant that we didn’t have to keep traveling to
find food. We can grow our food outside our house and start having farms.
Another thing we were able to do is domesticate animals. This means that we trained
animals not to be wild. The dog became our friend. We were able to keep cows happy so
they can give us milk and put chickens on a farm so they can give us eggs.
This was the start of the Neolithic Revolution. Remember that word because it
comes on the regents often. The Neolithic Revolution was when we stopped moving
around and started the domestication of animals and growth of plants. We could
finally stop moving around and settle in one place and finally RELAX!
Okay, so now we’ve stopped moving around. Once we stopped moving around, we
started creating civilizations. Geography is VERY important when we talk about
ancient civilization. A favorable geography helps a civilization grow. Here are the most
common:
Civilization
Geography
Egypt
Nile River
China
Yellow River
Political system
Dynastic cycle –
Mandate of heaven
(the emperor got his
power from God)
Introduced civil
service exams
Caste system
India (Gupta empire) Indus River
Mesopotamia
Tigris River
Contribution
Hieroglyphics – type
of writing
Invented gunpowder
Also gave us type of
writing
Concept of zero
The Phoenicians
spread culture
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What is something all the above have in common? They all developed near river
valleys. Why are rivers important? By the water you can grow food. It becomes the
perfect place to build your great city.
Greece and rome
I have included Greece and Rome in a separate chart because they developed separately
from the above. They did not have river valleys, so they developed a little different.
Civilization
Greece
Rome
Geography
Many islands and
mountains. Because
of this, Greece
wasn’t able to unite
and instead
developed citystates
Important cities
Athens – practiced
direct democracy
Sparta – Very strict,
had a strong
military, always
wanted to go to war!
Remember the
movie 300? Those
were Spartans.
Had low mountains.
The Roman empire
was able to spread
all over Europe and
Africa.
Contributions
Philosophy:
Socrates, Plato
Politics: Direct
Democracy
Politics: Twelve
Tables (laws that
people had to follow)
Practiced
representative
democracy
Pax Romana =
Roman Peace –
brought stability
and trade
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Great empires and golden ages
Our ancient civilizations gave us some amazing things. The ancient Egyptians and
Chinese gave us our first form of writing, the Indians and Mayans gave us the
concept of zero, the Greeks gave us direct democracy and great philosophers, and
the ancient Romans gave us the Twelve Tables. They were fabulous.
As time moves on, some civilizations grow into empires. Great empires and golden ages
lead to cultural diffusion. Remember this word. Cultural diffusion is very important to
the regents.
This is a list of great empires you MUST know:
Byzantine Empire
Located in Greece. It was a big empire led by JUSTINIAN. It was very important because
it:
1. Introduced Orthodox Christianity to Russia – It was the Byzantine empire that
influenced Russia.
2. Established the Justinian Code – The Justinian Code set the rules of society.
Justinian decided that he was sick and tired of people breaking laws, so he looked
at all the laws throughout history and picked the best ones for his society. The
Justinian Code is VERY IMPORTANT because many years later Europe used
these laws when it was creating its own rules.
3. Had Constantinople - Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire. It
was the most important city. It was important because it connected Asia and
Europe and helped countries trade better.
4. **Preserved Greek and Roman Culture** (very important to know this).
Justinian thought the ancients Greeks and Romans were very smart. He thought
their laws were great and he really liked their philosophers. So he decided that it
was important to make sure we never lost their culture. He translated their books
and borrowed many ideas from them.
Mongolia
This was an empire led by Genghis Khan. He controlled a large area of Asia.
The only thing you need to know about Mongolia for the regents is PAX MONGOLIA.
This translates to Mongolian Peace (Pax means Peace). This is important because when
you have peace, you can TRADE. Once you have trade you have a great empire.
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Africa
The regents does not ask many questions about early African empires. What you need to
know is:
Mali and Ghana were two great countries in Africa. They became very rich because of
trade. What did they trade? Salt and gold. They had Saharan trade routes which helped
them increase their wealth.
Golden age of Islam
The Golden Age of Islam is very important because they:
1. Gave us advances in math and science – Islamic scholars created algebra. So if
you’re having a difficult time in Mr. Nikola’s class you can blame the Islamic scholars!
2. Preserved Greek and Roman texts – Like Justinian, Islamic scholars thought the
Ancient Greeks and Romans were very smart. They wanted to make sure we kept their
ideas.
Japan
Japan had a feudal system.
Some vocabulary words to know related to Japan’s feudal system: Bushido, samurai
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Justice and Human Rights
Early Forms of Justice and Law
Prehistoric and ancient people often lived together for protection. Living in crowded
conditions can quickly lead to trouble. In many ancient societies, kings often made laws
after an argument or incident.
What kind of trouble do you think ancient people had?
Most kings knew that for ordinary people to obey a law, they had to understand it, and
know the consequence if they broke it.
Here are some laws that existed in societies to help promote justice:
Code of Hammurabi (Babylon) = very strict codes with consequences for people who
broke the law. The King put these laws on a big poster in the middle of the city so
EVERYONE could know the law.
Laws of the Twelve Tables (Ancient Rome)
Republican form of government = Ancient Rome
Direct Democracy = Ancient Greece
Justinian Code (Byzantine Empire) = preserved Greek and Roman Culture = served as
a model for European legal systems
English Bill of Rights = limited the power of the monarchy
Magna Carta = limited the power of the monarchy
John Locke = consent of the people, natural rights
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HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Even though we have laws, this does not mean that there are no human rights
violations. Some people in society do not want to give people their rights.
Some human rights violations:
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa is a country all the way on the bottom of Africa. It was colonized by the
Europeans and created white minority rule. This meant that even though there are
more black Africans in South Africa, it was the white Europeans that controlled the
country.
This led to apartheid = strict racial separation and discrimination in South Africa. For
those of you in my U.S. history class, this was exactly like the segregation the AfricanAmericans in the United States experienced!!
Nelson Mandela was a South African nationalist. He fought against apartheid.
CHINA
Tiananmen Square: This is a square in China, kinda like Times Square here in NY. The
Chinese people were upset with their government and so they went there to protest.
They wanted democracy.
The Chinese government was not happy with these protestors so they tried to stop them.
To break up the protests they sent tanks and soldiers.
OPPRESSIVE REGIMES
This list of men is a list of leaders who denied people their human rights:
Augusto Pinochet
Saddam Hussein
Hitler
Mussolini
Mao Zedong
Fidel Castro
Ho Chi Minh
Ethnic cleansing
Armenian massacre
Rwanda (Hutus & Tutsis)
Bosnia
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Europe during the middle ages and the crusades
Feudal system
After the Roman Empire collapsed because of political corruption, Europe developed the
feudal system. Any feudal system is a decentralized system, which means that power
was divided up.
So what does this mean? This means that land is exchanged for military service and
loyalty. If you promise loyalty to me, I will give you land.
Under the feudal system the amount of land you possessed is how much power you
had. So if you were a king, you obviously have A LOT of power because you own A LOT
of land. But if you’re a peasant, you have NO power because you do not own any land.
You just work on the land. It was a really sad life if you were a peasant 
Bubonic Plague
During the Middle Ages, Europe traded a lot of with China. Marco Polo, a very famous
Italian merchant, traveled to China and brought back many ideas (cultural diffusion). So
Europe wanted to continue trading with China.
By increasing trade we also ended up increasing disease. The Black Death was brought
back to Europe by sailors who traded with Asia. The Black Death wiped out Europe’s
population.
Crusades
If you were a peasant in Europe during the Middle Ages, you had a VERY hard life. You
did not own any of your land and had to follow all the horrible rules the king set. The
Crusades gave you a chance to change your life.
The Crusades were the wars between the Christians and the Muslims for control of
Jerusalem.
As a result of the Crusades, cultural diffusion increased. The Europeans learned a lot
because of the Golden Age of Islam. Remember, the Islamic scholars preserved Greek
and Roman texts and also made advances in science and math. The Europeans learned
A LOT from the Muslims during the Crusades.
War, however, is not a pleasant thing. Several people died and the Crusades led to
distrust between the Muslims and Christians for many years after.
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Europe after the middle ages
 The Renaissance
 The protestant reformation
 The englightenment
 The scientific revolution
 Absolutism
It looks like there’s A LOT of things you need to know about this topic, right?? Well,
don’t worry. Although there are a lot of topics, there is some basic information you need
to know about them. Once you know this information, you’ll be fine.
Let’s start with the Renaissance.
The word Renaissance means a “rebirth in culture”. We call this time period the
renaissance because after the Middle Ages and the Black Death, Europe entered a
golden age. The Renaissance started in Italy, Geographic location of such cities like
Venice helped them grow. Access to important trade routes made Italy perfect to develop
the Renaissance.
During the renaissance:
1. Wealthy patrons (rich people) started supporting the arts. They gave money to
artists so they can create wonderful art. Who are some of these great artists? I’m
sure you know some of them already:
Leonardo Da Vinci – Wonderful painter and inventor
Michelangelo – Another amazing painter
Shakespeare – Wrote Romeo and Juliet. He was given money by Queen Elizabeth I
2. Humanism developed. What is humanism? Humanism is the idea that the
individual is important. Humanism stressed the importance of education.
3. Europe revived Greek and Roman culture. Remember how Justinian and the
Islamic scholars preserved the Greek and Roman texts? Well, it’s good that they
did because the Renaissance people LOVED it. They thought it was so good that
they decided to use their designs.
The Protestant Reformation
In 1517 a man named Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses. Martin was very unhappy
with some of the things the Catholic Church was doing. One of these things was
indulgences. He thought these were HORRIBLE.
What’s an indulgence? The Catholic Church told people that if they wanted to go to
heaven, they could buy a piece of paper that would forgive their sins and that would
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guarantee them a place in heaven. Martin Luther was ANGRY! How could the Catholic
church take advantage of people like this?
Martin Luther decided to challenge the teachings of the church. He came up with the
95 Theses, which was a list of 95 arguments against what the church was doing.
The printing press allowed for the 95 Theses to be printed quickly and spread all over
Europe.
Scientific Revolution
It’s exactly what it sounds like, a revolution in science. How can science be a
revolution?
Well, in the Middle Ages people weren’t very sophisticated. They believed that the sun
revolved around the earth! We know today that the earth revolves around the sun. We
know this because of the Scientific Revolution.
The most famous scientiests of this revolution were:
Copernicus – who created the heliocentric theory
Descartes – who told us that we need to observe nature in order to learn how things
work.
Galileo But many people in the Middle Ages were very unhappy with the scientific revolution.
They did not like new ideas. It contradicted medieval beliefs.
The Enlightenment
Other people, however, liked the Scientific Revolution. They liked the idea that we learn
best by applying reason and laws of nature. The great philosophers of the the
Enlightenment believed that we were all smart and can think of for ourselves.
Famous philosophers:
John Locke – He was a thinker that believed that we were all born with natural rights
and that the consent of the people was important.
Other philosophers were Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau. All these great thinkers
believed that we had rights.
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Absolutism
During this time, kings tried to centralize their political power. This means that they
wanted to control EVERYTHING. They wanted ALL the power, all the money, all the
fame. They don’t want to share like the feudal system.
These kings and queens convinced people that God gave them the right to rule – this
was called
Divine Right.
Famous absolute leaders:
Louis XIV – France, famous for saying “L’etat, c’est mois”.
The Enlightenment philosophers did not like absolute rulers. Why should someone like
Louis XIV have all the power? Why should he be able to do whatever he wanted and take
away our rights?? John Locke said that we were all born with natural rights and that if
someone like Louis XIV wanted to be leader, he would have to have consent of the
people.
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The Age of Exploration
I LOVE to travel. I love to explore new lands, learn new languages, visit new places.
Many European countries loved to travel too. The most famous of these countries were
Spain and Portugal. They wanted to discover new lands and food. Both these countries
had a great advantage to exploration.
Spain and Portugal are located on a peninsula. They’re closer to the water and it makes
it easier to travel. They are also able to travel because they had great technology.
Remember, the Europeans by this time were exposed to the Golden Age of Islam, which
gave them a lot of new technology.
So Columbus and others (Vasco de Gama) explored South America. Why South
America? It had GREAT resources. Columbus wanted to take these resources and give
them to Spain.
Once Columbus landed in South America he decided that these lands belonged to Spain.
He wanted to take all their resources so Spain could become a richer country.
The best way to do this was for Spain to create mercantilism. Mercantilism is an
economic system. In this system the colonies were used as a source of labor.
So what sort of government did Spain create in South America? It created the
encomienda system. This is almost exactly like the feudal system we had in Europe. All
the way in to bottom you had the Africans and the natives who did forced labor. They
were like slaves who did the work of the ownders.
Although some South American empires such as the Aztecs fought against the explorers,
they were unable to win because the Europeans had better military technology, like
guns. Many South Americans died as well because the Europeans brought them
diseases (like what happened during the Black Death)
One positive thing from the Age of Exploration:
Because of this exploration we had the Columbian Exchange. This introduced new
products and foods to both Europe and South America.
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INDUSTRIALIZATION AND MODERNIZATION
The Industrial Revolution began in England. England had a lot of natural resources
that helped them build factories and create things in factories so that they could trade.
