Calendar of Lessons (H2$)

Week 1

Topic 1: Early Japanese History and Feudalism (3000 B.C. – 1603 A.D.)

1.     Was early Japanese history shaped by outside forces?

2.     Is Japan an example of how cultures adopt and adapt foreign ideas?

3.     Were Japanese feudalism and European feudalism similar/different?

4.     Was the feudal period in Japan a time of order or confusion?

Week 2

Topic 2: The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire (1208 – 1380)

5.     Was the Mongol Empire a blessing or a curse for the cultures and civilizations it conquered?

6.     Why were the Mongol armies able to conquer so much territory so rapidly?

7.     To what extent was the Mongol conquest of Asia and Russia a turning point in global history?

8.     Why didn’t the Mongol Empire last as long as the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire or other European Empires?

Week 3

  Topic 3: Global Trade and Interactions: Canton, Cairo, Venice (500 – 1650)

     9.  Why is trade important to the economic development of a nation?

10. How did trade and the geographic location of Canton, Cairo and Venice     contribute to their becoming important centers of trade?

11. Why were financial institutions needed to improve trade?

12. Why did an increase in trade lead to the growth of towns?

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Week 4

Topic 4: The Resurgence of European Urban Centers: The Hanseatic League and Italian City States (1100 – 1400)

13.  Why was there a resurgence of European urban centers?

14.  How did the growth of towns lead to stronger governments?

15.  How did the growth of Italian city-states improve the standard of living of all Europeans?

16. Why did the Hanseatic League become so powerful?

Week 5

Topic 5: The Expansion of Chinese, Portuguese, and Dutch Trade (1394 – 1641)

17.  Were the voyages of Zheng He (Cheng Ho) for trade or Chinese territorial gains?

18.  Were the Europeans traders or invaders?

19.  How did Portugal build a trading empire in the East?

20.  How did the European nations compete in the spice trade?

21.  How did the Dutch become a leading commercial power in Asia?

 Week 6

Topic 6:  The Plague (1320 – 1351)

22.  Did the plague contribute to the decline of medieval civilization?

23. Can the plague be described as the scourge of fourteenth century Europe?

24.  Could Europeans have avoided the devastating effects of the plague?

 Week 7

      Topic 7: Resurgence of Europe (1300- 1600)

25.  Should the Renaissance be considered the beginning of the modern civilization?

26.  How can we describe the contributions of the Renaissance?

27.  Was the Protestant Reformation inevitable?

28.  Was the Counter Reformation successful?

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Week 8

Topic 8: The Rise and Impact of European Nation States: England and France (987 – 1603)

29.  Why were nation states able to develop in England and France?

30.  How was the nation state different from the feudal system of government?

31.  How did the Hundred Years’ War help shape the nationalistic feelings in England and France?

32.  Were strong monarchs necessary for nation states to develop?

Week 9:

Topic 9: Rise of Mesoamerican Empires Before 1500 (Olmec, Mayan, Aztec and Incan Empires) (1500 B.C. – 1500 A.D.)

33.  Was geography a blessing or a curse for the peoples and civilizations of Mesoamerica?

34.  Were Mesoamerican civilizations more similar to or different from the     ancient civilizations of Africa, Europe and Asia?

35.  Do the Incan and Aztec Empires deserve to be labeled “totalitarian” states?

36.  Were the empires of Mesoamerica as “great” as or greater than the empires of Imperial Rome, Byzantium or of the Mongols?

Week 10

     Topic 10: The Rise and Fall of African Empires: Mali and Songhai Empires

                (1009 – 1591)

37. Were the achievement of Mali and Songhai empires comparable to the achievement of other world empires?

38.  Should the achievements of Mali and Songhai be admired today?

39.  Was trade the primary factor in the rise and fall of Mali and Songhai?

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Week 11

     Topic11: The Ming Dynasty in China (1368 – 1644)

40.  How did the Ming emperors rule China?

41.  How did China relate to its Asian neighbors?

42.  How can we describe the technological advances during the Ming Dynasty?

Week 12

      Topic 12:The Impact of the Ottoman Empire on the Middle East and Europe

     (1300 – 1650)

43. Were the 400 years of Ottoman rule a blessing or a curse for the people of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East?

44.  To what extent were the challenges, accomplishments and weaknesses of the Ottoman Empire similar to or different from those of other empires?

45.  To what extent did geography contribute to the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire?

46.  Does the legacy of the Ottoman Empire offer any lessons or solutions to the problems of modern civilizations?

Week 13

     Topic 13: Spain at the Eve of the Encounter (1492)

47.  Why was the Reconquista a major turning point in Spanish and European history?

48. Why did the Spanish monarchs support the Inquisition?

49.  How can we describe the impact that the expulsion of the Jews had on Spain?

50.  Why were many European nations interested in finding new routes to India?

51.   How did advances in science contribute to the voyages of exploration?

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Week 14

Topic 14: The Encounter Between Europeans and the Peoples of Africa, America, and Asia (1450 – 1740 A.D.)

52. How did new technology and modes of military and political organization further the establishment of European empires?

53.  Why did Western European nations gain primary control of international trade?

54. Why didn’t China commit to overseas expansion?

55.  Can the world be understood as a mirror reflection of the West?

56.  Why did the institution of slavery flourish, beginning in the mid 1400s?

57.  Did the benefits outweigh the costs to indigenous populations colonized by Europeans?

Week 15

     Topic 15: Political Ideologies: Global Absolutism (1519 – 1689)

58.  How was the power of an absolute monarch supported by the theory of divine right?

59.  Did the system of absolute monarchy strengthen or weaken a nation?

60.  How did Akbar the Great control India?

Week 16

Topic 16: The Response of Absolutism: The Puritan Revolution and the English Bill of Rights (1640 – 1689)

61.  How can we describe the factors that contributed to the Puritan Revolution?

62.  To what extent was British society changed by the Bill of Rights?

63.  How were the Puritan Revolution and the English Bill of Rights responses to absolutism?

64.  How democratic did England become by 1689?