A History of World Societies, Value Edition, Volume 1

NOTE: LaunchPad material that does not appear in the print book – including guided reading exercises, quizzes for sources and features, LearningCurve adaptive quizzes, summative quizzes, all of the documents from the companion reader Sources for World Societies, and quizzes for each of the documents in the companion reader – has been labeled on this table of contents as shown. Each chapter in LaunchPad also comes with a wealth of additional documents, key terms flashcards, map quizzes, and much more, all of which can be easily integrated and assigned.

The Earliest Human Societies

to 2500 b.c.e.

Understanding the Early Human Past • Hominin Evolution • Homo Sapiens, "Thinking Humans" • Migration and Differentiation

Foraging for Food • Family and Kinship Relationships • Cultural Creations and Spirituality

Plant Domestication and the Development of Horticulture • Animal Domestication and the Rise of Pastoralism • Plow Agriculture

Social Hierarchies and Slavery • Gender Hierarchies and Inheritance • Trade and Cross-Cultural Connections

Complex Societies in Southwest Asia and the Nile Valley

3800–500 b.c.e.

Written Sources and the Human Past • Cities and the Idea of Civilization • The Rise of States, Laws, and Social Hierarchies

Environmental Challenges, Irrigation, and Religion • Sumerian Politics and Society • Writing, Mathematics, and Poetry • Empires in Mesopotamia • Life Under Hammurabi

The Nile and the God-King • Egyptian Society and Work • Migrations, Revivals, and Collapse • Iron and the Emergence of New States

The Hebrew State • The Jewish Religion • Hebrew Family and Society

Assyria, the Military Monarchy • The Rise and Expansion of the Persian Empire • The Religion of Zoroaster

The Foundation of Indian Society

to 300 c.e.

Aryan Dominance in North India • Life in Early India • Brahmanism

Jainism • Siddhartha Gautama and Buddhism • Hinduism

Encounters with the West • Chandragupta and the Founding of the Mauryan Empire • The Reign of Ashoka, ca. 269–232 b.c.e.

China’s Classical Age

to 221 b.c.e.

The Impact of Geography • Early Agricultural Societies of the Neolithic Age

Shang Society • Bronze Metalworking • The Development of Writing

Zhou Politics • Life During the Zhou Dynasty

New Technologies for War • The Victorious States

Confucius • The Spread of Confucian Ideas

Daoism • Legalism • The Workings of Nature

The Greek Experience

3500–30 b.c.e.

The Minoans and Mycenaeans • The "Dark Age"

Organization of the Polis • Overseas Expansion and Trade • The Growth of Sparta • The Evolution of Athens

The Deadly Conflicts, 499–404 b.c.e. • Athenian Arts in the Age of Pericles • Social Hierarchies and Sexual Relations • Public and Personal Religion • The Development of Philosophy

From Polis to Monarchy, 404–200 b.c.e. • Building a Hellenized Society • The Hellenistic Economy

Religion in the Hellenistic World • Philosophy and Its Guidance for Life • Hellenistic Science and Medicine

The World of Rome

ca. 1000 b.c.e.–400 c.e.

The Etruscans • The Founding of Rome • The Roman Conquest of Italy • The Roman State • Social Conflict in Rome

Overseas Conquests and the Punic Wars, 264–133 b.c.e. • New Influences and Old Values in Roman Culture • The Late Republic and the Rise of Augustus, 133–27 b.c.e. • The Successes of Augustus

Political and Military Changes in the Empire • Life in Imperial Rome • Prosperity and Problems in the Roman Provinces • Eastward Expansion and Contacts Between Rome and China

Factors Behind the Rise of Christianity • The Life and Teachings of Jesus • The Spread of Christianity • The Growing Acceptance and Evolution of Christianity

Political Measures • Economic Issues • The Acceptance of Christianity

East Asia and the Spread of Buddhism

221 b.c.e.–845 c.e.

The Qin Unification, 221–206 b.c.e. • The Han Dynasty, 206 b.c.e.–220 c.e. • Han Intellectual and Cultural Life • Inner Asia and the Silk Road • Life in Han China • China and Rome • The Fall of the Han and the Age of Division

Buddhism’s Path Through Central Asia • The Appeal and Impact of Buddhism in China

The Sui Dynasty, 581–618 • The Tang Dynasty, 618–907 • Tang Culture

Vietnam • Korea • Japan

Continuity and Change in Europe and Western Asia

250–850

Sources of Byzantine Strength • The Sassanid Empire and Conflicts with Byzantium • Justinian’s Code of Law • Byzantine Learning and Science • Life in Constantinople

The Evolution of Church Leadership and Orthodoxy • The Western Church and the Eastern Church • Christian Monasticism

Christianity and Classical Culture • Saint Augustine on Sin, Grace, and Redemption • The Iconoclastic Controversy

