AP World History AMSCO Guided Notes
4.7: Changing Social Hierarchies
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP World History Guided Notes
AMSCO 4.7 - Changing Social Hierarchies
Essential Questions
- How were social categories, roles, and practices maintained or changed from 1450 to 1750?
I. Social Classes and Minorities in Gunpowder Empires
1. What were gunpowder empires and why were the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires called by this name?
A. Ottoman Society
1. How was Ottoman society structured and what role did the ulama and Janissaries play in the military and government?
2. What was the timar system and how did sultans use it to maintain power and loyalty?
B. Treatment of Religious Minorities
1. Why did Sultan Mehmed II invite Jews to settle in the Ottoman Empire and what opportunities did some Jews gain?
2. What restrictions did Jews face in the Ottoman Empire despite being allowed to settle there?
C. Religious Toleration in the Mughal Empire
1. How did Akbar the Great use religious toleration to maintain control of the Mughal Empire?
D. Women in the Ottoman Empire
1. What was harem politics and how did it influence succession to the Ottoman throne?
2. How did Roxelana's life illustrate both the constraints and rare opportunities for social mobility in Ottoman society?
E. Other Social Classes
1. What social classes existed below the military and administrative elite in the Ottoman Empire?
2. Where did enslaved people in the Ottoman Empire come from and what roles did they perform?
II. Manchu Power and Conflicts in the Qing Dynasty
1. How did the Manchu approach to ruling China differ from the Mongol approach in terms of cultural tolerance?
A. Conflicts with the Han
1. What was the queue policy and why did the Qing enforce it despite its conflict with Confucian values?
2. How did Han Chinese defectors contribute to Qing control over the Han population?
III. European Hierarchies
A. The Nobility Makes Gains
1. How did the nobility maintain power in the Netherlands and England during this period?
B. The Nobility Faces Losses
1. What groups challenged the nobility's power in Europe and what criticisms did thinkers like Thomas More level against them?
C. Power of Royalty over Nobility
1. How did gunpowder technology and military advances allow rulers to increase their power over the nobility?
2. How did Louis XIV and Frederick of Prussia differ in their views about the extent of royal power?
D. Growing Acceptance of Jews
1. Where did Spanish Jews resettle after their expulsion in 1492 and what terms describe their diaspora communities?
2. How did the scientific revolution and Enlightenment affect Jewish status in Europe and what roles did Jews begin to play?
IV. Russian Social Classes
1. What was the structure of Russian society and what was the status of serfs compared to other peasants?
2. How did Ivan IV use his power to control the boyar class and what happened to those who opposed him?
V. Political and Economic Elites in the Americas
1. What factors led to the development of a new social hierarchy based on race and ancestry in the Americas?
A. The Casta System in Latin America
1. What were the different levels of the casta system and how was social status determined within it?
2. What restrictions did the casta system place on social mobility and how did it affect taxation?
Key Terms
Mehmed II
Akbar the Great
Roxelana
Qing Dynasty
Manchu
Li Chengdong
Liu Liangzuo
Louis XIV
Ivan IV
timar
harem
boyar
nobility
serf
peninsulares
criollo
castas
mestizos
mulattoes
zambos
Barbary pirates
impressed
queues
Sephardic Jew
Ashkenazi Jew