Chapter 1

Understanding the Past

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Summary

You will gain critical-thinking and analysis skills that will help you fulfill the role of a global citizen in our interconnected world. Primary sources are the first-hand evidence with which historians form a foundation of knowledge of the past. Secondary sources offer valuable starting points for inquiry and context, but students must be aware of any bias they contain. Knowing the past, the human story, has long been considered a mark of civilization, and its study has never been more important.

Key terms

secondary source

a document, object, or other source material written or created after the time period under study

global citizen

a person who sees themselves as responsible to a world community rather than only a national one

primary source

a document, object, or other source material from the time period under study

great man theory

the view that it is enough to study the deeds and impact of important leaders to paint an accurate picture of the past

rhetoric

the way words are used and put together in speaking or writing

social constructs

ideas such as class and gender created and accepted by the people in a society that influence the way they think and behave

historical empathy

the ability to see the past on its own terms, without judgment or the imposition of our own modern-day attitudes

progressive history

a school of thought that views history as a straight line to a specific and more democratic destination

Chapter 2

Early Humans

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Summary

For about the last thirty thousand years, modern humans, or Homo sapiens , have been the only human species walking the Earth. Many tens of thousands of years or more later, Homo sapiens began creating sophisticated stone hand-axes from rock cores and mastered the use of fire for cooking, staying warm, guarding against predators, and creating… But not only did several different human species once share the planet; they also evolved from much older and very different ancestors who began forging the path of global migration that modern humans later followed. They used their keen ability to produce a variety of sounds to construct languages that allowed them to communicate complex ideas and pass important information to later generations.

Key terms

Homo sapiens

modern humans, members of the genus Homo who emerged in Africa first and later migrated to other areas

Acheulean tools

stone tools made by carefully chipping away flakes of the stone core to make them into teardrop-shaped implements that replaced the cruder Oldowan hand-axes

animism

the belief that a degree of spirituality exists not only in people but also in plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena

Homo erectus

a member of the genus Homo who emerged in East Africa around two million years ago, living entirely on the ground and walking exclusively in an upright position

hunter-gatherers

people who survive by employing the strategies of hunting animals and gathering wild plants rather than by planting crops and raising livestock

Neanderthals

members of the genus Homo who evolved from Homo erectus and lived in Europe and western Asia between 30,000 and 200,000 years ago

Neolithic Age

the final phase of the Paleolithic Age, beginning around twelve thousand years ago when human populations began growing crops and domesticating animals

Paleolithic Age

the period of time beginning as early as 3.3 million years ago until nearly twelve thousand years ago, when our distant pre-human ancestors began using stone tools for a variety…

Chapter 3

Early Civilizations and Urban Societies

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Summary

The Sumerian city-states under the rule of their lugals or kings commonly waged war against one another and against a stream of foreign invaders Advances in technology such as the invention of bronze-making techniques, a writing system called cuneiform, and a sophisticated religion with a pantheon of deities spread and facilitated the development of a complex… The period of independent city-states came to an end with the rise of the world’s first empire, the Akkadian Empire of Sargon of Akkad . For tens of thousands of years, humans lived largely as mobile, subsistence hunter-gatherers.

Key terms

cuneiform

a phonetic writing system based on the sounds of words and invented by the Sumerians in about 3000 BCE

city-state

an independent political entity consisting of a city and surrounding territory that it controls

lugal

the Sumerians’ term for their ruler

Bronze Age

the period from 3500 to 1110 BCE when bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was the preferred material for manufacturing tools and weapons

culture

all the ways in which members of a human society interact with one another and with their environment and pass these ways from generation to generation

Harappan

a term describing the ancient Indus valley civilization, named for one of its largest cities and the first to be discovered by archaeologists

hieratic

a simplified form of hieroglyphics employed by Egyptian scribes for recording everyday documents such as receipts and contracts

social stratification

the hierarchical order of society in which people sharing the same level of wealth and status make up a distinct class or strata

Chapter 4

The Near East

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Summary

During the Iron Age that followed, the Near East underwent an even deeper transformation as the Neo-Assyrians created the first empire to control both Mesopotamia and Egypt. After the challenges to Mesopotamian civilization created by the invasions of the Amorites and Elamites, a succession of new empires emerged. In the 1700s BCE, King Hammurabi transformed Babylon from a minor city-state to the center of a vast empire. At the start of the 1500s BCE, the Hittites exploded out of Anatolia, sacking Babylon and later competing with Egypt for supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean.

