AP World History UNIT 2 REVIEW—1200-1450

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In this video Heimler reviews Unit 2 of the AP World History curriculum. The main bulk of the review consists of comparing the three major trade routes during the period 1200-1450: the Silk Roads, the Indian Ocean Routes, and the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes.

Each of the major trade routes had much in common. They connected distant societies by trade and had significant secondary consequences. In addition to merchants carrying goods for sale, they also carried important cultural, environmental, and technological goods that they introduced to the various cultures in which they found themselves.

Some major technologies that arose to facilitate trade are as follows: the saddle, the lateen sail, the sternpost rudder, the magnetic compass, and the astrolabe.

Additionally, because large states kept the trade routes relatively safe, travelers like Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo helped expand people’s imaginations for lands far beyond their own.

And, of course, we have a look at the most significant pastoral people ever to take the stage of world history: the Mongols. They were largely responsible for the security of the major trading routes and, on the negative side, the spread of the Black Death.

This video tells you all you need to know about Unit 2 (1200-1450) for AP World History. Let me know if you have any questions.

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You have taught countless students more in 10 minutes than their teachers have in a month. Bless this man.

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Unit 2 Notes; 1200-1450:
The major trade routes in this time period were:
Silk Roads
Indian Ocean
Trans-Saharan
The Silk Roads connected China to Europe while passing through Central Asia and Southwest Asia.
The Indian Ocean network connected East Asia with East Africa and had Southwest Asia in between.
The Trans-Saharan routes connected North Africa with Trans-saharan Africa.

Similarities:
These trade routes depended in large part for their existence and their flourishing upon the establishment of large states. For example, the Mongols controlled all the land across which the Silk Road stretched. Because the Merchants felt protected by large states in cooperation with one another, merchants felt safe to travel, which led people to think about other things other than their safety. Which was new technology. All these trade routes gave birth to new technologies which helped them transport goods across at a more efficient speed, these new technologies like the magnetic compass, lateen sail, saddles for camels and horses, and the sternpost runner, made trade along these routes far more manageable and profitable.
Primary purposes and secondary consequences. Primary purpose of these trade routes was to trade, but the secondary consequence of this interchange is that people from all parts of the world came together to exchange cultural goods. For example, merchants often shared their religion among the people with who they traded and as well missionaries from different religions like Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism took to the routes to bring their messages to long distances, not only this, but the introduction of new crops to new places was a big deal, for example, the introduction of Champa rice by merchants into China. Which was a rice that was drought resistant and capable of 3 harvests a year, and this led to a population explosion in China. Also, when Indonesian merchants introduced Bananas to East African bantu-speaking people, it led to large-scale migrations of those people because now they could move to places where the Banana grew instead of simply staying where their staple crop, the yam was found.
Trading routes caused the growth of trading cities, since they all have crossed each other at one point.
Differences:
Goods, technology, and religion.

Silk Roads; goods, technology, and religion:
Silk, Porcelain, Gunpowder, Horses and Textiles.
Saddles and Caravanserai
Buddhism, Neo Confucianism, Islam
Indian Ocean; goods, technology, and religion:
Gold, Ivory, Fruit, Textiles, Pepper, Rice
Astrolabe, Compass, Sternpost Rudder, and Lateen Sail
Christianity, Buddhism, Neo Confucianism, Islam

Trans-Saharan; goods, technology, and religion:
Horses, Salt, Gold, and Slaves
Saddles
Islam

Cultural consequences of trade:
Zen Buddhism was an innovation on Buddhism which originated in China and through trade was spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Even though in China a lot of the Confucian elite disliked this form of Buddhism, it was widely embraced by the people. Another example is the African bantu speaking people converting to Islam. When Muslim merchants came to their land they found the Bantu very willing to convert to Islam, a consequence of this was the birth of the Swahili language, which is a mix of both Bantu and Arabic together.

Another consequence of trade was the opening of people’s imagination to places far beyond to where they lived thanks to travelers like Ibn Battuta (Muslim traveler) and Marco Polo (Italian traveler), who would tell their stories to common people about their travels and experiences in different parts of the world, which inspired many to travel and want the goods and learn more about the world.

An environmental consequence of trade is that disease was able to more quickly spread through the trade routes. For example, the black death. Which began in China and spread all throughout Afro-Eurasia along trade routes, whenever this virus went, it swiped thousands of people. The death toll was sometimes something like 75% of the population deaths. Because of this, workers in Europe were attempting to negotiate for better pays and safer working conditions, which really impacted Europe.

