Midterm Study Guide (printable pdf version)

The midterm counts for 20% of your final grade (90 points as noted below, plus 10 "free" points).

1. Identify and define the significance (15 minutes total, 2 @ 10 points each)
   On the actual exam, you will be given 10 of the following terms, from which you will select two. You should identify each one (including an approximate date), situating it correctly in relation to other important events. Then 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? Or: Is this term an example of some important principle that played a role in the later course of history? (Your answer should be yes.) Then write down the reason(s) WHY as part of your answer to the ID.

2. Source Interpretation. (10 minutes, 20 points)
   

   From one of the primary sources in the course reader, Vassa/Equiano's Interesting Narrative, or one of the highlighted primary sources in the textbook (e.g. p. 412, 425, 436, 437, 449, …), I will select a short passage and ask you to answer some specific questions about it.

   To study for this part, go through your notes from section and jot down the issues you discussed about the sources in the reader. For the sources in the textbook, simply read the discussion accompanying the boxed sources, and the relevant passages of the textbook itself, and jot down why the author chose that source.

3. Essay question: Compose an essay on one of the following topics. (40 minutes, 50 points)

1. The transatlantic slave trade played a key role in the transition to what we call the modern period in world history. Discuss the the modern slave trade from its earliest roots to its final form in the early 19th century. Why did it develop, both within Africa and for the European traders? What were its typical features? How did they change over time? What were the slave trade's effects in Africa, the so-called new world, and Europe? Suggest also some reasons why it ultimately ended. Which one of them do you think is most important? Why?
2. Between 1750 and 1850 something happened in Europe that had never happened before in world history. A number of developments coincided that then enabled the European powers to establish imperial domination over many societies around the globe during the 19th century. What were those developments, and why did they happen? Rank them in the order from what you think is the most important development to the least important. For each one, explain why you give it that rank. In your explanation, give concrete examples. Draw your examples from non-European countries as well, to illustrate why certain factors were crucial. (If they did not occur elsewhere, they might be crucial, while if they did occur elsewhere, they were not sufficient by themselves.)