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2022 (June): NY Regents - Global History and Geography II

By Sara Cowley
Last updated about 2 months ago
35 Questions
Note from the author:
From the New York State Education Department. The University of the State of New York REGENTS HIGH SCHOOL EXAMINATION REGENTS EXAM IN GLOBAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY II (GRADE 10). Internet. Available from https://www.nysedregents.org/ghg2/622/glhg2-62022-examw.pdf; accessed 23, June, 2023.
From the New York State Education Department. The University of the State of New York REGENTS HIGH SCHOOL EXAMINATION REGENTS EXAM IN GLOBAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY II (GRADE 10). Internet. Available from https://www.nysedregents.org/ghg2/622/glhg2-62022-examw.pdf; accessed 23, June, 2023.
1.

Base your answer to question 1 on the map below and on your knowledge of social studies.


What was a contributing factor to the historical development shown on this map?

Base your answers to questions 2 and 3 on the illustration at the left and on your knowledge of social studies.
2.

Which claim is best supported by information from this illustration?

3.

What was one effect of the historical development shown in this illustration?

Base your answers to questions 4 and 5 on the passages below and on your knowledge of social studies.

. . . In the Moghul [Mughal] empire the core contradiction had always been Hindus versus Muslims. Akbar the Great had worked out a sort of accommodation, but his great-grandson Aurangzeb reversed all his policies, enforcing orthodox Islam rigidly, restoring discrimination against Hindus, squashing smaller religious groups such as the Sikhs, and generally replacing tolerance with repression. And yet, say what you will about the man’s narrow-minded zealotry [fanaticism], Aurangzeb was a titanic talent, so he not only held his empire together but extended it. The whole time, however, he was sowing the discord [division] and tension that would erupt to ruin the empire as soon as a less capable ruler took charge. . . .

***

. . . This glimpse into the Ottoman social clockwork does not begin to exhaust its fractal intricacy [complexity]: look closer and deeper into Ottoman society and you’ll see the same order of complexity at every level. Everything was connected to everything else and connected in many ways, which was fi ne when all the connections balanced out and all of the parts were working. Centuries later, when the empire entered its decrepitude [decaying state], all the intertwining parts and intermeshing [connecting] institutions became a peculiarly Ottoman liability; their intricacy meant that trouble in one place or sphere translated mysteriously to trouble in a dozen other places or spheres—but that came later. In the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was an awesomely well-functioning machine. . . .

***
Source: Tamim Ansary, Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes, Public Affairs
4.

Based on these passages, what is a primary similarity between the Mughal and Ottoman Empires?

5.

Which statement best explains a reason the Mughal Empire declined and a reason the Ottoman Empire declined?

Base your answer to question 6 on the passage below and on your knowledge of social studies.

Mary Wollstonecraft’s Book Dedication to M. Tallyrand-Périgord
. . . Contending for the rights of woman, my main argument is built on this simple principle, that if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all, or it will be ineffi cacious [ineffective] with respect to its infl uence on general practice. And how can woman be expected to co-operate unless she know why she ought to be virtuous? Unless freedom strengthen her reason till she comprehend her duty, and see in what manner it is connected with her real good? If children are to be educated to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot; and the love of mankind, from which an orderly train of virtues spring, can only be produced by considering the moral and civil interest of mankind; but the education and situation of woman, at present, shuts her out from such investigations. . . .

Source: Mary Wollstonecraft, 1792
6.

Which historical development was influenced by Wollstonecraft’s writing?

Base your answers to questions 7 and 8 on the document below and on your knowledge of social studies.

If you grew up in Ireland you were told about the Famine. It was dinned [pounded] into you. In the history books there were pictures of huddled families dying of hunger in their hovels [simple dwelling], the same families being evicted—by English landlords—and with no place to go but a ditch.

