World History

Course ID: HST-201

Audience
Adult Continuing Education and High School Programs

Course Description
What is world history? World history is not only the study of events that took place centuries ago, but it also includes events that are taking place now. It reveals how people lived at various times and in different places. In fact, world history rewrites itself every day as changes take place worldwide. The goal of this course is to explore how past events can shape the present and the future.

Media
large print, braille, audiocassette

Organization
The study guide leads the student through 34 chapters in the textbook.

Credit
One Carnegie Unit

Prerequisite
none

Overview
Students submit 18 assignments.

Grading
letter grades

Average Completion Time
approximately 18 months

Content and Objectives
After completing Chapter 1: What Is History?, you will be able to
· Explain why life in ancient times was just as exciting as life today.
· Describe how historians learn about the past.
· Describe how archaeologists learn about the people of ancient times
· Explain why people needed to make maps in the past, and why we still need maps today.
· Use a timeline to compare the dates of historical events and periods.

After completing Chapter 2: Early Humans: The Story Begins, you will be able to
· Describe what people learned when the Ice Age ended.
· Explained how the development of agriculture changed the world.
· Name the kinds of jobs people had in the new settlements.
· Locate the Fertile Crescent on a map.
· Explain how the people of ancient Jericho tried to protect their town

After completing Chapter 3: Sumerians: The First Great Civilization, you will be able to
· Locate the land of Sumer on a map.
· Describe the Sumerian method of farming.
· Describe Sumerian trading.
· Discuss the growth of Sumerian city-states.
· Name the most important Sumerian inventions.
· Describe daily life in Sumer.
· Explain why Sumer grew weak.

After completing Chapter 4: Ancient Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs, you will be able to
· Explain why people settled along the Nile River.
· Describe what happened to the Nile River Valley every July.
· Explain why the Pharaohs had their people build the pyramids.
· Tell what archaeologists found inside Egyptian tombs.
· Describe how the Egyptians lived and worshipped.
· Name some important Egyptian inventions.

After completing Chapter 5: Mediterranean Kingdoms, you will be able to
· Locate Phoenician trading routes on a map.
· Name two important Phoenician inventions.
· Explain how the religion of the ancient Israelites was different from that of other Mediterranean people.
· Describe the Code of Hammurabi.
· Describe the secret knowledge of the Hittites.
· Tell what the Assyrians did when they captured a city.

After completing Chapter 6: Early Civilizations of India, China, and the Americas, you will be able to
· Name the social classes of the Indian caste system.
· Explain why Buddhism is called a gentle religion.
· Explain why the Chinese empire remained separated from the rest of the world.
· Tell why Chinese culture did not change for thousands of years.
· Name two early civilizations in the Americas.
· Name three new crops grown in the Americas.

After completing Chapter 7: Greek City-States and the Golden Age, you will be able to
· Contrast two ways that Greek city-states were governed.
· Compare life in Sparta and in Athens.
· Name two Greek gods or goddesses.
· Explain the reason for the name “Golden Age.”
· Name three Greek thinkers.
· Explain how democracy developed in Athens.

After completing Chapter 8: Alexander the Great, you will be able to
· Explain how King Philip II of Macedonia became ruler of Greece.
· Tell why Alexander was called the Great Conqueror.
· Locate Alexander’s empire on a map.
· Tell why Alexander made Babylon the capital of his empire.
· Describe what happened to Alexander’s empire after his death.

After completing Chapter 9: The Rise of Rome, you will be able to
· Describe how the roman Republic was governed.
· Name some things Julius Caesar did for Rome.
· Name the first Roman emperor and tell what he did.
· Explain why Jesus’ teachings appealed to the poor. Tell how the Romans persecuted the Christians.
· Describe how the Emperor Constantine helped the Christian religion grow in Rome.
· Explain why the Roman Empire began to fall.

After completing Chapter 10: The Barbarians and the Vikings, you will be able to
· Describe the lifestyle of the German tribes.
· Explain why the barbarians invaded the Roman Empire.
· Describe what happened to the city of Rome.
· Describe the Byzantine Empire.
· Tell why Charlemagne proved to be a fine ruler.
· Name the places that Vikings explored, settled, or conquered.
· Tell who William the Conqueror was and what he did.

