World History syllabus, dot point by dot point

Apply social science skills to understand ancient Greece and its impact on Western civilization: the influence of geography, the development of democracy in Athens compared with oligarchic Sparta, the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, the Golden Age of Pericles, contributions in philosophy and the arts, and the spread of Hellenistic culture under Alexander the Great (WHI.5).

Apply social science skills to understand ancient Rome and its impact on Western civilization: the influence of geography, the structure of the Roman Republic (consuls, Senate, patricians, plebeians, the Twelve Tables), expansion through the Punic Wars, the transition from republic to empire under Augustus, the Pax Romana, and Roman contributions in law, engineering, and language (WHI.6).

Apply social science skills to understand the classical civilizations of Persia, India, and China in terms of chronology, geography, social structure, government, economy, religion, and contributions: the Persian Empire and its administration, Maurya and Gupta India, and Qin and Han China with Confucianism and the civil service (WHI.4).

Apply social science skills to understand human origins and the early river valley civilizations: hunter-gatherer societies and human migration from Africa, the Neolithic Revolution and the rise of agriculture, and the development of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus valley, and China, including writing, law, and social structure (WHI.2 and WHI.3).

Apply social science skills to understand world history to 1500: using maps, globes, and geographic tools, reading timelines and sequencing events, interpreting primary and secondary sources, analyzing cause and effect, and comparing civilizations, with emphasis on how physical geography shaped the development of early civilizations (WHI.1).

Apply social science skills to understand the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire: the political, economic, social, and military causes of decline, the division of the empire into West and East, the traditional fall of the West in 476 A.D., and the survival of the Eastern (Byzantine) empire, setting up the medieval world (WHI.6).

Apply social science skills to understand the civilizations of the Americas: the Maya of Mesoamerica, the Aztec of central Mexico, and the Inca of the Andes, in terms of chronology, geography, economy, religion, and social structure, including their achievements in mathematics, calendars, engineering, and agriculture (WHI.11).

Apply social science skills to understand the civilizations of East Asia from about 400 to 1500: the development of China from the Tang through the Ming dynasties with its technology and cultural achievements, the influence of geography on Japan, Japanese cultural diffusion from China, and the Japanese feudal system with the shogun and samurai (WHI.12).

Apply social science skills to understand medieval Europe from about 500 to 1500: the spread and influence of the Roman Catholic Church, the structure of feudal society and the manorial system, the rise of the Frankish kings and Charlemagne, and the development of feudal monarchies and early nation-states (WHI.9).

Apply social science skills to understand the late medieval period to 1500: the causes and effects of the Crusades, the social and economic impact of the Black Death, and the rise of nation-states such as England, France, and Spain with the decline of feudalism (WHI.15).

Apply social science skills to understand major developments to 1500: the major trade routes of the Eastern Hemisphere (Silk Roads, Indian Ocean, trans-Saharan) and the exchange of goods, technology, and ideas, and the artistic, literary, and intellectual achievements of the Italian Renaissance, including humanism and figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Machiavelli (WHI.13 and WHI.14).

Apply social science skills to understand the West African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai: their location near the Niger River and the trans-Saharan trade routes, the gold and salt trade, the spread of Islam, and centers of learning such as Timbuktu, with figures including Mansa Musa (WHI.10).

Apply social science skills to understand the age of absolutism and the rise of constitutional government: the absolute monarchs such as Louis XIV and Peter the Great and the theory of divine right, and the English Civil War and Glorious Revolution producing constitutional monarchy and the English Bill of Rights (WHII.6 and WHII.7).

Apply social science skills to understand the impact of the European Age of Exploration: the motives of God, gold, and glory and new technology, the voyages of explorers such as Columbus and da Gama, the conquest of the Americas, the Columbian Exchange, the Atlantic slave trade, and the rise of mercantilism and colonial empires (WHII.4).

Apply social science skills to understand the American and French Revolutions: how Enlightenment ideas shaped them, the causes and key documents of the American Revolution, the causes and course of the French Revolution including the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Reign of Terror, and Napoleon (WHII.6 and WHII.8).

Apply social science skills to understand the Reformation in terms of its causes, effects, and broad characteristics: the corruption and sale of indulgences in the Catholic Church, Martin Luther and the 95 Theses, John Calvin and King Henry VIII, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the political and social effects including religious wars and stronger nation-states (WHII.3).

Apply social science skills to understand the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment: the use of reason and the scientific method, the discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton, and the Enlightenment ideas of natural rights, the social contract, separation of powers, and popular sovereignty from thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau (WHII.6).