In the 1930s and 1940s old people in Limerick City still whispered of the horrors of that Famine less than 100 years before. They said it was the fault of the English. They said it was a fact that tons of corn [grain] were shipped out of the country to feed Her Majesty’s armies beyond. There was enough food to go around to feed Ireland ten times over.

The old people said they would never forgive that of the English and they hoped we wouldn’t either. . . .

Source: Frank McCourt, “Scraps and Leftovers: A Meditation,” Hyperion
7.

According to this document, what was a contributing factor to the famine in Ireland?

8.

What was a result of the situation described in this document?

Base your answers to questions 9 and 10 on the document below and on your knowledge of social studies.

The Charter Oath (of the Meiji Restoration), 1868
By this oath, we set up as our aim the establishment of the national weal [public good] on a broad basis and the framing of a constitution and laws.
  1. Deliberative assemblies shall be widely established and all matters decided by public discussion.
  2. All classes, high and low, shall unite in vigorously carrying out the administration of affairs of state.
  3. The common people, no less than the civil and military officials, shall each be allowed to pursue his own calling so that there may be no discontent.
  4. Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of Nature.
  5. Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule.

Source: Wm. Theodore de Bary, ed., et al., Sources of Japanese Tradition, Columbia University Press
9.

Based on the aims presented in the Charter Oath, it can best be inferred that the

10.

Which event most directly led to the issuing of the 1868 Charter Oath?

Base your answer to question 11 on the cartoon at the left and on your knowledge of social studies.
11.

Which statement best represents the cartoonist’s point of view?

Base your answer to question 12 on the map at the left and on your knowledge of social studies.
12.

What was a major result of Germany’s decision to use the Schlieffen Plan in 1914?

Base your answers to questions 13 and 14 on the passage below and on your knowledge of social studies.

Description of the experiences of Deng Yingchao, a young Chinese woman during the protests of 1919

When the May Fourth Movement took place in 1919, I was only sixteen years old, a student at the Tianjin Women’s Normal College. . . . On May 4, 1919, students in Beijing held a demonstration asking the government to refuse to sign the Versailles Peace Treaty and to punish the traitors at home. In their indignation [displeasure], they burned the house at Zhaojialou and beat up Lu Zhongxiang, then Chinese envoy to Japan. The following day, when the news reached Tianjin, it aroused the indignation of students there who staged their own demonstration on May 7th. They began by organizing such patriotic societies as the Tianjin Student Union, the Tianjin Women’s Patriotic Society, and the Tianjin Association of National Salvation. We had no political theory to guide us at that time, only our strong patriotic enthusiasm. In addition to the Beijing students’ requests, we demanded, “Abrogate [reject] the Twenty-One Demands!” “Boycott Japanese Goods!” and “Buy Chinese-made goods!” Furthermore, we emphatically refused to become slaves to foreign powers!. . .

Source: Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, The Free Press
13.

Based on this passage, what was the purpose of the May 7th protest in Tianjin?

14.

Which claim is best supported by this passage?

Base your answers to questions 15 and 16 on the account below and on your knowledge of social studies.

The quotations below are from Denys, a British officer serving in the British Indian Army in 1947, who was interviewed as part of the “Partition Voices” project.
***

“We were fairly thin on the ground by August 1947. On Independence Day I was in Lahore making my way back to England. I remember people shaking my hand saying, ‘Thank you. Thank you for making us independent.’ “The station was knee-deep in bodies. It was a terrible time. Trains coming from one direction full of dead Sikhs and Hindus – and trains coming from the other full of dead Muslims. “We all – sort of people like myself, British offi cers – felt Partition went through too fast. The whole thing was not thought through. “I think the British government of the day was anxious to get it done quickly. It was a great mistake.”

Source: “A Country Divided: How it affected me,” BBC News online
15.

Based on Denys’ account, which situation developed during the partition of India?

16.

Which statement best supports the conclusion that Denys is a reliable source of evidence regarding the partition of India?

Base your answers to questions 17 and 18 on the map at the left and on your knowledge of social studies.
17.