The Mongols:
The Mongols are the most significant pastoral people ever in World History, starting in 1209 until a hundred years forward this empire was able to establish the largest land-based Empire in the world. The Mongols began as a cluster of scattered tribes in the Mongolian steppe and it took the leadership of Genghis Khan to unite them and turn into a fierce and brutal army based on conquest in China to the far west. Because they were so big, they established the Pax Mongolica, also known as the Peace of the Mongols. Because of this security, trade flourished between the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe. However, one of the effects of this trading is that the Mongols were believed to have caused the spread of the Black Death.

[jamesBond-kkfe]

Me *stressed for huge ap world test tomorrow*
Heimler: Yams
Me :)

[vikvangvlogs]

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[katiedelk]

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Update: I got a 93

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20 minutes till my digital exam starts. Spent the past 8 hours watching all of your videos and going over docs my teacher gave me. You condense the information insanely well I’m super relieved that my teacher found you and showed the class. Heimler you and your beard are a lifesaver.

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Unit 2 Notes for anyone who wants to read along while listening!

Trade routes:
-Trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean, Silk Roads

Similarities:
-dependence on large states to maintain trade (mongols) → gave birth to new technology (magnetic compass, lateen sails)
-primary purpose = trade → secondary consequence = people exchanged cultures as well
-cause the growth of trading cities (Chang-An, Calicut, Srivijaya, Timbuktu)

Differences:
-specialized in carrying different kinds of goods → Silk Roads = luxury goods (silk, porcelain, gunpowder, horses textiles), Indian Ocean = common goods + luxury goods (gold, ivory, fruit, textiles, pepper, rice), Trans-Saharan = common + luxury goods (horses, salt, gold, slaves)
-specialized in different types of technology → Silk Roads = (saddles, caravanserai), Indian Ocean = Maritime technology (compass, astrolabe, sternpost rudder, lateen sail), Trans-Saharan = (saddles)
-different religions travelled along these routes → Silk Roads = (Buddhism, Neoconfucianism, Islam), Indian Ocean = (Buddhism, Neoconfucianism, Islam, Christianity), Trans-Saharan = (Islam)

Cultural Consequences:
-Zen Buddhism, African Bantu people = Islamic → birth of Swahili, Ibn Batuta + Marco Polo = interest for places around the world other than people’s home countries

Environmental:
-Champa Rice, Disease (black death)

Mongols:
-established largest land-based empire in history
-began as clustered tribes in the Mongolian steppes → Ghengis Khan united them
-conquest began in China and stretched west
-established the Pax Mongolica → security → trade flourished
-no new religion/economic structure, but did affect formulation of states after their fall → centralization of power became more widespread

Edit: I've also included the questions/themes and answers from the AP World CED (Course and Exam Description) in case you're interested! Good luck studying <3

TOPIC 2.1
The Silk Roads

Thematic Focus = Economic Systems

Learning Objective:
Explain the causes and effects of growth of networks of exchange after 1200.
Historical Developments/Answers:
-Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes— including the Silk Roads—promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
-The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.
-Demand for luxury goods increased in AfroEurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.

Trading cities: Kashgar, Samarkand
New forms of credit and money economies: Bills of exchange, Banking houses, Use of paper money

TOPIC 2.2
The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World

Thematic Focus = Governance

Learning Objective:
Explain the process of state building and decline in Eurasia over time.
Historical Developments/Answers:
Empires collapsed in different regions of the world and in some areas were replaced by new imperial states, including the Mongol khanates.

Thematic Focus = Economics

Learning Objective:
Explain how the expansion of empires influenced trade and communication over time.
Historical Developments/Answers:
The expansion of empires—including the Mongols—facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into their conquerors’ economies and trade networks.

Thematic Focus = Cultural

Learning Objective:
Explain the significance of the Mongol Empire in larger patterns of continuity and change.
Historical Developments/Answers:
Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires, including the Mongols, encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers.

Technological and cultural transfers: Transfer of Greco–Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe, Transfer of numbering systems to Europe, Adoption of Uyghur script

If you would like to go to the CED itself for more info on Unit 2, you can use this PDF and scroll to page 64:

[kenzieclark]

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[ankitjaiswal]

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[hxmmgjj]

When your exam is in two days and you're just now on unit 2 because your teacher taught you the units backwards so none of the units you learned in class will be on the exam check

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[miriamcornejo]

My AP world history exam is tomorrow and I’m excited yet a little nervous. And just reviewing and watching your videos the day before really helps boost my confidence and get a better understanding of the material so thank you so much for your videos and for your awesome humor!!!! 🙌🤗👍