Unit 2: Networks of Exchange, c. 1200 to c. 1450

Unit Two focuses on the trade networks and forces that connect the six regions covered in Unit One, as well as their cultural and environmental effects. Beginning with the Silk Road, the unit’s next stop are the Mongols, a group which completely changed Eurasian trade and cultural transfer and established numerous states across the continent. Two other networks of exchange follow: the Indian Ocean Trade and the Trans-Saharan Trade Route. The unit ends with a compilation of all of the cultural, social, economic, technological, political, and environmental effects of these trade routes. Students should focus on being able to compare these different networks, as well as understand the cause and effect behind global events during this period.