The Song dynasty used a large bureaucracy and Confucian learning to govern China. Farming and manufacturing grew, while Chinese technologies and culture influenced nearby regions.
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Unit 01 · c. 1200–1450
The Global Tapestry
Explore how societies across the world governed, traded, and built cultural traditions before the age of oceanic empires.
The big picture
What to know
Explore how societies across the world governed, traded, and built cultural traditions before the age of oceanic empires.
American states developed different ways to organize labor, collect tribute, and control territory before European conquest.
Compare the ways societies in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas organized states. Use specific examples to explain one meaningful similarity or difference.
Check your understanding
01 / Multiple choice · 3 questions
Choose one answer for each question. Feedback appears below it.
Question 01
Which topic helps explain this development? The Song dynasty used a large bureaucracy and Confucian learning to govern China. Farming and manufacturing grew, while Chinese technologies and culture influenced nearby regions.
Select an answer to check your thinking.
Question 02
Which topic helps explain this development? American states developed different ways to organize labor, collect tribute, and control territory before European conquest.
Select an answer to check your thinking.
Question 03
Which topic helps explain this development? Compare the ways societies in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas organized states. Use specific examples to explain one meaningful similarity or difference.
Select an answer to check your thinking.
02 / Write with evidence
Write a short response
How did societies build and maintain power in different regions?
- Make a claim that answers the question.
- Use two examples from the review.
- Explain how the examples support your claim.
See a model response
Explore how societies across the world governed, traded, and built cultural traditions before the age of oceanic empires. The Song government recruited educated officials through civil service examinations. The Mexica collected tribute from conquered communities in central Mexico.
Resources & review
Quick study check
Before opening another resource, explain these examples from memory. Reveal each explanation to check yourself.
Developments in East Asia from c. 1200 to c. 1450
The Song dynasty used a large bureaucracy and Confucian learning to govern China. Farming and manufacturing grew, while Chinese technologies and culture influenced nearby regions.
State Building in the Americas
American states developed different ways to organize labor, collect tribute, and control territory before European conquest.
Comparison in the Period from c. 1200 to c. 1450
Compare the ways societies in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas organized states. Use specific examples to explain one meaningful similarity or difference.
Read / watchOER Project · Unit 1 ↗
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Video / reviewKhan Academy · World History AP ↗A second explanation when you need to see a topic another way.
Official practiceAP Classroom ↗AP Daily videos and teacher-assigned topic questions. Sign in with your school AP account.
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Explore every topic
TOPIC 1.1
Developments in East Asia from c. 1200 to c. 1450
The Song dynasty used a large bureaucracy and Confucian learning to govern China. Farming and manufacturing grew, while Chinese technologies and culture influenced nearby regions.
TOPIC 1.2Developments in Dar al-Islam from c. 1200 to c. 1450
After the Abbasid Caliphate weakened, new Muslim states gained power. Religious scholarship, trade, and cultural exchange continued across a connected Islamic world.
TOPIC 1.3Developments in South and Southeast Asia from c. 1200 to c. 1450
Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim traditions shaped states in South and Southeast Asia. Rulers adapted religious ideas while trade and local customs influenced political life.
TOPIC 1.4State Building in the Americas
American states developed different ways to organize labor, collect tribute, and control territory before European conquest.
TOPIC 1.5State Building in Africa
Between 1200 and 1450, African societies built different kinds of states. Leaders used trade, religion, local traditions, and control of resources to strengthen their rule. Africa was connected to wider exchange networks, but its states did not all develop in the same way.
TOPIC 1.6Developments in Europe from c. 1200 to c. 1450
European kingdoms operated alongside the Catholic Church and local nobles. Feudal relationships, manorial agriculture, and changing towns shaped social and political life.
TOPIC 1.7Comparison in the Period from c. 1200 to c. 1450
Compare the ways societies in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas organized states. Use specific examples to explain one meaningful similarity or difference.