World History TAKS Review

BC vs. AD B.C. is Before Christ – Politically correct term is B.C.E. – before the common era Done so in hopes that people wouldn’t be offended using Christian terminology A.D. is Anno Domini (year of our lord) – referring to year of Christ’s birth, year 1 – Again the political correct term is now A.C.E- after the common era – no year 0 Years preceding 1 ACE, you count backwards – 1BCE-1,000,00 BCE 1 ACE-2012 ACE

Prehistory – time before writing was invented – Written history did not exist yet – Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic Sumerians create cuneiform, earliest known written language – Pictographic language, not phonetic

Western Civilization Empires Egyptians Sumerians Indus Valley Kush Olmec Qin Dynasty-China

Western Civilization Began w/ Greeks, culture is foundation – Many contributions: philosophy, government, architecture, etc. Athenian Democracy – rule by the many – Spread culture through conquest, Alex. The Great/Hellenistic Period

Western Civilization (cont) Rome continues spread of Western Civilization Spoke Latin (basis of all Romantic languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian) Roman Republic – rule by certain group of people (male citizens w/ land) – 1 st emperor – Octavian aka Augustus – Codification of law by Emp. Justinian Responsible for spread of Christianity into Europe (Constantine made it legal, Theodosius made it the official Roman religion in 313 AD)

Major World Religions Polytheistic – more than 1 god Monotheistic – only 1 god Judaism – 1 st monotheistic religion, follow the Torah (history of the Israelites), Christianity – stems from Judaism w/ birth of the prophesied savior/god Jesus Islam – began by Muhammad c. 632AD, prophet of Allah – Follow the Quran, accept prophets of Judaism and Christianity

Major World Religions Buddhism – Buddha/Siddhartha Gautama, began out of northern India in 6 th cent BC – Follow Eightfold Path, goal is to reach nirvana Hinduism – oldest known organized religion (c. 1500BC in India) – Basis for caste system in India

Impact of: Bubonic Plague aka The Plague aka Black Plague – Came from Asia on merchant ships via rats/fleas (bacteria) – Killed off 1/3 of the population of Europe – Caused economic collapse and began the end of the feudal system

Impact of: Invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg – First to be printed was the Bible – Main reason Martin Luther was so successful in developing the first Protestant religion – Helped spread the ideas of the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution Lessened the hold of the Catholic Church on the people