Which policy is most closely associated with the event featured on this map?

18.

The situation illustrated by this map was resolved when

Base your answers to questions 19 and 20 on the passage below and on your knowledge of social studies.

Iranian women made considerable progress during the Pahlavi era (1925–1979). Education for both girls and boys was free. When Tehran University opened in 1936, Iran’s fi rst university admitted both men and women. In 1963, women acquired the right to vote and run for parliament. Under the Family Protection Law, women won the right to petition for divorce and gain child custody. A husband could no longer unilaterally [single-handedly] divorce his wife or automatically gain custody of the children. The marriage age for girls was raised from 13 to 18. And men needed the court’s permission to take a second wife. By 1978, on the eve of Iran’s revolution, 22 women sat in parliament and 333 women served on elected local councils. One-third of university students were female. Two million women were in the work force, more than 146,000 of them in the civil service. . . .

Under revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s new theocracy gave priority to Islamic tradition over modern mores [practices]. One of the revolutionary government’s fi rst acts was to suspend the Family Protection Law and dismantle Family Courts. Men were once again free to divorce their wives by simple declaration; they also gained exclusive custody of their children. Women could no longer fi le for divorce unless the right was stipulated [clearly stated] in marriage contracts, and they lost the right to child custody. Restrictions on polygamy were also removed. The marriage age for girls was reduced to puberty, which is nine under Islamic law. In 1981, parliament approved the Islamic Law of Retribution, introducing fl ogging, stoning and payment of blood money for crimes ranging from adultery to violation of Islamic dress codes. . . .

Source: Haleh Esfandiari, “The Iran Primer,” United States Institute of Peace online
19.

Based on this passage, what conclusion can be made regarding the tensions between tradition and modernity in Iran?

20.

Based on this passage, how did the 1979 Iranian Revolution affect the lives of women?

Base your answers to questions 21 and 22 on the passages below and on your knowledge of social studies.

Passage A
. . . I wish to go to my own words during my trial in 1964. They are as true today as they were then. I wrote: I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. . . . My friends, I have no words of eloquence to offer today except to say that the remaining days of my life are in your hands. I hope you will disperse with discipline. And not a single one of you should do anything which will make other people to say that we can’t control our own people.

Source: Transcript of Nelson Mandela’s speech “Africa It Is Ours!,” February 10, 1990

Passage B
. . . Our country and all its people have been embroiled [involved] in conflict, tension and violent struggle for decades. It is time for us to break out of the cycle of violence and break through to peace and reconciliation. The silent majority is yearning for this. The youth deserve it.

With the steps the Government has taken it has proven its good faith and the table is laid for sensible leaders to begin talking about a new dispensation [direction], to reach an understanding by way of dialogue and discussion.

The agenda is open and the overall aims to which we are aspiring should be acceptable to all reasonable South Africans.

Among other things, those aims include a new, democratic constitution; universal franchise [vote]; no domination; equality before an independent judiciary; the protection of minorities as well as of individual rights; freedom of religion; a sound economy based on proven economic principles and private enterprise; dynamic programmes directed at better education, health services, housing and social conditions for all. . . .

Source: F. W. de Klerk, speech at the opening of Parliament, February 2, 1990
21.

According to Passages A and B, both men are striving to do what?

22.

Which long-standing policy influenced the actions and words expressed in these passages by Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk?

Base your answers to questions 23 and 24 on the passage below and on your knowledge of social studies.

We realize that to demand the fulfillment of human rights is a revolutionary act, that to question the government about bringing our children back alive was a revolutionary act. We are fighting for liberation, to live in freedom, and that is a revolutionary act. The day in which there will be no more hunger, that justice will be done, that the murderers will be in jail, then we will have accomplished a revolution. To transform a system is always revolutionary.

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo

23.

Which issue are the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo addressing?

24.

What is the primary method used by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo to achieve their objectives?

Base your answers to questions 25 and 26 on the passage below and on your knowledge of social studies.

