UCSB Hist 2C, Fall 2009
World History, 1700-present (course homepage)

Prof. Marcuse
October 25, 2009

2009 Hist 2c
Midterm Exam Study Guide
(pdf for printing)

The midterm counts for 15% of your final grade (51 points for IDs, 50 for essay).
See Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 36-38 (6th ed., §3c-2) for some advice on answering ID & essay questions.

  1. Identify and define the significance (15-20 minutes total, 3 @ 17 points each)
    On the midterm you will be given six of the following terms, from which you will select three. After identifying who, what, where & when (that is, you must situate the term in a period and region of world history), take special care to EXPLAIN WHY THE TERM IS SIGNIFICANT in the context of world history. Ask yourself: Would history have taken a different course without this event or person? How is this term an example of some important principle that played a role in the course of history? Then write down the reason(s) WHY to conclude your answer to the ID.
    Note: the textbook page numbers are for guidance only. For full credit an answer may have to include information from the lectures and course reader, as well as your original thought.
    anti-slavery movement (764) imperialism (691, 742-748) Queen Njinga (556, 572)
    Bolivar, Simon (699, 714) junta (712) Peron, Eva
    caudillismo [710f, 947] King Leopold II (775) Quianlong (525ff)
    conservatism (672) Toussaint Louverture (652) race, racism (566, 692f)
    creoles (474, 711) Li Hongzhang (735, 751f) sepoy (737)
    daimyo (507, 511f, 741) liberalism (672f, ) socialism (673ff)
    Gatling gun (773) Manifest Destiny (702) Third Estate (642)
    Hidalgo, Miguel (715) nationalism (675) zaibatsu (742)

II. Essay: On the exam you will be given one of the essay questions below. (45 min., 50 points)

  1. Describe the evolution of slave trading in Africa from before the arrival of Europeans, through the period of the triangular trade, to the final phase when the British empire prohibited the Atlantic slave trade. What were the benefits and detriments of this trade to peoples in Africa, Europe and the Americas? In what ways do scholars link the rise and demise of Atlantic slavery to the industrial revolution?
  2. Compare the roles of Enlightenment ideology, the Seven Years War and elite allegiances in the development of the French and Haitian revolutions. In what ways and to what extent were they crucial to the starting of the events, to the course of each revolution, and to their outcomes?
  3. Compare the factors that brought about the industrial revolution in Europe to those that caused the Haitian revolution. In what ways are any of them similar? Why do we call both of these events "revolutions"--what kind of revolutions are they?
  4. Describe three different paths that Latin American colonies took to independence, noting the causes and consequences of those differences. How and why does Latin American resistance to colonial control differ from Chinese resistance to European intrusion?
  5. Compare African, Chinese and Japanese responses to Western intrusion. To what extent did each culture stay true to its traditional ways of doing things? How did this change over time?
  6. Compare the factors that facilitated the industrial revolution to those that facilitated imperialism. In what ways are they the same, and in what ways unique? How and why did Japanese industrialization and imperialism differ from those processes in Europe?
  7. Describe three examples of indigenous resistance to foreign penetration, one each in Africa, India and Asia. Compare the role that "culture"--native and foreign traditions and values-- played in the origin, course and outcome of the resistance.

page created by H. Marcuse, Oct. 25, 2009, updated:x
previous study guides: 2008, 2006, 2003
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