AP World History "Must Know" Vocabulary Terms

The Neolithic period when foragers started to plant food to come back and find tons of food. It was a revolution when people began to farm instead of forage.

A government in which power is in the hands of a hereditary ruling class or nobility

A person belonging to a tribe or group that is considered uncivilized

Hindu priests, at the top of the caste system which the Aryans made

A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials

Urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into and independent, self-governing unit

A society in an advanced state of social development (e.g., with complex legal and political and religious organizations)

law codes, religion, and an economy - they organized, united, and helped civilizations to prosper

Coins and paper bills used as money

A god; a divine being

System of government in which all "citizens" (however defined) have equal political and legal rights, privileges, and protections, as in the Greek city-state of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE.

A Hindu/Buddhist concept that was a guide to living in this world and at the same time pursuing spiritual goals. According to dharma a person should accept and live within ones caste. Although the Buddhist notion of dharma is that one should seek to decrease suffering.

Borrowing between cultures either directly or through intermediaries

Depending on where a cetain civilization lived they would grow certaion crops and raise specific animals. 8000 BCE-600 BCE.

These included cattle, horses, and pigs, and were a contribution to the Americas from the Columbian Exchange that changed the agriculture, diet, and even warfare among the Native Americans.

rise and fall of Chinese dynasties according to the Mandate of Heaven

everyone treated the same

A set of laws or rules that a civilization lived by. One of the parts of a civilization and an exaple would be like the Code of Hammurabi. 8000 BCE-600 BCE.

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.

people who survive by eating animals that they have caught or plants they have gathered

any period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface

Any kind of agricultural activity that involves effective and efficient use of labor on small plots of land to maximize crop yield.

a means of supplying land with water

In Indian tradition, the residue of deeds performed in past and present lives that adheres to a "spirit" and determines what form it will assume in its next life cycle. The doctrines of karma and reincarnation were used by the elite in ancient India to encourage people to accept their social position and do their duty.

the ruling period of the ruler during the Zhou dynasty; where Heaven granted ruler to rule

A form of marriage in which one woman and one man are married only to each other.

A follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times.

A type of agricultural activity based on nomadic animal husbandry or the raising of livestock to provide food, clothing, and shelter.

A form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line

A marriage in which a man or woman has two or more spouses.

A gov, religion, and economy became more complex, people began record keeping., Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information.

Non-religious

the production of raw silk by raising silkworms

A group of people with one permanent base camp, rather than a nomadic group., A group of people that have settled into a civilization.

A system of enforced servitude in which some people are owned by other people.

To train or specialize people in certain areas of work so that people can accomplish tasks quicker

A situation in which quantity supplied is greater than quantity demanded

A blending of two or more religious traditions

Cloth products

a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.

The practice of praying to your ancestors. Found especially in China.

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.

a person who has attained enlightenment but who has postponed nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment

A Hindu social class system that controlled every aspect of daily life

Independent state that consists of an urban center and surrounding agricultural territory.

A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

a set of rules or principles or laws (especially written ones)

'Way' in Chinese; for Daoists, the idea of the way at once describes the dynamic flow of nature and prescribes naturalness as a guiding principle in human affairs

Greek word meaning "dispersal," used to describe the communities of a given ethnic group living outside of their homeland. Jews, for example, spread from Israel to western Asia and Mediterranean lands in antiquity and today can be found throughout the world.

(Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation

In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors

Historians' term for the era, usually dated 323-30 B.C.E., in which Greek culture spread across western Asia and northeastern Africa after the conquests of Alexander the Great. The period ended with the fall of the last major Hellenistic kingdom to Rome, but Greek cultural influence persisted until the spread of Islam in the seventh century C.E.

Clinical evidence or effects, the signs and symptoms of disease.

people who buy and sell goods

A person sent on a religious mission. Mostly Christian missionaries sent to countries where the U.S. was trying to achieve influence.

A government ruled by a king or queen

Living in a religious community apart from secular society and adhering to a rule stipulating chastity, obedience, and poverty. It was a prominent element of medieval Christianity and Buddhism. Monasteries were the primary centers of learning and literacy in medieval Europe.