Key terms

Iron Age

the period beginning around 1200 BCE when iron became the preferred material for manufacturing tools and weapons

vassal state

a state or kingdom that is nominally independent in the running of its internal affairs but must submit to the demands of a dominating empire and usually provide tribute to it

chattel slavery

a form of slavery in which one person is owned by another as a piece of property

satrapy

one of twenty governing districts in Persia administered by royal governors called satraps , who answered directly to the king

Zoroastrianism

the religion of the ancient Persians, named for its founder Zarathustra, pronounced Zoroaster in Greek

Hebrew Bible

the holy book that, according to Jewish tradition, tells the history of the Hebrew people

Ramesside kings

the line of kings that ruled New Kingdom Egypt following the reign of Ramses I

Exodus

the mass migration of Hebrews out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses

Chapter 5

Asia in Ancient Times

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Summary

The Xiongnu, for instance, fought with the Chinese for control of the Silk Roads. Parts of today’s People’s Republic of China were home to many migrant groups from disparate cultures who arrived in waves over hundreds of years. But many of these cultures left behind the tools necessary for others to centralize political control and create forms of common culture, such as a written script and schools of thought and religion such as… Together, China’s first dynasties—the Shang, Zhou, and Qin—produced an imperial blueprint for harnessing the power of an agrarian civilization that succeeding generations of Chinese adopted and modified to found their…

Key terms

Silk Roads

a series of trade routes circulating luxury goods to and from China and parts of central Asia, India, and the Middle East

clan

a small group of several families that shared an encampment and herded or hunted together and formed the basic social unit of the seminomadic peoples of Eurasia

karma

a Hindu concept emphasizing the influence of good deeds and moral behavior on a person’s status in life and rebirth after death

Legalism

a school of philosophical thought that helped dynasties such as the Qin use uniform laws and codes to reform and strengthen rulers

Terracotta Army

a collection of life-size clay statues of soldiers, officials, servants, and horses of the Qin emperor and buried in his tomb near Xi’an

Three Han

the three groups (the Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan) in southern Korea that were among the earliest with tribal chieftains

Inner Asian Steppe

the eastern half of the Eurasian Steppe that stretches into Mongolia and runs along the northern border of China

Confucianism

a Chinese school of philosophical thought shaping morality, governance, education, and family life

Chapter 6

Mediterranean Peoples

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Summary

The Late Bronze Age witnessed the development of a common culture that linked the diverse states of the eastern Mediterranean from Asia to the Aegean region. The Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations emerged on the Aegean island of Crete and on mainland Greece. Minoan culture strongly influenced the art and culture of the Mycenaean civilization that followed it. Around 1200 BCE, these Late Bronze Age states collapsed in a wave of wars and migrations

Key terms

Levant

a historical geographical term referring to an area in the eastern Mediterranean consisting roughly of modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria

principate

the political system established by Augustus Caesar after 27 BCE, which relied on Rome’s traditional institutions and practices to legitimize a military dictatorship

Struggle of the Orders

a political contest during the first centuries of the Republic in which Rome’s commoners sought equal rights with elites

mystery religions

religious cults that featured secret rituals (the so-called mysteries) and became popular in Hellenistic cities

dictator

a Roman Republican office with absolute authority over the state for a limited time during emergencies

Linear B

a Mycenaean script developed from Linear A that was used to write an early form of the Greek language

populares

politicians who sought the political support of discontented groups in Roman society

optimates

politicians who supported the old order and the traditional leadership of elites

Chapter 7

Experiencing the Roman Empire

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Summary

The domus , or family home, was where wealthy Romans conducted much of their business; a Roman patron would invite his clients to his home, and luxurious estates were places of wealth display. The family unit was the cornerstone of Roman life. Since the father held the ultimate authority to dispense justice within a family, its members sought to further the family’s prosperity through various means. While elite Roman men served in politics or in the military, women oversaw the household.

Key terms

clients

less well-off Romans who relied on a patron’s gifts for subsistence

patron

a wealthy Roman aristocrat sought by clients in need of assistance

domus

the name for a typical Roman house, as well as the family unit

manumission

the process of releasing a person from slavery, usually in front of a magistrate or via a slaveholder’s will, or through a person’s purchasing their own freedom

Hellenism

a high regard for the cultural institutions of Greece including its religion, philosophy, and system of education

annona

the Roman government’s distribution of grain to the population, which was also a political tool for the emperor

publicani

provincial contractors who bid for the right to collect taxes and profited from the excess money they gathered

paterfamilias

the patriarch of an extended Roman family, with authority over his wife, children, and any other dependents

Chapter 8

The Americas in Ancient Times

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Summary

During the last glacial period, modern humans crossed Beringia and entered the Americas for the first time, migrating across North, Central, and South America. They relied on hunting large game and may have contributed to the extinction of some animals. Later they became more settled in a number of regions, adapting their hunter-gatherer strategies to their environments and the available resources About nine thousand years ago, groups like those in the Andes region began experimenting with animal domestication.

