World History I: The World from the Fall of Rome through the Enlightenment
In World History I, students study the history of the major empires and political entities that emerged after the fall of the Roman Empire, including the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Moghul Empire, the Chinese dynasties, the major pre-Columbian civilizations that existed in Central and South America, and the beginnings of European influence on the Western Hemisphere. Students also examine the important political, economic, and religious developments of this period, including the development of democratic, scientific, and secular thought in Europe. To the extent practical, students study the origins and development of major civilizations in Africa, India and East Asia.
Themes for this History and Social Science Curriculum Framework
Each year, history and social science teachers should help their students grasp these overarching themes and vital concepts that link in different ways the standards and concepts at each grade level with those at earlier and subsequent grade levels. Genuine historical knowledge will develop from a deepening understanding of the relationship between the basic facts of history and these larger themes and concepts. This deepening understanding will be facilitated by a coordinated approach to curriculum development at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Listed below are several useful themes and the grade level of the standards that can address them. The themes relate to both U.S. and world history and can be used as the basis of essay questions on the history and social science assessments.
The evolution of the concepts of personal freedom, individual responsibility, and respect for human dignity.
Standards in World History I address the evolution of those principles and institutions in England, throughout Europe, and then throughout much of the rest of the world.
The growth and impact of centralized state power.
World History I and II standards address the growth of civilizations and nations with increasingly stronger central governments, as well as many of the conflicts and effects associated with these developments.
The influence of economic, political, religious, and cultural ideas as human societies move beyond regional, national, or geographic boundaries.
World History I and World History II address the encounters and conflicts between groups of people as in modern Africa or Ireland, the Balkans, and Southeast Asia, and between different civilizations, such as Islam and Christianity. The World History I and II standards also address the growth of trade among nations and regions as well as diplomatic, religious, and cultural interaction among civilizations and nations.
The effects of geography on the history of civilizations and nations.
The standards, concepts, and skills for World History I addresses the relationship between geography and the rise and central characteristics of civilizations and nations.
The growth and spread of free markets and industrial economies.
Many standards for World History I address the role of economic trade in spreading ideas, customs, and practices, as well as sparking new ones.
The development of scientific reasoning, technology, and formal education over time and their effects on people’s health, standards of living, economic growth, government, religious beliefs, communal life, and the environment.
Standards for World and U.S. History I and II address advances in scientific and mathematical thought in the Islamic world, India, and Europe.
The birth, growth, and decline of civilizations.
Standards in World History I address the growth and decline of Islamic civilization and the rebirth and dramatic growth of European civilization after 1500.
Concepts and Skills, Grades 8-12
History and Geography
1. Apply the skills of prekindergarten through grade seven.
2. Identify multiple ways to express time relationships and dates (for example, 1066 AD is the same as 1066 CE, and both refer to a date in the eleventh or 11th century, which is the same as the 1000s). Identify countries that use a different calendar from the one used in the U.S. and explain the basis for the difference. (H)
3. Interpret and construct timelines that show how events and eras in various parts of the world are related to one another. (H)
4. Interpret and construct charts and graphs that show quantitative information. (H, C, G, E)
5. Explain how a cause and effect relationship is different from a sequence or correlation of events. (H, C, E)
6. Distinguish between long-term and short-term cause and effect relationships. (H, G, C, E)
7. Show connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and ideas and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. (H, G, C, E)
8. Interpret the past within its own historical context rather than in terms of present-day norms and values. (H, E, C)
9. Distinguish intended from unintended consequences. (H, E, C)
10. Distinguish historical fact from opinion. (H, E, C)
11. Using historical maps, locate the boundaries of the major empires of world history at the height of their powers. (H, G)
Civics and Government
12. Define and use correctly the following words and terms: Magna Carta, parliament, habeas corpus, monarchy, and absolutism. (C)
General Economics Skills
13. Define and use correctly mercantilism, feudalism, economic growth, and entrepreneur. (E)
14. Explain how people or communities examine and weigh the benefits of each alternative when making a choice and that opportunity costs are those benefits that are given up once one alternative is chosen. (E)
15. Explain how financial markets, such as the stock market, channel funds from savers to investors. (E)
16. Define and use correctly gross domestic product, economic growth, recession, depression, unemployment, inflation, and deflation. (E)
17. Explain how opportunity costs and tradeoffs can be evaluated through an analysis of marginal costs and benefits. (E)
18. Explain how competition among sellers lowers costs and prices, and encourages producers to produce more. (E)
19. Describe the role of buyers and sellers in determining the equilibrium price, and use supply and demand to explain and predict changes in quantity and price. (E)
20. Describe how the earnings of workers are affected by the market value of the product produced and worker skills. (E)
21. Identify the causes of inflation and explain who benefits from inflation and who suffers from inflation. (E)
22. Define and distinguish between absolute and comparative advantage, and explain how most trade occurs because of comparative advantage in the production of a particular good or service. (E)
23. Explain how changes in exchange rates affect balance of trade and the purchasing power of people in the United States and other countries. (E)
24. Differentiate between fiscal and monetary policy. (E)