Apply social science skills to understand the world in 1500: the major states and empires across the globe, including the Ottoman, Mughal, and Ming, the African kingdom of Songhai, Japan, and the Aztec and Inca empires, alongside the European states, and the patterns of trade and interaction among them (WHII.2).

Apply social science skills to understand the Latin American independence movements: the rigid colonial class structure and the resentment of creoles, the influence of the American, French, and Haitian revolutions and Enlightenment ideas, the weakening of Spain under Napoleon, and the leadership of figures such as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin (WHII.11).

Apply social science skills to understand nineteenth-century nationalism and the unification of Italy and Germany: the Congress of Vienna and the spread of nationalism, the unification of Italy under leaders such as Cavour and Garibaldi, and the unification of Germany under Bismarck through realpolitik and war (WHII.11).

Apply social science skills to understand the impact of European imperialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the economic, political, and ideological motives, the domination of Africa and Asia (the Scramble for Africa, British India, French Indochina), and the responses and resistance of colonized peoples (WHII.12).

Apply social science skills to understand the Industrial Revolution: its origins in Britain, the new technologies and the factory system, the social and economic effects including urbanization, child labor, and the rise of the middle class, and the responses including labor unions and the ideas of capitalism and socialism (WHII.9 and WHII.10).

Apply social science skills to understand the Russian Revolution: the causes including the hardships of World War I and the weakness of the czarist government, the 1917 revolutions, the Bolshevik seizure of power under Lenin, and the creation of the Soviet Union as the first communist state (WHII.14).

Apply social science skills to understand the causes and effects of World War I: the long-term causes of militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism (MAIN) and the immediate cause of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the new technology of total war, and the consequences including the collapse of empires, the Treaty of Versailles, and the League of Nations (WHII.13).

Apply social science skills to understand the origins, beliefs, and influence of Confucianism and other Chinese philosophies: Confucius and his teachings on social order, the five relationships, and respect for elders, alongside Daoism and Legalism, and their influence on Chinese government and the civil service (WHI.4 and WHI.12).

Apply social science skills to understand the origins, beliefs, and spread of Hinduism and Buddhism: Hinduism as an Indian faith with reincarnation, karma, and the caste system, and Buddhism founded by Siddhartha Gautama with the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, spreading along trade routes across Asia (WHI.4 and WHI.6).

Apply social science skills to understand the cultural and scientific achievements of Islamic civilization: the preservation and translation of Greek and Roman learning, advances in mathematics (algebra and Arabic numerals), medicine, astronomy, and geography, and the role of cities such as Baghdad and Cordoba as centers of learning during the Islamic Golden Age (WHI.8).

Apply social science skills to understand the origins, beliefs, and spread of Judaism and Christianity: Judaism as an early monotheistic faith with the Torah and the covenant, and Christianity arising in Roman Judea from the teachings of Jesus, spread by the apostles and Paul, and eventually made the official religion of the Roman Empire (WHI.6).

Apply social science skills to understand the Byzantine Empire: the founding of Constantinople as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the achievements of Justinian including Justinian's Code and Hagia Sophia, the spread of Orthodox Christianity and the Great Schism, and the empire's influence on Russia and Eastern Europe (WHI.7).

Apply social science skills to understand the origin, beliefs, and spread of Islam: Muhammad and the rise of Islam in Mecca and Medina, the Five Pillars and the Qur'an, the expansion of Islam through the caliphates across the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain, and the Sunni-Shia split (WHI.8).

Apply social science skills to understand decolonization and independence movements after World War II: the weakening of European empires, the independence of India under Gandhi, the wave of independence in Asia and Africa, the end of apartheid in South Africa under Mandela, and the conflicts that arose from decolonization (WHII.16).

Apply social science skills to understand the Cold War: its origins in the ideological conflict between the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union, the major events and alliances (NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War), and the nuclear arms race (WHII.16).

Apply social science skills to understand the contemporary world: economic and cultural globalization and interdependence, advances in technology and communication, the growth of international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union, and global challenges including terrorism, human rights, and environmental issues (WHII.16).

Apply social science skills to understand the end of the Cold War: the reforms of Gorbachev, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the emergence of the United States as the sole superpower in a changed world (WHII.16).

Apply social science skills to understand the interwar period: the economic and political instability after World War I, the Great Depression, and the rise of totalitarian regimes under Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Stalin in the Soviet Union, and the militarists in Japan (WHII.14).

Apply social science skills to understand World War II and its worldwide impact: the causes including aggression by totalitarian states and the failure of appeasement, the major theaters and turning points (Stalingrad, D-Day, Midway), the use of the atomic bomb, and the Holocaust and other genocides (WHII.15).