PRE-COLUMBIAN
AMERICAS IN WORLD
HISTORY
THE FORGOTTEN
WORLDS OF THE
AMERICAS
WHAT’S IN A WORD?
• The Word: “America” or “American”
• Ask your students what it means
• Have students brainstorm some responses
• Have students offer definitions
• Accept all answers
• Do this about five minutes
• Narrow the definition down
• Try to come up with a broad, useful definition
• Guide definition to include all Americans
• Try to avoid anything that equates USA = America
THE PROBLEM
• American Historiography and Classrooms
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Frequently not taught by instructors
Frequently not researched well
Frequently not well presented in textbooks
Content fragmented in textbooks
Lack of written records prior to 1492
Reasons: Perhaps “The Black Legend”
• The College Board
• Teach all regions
• Essays frequently involve the Region
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
• The Comparative Approach
• Teach content sequentially, chronologically
• Compare region with other regions around world
• The Regional Approach
• Teach Latin America as a Coherent Unit
• Create a three to four week unit
• Combine separate sections of your text
• Solutions for Both
• Reinforce with outside readings
• Enrich with Latin American literature
• Include a research project on a modern nation
ON-LINE SOURCES
• Timeline of Art History (The MOMA)
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http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm
• World Civilizations On-Line
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http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/
• Latin American Literature
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http://www.library.csustan.edu/lboyer/modern_languages/mexican.htm
• Sources/General Resources on Latin America
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http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/svolk/latinam.htm
• Latin American Studies
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http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/home.html
• Latin America Pre-History Webpage
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http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/index.shtml
BEGIN WITH GEOGRAPHY
• Physical Geography
• Two Continents, numerous islands
• Diverse landforms, climates
• Historical and Cultural Geography
• American history is a product of geography
• Regional histories are quite different
• Political Geography
• Teach nations and capitals
• Teach modern economic alliances
LOST IN SPACE
• Among people in some English-speaking countries, there is a
tendency to confuse the linguistic and geographic divisions of
the Americas: thus, Mexico, some Central American and
Caribbean territories, despite their location in North America,
are mistakenly included in South America. The term Latin
America is correctly used when referring to those territories
whose official or national languages come from Latin (namely
Portuguese, Spanish, and French). Conversely, Anglo-America
is used to refer to areas whose major languages are Germanic
(namely English) such as Guyana, Suriname, Belize, Jamaica,
and much of the West Indies. Similarly, areas where English is
prominent are considered part of the Anglosphere.
• Did you know: In Latin America, Iberia and some other parts
of Europe, the Americas are often considered a single continent.
Under such circumstances, North America is considered a
subcontinent containing only Canada, U.S. and Mexico.
REGIONS
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
CLIMATIC GEOGRAPHY
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
TEACHING CONCEPTS:
RIMLAND vs. MAINLAND
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Mainland
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Rimland
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Mountains, plateaus, uplands of Mesoamerica
Large scale agriculture
Sedentary Indian cultures
Cultural Hearth of Classical Indian Civilizations
Large, dense Indian populations
Caribbean coasts, Hot and humid
Thinly populated by Indians
Arrival of Europeans
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Mainland
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European settlements
European capital cities
Intermixture with Indians (Mestizo)
Only remaining dense Indian populations
Spanish institution
Large personal estates (Haciendas)
Self-sufficient agriculture
Share cropping by Amerindians / landless peasants
Many crops and animals (ranches)
Rimland
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Plantation agriculture with slaves
Population is largely Euro-African descent (Mulatto)
Northern European institution
Foreign ownership
Commercial agriculture
African slave labor
Seasonal labor
Single crop (sugar, bananas)
Efficient - "factory in the field"
TEACHING CONCEPT:
VERTICAL ZONATION
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Socio-Economic structures
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Based on height above sea level
Tierra Caliente
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Coastal lands, hot, jungles
Thinly populated by Indians
Post-1492
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Tierra Templada, Intermediate Zones
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Cool uplands
Home to classical Indian civilizations
Post-1492
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European capital cities located here
Appropriated by European haciendas
Ranching, Grains
Europeans, Mestizo populations
Tierra Fria
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European commercial plantations
Slaves work one-crop export industries
Cold, damp mountainous areas; potatoes
Thinly settled by historic Indians
Post-1492 refugee of Indians from Europeans
Largest source of pure Indian populations
Paramos
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Glaciers, permanent ice cap
TEACHING CONCEPT:
MOVEMENT
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Overland Migration Theory – The
migration to the Americas took place
via the Beringia Land Bridge. Tribes or
bands of Paleo-Indians slowly pushed
east and south from Asia to the
Americas, hunting as they came. These
migrations
would
have
taken
generations.
Coastal Migration Theory - Some
Paleo-Indians migrated to the Americas
in small boats via a coastal route, since
the immediate coast would not have
been covered by the Cordillian Ice
Sheet.
Trans-Pacific Migration Theory Though there is some evidence of a
trans-Pacific migration, it is also
unlikely that large numbers arrived in
the Americas via that route. The
existence of Old World tropical
parasites in Andean mummies is
evidence that at least some trans-Pacific
migrations did take place via a tropical
ocean corridor.