Seasonal winds in the Indian Ocean caused by the differences in temperature between the rapidly heating and cooling landmasses of Africa and Asia and the slowly changing ocean waters. These strong and predictable winds have long been ridden across the open sea by sailors, and the large amounts of rainfall that they deposit on parts of India, Southeast Asia, and China allow for the cultivation of several crops a year.

India was a world of warring kingdoms ... Aryan leaders; a term for princes

In Hinduism and Buddhism, the process by which a soul is reborn continuously until it achieves perfect understanding

higher-than-normal financial returns on investments that are realized from governmental restrictive interference or monopolistic markets

A form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting

A repeated, patterned religious act.

One of the oldest written languages by Hindus in India that revealed parts of the religion

sacred writings

The practice of identifying special individuals (shamans) who will interact with spirits for the benefit of the community. Characteristic of the Korean kingdoms of the early medieval period and of early societies of Central Asia.

The adoption and absorption by foreign people of Chinese language, customs and culture.

taught what good government would come to china if people lived according to principles of ethics, good conduct, and moral judgement

at the heart of the identity of all people, true always & everywhere, transcending culture or time period

An outbreak of bubonic plague that spread across Asia, North Africa, and Europe in the mid-fourteenth century, carrying off vast numbers of persons.

"the way of the warrior"; Japanese word for the Samurai life ; Samurai moral code was based on loyalty, chivalry, martial arts, and honor until the death

Office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad, to rule the Islamic empire; also the name of that empire.

Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields.

Code of conduct for knights during the Middle Ages

Christian-dominated Western Europe of the Middle Ages

In China, it was an exam based on Confucian teachings that was used to select people for various government service jobs in the bureaucracy.

(1095-1204) Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The Crusades brought an end to western Europe's centuries of intellectual and cultural isolation.

an Arabic term that means the "house of Islam" and that refers to lands under Islamic rule

influenc of greek and indian mathematics on muslim scholars, spread of printing and gunpowder technologies from east asia into the islamic empires and western europe

Big commercial center for importing and exporting commodities.

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to a king in return for loyalty and military service

In medieval Europe, land granted in return for a sworn oath to provide specified military service.

In China, the class of prosperous families, next in wealth below the rural aristocrats, from which the emperors drew their administrative personnel. Respected for their education and expertise, these officials became a privileged group and made the government more efficient and responsive than in the past. The term gentry also denotes the class of landholding families in England below the aristocracy.

The 1,100-mile (1,700-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire.

The period in Chinese history (403-221 BCE) in which many different states emerged and were fighting for control of China.

Professional oral historians who served as keepers of traditions and advisors to kings within the Mali Empire

In medieval Europe, an association of men (rarely women), such as merchants, artisans, or professors, who worked in a particular trade and banded together to promote their economic and political interests. ____ were also important in other societies, such as the Ottoman and Safavid Empires.

A pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims

An economic and defensive alliance of the free towns in northern Germany, founded about 1241 and most powerful in the fourteenth century.

A Mongol ruler

to kneel, touch the head to the ground in expression of deep respect worship or submission

A century-long period of cool climate that began in the 1590s. Its ill effects on agriculture in northern Europe were notable.

In medieval Europe, a large, self-sufficient landholding consisting of the lord's residence, outbuildings, peasant village, and surrounding land.

Andean labor system based on shared obligations to help kinsmen and work on behalf of the ruler and religious organizations.

Term used to describe new approaches to understanding classic Confucian texts that became the basic ruling philosophy of China from the Song period to the twentieth century.

A high-ranking social class

The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head.

An arrangement of knotted strings on a cord, used by the Inca to record numerical information.

Class of warriors in feudal Japan who pledged loyalty to a noble in return for land.

In medieval Europe, an agricultural laborer legally bound to a lord's property and obligated to perform set services for the lord.

A body of law governing the lives of Muslims

Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that God vests leadership of the community in a descendant of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali. Shi'ism is the state religion of Iran.