Problems of Industrial revolution: child labor, dangerous work in factories.
Karl Marx was very upset by the industrial revolution. He thought it was horrible for the
poor people. They had to have child labor and the work they did in factories was very
dangerous. They didn’t even get paid a lot of money!
He believed that the proletariat (these poor working people) would lead a revolution
against capitalism. He thought they would become so upset that they would have a
revolution. Marx believed that the industrial revolution would lead to class struggle and
revolutionary change. Overthrowing the capitalist system is the only way to end
class struggle.
Karl Marx created Communism.
Karl Marx influenced people like Fidel Castro (Cuba), Vladimir Lenin (Russia), Mao
Zedong (China).
IRELAND – The Industrial Revolution was not good for the Irish.
The Irish left because of mass starvation. There is always one
question on this on every single regents. YOU MUST KNOW THAT
THE IRISH LEFT IRELAND BECAUSE OF MASS STARVATION
KNOWN AS THE POTATO FAMINE
JAPAN
Under the Meiji Restoration Japan decided to reform its political and economic
system.
Just like many other countries, Japan wanted to modernize. They wanted to build
modern railroads and have modern cities.
Once you modernize, however, you will continue to need more natural resources. Where
is Japan going to get natural resources? They are going to TAKE it from other countries.
So Japan annexed (took) Korea to take Korea’s resources.
CHINA - Four Modernizations under Deng Xiaping. Promoted economic and
technological modernization
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Move towards increased capitalism.
Soviet Union
Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, wanted to modernize his country. So he created
the Five Year plan. (This is on every single regents) Under the Five Year Plan, Stalin
wanted to control the Soviet economy and increase production in heavy industry.
Please remember Stalin’s Five Year Plan!!!
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Imperialism and colonialism
You just read about the industrial revolution and modernization in countries around the
world. Once you experience such a revolution, you become a very rich country. However,
you always want to be richer. How can a country become richer? By taking control of
other lands so it could take and use its resources.
Countries in Europe were able to do this because they dominated military and
commercial relations.
Europeans established the economic system of mercantilism in order to control trade
with its colonies.
AFRICA
Africa had a lot of resources that the Europeans wanted. The Scramble for Africa was
when all the European countries tried to go and colonize countries in Africa.
The Europeans believed that Africa was the White Man’s Burden. This meant that the
Europeans thought it was their job to civilize the Africans.
INDIA
The British colonized India so it could take its resources.
The Indians were very unhappy about this. In order to end British colonial rule they had
the Sepoy Mutiny. Unfortunately this mutiny failed and the British took over India even
stronger.
One important man that protested British colonialism of India was Gandhi. He did this
without violence however. He believed that the best way to kick out the British was
through civil disobedience. example, Gandhi said that India should boycott British
goods. Don’t buy anything from the British.
Please remember Gandhi and his non-violent methods to get
independence from England. Every single regents has one
question on Gandhi.
CHINA
In China the Chinese wanted to kick the British out too. They had the Boxer Rebellion.
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Summary:
NATIVE REACTION TO FOREIGN INFLUENCE – SELF-DETERMINATION
1. Sepoy Mutiny and Boxer Rebellion
2. Gandhi and civil disobedience, stop buying British goods
3. Simon Bolivar, Jose de san Martin, Touissant L’Ouvertoure, Jomo Kenyatta =
Great nationalists who helped lead nationalist movements or independence
movements
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CONFLICT
Everyday in my classroom there seems to be some sort of conflict. Students are often
fighting with each other because someone said something bad or someone stole
someone’s pen.
In our global world we have conflict as well. Obviously those problems are much bigger
than our classroom ones!
WARS
1. The Crusades
War between the Muslims and the European Christians for control over Jerusalem.
Increased cultural diffusion.
2. The Cold War
The Cold War was not a war like you know. There were no guns or people dying. The
Cold War was like a huge argument between the United States and Russia. These two
countries did not like each other at all. So what did they do? For the most part, they
talked smack. The U.S. (which was capitalist) did not like Russia (which was
communist). Each tried to get the rest of the world to agree with them, which caused a
lot of problems.
A. The US created NATO in order to control Russia
B. Cuban Missile Crisis: Russia wanted to scare the United States, so they put missiles
in Cuba, which is near Florida. Americans were scared. What if Russia decided to
launch the missiles?? Many American lives would be lost. After a lot of negotiation,
Russia turned the missiles away from America. By then, however, Americans had an
even bigger reason not to like Russia, so both continued fighting with each other.
