Semester A Review

Question 1

Describe the main social and cultural achievements of the Maya.

Answer 1

• skilled artisans and merchants
• talented officials
• class of noble and scribes who helped the ruling class
• a majority of farmers

Question 2

**What contributions to government and law did Greece and Rome make?

Answer 2

many of the basic principles of government, including voting

Question 3

Define sans-culottes.

Answer 3

lower-class Parisian republican in the French Revolution

Question 4

What is the Mandate of Heaven?

Answer 4

the ancient Chinese belief and philosophical idea that Heaven granted emperors the right to rule based on their ability to govern well and fairly
(similar to the divine right of kings)

Question 5

Define absolutism.

Answer 5

the idea where a ruler holds total power

Question 6

Who is Christopher Columbus and why is his significant to history?

Answer 6

he discovered the Americas

Question 7

Explain the Chinese practice of foot binding.

Answer 7

the custom of binding the feet of young girls to prevent further growth

Question 8

What is the Renaissance and what is the significance of this movement?

Answer 8

cultural rebirth that occurred in Europe based on the rediscovery of the literature of Greece and Rome

Question 9

What occurred during the Neolithic (Agricultural) Revolution?

Answer 9

The shift from hunter/gatherer society to the raising of animals and crops on a regular basis

Question 10

Explain Napoleon’s bureaucracy promotion basis.

Answer 10

was based on ability, not birth

Question 11

What were Napoleon’s 7 Legal Codes?

Answer 11

The most important of his codes was the Civil Code

Question 12

Who is Montesquieu and what are his contributions to history?

Answer 12

his analysis of the governmental system of checks and balances

Question 13

Explain the French National Assembly’s sworn Tennis Court Oath.

Answer 13

a vow to continue to meet until they had a constitution

Question 14

What was Napoleon’s coup d’etat?

Answer 14

a group of his followers that overthrew the Directory to establish the Consulate

Question 15

Who is Zheng He and what is his significance to Chinese history?

Answer 15

led the Ming Dynasty’s naval voyages of exploration

Question 16

Describe the high points of the Safavid Dynasty.

Answer 16

was reached while under Shah Abbas’s control

Question 17

Describe the Constitutional Convention and what resulted.

Answer 17

began as a meeting of delegates to revise the Articles of Confederation

Question 18

Who is John Locke and what are his contributions to history?

Answer 18

an Enlightenment philosopher whose ideas can be found in documents like the American Declaration of Independence

Question 19

Define janissaries.

Answer 19

young men who converted to Islam and trained as foot soldiers to serve the sultan

Question 20

Explain the “Glorious Revolution”.

Answer 20

the almost bloodless invasion of England by William of Orange which overthrew James II

Question 21

Describe the significance of the Taj Mahal.

Answer 21

was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife☑️

Question 22

Who is Jean-Jacques Rousseau and what are his contributions to history?

Answer 22

an Enlightenment philosopher who developed the concept of social contract- an entire society agrees to be governed by its general will

Question 23

What is the Divine Rights of Kings?

Answer 23

the idea that kings receive their power from God

Question 24

What is the Middle Passage? What was it used for?

Answer 24

The slave-trade voyage from Africa to the Americas

Question 25

Who is Martin Luther and what did he do that is significant in history?

Answer 25

The publication of Martin Luther’s 95 theses attacked the abuses in the sale of indulgences, beginning the Protestant Reformation

Question 26

What is Lutheranism? How did it come to be?

Answer 26

Was the first Protestant faith, was founded by Martin Luther

Question 27

Describe the Benin artwork.

Answer 27

impressive bronze statues

Question 28

Who is Leonardo da Vinci and what are his contributions to history?

Answer 28

he was an excellent example of Renaissance Italy’s social ideal because he was a painter, sculptor, architect, inventor and mathematician

Question 29

Define lineage groups

Answer 29

the family groups that served as the building blocks of African societies

Question 30

Describe the Crusades and the historical significance of them.

Answer 30

Alexius asked Europe for military aid, Urban II wanted Europe to liberate the Holy Land from Muslims and Italian port cities prospered from supplying Europeans in Palestine

Question 31

**Describe the Black Death.

Answer 31

Spanish merchants from Madrid did not bring the black death to Europe from North Africa

Question 32

Describe the Hellenistic Era and what occurred during this time.

Answer 32

Greek language and culture spread to Southwest Asia

Question 33

Explain what part of the Roman Empire fell and why.

Answer 33

the Western Roman Empire fell, while the Eastern Roman Empire continued to thrive

Question 34

Define filial piety

Answer 34

refers to the duty of family members to subordinate their needs to the needs of the male head

Question 35

What people, doctrine and/or organizations helped form European civilizations?

Answer 35

Germanic people, the Christian church and the legacy of the Romans

Question 36

How did the Neolithic Revolution affect nomads and the nomadic way of life?

Answer 36

Humans were able to give up their nomadic ways of life because they gained the ability to acquire food on a regular basis

Question 37

Explain ancient India’s caste system.

Answer 37

a strict social system that included the untouchables, which was the lowest level of society

Question 38

Explain the effect that Daoist views had on Chinese art.

Answer 38

a search for balance in nature became a common artistic theme

Question 39

Explain how Judaism differed from other religions of ancient time.

Answer 39

it taught there was one God for all people

Question 40

Explain Muhammad’s Hijrah.

Answer 40

The departure of Muhammad from Makkah to Madinah