. . . When women in the Third World are raised to higher status, they do more than limit the size of their families; they also are the group most likely to take action to increase the food supply and control disease. Grassroots humanitarian organizations believe that investment in women’s enterprises is the best intervention they can make in developing nations where women do most of the farming. And UNICEF discovered during the 1970s that women were the key to implementing public health measures. Educated women support vaccination programs, understand the need for clean water supplies, and persuade family members to seek professional medical aid before an entire village becomes infected. . . .

Source: Linda Grant De Pauw, Battle Cries and Lullabies: Women in War from Prehistory to the Present, University of Oklahoma Press
25.

Which topic best supports the information presented in this passage?

26.

Based on this passage, UNICEF would most likely support which course of action in the developing world?

Base your answers to questions 27 and 28 on the speech excerpt below and on your knowledge of social studies.

Dear fellow countrymen, compatriots. Due to the situation which has evolved as a result of the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, I hereby discontinue my activities at the post of President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

I am making this decision on considerations of principle. I firmly came out in favor of the independence of nations and sovereignty for the republics. At the same time, I support the preservation of the union state and the integrity of this country.

The developments took a different course. The policy prevailed of dismembering this country and disuniting the state, which is something I cannot subscribe to. . . .

Source: Mikhail Gorbachev, “Farewell Address,” New York Times, December 26, 1991
27.

Which policy did Mikhail Gorbachev initiate during his presidency that contributed to the situation described in this excerpt?

28.

What is the significance of Mikhail Gorbachev’s speech?

Part II

SHORT-ANSWER CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE QUESTIONS (CRQ)


These questions are based on the accompanying documents and are designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. Each Constructed Response Question (CRQ) Set is made up of 2 documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes of this question. Keep in mind that the language and images used in a document may reflect the historical context of the time in which it was created.

In developing your answers to Part II, be sure to keep these explanations in mind:

Identify—means to put a name to or to name.
Explain—means to make plain or understandable; to give reasons for or causes of; to show the logical development or relationship of something.

Short-Answer CRQ Set 1 Structure
• Question 29 uses Document 1 (Context)
• Question 30 uses Document 2 (Source)
• Question 31 uses Documents 1 and 2 (Relationship between documents)

Short-Answer CRQ Set 2 Structure
• Question 32 uses Document 1 (Context)
• Question 33 uses Document 2 (Source)
• Questions 34a and 34b use Documents 1 and 2 (Relationship between documents)
CRQ Set 1 Directions (29–31): Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the space provided.
Base your answer to question 29 on Document 1 at the left and on your knowledge of social studies.
29.

Geographic Context—refers to where this historical development/event is taking place and why it is taking place there.

Explain the geographic context for the change shown on the maps of Africa between 1879 and 1914.


Base your answer to question 30 on Document 2 at the left and on your knowledge of social studies.
30.

Based on this excerpt from The Black Man’s Burden, identify E. D. Morel’s point of view concerning the effect of European involvement in Africa.


31.

Base your answer to question 31 on both Documents 1 and 2 and on your knowledge of social studies.

Cause—refers to something that contributes to the occurrence of an event, the rise of an idea, or the bringing about of a development.

Effect—refers to what happens as a consequence (result, impact, outcome) of an event, an idea, or a development.

Identify and explain a cause-and-effect relationship between the events and/or ideas found in these documents. Be sure to use evidence from both Documents 1 and 2 in your response.


CRQ Set 2 Directions (32–34b): Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the space provided.
32.

Explain the historical circumstances that led to Gandhi’s actions in India in 1930.


33.

Based on this excerpt, identify Ho Chi Minh’s point of view concerning French colonialism.


34.

Similarity—tells how something is alike or the same as something else.
Difference—tells how something is not alike or not the same as something else.

