AP World History: Modern case studies
AP World History: Modern · Put your knowledge to work in context.
AP World History: Modern is a College Board advanced placement course and exam in world history from c. 1200 to the present. College Board describes the college course equivalent as an introductory college course in modern world history and lists no recommended prerequisites, so it is open to students willing to do college-level reading and writing. Content is organized into units that move through four periods: c. The AP World History: Modern case studies are 5 cases and about 3,585 words.
1The Monsoon Ledger: Choosing a Pepper Route in 1230
In 1230 a merchant house in Aden keeps a ledger for two pepper routes. Route A: Malabar to Aden directly, sailing with the northeast monsoon in December–March; freight 4 dinars per bahar; transit 21 days; pirate losses averaged 1 cargo in 12 over the last decade.
762 words, about 4 min2Silver, Prices, and the Limits of a Single Cause
Between 1570 and 1640, registered silver shipments from Potosí and Zacatecas to Seville totaled about 400 million pesos; smuggling may have added a third more. Over the same decades, prices in Castile roughly tripled, while prices in Ming China rose far less even though China absorbed perhaps a third of American silver through Manila.
712 words, about 4 min3The Railway Concession: Development or Extraction?
In 1902 a chartered company finishes a 620-km railway from a coastal port to a copper district in a territory it administers under a concession. The charter grants it 8,000 hectares per completed kilometer (about 4.96 million hectares) and lets it set its own tariffs.
720 words, about 4 min4Nonalignment: Policy or Price?
In 1961, 25 states met at Belgrade and declared themselves nonaligned. A US State Department desk officer compares three of them.
684 words, about 3 min5The Ili Memorial: Paying for a Frontier
In 1760 a Qing official submits a memorial on governing the newly conquered Ili valley. He lays out three options.
707 words, about 4 min