Large land-based empires covered much of Afro-Eurasia from 1450 to 1750. How did these empires manage to expand and maintain control over such large areas?

From the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, five vast, multicultural empires took power where the collapsing Mongol Empire used to rule. Gunpowder weapons were a great advantage, but they developed many other strategies to maintain control.

Orient yourself in time and space as you begin Unit 3, by using maps to make predictions about the land-based empires you will study in this unit.

A full-color political map of the world in 1450 CE, highlighting the major states, communities, and cities you’ll learn about in WHP.

A black and white version of the world in 1450 CE, that can be cropped to specific regions and easily printed.

A full-color thematic map of the Black Death and Mongols in 1200 CE, meant to help you support, extend, and challenge the frame narratives.

An individualized tracker for new words encountered in Unit 3. Add to it as the unit progresses.

In Unit 3, continue the routine of building a class word wall, an important visual cue and literacy support.

This vocab guide provides a summary of the key vocabulary for the unit.

Vocab cards for each of the key words in this unit.

Can you correctly categorize the statements based on the AP themes? Time to find out in the first part of the Unit 3 Themes Notebook activity!

In this activity, students examine some common graph shapes and learn how these shapes can help them make predictions about the future.

Most humans live in cities today. Yet for most of our history, this was not the case. The shift to cities is a long story, but it’s one that accelerated quite recently.

Revisit the Question Parsing Tool and improve your ability to figure out what you are being asked in writing prompts.

Assess the similarities and differences of land-based empires in this comparison activity to learn how empires functioned and why some lasted centuries while others collapsed.

The Ottoman Empire lasted six centuries and conquered territory on three continents. It owed its success to military strength and an innovative political structure.

Mawläy ‘Abd al-Mälik was a Moroccan Sultan who defended his kingdom against multiple threats—relatives, Ottoman Sultans, and Christian Europeans.

Shah Ismail I founded the Safavid Empire as a Shi’ite society with strong Persian identity. Despite its ability to tax the silk trade and a solid central government, it faced expensive wars against the Sunni-majority states that surrounded it.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties ruled China from 1368 to 1912. China was the wealthiest empire in the world, then wasn’t as power shifted in the 1640s, then was again.

Qing Shih was a pirate queen in eighteenth-century southern China. Her life demonstrates the complexity of exchange networks in this interconnected era.

As Mongol power declined in northern Eurasia, Russia emerged as a world power, both an intensely centralized state with a national identity, and a multi-ethnic empire of many religions spread over a vast territory.

In this final vocab activity of the unit, students move beyond simply defining words to applying them, therefore solidify their understanding and use of the words in context.

The Omani Empire didn’t look like the large, land-based empires of Asia, but it also didn’t look like the maritime empires of Europe. Was it an empire at all?

From the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries, South Asia was a prosperous and diverse place. Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, the Mughal Empire was one of the world’s largest empires, ruling large parts of the subcontinent. With ready access to silver, the Mughals built an ethnically and religiously pluralist state and established new administrative systems.

Historians sometimes talk about the Islamic world as though there were two spheres: the household, which was run by women, and the government, which was the domain of men. Khanzada Begum’s life challenges this narrative.

Is all evidence the same? Are some types of evidence better than others? This activity will help students evaluate and learn how to use this claim tester.

Europe, as a region of Eurasia, seems developmentally like an exception to the rule, at least in comparison to the Ottoman Empire, China, and other parts of this vast landmass. Or is that just the story we got used to?

Early modern emperors developed many strategies to keep and exercise power. Some were unique, but several patterns across empires can help us understand this period.

Why did long-established belief systems begin to shift in this era? You’ll figure out the answer to this question by using your contextualization skills.

Between 1450 and 1750, there was an explosion of religious change across multiple regions. These diverse religious transformations have had a lasting impact on our world.

How and why did belief systems change from c. 1450 to 1750? Use the Quick-Sourcing Tool to assess the primary sources in this collection to find out!

Why did belief systems change during the period from 1450 to 1750? The primary sources in this collection will help you understand this period of sectarian struggles.

Were your predictions and themes categorization correct in the first part of the Themes Notebook activity? Use your knowledge from this unit to decide.

Analyzing continuity and change over time is an important skill to practice, especially as you move from one unit to the next. Investigate what changed and what stayed the same from Unit 2 to Unit 3.

It’s time to review the map predictions you made at the beginning of the unit, and examine a series of maps to help you compare empires.

A full-color political map of the world in 1450 CE, highlighting the major states, communities, and cities you’ll learn about in WHP.

A full-color political map of the world in 1550 CE, highlighting the major states, communities, and cities you’ll learn about in WHP.

A full-color political map of the world in 1750 CE, highlighting the major states, communities, and cities you’ll learn about in WHP.

It’s time to learn some more SAQ strategies. This time, you’ll be scoring other students SAQ responses.

Using a sample student essay, you’ll evaluate how well the author met the Evidence, Sourcing, and Complexity rows of the WHP DBQ Rubric. Like a teacher, you shall wield an awesome power!

How did governments respond to foreign trade? Examine the documents to assess the responses of various empires.