34a–34b
Using evidence from both Documents 1 and 2 and your knowledge of social studies:

a) Identify a similarity or a difference in Gandhi’s and Ho Chi Minh’s responses to European colonization.

b) Explain the similarity or difference you identified using evidence from both documents.


Part III (Question 35) ENDURING ISSUES ESSAY


This question is based on the accompanying documents. The question is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes of this question. As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document. Keep in mind that the language and images used in a document may reflect the historical context of the time in which it was created.

Directions: Read and analyze each of the five documents and write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details based on your knowledge of social studies and evidence from the documents.

An enduring issue is a challenge or problem that has been debated or discussed across time. An enduring issue is one that many societies have attempted to address with varying degrees of success.

Task:
• Identify and explain an enduring issue raised by this set of documents
• Argue why the issue you selected is significant and how it has endured across time

In your essay, be sure to
• Identify the enduring issue based on a historically accurate interpretation of at least three documents
• Explain the issue using relevant evidence from at least three documents
• Argue that this is a significant issue that has endured by showing:
– How the issue has affected people or has been affected by people
– How the issue has continued to be an issue or has changed over time
• Include relevant outside information from your knowledge of social studies

In developing your answer to Part III, be sure to keep these explanations in mind:

Identify—means to put a name to or to name.
Explain—means to make plain or understandable; to give reasons for or causes of; to show logical development or relationship of something.
Argue—means to provide a series of statements that provide evidence and reasons to support a conclusion.
35.

Write your essay according to the directions at the left.


Document 1, Part III

During the mid nineteenth century, defeating cholera [a waterborne illness] was of paramount importance to those responsible for the metropolis. Between 1831 and 1866, four separate epidemics took over forty thousand Londoners lives. Little was known about the cause of the disease at the time, as it was generally considered to be linked to London’s foul air or miasma. The miasmatists* held sway until the truth about the cause of cholera, was conclusively proven by Robert Koch with his discovery of the cholera bacillus. This further scientific proof reinforced the theory put forward by Dr. John Snow that the disease was spread through ingesting soiled water, rather than inhaling foul air. Although the cause of cholera was a subject of debate, it was agreed that the polluted River Thames, where the people of London drew their drinking water from, was to blame. It was clear that something had to be done to address this issue, however, the disorganized state of local government within London prevented many schemes [plans] from coming to fruition [completion]. Local government was based around church parishes and the vested interests that held sway were rarely wise enough to see beyond the narrow interests of their local parish to the wider interests of London as a city itself. The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848, pushed through by the health reformer Edwin Chadwick, tried in a limited way to instigate a London wide system of waste management. However it was never powerful or decisive enough to implement the changes that were necessary for a London wide programme of reform.

By 1850, population growth and the inception of the water closet [indoor toilet], popularized by the Great Exhibition in 1851, resulted in ineffective and overflowing household cesspools. Water closets were responsible for households producing nearly one hundred additional gallons of waste per day on average. In 1848, in order to eliminate this problem, the Metropolis Sewers Commission mandated cesspools and house drains be connected to sewers, which emptied, unfi ltered, in to the River Thames. This worsened the problem and affectively turned London’s main waterway in to an open sewer. . . .

Source: Chad Hansen, “The Big Thames Clean Up,” Westminster City Archives online

*miasmatists: people who believed disease was spread through foul air

Document 2, Part III

. . . Nothing, however, has precipitated [caused] the water crisis more than three decades of breakneck industrial growth. China’s economic boom has, in a ruthless symmetry, fueled an equal and opposite environmental collapse. In its race to become the world’s next superpower, China is not only draining its rivers and aquifers [underground water sources] with abandon; it is also polluting what’s left so irreversibly that the World Bank warns of “catastrophic consequences for future generations.”. . .

The Yellow River’s epic journey across northern China is a prism through which to see the country’s unfolding water crisis. From the Tibetan nomads leaving their ancestral lands near the river’s source to the “cancer villages” languishing [suffering] in silence near the delta, the Mother River puts a human face on the costs of environmental destruction. But it also shows how this emergency is shocking the government—and a small cadre of environmental activists—into action. The fate of the Yellow River still hangs in the balance. . . .

