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Networks of Exchange: Unit 2 Overview

Teacher Resources

Driving Question: What were the causes and consequences of expanding networks of exchange from c. 1200 to 1450 CE?

Why start this course in 1200 CE? This provides important historical context for how the world was organized before it became globally connected. Learning about the variety of communities and networks that existed from 1200 to 1450 CE will also allow you to make historical comparisons across time and geographic space.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Explain how states interacted and exchanged culture, innovations, goods, and diseases through networks from c. 1200 to 1450 CE.
  2. Use the AP themes to evaluate networks of exchange from 1200 to 1450 CE.

Vocab Terms:

  • network
  • society
  • technology
  • trade
  • trade network
STEP 1

Opener: Networks of Exchange, c. 1200 to 1450 CE

STEP 2

Unit 2 Overview

The development of ancient trade routes paved the way not only for economic development but also for cultural and political development as well.

Unit 2 Overview: Networks of Exchange External link

What do modern pit stops and medieval caravanserai have in common? Quite a lot! Merchants who traveled the Silk Roads, Indian Ocean, and trans-Saharan trade routes needed safe places to stop, rest, and refuel during their journey, just like modern travelers do.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 3

Unit 2 Introduction: Networks of Exchange 1200 to 1450 CE

The Silk Roads allowed for much more than the trading of silk; in fact, it created superhighways of diffusion that spread new ideas, as well as new health concerns, far and wide.

STEP 4

Closer: Networks of Exchange, c. 1200 to 1450 CE