Movement Patterns • Economic and Social Structures • Tribes, Warriors, and Laws

Missionaries’ Actions • The Process of Conversion

The Merovingians and Carolingians • The Warrior-Ruler Charlemagne

The Islamic World

600–1400

Society and Culture in the Arabian Peninsula • Muhammad’s Rise as a Religious and Political Leader • The Teachings of Islam

Islam’s Spread Beyond Arabia • The Shi’a/Sunni Split and the Umayyad Caliphate • The Abbasid Caliphate • The Environmental Impact of Islamic Expansion

Breakaway Territories and Shi’a Gains • The Ascendancy of the Turks • The Mongol Invasions

The Social Hierarchy • Slavery • Women in Islamic Society • Sexuality and Marriage

The Cultural Centers of Baghdad and Córdoba • Education • Cultural and Intellectual Life • The Mystical Tradition of Sufism

Trade and Commerce • Muslim-Christian Encounters

African Societies and Kingdoms

1000 b.c.e.–1500 c.e.

Agriculture and Its Impact • Bantu Migrations • Life in the Kingdoms of the Western Sudan, ca. 1000 b.c.e.–800 c.e.

The Berbers of North Africa • Effects of Trade on West African Society • The Spread of Islam in Africa

The Kingdom of Ghana, ca. 900–1100 • The Kingdom of Mali, ca. 1200–1450 • Ethiopia: The Christian Kingdom of Aksum • The East African City-States • Southern Africa and Great Zimbabwe

The Americas

To 1500 c.e.

Trade and Technology • Settlement and Environment

Olmec Agriculture, Technology, and Religion • Hohokam, Hopewell, and Mississippian Societies • Climate Change and North American Societies • Kinship and Ancestors in the Andes

The Inca Model of Empire • Inca Imperial Expansion • Imperial Needs and Obligations

Maya Agriculture and Trade • Maya Science and Religion • Teotihuacan and the Toltecs

The Mexica: From Vassals to Rulers • Life in the Aztec Empire • The Limits of the Aztec Empire

The Last Day of the Aztecs • The Fall of the Incas

States and Cultures in East Asia

800–1400

The Song Dynasty and its Northern Rivals • The Scholar-Officials and Neo-Confucianism • Women’s Lives in Song Times • Environmental Crises

Fujiwara Rule • Aristocratic Culture

Military Rule • Cultural and Economic Trends

Cultural Exchange in Central and Southern Asia

300–1400

Nomadic Society • The Turks • The Mongols

Chinggis Khan • Chinggis’s Successors • The Mongols as Rulers

The Movement of Peoples • The Spread of Disease, Goods, and Ideas

The Gupta Empire, ca. 320–480 • India’s Medieval Age and the First Encounter with Islam • The Delhi Sultanate • Life in Medieval India

State Formation and Indian Influences • The Srivijayan Maritime Trade Empire • The Spread of Indian Culture in Comparative Perspective • The Settlement of the Pacific Islands

Europe and Western Asia in the Middle Ages

800–1450

Invasions and Migrations • "Feudalism" and Serfdom • The Restoration of Order • Law and Justice

Papal Reforms • Monastic Life • Popular Religion • The Expansion of Western and Eastern Christianity

Background and Motives • The Course of the Crusades • Consequences of the Crusades

The Life and Work of Peasants • The Life and Work of Nobles • Towns, Cities, and the Growth of Commercial Interests • The Expansion of Trade and the Commercial Revolution

Universities and Scholasticism • Cathedrals and a New Architectural Style • Vernacular Literature and Drama

The Little Ice Age and the Black Death • The Hundred Years’ War • Challenges to the Christian Church • Peasant and Urban Revolts

Europe in the Renaissance and Reformation

1350–1600

Wealth and Power in Renaissance Italy • The Rise of Humanism • Christian Humanism • Printing and Its Social Impact • Art and the Artist

Race and Slavery • Wealth and the Nobility • Gender Roles

Warfare, Money, and Mining • France • England • Spain • The Habsburgs

Criticism of the Church • Martin Luther • Protestant Thought and Its Appeal • The Radical Reformation and the German Peasants’ War • Marriage and Women’s Roles • The Reformation and German Politics • England’s Shift Toward Protestantism • Calvinism and Its Moral Standards

Papal Reforms and the Council of Trent • New Religious Orders

French Religious Wars • Civil Wars in the Netherlands • The Great European Witch-Hunt

The Acceleration of Global Contact

1450–1600

The Trade World of the Indian Ocean • Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia • Muslim Influences and African Trade • Genoese and Venetian Middlemen

Causes of European Expansion • Technology and the Rise of Exploration • The Portuguese in Africa and Asia • Spain’s Voyages to the Americas • Spain "Discovers" the Pacific • Early Exploration by Northern European Powers

Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires • Portuguese Brazil • Colonial Administration • Economic Exploitation of the Indigenous Population • Patterns of Settlement

Population Loss and the Ecological Impacts of Contact • Sugar and Early Transatlantic Slavery • Spanish Silver and Its Economic Effects • The Birth of the Global Economy

Religious Conversion • European Debates About Indigenous Peoples • New Ideas About Race