APWH Exam Topics

From APWH Wiki

A. 8000 BCE to 600 CE

1. Comparisons of Hinduism and Confucianism and philosophical systems including some underlying similarities in cementing a social hierarchy.
2. Role of women in different belief systems -- Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, and Hinduism
3. Understanding of how and why the collapse of empire was more severe in western Europe (Rome) than it was in the eastern Mediterranean (Byzantine Empire) or in China (Han Dynasty)
4. Compare the caste system to other systems of social inequality devised by early and classical civilizations, including slavery
5. Compare the development of traditions and institutions in major civilizations, e.g., Indian, Chinese, and Greek
6. Describe interregional trading systems, e.g., the Indian Ocean and Silk Roads trade.

B. 600 CE to 1450 CE

1. Japanese and European feudalism
2. Developments in political and social institutions in both eastern and western Europe
3. The importance of the Tang and Song economic revolutions and the initiatives of the early Ming Dynasty
4. Compare the role and function of cities in major societies
5. Compare Islam and Christianity
6. Gender systems and changes, such as the impact of Islam
7. Aztec Empire and Inca Empire
8. Compare the expansion and role of urban centers in Song China and the Aztec Empire.
9. Compare European and sub-Saharan African contacts with the Islamic world

C. 1450 CE to 1750 CE

1. Imperial systems: European monarchy (Britain or France) compared with a land-based Asian empire (China or Mughals)
2. The impact of the Columbian exchange on Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
3. Compare slavery in the Americas to the pre-existing Muslim slave trade
4. Coercive labor systems: slavery and other coercive labor systems in the Americas
5. Compare Russia's interaction with the West with the interaction of two of the following (Ottoman Empire, Tokugawa Japan, Mughal India) with the West

D. 1750 CE to 1914 CE

1. Compare the causes and early phases of the industrial revolution in western Europe and Japan
2. Comparative revolutions (American, Haitian, French)
3. Comparative revolutions (Mexican, Chinese, French)
4. Compare reaction to foreign domination in: the Ottoman Empire and China
5. Compare reaction to foreign domination in India and Japan
6. Compare forms of western intervention in Latin America and in Africa

E. 1914 CE to present

1. Patterns and results of decolonization in Africa and India
2. Pick three revolutions (Russian, Chinese, Cuban, Iranian) and compare their effects on the roles of women
3. Compare the effects of the World War I on areas outside of Europe
4. Compare the effects of the World War II on areas outside of Europe
5. Compare legacies of colonialism and patterns of economic development in two of three areas (Africa, Asia, and Latin America)
6. The notion of "the West" and "the East" in the context of Cold War ideology
7. The actions of Egypt and India as non-aligned nations during the Cold War
8. Compare the impacts of Western consumer society on two civilizations outside of Europe