After completing Chapter 11: The Lords and the Serfs, you will be able to
· Describe the life of the lord of a manor.
· Describe the life of a serf.
· Name the three classes in feudal society
· Explain the role of religion in feudal life.
· Describe the life of a knight.

After completing Chapter 12: Islam and the Crusades, you will be able to
· Discuss the importance of Muhammad.
· Give four reasons people went on the Crusades.
· Explain how the Crusades affected European trade.
· Name three new developments in farming in the Middle Ages.
· Describe what life was like in a medieval town.
· Tell why the Magna Carta was important.
· Describe the spread of Islam.

After completing Chapter 13: New Ideas: The Renaissance, you will be able to
· Explain what the word Renaissance means.
· Tell how the invention of movable type helped in the spread of knowledge.
· Name four important people of the Renaissance.
· Explain what the Reformation was.
· Name two leaders of the Reformation.

After completing Chapter 14: Kings and Queens, you will be able to
· Describe the goal of King Philip II of Spain.
· Describe the Spanish Armada and tell what happened to it.
· Name the good things that King Henry IV did for France.
· Explain why King Henry VIII set up a Church of England.
· Explain why the English people called Queen Elizabeth “Good Queen Bess.”

After completing Chapter 15: To the East; To the West, you will be able to
· Name three Chinese inventions.
· Name the lands conquered by Genghis Khan.
· Describe the role of samurai and shoguns in Japan.
· Tell what religion the Moguls brought to India.
· Name and describe the early Native American civilizations.

After completing Chapter 16: Explorers, Traders, and Settlers, you will be able to
· Tell how Columbus came to land in the Americas.
· Identify the Spanish conquistadors and the lands they claimed.
· Describe the relationship between Spanish settlers and the Native Americans.
· Explain how the slave trade developed.
· Name the groups of Europeans who settled the east coast of North America.

After completing Chapter 17: The Struggle for Democracy, you will be able to
· List three main ideas from the Age of Reason.
· Tell why a civil war began in England in 1642.
· Explain how the Glorious Revolution gained more power for Parliament.
· List the main complaints that colonists in America had against King George III and Britain.
· Name five freedoms and rights that Americans won.

After completing Chapter 18: Revolution in France, you will be able to
· Name two French writers in the 1700s who had new ideas.
· Explain how the Age of Reason and the American Revolution led to revolution in France.
· Identify the Three Estates.
· Explain how the storming of the Bastille led to a bloody rebellion.
· Describe how the rest of Europe reacted to the French Revolution.
· List Napoleon’s accomplishments in government and in war.

After completing Chapter 19: The Industrial Revolution, you will be able to
· Tell why the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain.
· List five inventions of the 1700s.
· Explain how the Industrial Revolution encouraged imperialism.
· Describe how the Industrial Revolution both improved and worsened people’s lives.
· Explain how the Industrial Revolution made countries more dependent on each other.

After completing Chapter 20: Independence in Latin America, you will be able to
· Explain how Central and South America came to be called “Latin America.”
· Tell why the Creoles and mestizos were ready to fight for independence.
· Name six Latin America revolutionaries.
· Describe the government of the new, independent Latin American nations.

After completing Chapter 21: The United States Gains Power, you will be able to
· Tell how the United Stated gained the Louisiana Territory.
· List the problems the United States faced in establishing its northern and southern borders.
· Identify the causes and main events of the Civil War.
· Tell how the United States acquired Alaska and Hawaii.
· Explain the effects of the Spanish-American War.

After completing Chapter 22: Imperialism and the Far East, you will be able to
· Describe the Manchus’ attitude toward other Chinese people and the world.
· Describe the Open-Door Policy.
· Tell how Sun Yatsen put an end to Manchu rule in China.
· Tell how Commodore Matthew C. Perry opened the doors of trade to Japan.
· List the ways in which Japan modernized after a powerful emperor took over in 1867.
· Explain how Japan’s industrialization led to Japanese imperialism.