As an employee of Green Camel Bell, an environmental group in the western city of Lanzhou, Jiang [Lin, mother of the founder] is following up on a tip that the [paper] mill is dumping untreated chemical waste into a tributary of the Yellow River. There are hundreds of such factories around Lanzhou, a former Silk Road trading post that has morphed [changed] into a petrochemical hub. In 2006 three industrial spills here made the Yellow River run red. Another turned it white. This one is tainting the tributary a toxic shade of maroon. When Jiang gets back to the offi ce, the GPS data will be emailed to Beijing and uploaded onto a Web-based “pollution map” for the whole world to see. . . .

Source: Brook Larmer, “Bitter Waters: Can China save the Yellow–its Mother River?” National Geographic Magazine online, May 2008

Document 3, Part III


Lyrics and Latrines
Feliciano dos Santos, lead singer of the band Massuko, is an influential environmentalist who worked to provide clean water to the village of Niassa, Mozambique.

. . . In 2000, Santos founded a nonprofit organization called Estamos, with the mission of providing clean water throughout Niassa by installing water pumps plus low-cost, sustainable sanitation facilities.

The project is succeeding. Villagers have installed thousands of “EcoSan” portable bathrooms. These facilities are brick-lined to keep bacteria from infi ltrating the groundwater supply. After six months of composting, the contents become fertilizer that farmers can safely use in their fields. For the first time, Niassa has a rudimentary [basic] sanitation system.

In addition, Santos is using music to teach people better hygiene, or the practice of keeping clean to prevent disease. One of Massukos’s greatest hits is called “Tissambe Manja,” meaning “Wash Our Hands.” “Clean water is a basic human right, yet so many people don’t have it,” says Santos. “I’m using my music to be the voice of people who have no voice.”

Source: Andrew J. Milson, Global Issues: Health, National Geographic Learning, Cengage Learning, 2014

Document 4, Part III


Grabbing Water From Future Generations
Suresh Ponnusami sat back on his porch by the road south of the Indian textile town of Tirupur. He was not rich, but for the owner of a two-acre farm in the backwoods of a developing country he was doing rather well. He had a TV, a car, and a maid to bring him drinks and ensure his traditional white Indian robes were freshly laundered every morning.
The source of his wealth, he said, was a large water reservoir beside his house. And as we chatted, a tanker drew up on the road. The driver dropped a large pipe from his vehicle into the reservoir and began sucking up the contents.
Ponnusami explained: “I no longer grow crops, I farm water. The tankers come about ten times a day. I don’t have to do anything except keep my reservoir full.” To do that, he had drilled boreholes deep into the rocks beneath his fields, and inserted pumps that brought water to the surface 24 hours a day. He sold every tanker load for about four dollars. “It’s a good living, and it’s risk-free,” he said. “While the water lasts.”. . .
We are emptying these giant natural reservoirs far faster than the rains can refi ll them. The water tables are falling, the wells have to be dug ever deeper, and the pumps must be ever bigger. We are mining water now that should be the birthright of future generations.
In India, the water is being taken for industry, for cities, and especially for agriculture. Once a country of widespread famine, India has seen an agricultural revolution in the past half century. India now produces enough food to feed all its people; the fact that many Indians still go hungry today is an economic and political puzzle, because the country exports rice.
But that may not last. Researchers estimate that a quarter of India’s food is irrigated with underground water that nature is not replacing. The revolution is living on borrowed water and borrowed time. Who will feed India when the water runs out?
Nobody knows how much water is buried beneath our feet. But we do know that the reserves are being emptied. The crisis is global and growing, but remains largely out of sight and out of mind. . . .

Source: Fred Pearce, “Grabbing Water From Future Generations,” When the Rivers Run Dry, Beacon Press December, 2006

Document 5, Part III