Deck 11: The Central System Part IV-The Long Rise of Capitalism

Question 1

The Central PMN was first formed when:

A) Egypt and Italy began exchanging raw materials
B) The states in Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley started trading with one another
C) Chicago linked the boat traffic of the Great Lakes with the emerging railroad lines from New York
D) The Egyptian state began making war and alliances with states in Western Asia, connecting the interstate system that had emerged in Mesopotamia directly with Egypt.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The states and empires of East Asia and the Central PMN became permanently linked to one another by direct political-military interaction in the:

A) 16th century CE
B) 2ⁿᵈ century BCE
C) 2ⁿᵈ century CE
D) 19ᵗʰ century CE
E) none of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Two instances in which a PMN was temporarily linked to another distant PMN discussed in Chapter 11 were:

A) Mohammad of Ghazni's conquest of parts of the Indian subcontinent
B) Alexander the Great's conquest of parts of the Indian subcontinent
C) The Mongol Empire's linkage of the East Asian and Central PMNs
D) The Louisiana Purchase
E) b and c

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Semiperipheral capitalist city-states usually used military power to:

A) conquer land that could be used for agriculture
B) embarrass the armies of adjacent states and empires
C) increase their ability to make profits by means of trade
D) subject local peoples to the payment of tributes
E) convert people to their religion

Question 5

Conquerors try to shift from plunder to tribute-taking because:

A) their sense of honor is better served
B) people resent the killing and robbing that is part of pillage
C) tribute-taking is less destructive and so is more likely to be sustainable
D) soldiers prefer the duties of tax collection to those of plunder
E) a and d

Question 6

Polanyi contended that a market economy had emerged in the Greek city-states because:

A) a lot of teenagers were playing Grand Theft Auto
B) it was possible to buy prepared food in the marketplace
C) coins were available in small denominations that could be used for everyday transactions
D) shares of companies were being bought and sold
E) laws were made to protect the rights of consumers
F) b and c

Question 7

The main reasons why the Romans defeated Hannibal were because:

A) his army was composed mainly of mercenaries
B) his ears were frozen off while crossing the Alps
C) The Carthaginians did not send help to Hannibal
D) The Romans kept fighting despite a series of defeats
E) he lost most of his elephants before he got to Italy
F) c and d

Question 8

The Ming Dynasty in China reversed its policy of overseas expansion because:

A) the emperor did not trust the court eunuchs who were in charge of the overseas venture
B) the sailing ships of the Chinese were unable to cross large bodies of water
C) the Central Asian steppe nomads were attacking once again and the emperor decided he could not defend the border and also engage in the overseas ventures.
D) the Chinese fleets were repelled by more maneuverable European sailing vessels

Question 9

The Mesopotamian and Egyptian systems merged around 1500 BCE when a regular trade in prestige goods emerged between these two regions.

Question 10

World-systems are like river systems because flows of goods converge and dump into the ocean of human needs.

Question 11

Alexander the Great's conquest of parts of India and the emergence of the Mongol Empire are similar in that they both represent an expansion of a PMN that turned out to be temporary.

Question 12

Semiperipheral capitalist city-states can often maintain their autonomy from larger empires because they occupy locations that are not very desirable.

Question 13

The expansion and intensification of inter-regional trade was rarely facilitated by the actions of semiperipheral capitalist city-states.

Question 14

Tribute-taking is preferable to plunder because it has fewer detrimental effects on conquered populations.

Question 15

The ability of people to purchase prepared food in a public place is an indicator of the emergence of a market economy.

Question 16

The rise of Rome was not an instance of semiperipheral marcher state conquest because Rome was located in a region that had long been a core region in the Mediterranean world-system.

Question 17

Hannibal failed to conquer Rome because the Carthaginians did not send him supplies and reinforcements at a crucial juncture.

Question 18

Carthage was a typical semiperipheral capitalist city-state that generally used its military power to set up profitable trading opportunities.

Question 19

The Persian Empire was unusual in the extent to which the Persians suppressed the religions of the peoples they conquered.

Question 20

An important difference between Europe and East Asia that affected political and economic developments in the regions was that Europe was more politically centralized than was East Asia.

Question 21

A trade diaspora exists when trade among culturally different peoples is carried out by specialists who trust each other because they are members of the same ethnic groups or co-religionists.

Question 22

There was an East Asian PMN that was substantially independent in terms of political-military interactions from the Central PMN until the first half of the 19ᵗʰ century CE.

Question 23

What happened around 1500 BCE that led to the merger of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian systems, and how might they have been influencing each other before this time?

Question 24

Why is a river system a good metaphor for describing the expansion of the Central system? What does the idea of rivers within rivers refer to?

Question 25

Why are Alexander the Great's conquests in India considered to be only a temporary link between the West Asian and South Asian PMNs?

Question 26

Why was it an advantage for semiperipheral capitalist city-states to be located on islands?

Question 27

Why do conquerors try to shift from plunder into tribute-taking?

Question 28

Describe the kinds of economic institutions that led Polanyi to conclude that a developed market economy had emerged in the Greek city-states.

Question 29

In what ways can the rise of the Romans be construed as an instance of the
semiperipheral marcher state phenomenon?

Question 30

Why is the story of Hannibal's attempt to conquer Rome alleged to be example of "niche-switching"?