After completing Chapter 23: Imperialism and India, you will be able to
· Tell how the British East India Company came to rule India.
· Tell how the Sepoy Rebellion began and how it led to direct British rule.
· List five good things Britain did for India.
· Explain why many Indians were unhappy with British rule.
· Identify Mahatma Gandhi, and tell what was different about his way of revolution.

After completing Chapter 24: Imperialism and Africa, you will be able to
· Name the early kingdoms of western Africa.
· Tell how Mali became a wealthy kingdom.
· Explain why Europe had little contact with Africa south of the Sahara before the 1400s.
· List the European nations that took part in the slave trade.
· Explain why Europeans wanted colonies in Africa.

After completing Chapter 25: The Unifications of Italy and Germany, you will be able to
· Define nationalism and explain why it develops.
· Tell how the spirit of nationalism led to the unification of Italy.
· Name three men who helped unify Italy.
· Tell how Bismarck united Germany under a Prussian kaiser.
· Describe two main features of the new German nation.

After completing Chapter 26: World War I, you will be able to
· Explain what is meant by a “balance of power.”
· Name the two alliances made by 1914.
· Tell what event directly triggered World War I.
· Tell how the presence of U.S. soldiers and supplies affected the outcome of the war.
· Describe the terms of peace at the end of the war.

After completing Chapter 27: Revolution in Russia: The Birth of the Soviet Union, you will be able to
· List the main events in Russia’s early history.
· Explain why Peter the Great wanted to open a “window to the West.”
· Explain how Bloody Sunday touched off a revolution in 1905.
· Describe how the common people of Russia felt about their country’s involvement in World War I.
· Identify Czar Nicholas II, Karl Marx, the Bolsheviks, Lenin, and Stalin.

After completing Chapter 28: World War II, you will be able to
· Name three dictators who came to power before World War II.
· Explain how Germany helped to bring about World War II.
· Identify the Allied powers and the Axis powers.
· Explain how the United States became involved in the war.
· Describe how the war finally ended in Europe and in Japan.

After completing Chapter 29: Changes in Europe, you will be able to
· Describe how Germany was divided after World War II.
· Explain why the cold war began.
· Describe life in the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev.
· Identify major crisis periods in Soviet–U.S. relations.

After completing Chapter 30: Changes in Asia and Africa, you will be able to
· Describe India’s problems of civil war, religious differences, and widespread poverty.
· Tell how Mao Zedong and the Communists took over China.
· Describe Japan’s role in the world economic community since World War II.
· Explain U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
· Explain the effects of apartheid inside South Africa.
· Describe the development of former colonies in Africa after World War II.

After completing Chapter 31: The Middle East, you will be able to
· Tell why Jews considered Palestine their homeland.
· Tell why Arabs thought that Palestine should be theirs.
· Explain why many Palestinians ended up in refugee camps.
· Describe the results of Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel in 1977.
· List the conflicts that continue in the Middle East today.
· Discuss the importance of oil to the Middle East and the world.

After completing Chapter 32: The Death of the Soviet Union, you will be able to
· List three changes in the Soviet Union for which Mikhail Gorbachev was responsible.
· Explain how the Soviet Union disbanded and became an alliance of independent republics.
· Discuss the importance of Boris Yeltsin as leader of an independent Russia.
· Recognize the freedom movement that swept Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.
· Identify leaders and events in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

After completing Chapter 33: Latin America After World War II, you will be able to
· Describe the effect of Fidel Castro’s takeover of Cuba on U.S.-Cuban relations.
· Explain why the United States aided Nicaraguan rebels in their fight against the Sandinistas.
· Describe why the United States helped the government of El Salvador stay in power.
· Explain Mexico’s political and economic situation.
· Explain how rapid population growth has affected Latin America.
· Discuss the reasons the United States invaded Panama in 1989.

After completing Chapter 34: The World Today, you will be able to
· Name two uses of nuclear power.
· Explain why the present era is sometimes called the Space Age.
· Explain how advances in communication and transportation make the world seem smaller.
· Tell what is meant by a “developing” nation.
· Tell what is meant by a “developed” nation.