Key terms

Beringia

a section of low-lying land between modern Alaska and Russia, now underwater, that once served as a land bridge between continents

Clovis culture

a culture consisting of mobile bands of hunter-gatherers who camped at resource-rich locations in modest populations across North America

Hopewell tradition

a widely dispersed mound-building tradition that emerged in the Eastern Woodlands around 200 BCE, linked by a network of trade routes

Mississippian tradition

a widely dispersed mound-building tradition that created a number of urban settlements linked by trading networks in the southeastern United States around 700

Nazca Lines

a group of geoglyphs made on the desert floor in southern Peru representing both geometric patterns and images of animals

Norte Chico

the culture of partially settled agricultural communities in the Andes region; also known as the Caral civilization

Pueblo architecture

a building style of the early American Southwest that relied on stone or wooden frames covered in adobe clay

Triple Alliance

an alliance formed in 1428 between the Aztecs and two neighboring city-states, Texcoco and Tlacopan

Chapter 9

Africa in Ancient Times

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Summary

Geography played a critical role in the development of early human civilization in Africa. Climate conditions such as temperatures and rainfall dictated agricultural growing seasons, and soil fertility governed what crops—if any—could be grown in a particular area, as well as the availability of fodder for… In particular, the availability of water dictated the likelihood of fixed settlement. A wide range of peoples populated Africa’s diverse geography, from the desert-dwelling San to the Baka people of the rainforest.

Key terms

cataract

a place in a river where the otherwise placid flow is upset by a waterfall, a shallow portion, or the presence of boulders

Bantu migrations

the millennia-long expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples southward from West and Central Africa, spreading a common cultural foundation that included language, farming, and…

Berbers

the name used by Carthaginians, Greeks, and Romans to describe the native peoples of the Maghreb; today, this population generally self-identifies as Amazigh, or Imazighen

Nubia

the name Egyptians gave to the expansive area south of the first cataract and extending into sub-Saharan Africa; it included the Kingdom of Kush

Sahel

an east-west belt of semiarid grassland that forms a transitional zone between the Sahara to the north and the equatorial rainforest to the south

deffufa

a type of monumental mud-brick structure unique to Nubian civilization and believed to have served a religious function

kentake

a Kushite title that roughly translates to “queen mother” and was a powerful position in Meroitic Kush

Maghreb

the western half of North Africa, including most of present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya

Chapter 10

Empires of Faith

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Summary

Both Constantine and the Christian emperors who succeeded him attempted to manage the church and Christian orthodoxy through ecumenical councils, new laws, and increased bureaucratization in the Roman government. The two great superpowers of Late Antiquity, the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire, vied for supremacy in the fifth and sixth centuries. After the political tumult of the third century, the emperor Constantine reinvigorated the Roman Empire by establishing a new capital in Constantinople and embracing Christianity. This new religious culture resulted in the neglect of traditional Roman polytheism, and the empire’s eastward shift came at the expense of the western empire.

Key terms

ecumenical councils

meetings organized by emperors that gathered Christian bishops from around the empire to settle matters of doctrine within the Church

Late Antiquity

a transitional period between the ancient and medieval worlds that occurred from roughly 150 to 750 CE

Code of Justinian

a legal project carried out by Emperor Justinian to compile and edit Roman edicts issued from the second to the sixth century CE

foederati

foreign states and tribes that were given semiautonomy as Roman allies in exchange for pledging military service to the Roman Empire

Jewish diaspora

the dispersion of the Jewish people beyond their ancestral homeland of Israel/Palestine following the Romans’ destruction of the Second Temple

tetrarchy

the rule of four emperors, two senior and two junior, established by the emperor Diocletian to quell the Crisis of the Third Century

Theodosian Code

a document initiated by the emperor Theodosius II compiling laws from around the empire that had been issued since the early fourth century

asceticism

the practice of self-denial and rejection of pleasures as a way to express religious devotion

