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History 101 Midterm Essay Questions

Terms in this set (30)

Migrating populations paved the way for greater cultural intergation across Afro-Eurasia after 1200 BCE. Where did the migrants come from, and where did they move? How did they shape the regions in which they settled?
Loosely organized peripheral societies to mainland Greece, Crete, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt
-Central Europeans to the Mediterranean
-Persians adopted Babylonian ideas d. sea peoples originated in southern Europe and wiped out all sense of culture.
-Raiders messed up the political relationship between territorial states and their trade systems nomads came from northwest Asia to the south to be agrarian.
-Climate change caused people to move from outside to inside Persians adopted religion fringe - small less developed society located on the edges of more developed societies digression (catcher reference).
-A rapid rise in population after invasions - development of iron = important overwhelmed the Shang regime. -Independent kingdoms were conquered.
Compare and contrast the statecraft of the Neo-Assyrian and Persian empires. How did each try to intergrate their multicultural empires?
Perfected military rule. Known for its reliance on terror using harsh punishments. Techniques for imperial rule became the standard model for many ancient and modern empires. Centered on the ancient cities of Ashur and Nineveh on the Tigris River. Expansion towards an empire
1. King participated in annual campaigns in the first stage.
2. Tigalth reorganized and led the second phase.
3. Empire was divided into two parts.
4. Deportations and forced labor.
5. Assyrian ideology and propaganda.
6. vassal states to get tributes.
7. reliefs - walls carved with images.
8. strict social order - anti women and slaves.
Analyze the role of the fringe societies in the Aegean and Levant in western Afro-Eurasia during the first millenium BCE. How did they contribute to the cultural and religious history of humanity?
These fringe societies include the Phoenicians and the Israelites. The Phoenicians brought the alphabet. The Israelites spread monotheism, Christianity, and Islam.
-They both greatly advanced the rest of the region during this time period and aided in the growth of religion and writing systems.
Explain the function of hereditary status, clans, and religious beliefs in Vedic society in South Asia during the first millenium BCE. To what extent did these beliefs and values maintain a culturally intergrated and disctinct world in the absence of political unity?
-The Vedic peoples had four varna (meaning color) to refer to each division. The Brahmans were priests; the Kshatriyas were warriors; the Vaishyas were commoners; the Shudras were laborers or "the small ones". This was a way to stratify an increasingly agricultural and settled world.
-the Vedas were sacred religious works. they sacrificed animals to their gods and gathered together at festivities to sing hymns, make animal sacrifices, burn ghee (clarified butter) for the gods, and share banquets. priests conducted these ceremonies.
-they did not have a single, unified, regional kingdom. instead, the Vedic world was integrated through shared Vedic culture. common ritual practices promoted cultural unity and pride. the Upanishads (collection of works also meaning "supreme knowledge" exploring questions of deep concern at that time) expanded the Vedic cultural system.
Compare and contrast the Zhou state to the regional empires in Western Afro-Eurasia in the second millenium BCE. What legacies did each leave?
They were both reshaped by drought. Climate change was a major factor in the demise of a powerful state in both. People are in search of more fertile soils and reliable harvests in both. Zhou was smaller and less influential but expanded their dynasty similarly to that of western afro-Eurasia. Zhou legacy includes the iron plow, field rotation, ability to regulate the flow of main rivers, and irrigation networks. Western afro-Eurasia brought the alphabet, religious diversity, technological innovations.
Compare and contrast the role of the state in facillitating regional intergration in East Asia, South Asia, and western Afro-Eurasia.
East asia is the zhou, south asia is the vedics, and western afro-eurasia is the Phoenicians. The zhou never evolved into a regional power or became a territorial empire. The vedics made farming a dominant way of life, causing urban settlements to stretch out across the region, making trade blossom. The Phoenicians achieved regional integration by giving the alphabet, which allows men to communicate directly with one another.
Explain the war of ideas that occurred during the first millennium BCE in China. How did Confucianism and Daoism influence political developments during the Warring Sates period?
There are widespread migrations so a lot of different ideas are colliding. The opportunity to explore new cultural ideas arose. new ways of thinking about the world emerged from the competitive atmosphere that the greek city-states fostered. Since Daoism is "do nothing", some people have the idea not to mess with the government; but Confucianism says to be smart and to work. Therefore, people had different ideas on how to run things.
Analyze the impact of commerce and urbanization on the Brahman order in South Asia at this time. Why were urban audiences receptive to Buddhist and other challenges to Brahman concepts?
Due to rice agriculture, cities begin to emerge on the Ganges plain around 500 BCE and in turn become centers of commerce and intellectual life. Brahmans looked at the new cities and saw increasing social violence and were not happy. Also, as people learned to read and write, their oral traditions become less sacred and more accessible to others. Buddha's most influential patrons were urban merchants. They supported him and his opposition to the monarchical government that the brahmans favored. He appealed to those who wanted to live virtuously and take control. Also, urban audiences who were tired of the strict caste system would relate much more with buddha than the brahmans, who thought that mingling with other castes polluted society.
Compare and contrast Buddhist and Confucian philosophies. What problems and issues did they address, and what solutions did they propose?
They both set out for enlightenment. While Confucius stressed loyalty to family, buddha left his family behind.
Buddha solved the problem of suffering through the eightfold path.
Confucius solved the problem of intelligence by insisting training for all those willing to work.
Explain the broad cultural features that characterized Olmec and Chavin societies in the Americas in the first millennium BCE. To what extent did each cultural group leave an imprint on its region?
The Chavin were unified by culture and faith, not a political structure. They organized their societies vertically up the mountainside. They had a very artistic tradition; by 900 BCE, they were erecting elaborate stone carvings, weaving advanced cotton textiles, and making gold, silver, and copper goods.
Olmecs were the first complex society. Like the Chavin, they too believed that the jaguar was very important. Rubber was one of their staples. They never had the urge to conquer or colonize. They had integrated culture and complex social structure that kept them together.
Analyze the extent to which diverse sub-Saharan peoples were connected t one another and to the larger world during this period. What processes brought groups together, and what kept them apart?
Their communities were scattered across Africa, but they had much in common, such as their cosmology of one high god. Nubia is connected to Egypt as a source of ivory, gold, and slaves.
A factor that might have kept groups apart would be the need to move farther south to keep free from the powerful Egyptians. The kingdom had to repeatedly uproot and relocate up the Nile river.
Describe the political and economic innovations in the Mediterranean world in the first millennium BCE. What impact did theses ideas have on peoples living on the periphery of that world?
Inventions such as the use of money and the alphabet spread rapidly and interconnected surrounding communities. A new type of self-government emerges, including tyrants, oligarchies, and democracies. However, since no centralized governments were put in place to control residents' actions and thoughts, it got bloody for them and those around them. Economic innovations such as the alphabet, coins, and the central marketplace facilitated trade among Mediterranean communities, resulting in economic growth. By the end of 5th-century BCE, greek city states were well into coinage and others such as the Phoenicians, Etruscans, and Persians were also using them.
Compare and contrast the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle with Confucius in China and the Buddha in South Asia. What was similar and what was different in their proposals for creating a better world?
Buddha, like Plato, was interested in an understanding of the real world. Plato referred to it as the "escape from the cave," while Buddha called it "rising above the images of the wall."