Developments that were first made in Southern Asia and then spread to other places through trade and conquest

A Muslim who seeks to achieve direct contact with God through mystical means

Military and political leader with absolute authority over a Muslim country

Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries.

East African shores of the Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and the Zambezi River; from the Arabic sawahil, meaning 'shores.'

A government's use of private collectors to collect taxes. Individuals or corporations contract with the government to collect a fixed amount for the government and are permitted to keep as profit everything they collect over that amount.

Farming method also called steep farming.

made by bringing together different elements

A system in which defeated peoples were forced to pay a tax in the form of goods and labor. This forced transfer of food, cloth, and other goods subsidized the development of large cities. An important component of the Aztec and Inca economies.

Muslim religious scholars. From the ninth century onward, the primary interpreters of Islamic law and the social core of Muslim urban societies.

A form of government, usually hereditary monarchy, in which the ruler has no legal limits on his or her power.

An instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets

The network of trading links after 1500 that moved goods, wealth, slaves, and cultures around the Atlantic Ocean basin.

The policy in international relations by which, beginning in the eighteenth century, the major European states acted together to prevent any one of them from becoming too powerful.

the movement of biological factors from one region to another

Land owning aristocracy in early Russia.

Maya texts, long strips of paper, many meters in length when unfolded, made of the pounded inner bark of certain trees; these texts helped analysts interpret Maya hieroglyphics on stelae.

a group of people who leave their native country to form in a new land a settlement subject to, or connected with, the parent nation.

An exchange of goods, ideas and skills from the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) to the New World (North and South America) and vice versa.

a pipe, channel, for conveying fluids

Early-sixteenth-century Spanish adventurers who conquered Mexico, Central America, and Peru. (Examples Cortez, Pizarro, Francisco.)

In colonial Spanish America, term used to describe someone of European descent born in the New World. Elsewhere in the Americas, the term is used to describe all nonnative peoples.

A system that bound laborers into slavery in order to work off a debt to the employer

Ottoman policy of taking boys from Christian peoples to be trained as Muslim soldiers

Literally "people of the book"; applied as inclusive term to Jews and Christians in Islamic territories; later extended to Zoroastrians and even Hindus & Buddhists

Belief that a rulers authority comes directly from god.

A grant of authority over a population of Amerindians in the Spanish colonies. It provided the grant holder with a supply of cheap labor and periodic payments of goods by the Amerindians. It obliged the grant holder to Christianize the Amerindians.

A philosophical movement in eighteenth century Europe that fostered the belief that one could reform society by discovering rational laws that governed social behavior and were just as scientific as the laws of physics.

A large Spanish-owned estate in the Americas, often run as a farm or a cattle ranch

separate women's quarters in a traditional Muslim home

A migrant to British colonies in the Americas who paid for the passage by agreeing to work for a set term ranging from four to seven years.

Infantry, originally of slave origin, armed with firearms and constituting the elite of the Ottoman army from the fifteenth century until the corps was abolished in 1826.

A business, often backed by a government charter, that sold shares to individuals to raise money for its trading enterprises and to spread the risks (and profits) among many investors.

the ability to read and write

Heavily armed, fast ships that brought luxury goods from China to Mexico and carried silver from Mexico to China.

A slave who ran away from his or her master. Often a member of a community of runaway slaves in the West Indies and South America.

European government policies of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries designed to promote overseas trade between a accumulate precious metals by requiring colonies to trade only with their motherland country. The British system was defined by the Navigation Acts, the French system by laws known as the Exclusif.

The term used by Spanish authorities to describe someone of mixed Amerindian and European descent.

The term used in Spanish and Portuguese colonies to describe someone of mixed African and European descent.

The part of the Atlantic Circuit involving the transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.

In the spanish colonies, those who were born in Europe

Huge farms that required a large labor force to grow crops

the quality of being more noticeable than anything else

Religious reform movement within the Latin Christian Church beginning in 1519. It resulted in the "protesters" forming several new Christian denominations, including the Lutheran and Reformed Churches and the Church of England.

Spanish labor system in Latin America, supposed to replace the encomienda system, in which native communities were compelled to provide laborers for the farms or mines and the Spanish employers were expected to pay fair wages.