Chapter 11

The Rise of Islam and the Caliphates

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Summary

The issue of leadership following Muhammad’s death caused immediate tensions within the Islamic ummah even as the first four caliphs, the Rashidun, oversaw significant territorial expansion. Tensions between the family of Muhammad—especially his son-in-law Ali, the fourth caliph—and the Umayyads resulted in a civil war that brought Islam’s first dynasty to power While the Arabs of northern Arabia were uniting as a capable fighting force looking for opportunities to expand, the Byzantines and Sasanian Empires were at a low ebb. In the early seventh century, the Byzantine Empire had won a long and costly war against the Sasanians, sometimes fought on both sides by proxies from northern Arabia, but now the combatants were exhausted and…

Key terms

caliph

an Islamic title designating a spiritual and secular leader

caliphate

an area under the control of a Muslim ruler called a caliph

Rashidun

a term meaning “rightly guided” that describes the first four caliphs after Muhammad’s death: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali

ummah

the community of Muslims

Abrahamic faiths

the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which all trace their origins through a common ancestor, the prophet Abraham

hadith

the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors that, along with the Quran, form the fundamental basis for Islamic law

hijra

an Arabic term meaning “emigration” that describes a defining moment for early Muslims as they fled Mecca for Medina in 622 CE

mawali

non-Arab converts to Islam in the early Islamic period who had to be adopted by an Arab tribe as part of the conversion process

Chapter 12

India, the Indian Ocean Basin, and East Asia

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Summary

The new religion of Islam came into India with waves of invaders, from Turkic speakers of central Asia to Arabs from the distant west. In the process, northeastern India became increasingly Muslim and influenced by Islamic culture owing to the arrival of these Turkic peoples. An Islamic state was established at Delhi—the Delhi Sultanate—which lasted more than three hundred years and became the center of Islamic India. However, because the minority Muslim rulers did not enforce cultural homogeneity, the invasions strengthened the cultural diversity that was already a hallmark of Indian social order.

Key terms

Chan Buddhism

a form of Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes meditation; it is widely practiced in Japan where it is known as Zen Buddhism

cabotage

a system wherein groups or individuals are granted the right to trade in another’s territory

caravansary

an inn funded by the state or wealthy individuals where travelers could spend the night and store their goods securely

moksha

the release from samsara and the karmic cycle together with the attainment of a complete understanding of the world

Pure Land Buddhism

a branch of Mahayana Buddhism holding that all believers can be reborn into a place of salvation, the Pure Land

samurai

a member of the elite warrior class of Japan, governed by a strict code of behavior

dharma

the Hindu concept of the right way of living as defined by cosmic law

shogun

a Japanese military commander-in-chief

Chapter 13

The Post-Roman West and the Crusading Movement

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Summary

The early Middle Ages helped set the stage for a new society to emerge from Roman, Christian, and Germanic traditions, and for a revival of the classical world to influence the rise of Islamic culture. Kings, clergy, and scholars helped to preserve the classical past and maintain diplomatic and economic ties across western Afro-Eurasia. The growth of cultural and religious cohesion through western Europe and the crude but effective institutions of the feudal world laid the groundwork for a period of stability and growth to come in the High Middle Ages The Abbasid rulers had established their control over the Middle East and created a multiethnic, multireligious society that promoted trade, scholarship, and urbanization.

Key terms

chivalry

a code of ideal conduct meant to validate the practices of noble warriors by Christianizing knightly violence and behavior

feudalism

a collection of practices that bound lesser lords to greater lords through land and privileges given in return for personal and military support

mamluks

educated, formerly enslaved men who served as soldiers and administrators in Islamic societies beginning in the ninth century

manorialism

a medieval economic system of agricultural production directed by a lord and carried out by serfs or other varieties of unfree laborers

Outremer

the French name for the four Crusader States created after the First Crusade, the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem

papacy

the set of administrative structures associated with the government of the Catholic Church primarily—but not exclusively—linked with the city of Rome

jihad

a religiously infused conflict waged on behalf of Islam, or any struggle a Muslim undertakes in the name of Allah

sultan

a ruler who claims authority over the Islamic community but not necessarily the title of caliph

Chapter 14

Pax Mongolica: The Steppe Empire of the Mongols

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Summary

By 1204, Temujin was the unchallenged ruler of the People of the Felt Walls The Song dynasty revived and strengthened Confucian civilization in the areas it ruled. Technology improved agricultural yields and laid the groundwork for a type of industrial revolution to occur long before the one that took place in the Western world. The emphasis on Confucius’s pacifist vision led to a neglect of the military, however, at a time when China’s neighbors were becoming more organized and powerful.