C. Containment: The US would do whatever it needed to do to prevent the spread of
communism
CONFLICTS
1. Palestinian/Israeli conflict
2. India and Pakistan (Often comes on the regents)
Religious conflict
Conflict over Kashmir
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R E V O L U T I O N S!
There are two types of revolutions that you will see on the regents. We can also call them
turning points because they were dramatic changes in history.
1. Political revolutions: Usually violent revolutions where people are fighting for
their rights.
2. Non-violent revolutions: Usually changes in society, such as the industrial
revolution.
Political Revolutions
Why do we have political revolutions? Usually people are unhappy with the current
government they have and this leads to revolutions. Some similarities:
The most common political revolutions you will meet on the regents are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The French Revolution
Latin American Revolutions
The Russian Revolution (also known as Bolshevik revolution)
Chinese Revolution
One thing they all have in common is that they had the support of the peasants.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
French Revolution – Viva la France!
French society was divided up into Three Estates (this means classes – when you see
the word estates you know the question is about the French revolution). So there were
three classes: the very rich, the priests, and the poor peasants.
Who do you think paid the most taxes?
That’s right, it was the very poor. How happy would YOU be if you had very little
money and had to pay the MOST taxes? You probably wouldn’t be very happy at all.
The king at the time, Louis XIV, didn’t care about the poor people. He only cared about
keeping his own power and staying rich. When the people complained to him, he didn’t
care to help them.
So what are the poor folk to do? REVOLT!
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Latin American Revolutions
Once the people in Latin America heard about the successful revolution in France, they
started thinking, “HEY! Maybe we should have a revolution as well!!”
Remember, Latin America was ruled by France and Spain. They did not have political
freedom and they were getting pissed.
The first country to fight for its own freedom was Haiti. The leader, Toussaint
L'ouverture, fought for freedom and won!
After that, leaders like Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin, Pancho Villa (Mexico) led
their countries to freedom.
Russian Revolution
This revolution is also known as the Bolshevik revolution because the Bolsheviks led the
revolution. The most famous of them was Vladimir Lenin, who got a lot of his ideas
from Karl Marx.
The Russian people were having a very hard time. They were very poor while their czar
(king) was very rich. They were hungry and frustrated. The king did not help them at all.
So Lenin went to the streets and promised the Russian people “Peace, Land, and
Bread”. Why Peace, Land, and Bread? Well, because the Russian people wanted peace –
they were sick of the wars they were fighting. They also wanted land – they want to be
able to own land so they can build homes and farm. They were also desperate for bread
– obviously because they were hungry!
Chinese Revolution
The Chinese Revolution was led by Mao Zedong. He was unhappy with the way China
was being run so he led his own revolution with the support of the peasants. He got a
lot of his ideas from Karl Marx.
When Mao Zedong won power, he ruled China very strictly. He created the Cultural
Revolution because he wanted to create a new China. During this revolution he
restricted what people could read and say. If you said something bad about the Chinese
government he would put you in jail!
Obviously he couldn’t do this by himself. He can’t watch what everyone is saying! So he
created the Red Guards. The Red Guards were a group of people who gave their loyalty
to Mao Zedong. If they heard you say something bad about Mao, they would use violent
methods to stop you.
Non Violent Revolution
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Neolithic Revolution
We (human beings) used to be nomads. A nomad is a person who moves from place to
place to find land and food. A good example of a nomadic group is the Bantu from
Africa.
Well, after the Ice Age we had a Neolithic Revolution. This means that we domesticated
plants and animals and were able to stay in one place. This is important because our
lives changed after this. We were able to create civilizations and start thinking. We
created great literature, the concept of zero, had amazing philosophers, and actually
started writing.
Industrial Revolution
Started in England because England had natural resources. If you have natural
resources you can start building factories and things to actually sell.
The Industrial Revolution had a lot of negative consequences:


Child labor
Imperialism – Eventually if you use all your natural resources you will finish
them! England really wanted to remain rich, so they decided that they were going
to colonize (take over) other countries so they can use their natural resources.
This isn’t really fair, is it?
Scientific Revolution
It’s exactly what it sounds like, a revolution in science. How can science be a
revolution?
Well, in the Middle Ages people weren’t very sophisticated. They believed that the sun
revolved around the earth! We know today that the earth revolves around the sun. We
know this because of the Scientific Revolution.
