NY Social Studies Standards (Global History and Geography II)

Enlightenment thinkers developed political philosophies based on natural laws, which included the concepts of social contract, consent of the governed, and the rights of citizens. Students will examine at least three Enlightenment thinkers, including John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and key ideas from their written works.

Individuals used Enlightenment ideals to challenge traditional beliefs and secure people’s rights in reform movements, such as women’s rights and abolition; some leaders may be considered enlightened despots. Students will explore the influence of Enlightenment ideals on issues of gender and abolition by examining the ideas of individuals such as Mary Wollstonecraft and William Wilberforce. Students will examine enlightened despots including Catherine the Great.

Individuals and groups drew upon principles of the Enlightenment to spread rebellions and call for revolutions in France and the Americas. Students will examine evidence related to the preconditions of the French Revolution and the course of the revolution, noting the roles of Olympe de Gouges, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Students will examine the evidence related to the impacts of the French Revolution on resistance and revolutionary movements, noting the roles of Toussaint L’Ouverture and Simon Bolivar.

Cultural identity and nationalism inspired political movements that attempted to unify people into new nation-states and posed challenges to multinational states. Students will investigate the role of cultural identity and nationalism in the unification of Italy and Germany and in the dissolution of the Ottoman and Austrian Empires.

Agricultural innovations and technologies enabled people to alter their environment, allowing them to increase and support farming on a large scale. Students will examine the agricultural revolution in Great Britain.

Factors including new economic theories and practices, new sources of energy, and technological innovations influenced the development of new communication and transportation systems and new methods of production. These developments had numerous effects. Students will analyze the factors and conditions needed to industrialize and to expand industrial production, as well as shifts in economic practices. Students will examine the economic theory presented in The Wealth of Nations. Students will examine changes and innovations in energy, technology, communication, and transportation that enabled industrialization.

Shifts in population from rural to urban areas led to social changes in class structure, family structure, and the daily lives of people. Students will investigate the social, political, and economic impacts of industrialization in Victorian England and Meiji Japan and compare and contrast them.

Social and political reform, as well as new ideologies, developed in response to industrial growth. Students will investigate suffrage, education, and labor reforms, as well as ideologies such as Marxism, that were intended to transform society. Students will examine the Irish potato famine within the context of the British agricultural revolution and Industrial Revolution.

European industrialized states and Japan sought to play a dominant role in the world and to control natural resources for political, economic, and cultural reasons. Students will explore imperialism from a variety of perspectives such as those of missionaries, indigenous peoples, women, merchants/business people, and government officials. Students will trace how imperial powers politically and economically controlled territories and people, including direct and indirect rule in Africa (South Africa, Congo, and one other territory), India, Indochina, and spheres of influence in China.

Those who faced being colonized engaged in varying forms of resistance and adaptation to colonial rule with varying degrees of success. Students will investigate one example of resistance in Africa (Zulu, Ethiopia, or Southern Egypt/Sudan) and one in China (Taiping Rebellion or Boxer Rebellion and the role of Empress Dowager CiXi). Students will investigate how Japan reacted to the threat of Western imperialism in Asia.

International conflicts developed as imperial powers competed for control. Claims over land often resulted in borders being shifted on political maps, often with little regard for traditional cultures and commerce (e.g., Berlin Conference). Students will compare and contrast maps of Africa from ca. 1800 and ca. 1914, noting the changes and continuities of ethnic groups and regions, African states, and European claims.

International competition, fueled by nationalism, imperialism, and militarism along with shifts in the balance of power and alliances, led to world wars. Students will compare and contrast long- and short-term causes and effects of World War I and World War II.

Technological developments increased the extent of damage and casualties in both World War I and World War II. Students will compare and contrast the technologies utilized in both World War I and World War II, noting the human and environmental devastation.

The devastation of the world wars and use of total war led people to explore ways to prevent future world wars. Students will examine international efforts to work together to build stability and peace, including Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations, and the United Nations.

Nationalism and ideology played a significant role in shaping the period between the world wars. Students will examine the Russian Revolution and the development of Soviet ideology and nationalism under Lenin and Stalin. Students will examine the role of nationalism and the development of the National Socialist state under Hitler in Germany. Students will examine the role of nationalism and militarism in Japan. Students will investigate the causes of the Great Depression and its influence on the rise of totalitarian dictators and determine the common characteristics of these dictators.

Human atrocities and mass murders occurred in this time period. Students will examine the atrocities against the Armenians; examine the Ukrainian Holodomor, and examine the Holocaust.

The Cold War originated from tensions near the end of World War II as plans for peace were made and implemented. The Cold War was characterized by competition for power and ideological differences between the United States and the Soviet Union. Students will compare and contrast how peace was conceived at Yalta and Potsdam with what happened in Europe in the four years after World War II (i.e., Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, Truman Doctrine, Berlin blockade, NATO).

The Cold War was a period of confrontations and attempts at peaceful coexistence. Students will investigate the efforts to expand and contain communism in Cuba, Vietnam, and Afghanistan from multiple perspectives. Students will examine the new military alliances, nuclear proliferation, and the rise of the military-industrial complex. Students will examine the reasons countries such as Egypt and India chose nonalignment. Students will explore the era of détente from both American and Soviet perspectives.

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the communist bloc in Europe had a global impact. Students will investigate the political reforms of glasnost and economic reforms of perestroika. Students will examine the impacts of those reforms within the Soviet Union, on the Soviet communist bloc, and in the world.

Independence movements in India and Indochina developed in response to European control. Students will explore Gandhi’s nonviolent nationalist movement and nationalist efforts led by the Muslim League aimed at the masses that resulted in a British-partitioned subcontinent. Students will compare and contrast the ideologies and methodologies of Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh as nationalist leaders.

African independence movements gained strength as European states struggled economically after World War II. European efforts to limit African nationalist movements were often unsuccessful. Students will explore at least two of these three African independence movements: Ghana, Algeria, Kenya.

Nationalism in the Middle East was often influenced by factors such as religious beliefs and secularism. Students will investigate Zionism, the mandates created at the end of World War I, and Arab nationalism. Students will examine the creation of the State of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Nationalism in China influenced the removal of the imperial regime, led to numerous conflicts, and resulted in the formation of the communist People’s Republic of China. Students will trace the Chinese Civil War, including the role of warlords, nationalists, communists, and the world wars that resulted in the division of China into a communist-run People’s Republic of China and a nationalist-run Taiwan. Students will investigate political, economic, and social policies under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and compare and contrast these policies.

Cultures and countries experience and view modernization differently. For some, it is a change from a traditional rural, agrarian condition to a secular, urban, industrial condition. Some see modernization as a potential threat and others as an opportunity to be met. Students will investigate the extent to which urbanization and industrialization have modified the roles of social institutions such as family, religion, education, and government by examining one case study in each of these regions: Africa (e.g., Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone), Latin America (e.g., Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico), and Asia (e.g., China, India, Indonesia, South Korea).

Tensions between agents of modernization and traditional cultures have resulted in ongoing debates within affected societies regarding social norms, gender roles, and the role of authorities and institutions. Students will investigate, compare, and contrast tensions between modernization and traditional culture in Turkey under the rule of Kemal Atatürk and in Iran under the Pahlavis and the Ayatollahs. Students will explore how changes in technology, such as communication and transportation, have affected interactions between people and those in authority (e.g., efforts to affect change in government policy, engage people in the political process including use of social media, control access to information, and use terrorism as a tactic).

Technological changes in communication and transportation systems allow for instantaneous interconnections and new networks of exchange between people and places that have lessened the effects of time and distance. Students will explore how information is accessed, exchanged, and controlled and how business is conducted in light of changing technology. Students will investigate the causes and effects of, and responses to, one infectious disease (e.g., malaria, HIV/AIDS).

Globalization is contentious, supported by some and criticized by others. Students will compare and contrast arguments supporting and criticizing globalization by examining concerns including: free market, export-oriented economies vs. localized, sustainable activities; development of a mixed economy in China and China’s role in the global economy; multinational corporations and cartels (e.g., Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries); roles of the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and microfinance institutions; economic growth and economic downturns (e.g., recession, depression) on a national and a global scale; economic development and inequality (e.g., access to water, food, education, health care, energy); migration and labor; ethnic diversity vs. homogenization (e.g., shopping malls, fast food franchises, language, popular culture).

Population pressures, industrialization, and urbanization have increased demands for limited natural resources and food resources, often straining the environment. Students will examine how the world’s population is growing exponentially for numerous reasons and how it is not evenly distributed. Students will explore efforts to increase and intensify food production through industrial agriculture (e.g., Green Revolutions, use of fertilizers and pesticides, irrigation, and genetic modifications). Students will examine strains on the environment, such as threats to wildlife and degradation of the physical environment (i.e., desertification, deforestation and pollution) due to population growth, industrialization, and urbanization.

Globalization has created new possibilities for international cooperation and for international conflict. Students will examine the roles of the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and efforts to build coalitions to promote international cooperation to address conflicts and issues. They will also examine the extent to which these efforts were successful. Students will investigate one organization and one international action that sought to provide solutions to environmental issues, including the Kyoto Protocol. Students will examine threats to global security, such as international trade in weapons (e.g., chemical, biological, and nuclear), nuclear proliferation, cyber war, and terrorism, including a discussion of the events of September 11, 2001.

Following World War II, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) was written. This provides a set of principles to guide efforts to protect threatened groups. Students will investigate and analyze the historical context of the Holocaust, Nuremberg Trials, and Tokyo Trials and their impacts on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students will examine the articles contained in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Governments, groups, and individuals have responded in various ways to the human atrocities committed in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will explore multinational treaties and international court systems that bind countries to adhere to international human rights. Students will explore international organizations that work to maintain peace, stability, and economic prosperity, and to protect nations and people from oppressive governments and political violence.

Historical and contemporary violations of human rights can be evaluated, using the principles and articles established within the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students will examine the atrocities committed under Augusto Pinochet, Deng Xiaoping, and Slobodan Milosevic in light of the principles and articles within the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students will examine and analyze the roles of perpetrators and bystanders in human rights violations in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur in light of the principles and articles within the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students will examine the policy of apartheid in South Africa and the growth of the anti-apartheid movements, exploring Nelson Mandela’s role in these movements and in the post-apartheid period. Students will explore efforts to address human rights violations by individuals and groups, including the efforts of Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

Powerful Eurasian states and empires faced and responded to challenges ca. 1750. Students will compare and contrast the Mughal Empire and the Ottoman Empire in 1750 in terms of religious and ethnic tolerance, political organization, and commercial activity. Students will examine efforts to unify, stabilize, and centralize Japan under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Students will compare and contrast the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan with France under the rule of the Bourbon Dynasty, looking at the role of Edo and Paris/Versailles, attempts to control the daimyo and nobles, and the development of bureaucracies.

Perceptions of outsiders and interactions with them varied across Eurasia. Students will compare and contrast the Tokugawa and Mughal responses to outsiders, with attention to the impacts of those decisions. Students will create a world map showing the extent of European maritime empires, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Mughal Empire, China under the Qing Dynasty, Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate, Ashanti, Benin, and Dahomey ca. 1750. Students will compare the size of these states, empires, and kingdoms relative to the power they wielded in their regions and in the world.