Key terms

People of the Felt Walls

Temujin’s name for his ethnically and linguistically diverse followers

Magna Carta

an English document that reiterated existing rights of vassals, confirmed the papal position that the church is above the state, and spelled out some basic rights of commoners

Constitutions of Melfi

the oldest surviving written constitution in the world, which increased the power of the monarch of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by replacing vassals and church officials with…

Inquisition

a centuries-long effort by the church to impose religious homogeneity on Western Europe through torture and execution, if necessary

yam

horse relay stations established by Chinggis Khan for long-distance communication on military campaigns; they were later expanded into rest areas and supply depots

yassa

Chinggis Khan’s law code, designed to eliminate the sources of conflict in steppe society and bring harmony to his people

kurultai

a proto-democratic gathering of a Mongol leader’s followers, called to reach agreement on major political decisions

Golden Horde

the Mongol group that ruled over portions of central Asia, the former lands of the Rus, and northwest Asia

Chapter 15

States and Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Summary

Africa’s ancient migrations diffused technological and cultural innovations that helped establish settlements later enriched by the spread of new belief systems. Beginning with both Judaism and Christianity in the early centuries of the Common Era and continuing with the long tradition of Islam, monotheism had taken root throughout much of North Africa by the end of the eighth… By the medieval period, the nature of religious belief throughout much of the continent had been utterly transformed. Islam in particular made great advances in the Sudanic region of West Africa and along the Swahili coast.

Key terms

Donatist controversy

the Christian schism in North Africa springing from the belief that church leaders who had renounced their faith to avoid persecution held no authority to perform sacraments

drystone

a construction method that uses interlocking stones rather than mortar

Chapter 16

Climate Change and Plague in the Fourteenth Century

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Summary

The field of historical climatology has enabled historians to combine analyses of written sources with data about the ecological environment of the past. From the 1340s to the 1350s, the Black Death unleashed a wave of death and devastation across Afro-Eurasia. The fourteenth century was a time of profound political change across Afro-Eurasia. From the rise of the Yuan dynasty to the emergence of the Il-Khanate, the Mongol Empire began the fourteenth century in a period of growth and expansion.

Key terms

Black Death

a pandemic of the plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis with far-reaching economic, political, social, and cultural effects that transformed Asia, Europe, and North…

historical climatology

the study of historical temperature and climate changes and their effects on human society

flagellants

penitents who ritually flogged themselves in response to the Black Death as a means of appeasing God and mitigating the spread of the disease

globalization

the interconnectedness of societies and economies throughout the world as a result of trade, technology, and the adoption and sharing of various aspects of culture

Golden Bull

a document issued by the Holy Roman emperor Charles IV in 1356 that recognized the role of seven princes in electing Holy Roman emperors

Great Western Schism

the period from 1378 to 1417 during which three men simultaneously served as pope of the Roman Catholic Church in western Europe

Little Ice Age

a period in the early fourteenth century during which global mean temperatures dropped an average of 0.6°C, resulting in droughts and decreased agricultural productivity

Medieval Warm Period

a time of more temperate climate across the globe from the tenth through the thirteenth century

Chapter 17

The Ottomans, the Mamluks, and the Ming

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Summary

Following the sack of Constantinople by crusaders and the Mongols’ defeat of the Seljuk Turks, the Ottomans emerged as a power in northwestern Anatolia. Under Osman’s successors, they crossed the Dardanelles into Europe, defeating the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo. When the Mongol conqueror Timur invaded the region, he defeated Bayezid, and the subsequent conflict among Bayezid’s sons splintered the Ottoman state. Timur’s empire came to include Persia, central Asia, and northern India, but Timur died before he could fulfill his plan to invade China

Key terms

devshirme

the system of acquiring Christian boys from the Balkans to be enslaved, converted to Islam, and trained to serve the Ottoman sultan

humanism

a movement born in fourteenth-century Italy that focused on the study of human beings, human nature, and human achievements rather than the study of God

Renaissance

a period of intellectual and artistic rebirth inspired by the cultural achievements of ancient Greece and Rome

Forbidden City

a walled complex of palaces, temples, and gardens built by the Ming dynasty emperors in the center of Beijing

Mamluk Sultanate

a state in Egypt and the Levant administered and defended by educated, formerly enslaved men called mamluks

timar

a right granted to subjects of the Ottoman sultan to collect taxes in a given area

Red Turbans

a secret peasant society that rose up against Mongol rule during the Yuan dynasty

arquebus

an early gun that was large and difficult to maneuver