Despite this need for knowledge of the outside world, Buddha, like Socrates was very interested in introspection. Both philosophers believe that in order to proceed with an open mind, one must understand the limitations that exist due to one's ignorance. The pursuit of truth with an empty mind is essential to understanding oneself and the world around you. Buddha, like the other four philosophers, believed that knowledge was the true means of salvation, for oneself as well as the world at large.

Many of the beliefs of Buddha, like those of Socrates, specifically leaned towards humanism. Buddha believed that everybody was responsible for the decisions they make and the outcomes of one's own life is not the result of intervention by gods or spirits. Buddha, like Socrates, discouraged people from accepting religious truths and asked followers to use insightful reasoning and meditation to arrive at the truth.

While Buddha was not overly concerned with the political realm, he is on record, like the other philosophers, in believing that governments have a responsibility to lead by example and be just. His belief that philosophical principles should guide and inspire leaders is very similar to the beliefs of Plato and Confucius. Buddha was also very direct in his belief that greed leads to suffering, a point mentioned above.
Analyze the impact of Alexanders conquest on the Afro-Eurasian world. How did his military pursuits and those of his successors, bring together various worlds?
Spread common greek language that facilitated trade and diplomatic relations. He also spread Hellenism, which brought people with a shared interest in art and religion together.
Describe the influence of Hellenism on societies outside the Greek homeland. What aspects of Hellenistic culture held broad appeal for diverse groups?
People could communicate easier with one another and could enjoy the same dramatic comedies and new forms of art and sculpture.
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