World History Online Textbook

The readings included here are not intended to be a complete overview of all World History. Each article in the textbook covers a topic in my World History curriculum. 

These can certainly be used as a free online textbook for your World History classroom. Additional sources are recommended to fill in the gaps and provide context for each era. 

If you need this textbook as a PDF, you can save each page or paste the text into a Google Doc and convert to PDF. 

Each of these articles in the textbook aligns with my curriculum and is based on a variety of state standards like the TEKS, NY Regents, Virginia SOLs, and others. Interactive notebook activities are available for each which are perfect for your middle school or 9th grade students.

Prehistory

• A Timeline of Early Hominids
• Hunter-Gatherer Society
• Cave Paintings
• The Agricultural Revolution
• Comparing the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras
• Archaeology
• The 5 Characteristics of Civilization

Western River Valley Civilizations

• Geography of the Fertile Crescent
• Sumerian City States
• Mesopotamia
• Hammurabi’s Code
• Early Writing Systems
• Comparing Early Polytheism & Monotheism
• Ancient Egypt's Geography
• A Timeline of Ancient Egypt
• Egypt's Pharaohs and Government
• The Decline of Egypt

Eastern River Valley Civilizations

• The Geography of Ancient India
• Harappan Culture
• Harappa and the Indus River Valley
• The Aryan Caste System
• The Mauryan Empire
• Ancient China's Geography
• Chinese Culture
• The Dynastic Cycle
• Philosophies of Ancient China
• The Dynasties of Ancient China
• The Great Wall of China

Ancient Greece

• Geography of Ancient Greece
• The Eras of Ancient Greece
• Greek Mythology
• Comparing Athens and Sparta
• The Persian Empire
• The Golden Age of Athens
• Philosophers of Ancient Greece
• The Peloponnesian War
• Alexander the Great
• Comparing Hellenic & Hellenistic Society

Ancient Rome

• Geography of the Roman World
• Comparing Patricians and Plebeians
• Roman Mythology
• The Punic Wars
• The Pax Romana
• The Decline of the Roman Republic
• The Life of Julius Caesar
• Roman Art and Culture
• Good and Bad Emperors
• The Rise of Christianity
• Roman Technology
• Timeline of Ancient Rome
• Division of the Empire
• The Fall of Rome

The Islamic World

• The Origins of Islam
• The Growth and Spread of Islam
• Key Beliefs of Islam
• Early Caliphs and Dynasties of Islam
• The Sunni-Shi'a Split
• Achievements of the Islamic Golden Age
• Rise of the Turks

Classical Asia

• The Gupta Empire
• The Great Wall of China
• The Qin and Han Dynasties
• The Mongol Empire
• Feudal Japan
• The Silk Road

The Middle Ages

• The Role of the Roman Catholic Church
• The Manor System
• The Feudal System
• Knights & Chivalry
• Education in the Middle Ages
• Important Medieval Trade Routes
• The Crusades
• The Black Death
• Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire

African Empires and Civilizations

• The Geography of Africa
• The Kingdom of Axum
• Great Zimbabwe and South & East Africa
• The Empire of Ghana
• The Empire of Mali
• The Songhai Empire
• The Trans-Saharan Gold-Salt Trade

Civilizations and Empires of the Americas

• The Geography of Mesoamerica
• Early Mesoamerican Civilizations
• The Maya
• The Inca
• The Aztec Empire
• North American Indigenous People

The Renaissance and Reformation

• What is a Renaissance Man?
• The Italian Renaissance
• Leonardo Da Vinci
• Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel
• Renaissance Humanism
• Important Literary Works
• Comparing the Northern and Italian Renaissance
• William Shakespeare
• Problems in the Catholic Church
• Henry VIII of England
• The Printing Press
• The Counter Reformation
• Timeline of the Protestant Reformation

The European Age of Exploration

• Routes of Famous European Explorers
• Improvements in Navigation
• The Columbian Exchange
• The Triangle of Trade
• The Middle Passage and Transatlantic Slave Trade
• Spanish Conquistadors
• Prince Henry the Navigator
• Effects of European Migration
• Comparing Asian Responses to European Exploration

Europe's Absolute Monarchs

• Causes and Effects of Absolute Monarchs
• Louis XIV of France
• Peter the Great of Russia
• Philip II of Spain
• England’s Defeat of the Spanish Armada
• England’s Glorious Revolution

The Age of Enlightenment in Europe

• Enlightenment Ideas
• Important Works of the Enlightenment
• Art and Music of the Enlightenment
• Enlightenment Ideas Lead to Revolutions

An Age of Revolutions 

• The Estate System in France
• Causes of the French Revolution
• The Guillotine During the French Revolution
• Timeline of the French Revolution
• The Rise of Napoleon
• The Downfall of Napoleon
• The Congress of Vienna
• The Revolutions of 1848
• The Unification of Italy and Germany
• The Colonial System in the Americas
• Simon Bolivar & Latin American Independence
• Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution

The Industrial Revolution

• Why the Industrial Revolution Began in England
• The Factory System
• Impact of the Industrial Revolution
• Inventions of the Industrial Age
• Tenements and Urbanization
• Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution
• Comparing Economic Philosophies
• Strikes and Labor Unions
• Tokugawa Japan

The Age of Imperialism

• Motives for European Imperialism
• Forms of Imperialism
• Perspectives on the White Man's Burden
• Responses to Imperialism Around the World

World War 1

• Marching Toward War
• Timeline of World War 1
• The Zimmerman Note
• Understanding World War 1 Propaganda
• New Weapons of WW1
• The 14 Points and Treaty of Versailles
• World War 1 at Home
• The Big 4 at Versailles
• Understanding the Treaty of Versailles

The Interwar Period

• The Russian Revolution
• Gandhi and India
• Ataturk and Nationalism in Turkey
• A Civil War in China

World War 2 and the Holocaust

• The Rise of Dictators
• Appeasement Before WW2
• Important Battles of World War 2
• War in the Pacific
• Internment of Japanese Americans
• The American Nisei Regiments
• The Navajo Code Talkers
• Rosie the Riveter
• The Tuskegee Airmen
• The Night of Broken Glass
• The Holocaust
• The Geneva Convention

The Cold War

• The Berlin Airlift
• The Marshall Plan
• Post-War Organizations
• Comparing the Vietnam and Korean Wars
• Perspectives on the Vietnam War
• Timeline of the Cold War Era

Typos, Mistakes, and Factual Errors

Did you find an error in one of the articles? If so, please submit it here and I can get it fixed! 

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