The most famous thinkers of this revolution were:
Copernicus – who created the heliocentric theory
Descartes – who told us that we need to observe nature in order to learn how things
work.
Galileo
But many people in the Middle Ages were very unhappy with the scientific revolution.
They did not like new ideas. It contradicted medieval beliefs.
Commercial Revolution
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A revolution in the banking. Created capitalism in Europe.
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ECONOMY
1. Centers of trade: Constantinople, Venice
2. Laissez-faire  free trade
3. Mercantilism  economic system to control the colonies
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QUICK NOTES
AFRICA
1.
2.
3.
4.
Great empires Mali and Ghana = wealth through trade in gold and salt.
Mansa Musa = leader of Mali. Went to Mecca and came back, spread Islam.
Imperialism = White Man’s Burden (England should civilize Africa)
South Africa = Apartheid (segregation) = Nelson Mandela (nationalist who fought
for freedom)
5. Egypt = river valley
INDIA
1.
2.
3.
4.
Hinduism = Dharma / Karma / Reincarnation
Caste system
Gupta Empire = concept of zero
Gandhi = wanted the British to leave India = used civil disobedience to kick them
out
5. Sepoy Mutiny = violent rebellion against British rule
RUSSIA
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Cold climate keeps it from being invaded.
Bolshevik revolution = “Peace, Land, Bread” = Lenin
Stalin’s Five Year Plan = modernize Russia
Communism = total control of society
Glasnost =
Peretroiska =
Détente =
EUROPE
1. Feudal system = decentralized power = loyalty in exchange for land = the more
land you have, the more powerful you are.
2. Black Death = Killed a large number of people in Europe
3. Crusades = increased cultural diffusion
4. Magna Carta = limited power of the monarchy
5. Bill of Rights = limited power of the monarchy
6. Renaissance = humanism = Leonardo Da Vinci / Michelangelo / Shakespeare
7. Protestant Reformation = Martin Luther  wrote 95 Theses = Printing press
(helped spread the 95 theses)
8. Scientific Revolution = apply reason and laws of nature = Galileo / Descartes =
heliocentric model
9. Englightenment = apply reason
10.
John Locke = natural rights = consent of the people
11.
Absolutism = Divine Right (power from God)
FRANCE
1. French Revolution = Three estates = Louis XIV (absolute king)
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JAPAN
1. Shinto = spirits reside in nature
2. Bushido, samurai = warriors
3. Meiji Restoration = Industrialization and modernization
= annexation of Korea so they could take their resources
CHINA
1. Confucious = filial piety / Five Noble Truths /
2. Mandate of Heaven = dynastic cycle
3. Introduced civil service system
4. Invented gunpowder
5. Boxer rebellion
6. Mao Zedong = led the Communist revolution
7. Four Modernizations = Deng Xiaoping  wanted to modernize China
Political systems
1. Absolutism = Divine Right (power from God)
2. Feudal system = decentralized power = loyalty in exchange for land = the more
land you have, the more powerful you are.
3. Democracy = Ancient Greece (Direct Democracy)
4. Communism = government has total control = Lenin = Stalin = Mao Zedong = Fidel
Castro
5. Fascism = Hitler
Economic Systems
1. Mercantilsim = control trade with colonies
2. Capitalism = laissez faire = free trade
3. Command economy = communist = government controls all aspects of the
economy
Belief systems
1. Islam = Mohammed = Quran = Five Pillars = Ramadan = Allah
2. Christianity = Jesus = Bible
3. Judaism = Moses = Ten Commandments
4. Shinto = Spirits reside in nature
5. Buddhism = Eightfold Path
6. Confucianism = Filial Piety = Five Noble Truths
7. Hinduism = Karma = Dharma = Reincarnation
Ancient Civilizations
1. Neolithic revolution = Domestication of plants and animals
2. Bantu in Africa = Migrated to find land for farming
3. River valleys = Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, India
4. Early form of writing = Egypt and China
5. Greece = direct democracy
6. Rome = Twelve Tables
7. India = Concept of Zero
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Great Empires
1. Byzantine Empire = Justinian = Justinian Code = Preserved Greek and Roman
Texts = Constantinople
2. Golden age of Islam = advances in math and science = Preserved Greek and
Roman Texts
3. Mongol = Genghis Khan = Pax Mongolia
4. Africa = Mali /Ghana = Trade = Gold and Salt
Exploration
1. Spain and Portugal = peninsula = easy to explore
2. Columbian exchange – new products/growth = new food to Europe and America
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