Groups of private investors who paid an annual fee to France and England in exchange for a monopoly over trade to the West Indies colonies.

The intellectual movement in Europe, initially associated with planetary motion and other aspects of physics, that by the seventeenth century had laid the groundwork for modern science

A belief system which blends Hindu traditions with Islamic monotheistic traditions. Based in India and Pakistan.

A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.

A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Africa sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa

Royal governors sent by Spain to rule in the King's name.

African religious ideas and practices among descendants of African slaves in Haiti. (voodoo)

Adoption of western ideas, technology, and culture

a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition.

the action or an act of abolishing a system, practice, or institution.

Utopian Socialism, Marxism, Anarchism

A statement of the of the reasons for the American colonies' break with Britain approved by the Second Continental Congress in 1776

Examples would be the Indian Revolt of 1857and the Boxer Rebellion. 1750 CE-1914CE.

Resistance to an imperial power, especially during the scramble for Africa. An example of an anti imperial resistance is the battle of Adowa(1896) , when Ethiopia defeated Italy and prevented italy from taking over the country.

Bolivar says that Latin America must break from a parasitic Spain and outlines his principles in the context of his recent failures at uniting and republicanizing the governments of Latin America.

In early modern Europe, the class of well-off town dwellers whose wealth came from manufacturing, finance, commerce, and allied professions.

An economic system based on private ownership of capital

Right of foreigners to be protected by the laws of their own nation.

local strongmen that assembled private armies to resist central governemt

(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate.

conflict between social or economic classes (especially between the capitalist and proletariat classes)

The markets for products and services purchased by individuals or households to satisfy their specific needs.

A document which spells out the principles by which a government runs and the fundamental laws that govern a society

Independent but less developed nations controlled by private business interests rather than by other governments

Tsar Alexander II ended rigorous serfdom in Russia in 1861; serfs obtained no political rights; required to stay in villages until they could repay aristocracy for land.

countries surrounded or almost surrounded by another country.

an act that exploits or victimizes someone (treats them unfairly)

A method of production that brought many workers and machines together into one building

stock markets, insurance, gold standard, limited liability corporations

Units of product that have been completed but have not yet been sold to customers.

Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution.

the domination of one state or group over its allies

Christian missionary society. It was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gospel, establish churches and give support and ministry to the unchurched and destitute."

Basic beliefs about government

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries poitically, socially, and economically.

Autonomy

A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.

examples include United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, France

The highly educated of the revolution

Policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.

protection of indicidual rights over government policy

A branch of socialism that emphasizes exploitation and class struggle and includes both communism and other approaches.

Industrialization leads people to move to cities in search for work, often in poor conditions. They are given some support by such networks designed to provide education and job opportunities.

(Taiping Rebellion, Ghost Dance, Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement) Beliefs, based on prophetic revelations, in apocalyptic global transformations associated with the completion of cycles of a thousand years.

A new form of global power relationships that involves not direct political control but economic exploitation by multinational corporations

That period in development of a society when manufacturing industry has yet to develop

Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production

Belief that one race is superior to another

Unprocessed natural products used in production (cotton, rubber, palm oil, sugar, wheat, guano, metals, and minerals)

A fight against a government.

Tanzimat movement, Self-Strengthening Movement

state pensions, public health, suffrage, public education

Democratic and nationalist revolutions that swept across Europe. The monarchy in France was overthrown. In Germany, Austria, Italy, and Hungary the revolutions failed.

A late nineteenth century movement in which the Chinese modernized their army and encouraged Western investment in factories and railways

Colonies, such as those in South Africa, New Zealand, Algeria, Kenya, and Hawaii, where minority European populations lived among majority indigenous peoples.

maroon societies

Survival of the fittest. The idea that society will progress through natural competition. The 'fittest' most intelligent, talented, etc....) people, businesses and nations will rise to positions of power and wealth.

