Fall 2018
Study Guide for Mid-term
Your mid-term exam will be given on October 2 in our lecture classroom, at our normal class
time. You will have the entire hour and 15 minutes to complete your exam. Please bring a blank
large (full size) blue book (no name or anything written in the book) along with a pencil or pen to
the exam.
Identifications:
Choose 3 (from 5 options) and write several sentences about each item, describing the term or
phrase (including any applicable dates), the context in which we discussed the item (what else
was occurring during this period?), and its historical significance (why is this term or phrase
necessary for understanding world history?). (10 points each)
1. Biological Old Regime:
a. an over-whelming agricultural world, before the industrial revolution,
where 80% of the population were peasants, people who
lived on the land and were the direct producers of food for themselves
and the rest of the population. Before 1492, the world was
being connected and divided by religion. Focused on agriculture
and limited the population as well as the productivity of the economy.
An example of this was how China and Europe could not be successful unless
they industrialized.
2. Afro-Eurasia:
a. A landmass, which can be subdivided into Africa and Eurasia, and can be further
subdivided into the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. A polycentric super
continent, where religion played a huge part in control of the continent. This was
the setting of the biological old regime.
The trade goods exchanged across afro-Eurasia during the second silk roads era,
religious exchanges were perhaps had a great significance to world history.
3. State:
a. An organized exercise of power over the people who live in a certain territory.
Focused on what governments do, such as make/ enforce laws, raise armies,
declare wars, and collect taxes. It was one ethnicity ruled by the same ethnicity.
4. Sovereignty:
a. An individual or group that has the ability to make and enforce rules within a
given territory and/or among a group of people, attempting to act like a state. The
status/ power, royal rank of a sovereign. Independent power or authority in
government as possessed or claimed by a state or community. Must strive to
maintain it against internal and external threats.
This is important because this is a principle to the United States Constitution. The
idea of people being able to vote and have a voice in their government is a
significant element to the United States Constitution, forming a critical
component of American government.
5. Empire: