Grade 7 Standards
World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times
Students in grade seven study the social, cultural, and
technological changes that occurred in Europe, Africa, and Asia in
the years A.D. 500-1789. After reviewing the ancient world and the
ways in which archaeologists and historians uncover the past,
students study the history and geography of great civilizations that
were developing concurrently throughout the world during medieval
and early modern times. They examine the growing economic
interaction among civilizations as well as the exchange of ideas,
beliefs, technologies, and commodities. They learn about the
resulting growth of Enlightenment philosophy and the new examination
of the concepts of reason and authority, the natural rights of human
beings and the divine right of kings, experimentalism in science,
and the dogma of belief. Finally, students assess the political
forces let loose by the Enlightenment, particularly the rise of
democratic ideas, and they learn about the continuing influence of
these ideas in the world today.
| 7.1 |
Students analyze
the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate
disintegration of the Roman Empire. |
| 7.1.1 |
Study the early
strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g.,
significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law;
Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy;
preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its
ultimate internal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous
military powers within the empire, undermining of
citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of
education, and distribution of news). |
| 7.1.2 |
Discuss the
geographic borders of the empire at its height and the
factors that threatened its territorial cohesion. |
| 7.1.3 |
Describe the
establishment by Constantine of the new capital in
Constantinople and the development of the Byzantine Empire,
with an emphasis on the consequences of the development of
two distinct European civilizations, Eastern Orthodox and
Roman Catholic, and their two distinct views on church-state
relations. |
| 7.2 |
Students analyze
the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social
structures of civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages. |
| 7.2.1 |
Identify the
physical features and describe the climate of the Arabian
peninsula, its relationship to surrounding bodies of land
and water, and nomadic and sedentary ways of life. |
| 7.2.2 |
Trace the origins
of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad, including
Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and
Christianity. |
| 7.2.3 |
Explain the
significance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the primary
sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their
influence in Muslims' daily life. |
| 7.2.4 |
Discuss the
expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and
treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim
civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the
Arabic language. |
| 7.2.5 |
Describe the
growth of cities and the establishment of trade routes among
Asia, Africa, and Europe, the products and inventions that
traveled along these routes (e.g., spices, textiles, paper,
steel, new crops), and the role of merchants in Arab
society. |
| 7.2.6 |
Understand the
intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and
Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later
civilizations in the areas of science, geography,
mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature. |
| 7.3 |
Students analyze
the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social
structures of the civilizations of China in the Middle Ages. |
| 7.3.1 |
Describe the
reunification of China under the Tang Dynasty and reasons
for the spread of Buddhism in Tang China, Korea, and Japan. |
| 7.3.2 |
Describe
agricultural, technological, and commercial developments
during the Tang and Sung periods. |
| 7.3.3 |
Analyze the
influences of Confucianism and changes in Confucian thought
during the Sung and Mongol periods. |
| 7.3.4 |
Understand the
importance of both overland trade and maritime expeditions
between China and other civilizations in the Mongol
Ascendancy and Ming Dynasty. |
| 7.3.5 |
Trace the historic
influence of such discoveries as tea, the manufacture of
paper, woodblock printing, the compass, and gunpowder. |
| 7.3.6 |
Describe the
development of the imperial state and the scholar-official
class. |
| 7.4 |
Students analyze
the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social
structures of the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and
Mali in Medieval Africa. |
| 7.4.1 |
Study the Niger
River and the relationship of vegetation zones of forest,
savannah, and desert to trade in gold, salt, food, and
slaves; and the growth of the Ghana and Mali empires. |
| 7.4.2 |
Analyze the
importance of family, labor specialization, and regional
commerce in the development of states and cities in West
Africa. |
| 7.4.3 |
Describe the role
of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in the changing religious
and cultural characteristics of West Africa and the
influence of Islamic beliefs, ethics, and law. |
| 7.4.4 |
Trace the growth
of the Arabic language in government, trade, and Islamic
scholarship in West Africa. |
| 7.4.5 |
Describe the
importance of written and oral traditions in the
transmission of African history and culture. |
| 7.5 |
Students analyze
the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social
structures of the civilizations of Medieval Japan. |
| 7.5.1 |
Describe the
significance of Japan's proximity to China and Korea and the
intellectual, linguistic, religious, and philosophical
influence of those countries on Japan. |
| 7.5.2 |
Discuss the reign
of Prince Shotoku of Japan and the characteristics of
Japanese society and family life during his reign. |
| 7.5.3 |
Describe the
values, social customs, and traditions prescribed by the
lord-vassal system consisting of shogun, daimyo, and samurai
and the lasting influence of the warrior code in the
twentieth century. |
| 7.5.4 |
Trace the
development of distinctive forms of Japanese Buddhism. |
| 7.5.5 |
Study the ninth
and tenth centuries' golden age of literature, art, and
drama and its lasting effects on culture today, including
Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji. |
| 7.5.6 |
Analyze the rise
of a military society in the late twelfth century and the
role of the samurai in that society. |
| 7.6 |
Students analyze
the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social
structures of the civilizations of Medieval Europe. |
| 7.6.1 |
Study the
geography of the Europe and the Eurasian land mass,
including its location, topography, waterways, vegetation,
and climate and their relationship to ways of life in
Medieval Europe. |
| 7.6.2 |
Describe the
spread of Christianity north of the Alps and the roles
played by the early church and by monasteries in its
diffusion after the fall of the western half of the Roman
Empire. |
| 7.6.3 |
Understand the
development of feudalism, its role in the medieval European
economy, the way in which it was influenced by physical
geography (the role of the manor and the growth of towns),
and how feudal relationships provided the foundation of
political order. |
| 7.6.4 |
Demonstrate an
understanding of the conflict and cooperation between the
Papacy and European monarchs (e.g., Charlemagne, Gregory
VII, Emperor Henry IV). |
| 7.6.5 |
Know the
significance of developments in medieval English legal and
constitutional practices and their importance in the rise of
modern democratic thought and representative institutions
(e.g., Magna Carta, parliament, development of habeas
corpus, an independent judiciary in England). |
| 7.6.6 |
Discuss the causes
and course of the religious Crusades and their effects on
the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations in Europe,
with emphasis on the increasing contact by Europeans with
cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean world. |
| 7.6.7 |
Map the spread of
the bubonic plague from Central Asia to China, the Middle
East, and Europe and describe its impact on global
population. |
| 7.6.8 |
Understand the
importance of the Catholic church as a political,
intellectual, and aesthetic institution (e.g., founding of
universities, political and spiritual roles of the clergy,
creation of monastic and mendicant religious orders,
preservation of the Latin language and religious texts, St.
Thomas Aquinas's synthesis of classical philosophy with
Christian theology, and the concept of "natural law"). |
| 7.6.9 |
Know the history
of the decline of Muslim rule in the lberian Peninsula that
culminated in the Reconquista and the rise of Spanish and
Portuguese kingdoms. |
| 7.7 |
Students compare
and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious,
and social structures of the Meso-American and Andean
civilizations. |
| 7.7.1 |
Study the
locations, landforms, and climates of Mexico, Central
America, and South America and their effects on Mayan,
Aztec, and Incan economies, trade, and development of urban
societies. |
| 7.7.2 |
Study the roles of
people in each society, including class structures, family
life, warfare, religious beliefs and practices, and slavery. |
| 7.7.3 |
Explain how and
where each empire arose and how the Aztec and Incan empires
were defeated by the Spanish. |
| 7.7.4 |
Describe the
artistic and oral traditions and architecture in the three
civilizations. |
| 7.7.5 |
Describe the
Meso-American achievements in astronomy and mathematics,
including the development of the calendar and the
Meso-American knowledge of seasonal changes to the
civilizations' agricultural systems. |
| 7.8 |
Students analyze
the origins, accomplishments, and geographic diffusion of
the Renaissance. |
| 7.8.1 |
Describe the way
in which the revival of classical learning and the arts
fostered a new interest in humanism (i.e., a balance between
intellect and religious faith). |
| 7.8.2 |
Explain the
importance of Florence in the early stages of the
Renaissance and the growth of independent trading cities
(e.g., Venice), with emphasis on the cities' importance in
the spread of Renaissance ideas. |
| 7.8.3 |
Understand the
effects of the reopening of the ancient "Silk Road" between
Europe and China, including Marco Polo's travels and the
location of his routes. |
| 7.8.4 |
Describe the
growth and effects of new ways of disseminating information
(e.g., the ability to manufacture paper, translation of the
Bible into the vernacular, printing). |
| 7.8.5 |
Detail advances
made in literature, the arts, science, mathematics,
cartography, engineering, and the understanding of human
anatomy and astronomy (e.g., by Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da
Vinci, Michelangelo di Buonarroti Simoni, Johann Gutenberg,
William Shakespeare). |
| 7.9 |
Students analyze
the historical developments of the Reformation. |
| 7.9.1 |
List the causes
for the internal turmoil in and weakening of the Catholic
church (e.g., tax policies, selling of indulgences). |
| 7.9.2 |
Describe the
theological, political, and economic ideas of the major
figures during the Reformation (e.g., Desiderius Erasmus,
Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale). |
| 7.9.3 |
Explain
Protestants' new practices of church self-government and the
influence of those practices on the development of
democratic practices and ideas of federalism. |
| 7.9.4 |
Identify and
locate the European regions that remained Catholic and those
that became Protestant and explain how the division affected
the distribution of religions in the New World. |
| 7.9.5 |
Analyze how the
Counter Reformation revitalized the Catholic church and the
forces that fostered the movement (e.g., St. Ignatius of
Loyola and the Jesuits, the Council of Trent). |
| 7.9.6 |
Understand the
institution and impact of missionaries on Christianity and
the diffusion of Christianity from Europe to other parts of
the world in the medieval and early modern periods; locate
missions on a world map. |
| 7.9.7 |
Describe the
Golden Age of cooperation between Jews and Muslims in
medieval Spain that promoted creativity in art, literature,
and science, including how that cooperation was terminated
by the religious persecution of individuals and groups
(e.g., the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews and
Muslims from Spain in 1492). |
| 7.10 |
Students analyze
the historical developments of the Scientific Revolution and
its lasting effect on religious, political, and cultural
institutions. |
| 7.10.1 |
Discuss the roots
of the Scientific Revolution (e.g., Greek rationalism;
Jewish, Christian, and Muslim science; Renaissance humanism;
new knowledge from global exploration). |
| 7.10.2 |
Understand the
significance of the new scientific theories (e.g., those of
Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton) and the significance of
new inventions (e.g., the telescope, microscope,
thermometer, barometer). |
| 7.10.3 |
Understand the
scientific method advanced by Bacon and Descartes, the
influence of new scientific rationalism on the growth of
democratic ideas, and the coexistence of science with
traditional religious beliefs. |
| 7.11 |
Students analyze
political and economic change in the sixteenth, seventeenth,
and eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the
Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason). |
| 7.11.1 |
Know the great
voyages of discovery, the locations of the routes, and the
influence of cartography in the development of a new
European worldview. |
| 7.11.2 |
Discuss the
exchanges of plants, animals, technology, culture, and ideas
among Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the major economic and
social effects on each continent. |
| 7.11.3 |
Examine the
origins of modern capitalism; the influence of mercantilism
and cottage industry; the elements and importance of a
market economy in seventeenth-century Europe; the changing
international trading and marketing patterns, including
their locations on a world map; and the influence of
explorers and map makers. |
| 7.11.4 |
Explain how the
main ideas of the Enlightenment can be traced back to such
movements as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the
Scientific Revolution and to the Greeks, Romans, and
Christianity. |
| 7.11.5 |
Describe how
democratic thought and institutions were influenced by
Enlightenment thinkers (e.g., John Lock, Charles-Louis
Montesquieu, American founders). |
| 7.11.6 |
Discuss how the
principles in the Magna Carta were embodied in such
documents as the English Bill of Rights and the American
Declaration of Independence. |
|