Political movement originating in 19 century Europe; emphasized state control of the major means of production

Areas in which countries have some political and economic control but do not govern directly (ex. Europe and U.S. in China)

A human-made waterway, which was opened in 1869, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea

Right to vote

United Fruit Company, HSBC, zaibatsu

about how different cultures interact with eachother and how they deal with the stereotypes of what people believe them to be.

States began to industrialize, expanded their existing colonies overseas, and established new colonies. This expansion led to and affected diplomacy and warfare during modern empire-building

A policy that intentionally restricted non-white immigration to Australia

A movement founded in the 1890s to promote the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

movement against imperialism

Hatred against the Jews

Legal separation of races in South Africa

A policy to allow Hilter to march on if he promised not to invade anyone else.

Extreme doctorine views by several religions.

Freedom from imperialism mixed with christianity.

A government in which one leader or group of people holds absolute power.

A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

patterns by which government decision making power is organized, exercised, and transferred

Arab nomads of the desert

Is a secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria that existed from 1967-1970

GMF (Genetically Modified Foods), Corn People

a conflict that was between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted eachother on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

Creation of large, state-run farms rather than individual holdings; allowed more efficient control over peasants; part of Stalin's economic and political planning; often adopted in other Communist regimes.

complete government ownership of land and property, single-party control of the government, the lack of individual rights, and the call for worldwide revolution

A movement started to increase the influence, power, and rights of consumers in dealing with institutions.

American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world during the Cold War

The contact and interaction of one culture with another

refers to nationalist movements in the 19th and 20th centuries in Africa and the Middle East

The collapse of colonial empires. Between 1947 and 1962, practically all former colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence.

Destruction of forests

Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting; prominent in the Sahara Desert

the closing down or dismissal of a government

Existing or occurring in a particular country

A law requiring people of a certain age to serve in the military

Philosophy that aims to limit the power of the state and increase the power of the market and private property in an economy; laissez-faire, capitalism, Adam Smith

reactions to incoming people who are considered to be "other" by shunning or ostracizing in a prejudiced manner

A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition; far right-wing

A female movement for gender equality.

Stalin's economic policy to rebuild the Soviet economy after WWI. A government plan for economic development over five years. Replaced Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP)

an economy unregulated by the government with free trade that results in a prosperous economy, favoring big businesses and individual wealth; government should have very limited/little regulation to preserve balance and order

international trade free of government interference

Deliberate extermination of a racial or cultural group

"Openness; called for increased transparency in government institutions and activities within the USSR; Mikhail Gorbachev. Usually paired with "Perestroika"

An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)

countries with an economy dependent on exported goods, usually cash crops or minerals

the U.S.; President Roosevelt's program to relieve the economic problems of the Great Depression; it increased government involvement in the society/economy of the United States

economy characterized by a fascist state

the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s

term that defines conservation and green politics

series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives occurring between the 1940s and the late 1960s

gasses responsible for global warming

genocide under Hitler's fascist regime in Nazi Germany during World War II

...

emphasizes personal freedoms and liberties

"mother city"; referred to the United Kingdom or London itself, while its colonies were referred to as the "periphery"

political party that became the leader of the Indian Nationalist Movement against the British

a term by Eisenhower that talks about how we spend so much money on the military, and it's bigger than any other institution; "bigger than government itself"

international organization founded after World War I to promote peace and cooperation among nations

type of colony in which the government is overseen by a nation (e.g. the Middle East overseen by European countries after WWI)

characterized scientific innovations from the 1950's onwards

states characterized by a military in power

fought the Soviets in Afghanistan; supported by the U.S., before turning against the U.S.

huge global companies that are wealthier than many countries they do businesses in

promote Western values and free trade among countries

Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries; founded by oil-producing countries

reconstruction of the Soviet economy under Mikhail Gorbachev

Cold War battle supported by the Soviets and the West

collectivization, socialism

one who escapes from their home country

free trade agreements designed to encourage more trade among countries without barriers

Christian, Islamic, and Jewish zealots

post-colonial 20th century nationalism

socialists, USSR

Russia, U.S.

World War I

on the rise, esp. since 9/11

Southern Hemisphere

A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO

The push for women to have more political and social influence

Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause

A think tank for iPrep Scholars.