Social Studies

World History Honors 9

 

Course Description:                                                                                             Grade(s): 9

 

This is a full year course that covers the period of Early Modern to Present.  The course investigates the changes and continuities of the human community.   The course examines the past through the social study lenses of: social, cultural, economic, religion, gender, political, technology and the arts.  An emphasis on geography is achieved through regional study within these time periods.  Students will complete projects, conduct research, participate in simulations, and analyze both the textbook and primary sources.  Students are expected to take notes, analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources, and make connections between today and the past.

Prerequisites:  World History   8

 

The Early Modern World, 1450-1750

 

Topic/Unit 1: Empires and Encounters 1450-1750     Approximate # of Weeks: 3

 

Essential Questions:

 

  1. What empires were around during this early modern period?
  2. How are empires created and sustained?
  3. What factors in a society are affected first when encountering other cultures/empires?
  4. What are the non-Western empires?
  5. Are there similarities in the creation of different empires?
  6. How did colonial societies evolve?
  7. What were the differences in the colonial societies?
  8. How and why was there so much social reordering in the European colonization in the Western Hemisphere?

Objectives:

Each student will be able to:

 

  1. Examine the variety of empires in early modern history. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,)
  2. Compare European empire building in the eastern and western hemispheres. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,)
  3. Explore the organization of the European colonies. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,)
  4. Describe the social reordering in the European colonies. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,)

 

Activities:

 

  • Read, outline and answer related text questions.
  • Take notes.
  • List and discuss the contextualization of the New World as Europeans saw it.

-          Columbus Journal, Columbus Letter to King and Queen of Spain,

-          Vespucci Journal, Cortes- second letter to Charles V

  • Compare and contrast exploration and colonization and the misconception that the Americas were at the center of the colonial narrative.
  • Compare conquest and religion in the Old World and the New.
  • Map Analysis- Colonial powers before and after
  • Role playing- “My colony is better than yours!”

 

Topic/Unit 2: Global Commerce 1450- 1750                  Approximate # of Weeks: 3

 

Essential Questions:

 

  1. Was there a global economy before 1450?
  2. What contributions did Non-western societies make in commercial expansion?
  3. What was Western European commercial expansion?
  4. How and why was China the world’s largest economy in the early modern period?
  5. What were the ecological costs of global commerce?
  6. What were the various models of trading post empires?
  7. Whose point of view matters?
  8. How are present events related to past events?
  9. What social, political, and economic opportunities and problems arise when cultures interact?
  10. Are there general lessons to be learned from history?
  11. How do natural resources affect the course of history?
  12. How do human activity and environment affect each other?

Objectives:

Each student will be able to:

 

1.      Explore the creation of the first true global economy. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,6)

2.      Examine Western European commercial expansion in a context that gives due weight to the contributions of other societies. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,6)

3.      Examine the significance of China as the world’s largest economy in the early modern period. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,6)

4.      Investigate the high costs of the commercial boom of the early modern period.

(6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,6)

5.      Investigate the models of trading post empires created in the early modern period.

(6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D1, 2,6)

 

Activities:

 

  • Read, outline and answer related text questions.
  • Take notes.
  • List reasons why Europeans craved Asian spices.
  • Examine misconceptions about why Europeans wanted spices.
  • Discuss the human cost of the fur trade.
  • Create a chart comparing fur trade in various parts of the world.
  • Compare slavery in the old and new world.
  • Map the major ports of the early modern period.
  • Role-play: Justify slavery in West Africa, the Caribbean and the British Colonies of North America.

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Topic/Unit 3: Religion and Science 1450-1750                         Approximate # of Weeks: 4

 

Essential Questions:

 

  1. What are the tensions between religion and science?
  2. What was the significance of the Reformation movement in Europe?
  3. What, where and how did Christianity spread on the globe?
  4. To what extent was Christianity syncretized with native traditions?
  5. What were the religious movements in China, India, and the Islamic world?
  6. Why did the Scientific Revolution happen in Europe?
  7. How did the Scientific Revolution affect world societies?

Objectives:

Each student will be able to:

 

  1. Explore the early modern roots of modern tension between religion and science. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D4)
  2. Examine the Reformation movements in Europe and their significance. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D6)
  3. Investigate the global spread of Christianity. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D4, 6)
  4. Examine religious movements in Non-Western societies. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D4, 6)
  5. Explore why the Scientific Revolution was limited in other parts of the world. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D5)
  6. Examine the impact of Scientific Revolution in the world. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:D5)

 

Activities:

 

  • Read, outline and answer related text questions.
  • Take notes.
  • Outline the effects of the Reformation movements on European society.
  • Examine the misconceptions of “Conversion is an all-or-nothing experience,” by looking at the processes of syncretism and accommodation that accompany the conversion of people from one religion to another.
  • Ask students to discuss and list both objects and attitudes of the present day that we would not have if it had not been for the Scientific Revolution.
  • Role Playing- Students are the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci- what should you do to be effective at converting the Chinese?
  • Read a selection from Rousseau’s The Social Contract that demonstrates “enlightened” thought.  Have students analyze it--looking for the impact of Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.

The European Moment in World History, 1750-1914

 

Topic/Unit 4: Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes 1750-1914        Approx. # of Weeks: 3

 

Essential Questions:

 

  1. What and where did the Atlantic revolutions take place in the 18th and 19th centuries?
  2. Why did the revolutions take place where they did?
  3. What were the major factors in place that started revolutionary thinking?
  4. What impact and exchange did the revolutionary movements have on each other?
  5. What was the impact of the Atlantic revolutions on the region and the world?
  6. What were the long-term social and cultural implications of the revolutionary movements on the region and the world?
  7. Are there general lessons to be learned from history?
  8. How and why do societies change?

Objectives:

Each student will be able to:

 

  1. Explore the cross-pollination between revolutionary movements. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:E1)
  2. Investigate the unique effect of the Atlantic revolutions on the region and the world. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:E1)
  3. Examine and compare and contrast the different Atlantic revolutions. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:E1)
  4. Understand the long-term effects of the revolutions. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3.12:E1)

 

Activities:

 

  • Read, outline and answer related text questions.
  • Take notes.
  • Examine whether the American Revolution was “revolutionary?”
  • List reasons why people were increasingly willing to abolish slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries.
  • Analyze nationalist images of the 19th century.
  • Create a timeline of major revolutionary movements.
  • Role play: “What to do with Louis XVI.” 

 

 

Topic/Unit 5: Revolutions of Industrialization   1750-1914        Approx. # of Weeks: 4

 

Essential Questions:

 

  1. What are the major causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution?
  2. How does the European Industrial Revolution fit into the global context?
  3. Why did industrialization take root in Great Britain first?
  4. What are the positive and negative effects of the Industrial Revolution?