THEMES:
PALEO-INDIANS
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Compare and Contrast
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Hunter-Gatherers
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Movement
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Humans follow game animals
Adapting to environment as needed
Mass Extinction of large animals
Technology
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Teach with world-wide spread of humans
Comparative to other popular movements
• Indo-Europeans, Aryans, Polynesians
• Germans, Bantu
Human-Environment Interaction
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Teach with Paleolithic History
Folsom Point spears led to mass extinction
Cause and Effects
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Extinction of large game animals
• Led to Sedentary Life
• Led to the beginnings of agriculture
st
THEME:1
FARMERS
• Gatherers, Hunters, Gardeners
• Large game became limited
• Needed secure food supply
• Valley of Mexico
• Tehuacan area
• Compare with Jericho
• Cultivation of Corn, beans
• Pottery, tools
NORTHERN PERIPHERIES
SOUTHERN PERIPHERIES
• Many Advanced Indian cultures in Americas
• North America
• Anaszi
• Mississippian
• Iroquois
• South America
• Moche
• Chimu
• Tihuanaco
• Problem 1
• Many had similar characteristics as more famous civilizations
• Most not called civilizations
• Problem 2
• They are not on the AP test generally
• But students might be interested in discussing them
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A CIVILIZATION?
• Pair students off
• Put question on the board
• Have students brainstorm ideas
• Settle on five definitions
• Have students go to board one at time
• Have them add definitions
• Look at definitions and refine
• Have students settle on characteristics
• Discussion Questions
• Ask students what would happen if a civilization did not have any
of the characteristics?
• Ask students what minimum characteristics would a culture have
to have to be considered a civilization?
• Ask why would American historians not consider some AmerIndian cultures as civilizations?
THE ANASAZI
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The Anasazi
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Technology
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Irrigation
Beans, Squash, Corns
Trade, trade routes
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Irrigation, canals, dams
Sun Dial and Calendar
Agriculture
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Indian civilization in the 4-states area
Compare with Ghana, Sumer
Roads
Architecture
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Pueblo cities
MISSISSIPPIAN
MOUNDBUILDERS
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Mississippian Civilization
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Complex culture
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Villages
Grow corn, beans, squash
Trade network
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Social Hierarchy
Elaborate kingship
Priesthood
Cities for elite, religion, trade
Agriculture
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Compare with Egypt
Compare with Shang
Extends to Athapaska
Extends to Gulf Coast
Priesthood
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Corn, calendar
Astronomy
CAHOKIA
• Height of Mississippian
• Extremely large city
• Compare with Indus Cities
• Solar calendar, math
• Mound temples
• Trade with Mexico
IROQUOIS
• Late Mississippian
• Compare with Assyrians
• Tribes or nations
• Diplomacy, treaties
• Compare with Hammurabi
• Expert warriors
• Matrilineal
• Farmers
CHAVIN
• Earliest urban culture in South America
• Chavín culture
• Named after Chavín de Huantar
• Arose in highlands of northern Peru
• Around 1000 BC—500 BC
• About same time as the Olmecs
• We know very little about them
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They had urban centers, farmed
Fishing was important in their lives
They worshipped a jaguar-man god
Strong metallurgists, cloth makers
• For 500 years, the Chavín culture dominated Peru
MOCHE
• Northern Peru, 100 – 800 CE
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Group of autonomous polities
Broke off from Chavin
Centralized theocratic government system
Shared common elite culture
Elaborate culture and ritual
• Farmers
• Extensive canals
• Raised fields growing potatoes and corn
• Sophisticated artifacts but no written language
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Art very detailed, especially pottery
Famous for their gold works
Temples with elaborate tombs
Art works often signed with artistic symbol: individuality?
• Religion
• Chief deity was the decapitator
• Probably practiced ritual human sacrifice
HAURI-TIHUANACO
CHIMU
• Huari-Tiahuanaco
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Dominated Andes (600-1000 AD)
Enforced cultural conformity
Centered around Lake Titicaca
Built massive architectural works
• Giant stones cut with extreme precision.
• Influenced the Incas
• Northern area of Peru
• Dominated by the Chimu empire from 1000-1400 AD
• Built on conquest, expansion
• Chan-Chan (capital) had 70,000 inhabitants
• Chimmu produced many innovations in urban life
• Irrgation systems, canals, and highways
• All adopted by the Incas
THE FIRST CIVILIZATION
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The Olmecs
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Location
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Jade, feathers, rubber
Political Institutions
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La Venta was a ceremonial city
Surrounding farming villages
Trade, Commerce
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Coastal jungles, river valleys
Irrigation needed to drain water
Raised platforms for agriculture
Towns and Villages
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Compare with Sumer
The First in Americas
Royal Absolutism
Priesthood, nobles assist king, rule peasants
Intellectual Accomplishments
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Olmec heads, jade figurines
Ball courts, Calendars
Rudimentary written language
ON-LINE RESEARCH PROJECT:
COMPARE, CONTRAST
OLMECS
MAYAS
AZTECS
INCAS
COMPARE WITH
NEOLITHIC
COMPARE WITH
OLMEC
COMPARE WITH
OLMEC
COMPARE WITH
CHIMU, HAURI
INTERACTIONS:
WAR,
ECONOMICS
TYPE OF STATE
STRUCTURE,
RULING ELITE
RELIGIOUS,
INTELLECTUAL,
CULTURAL
SOCIAL,
GENDER
STRUCTURES
IMPACT OF
TECHNOLOGY
ON CULTURE
IMPACT OF
DEMOGRAPHY,
ENVIRONMENT
CHANGE,
CONTINUITY
REINFORCE WITH
LITERATURE, SOAPPS-TONE
• In the Language of the Kings
• Editor, Miguel Leon-Portilla
• Mesoamericans left literature
• Church often preserved some literature
• Many tribes kept materials alive, continued chronicles
• Many temples had histories, stories written in stone
• Popul Vuh is easy enough to find
• Mayan Codices often on line
• Chronicles of the Incas, 1540
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Pedro de Cieza de Léon
Conquistador married an Inca princess
Proceeded to write down Incan history
Only resource we have and its wonderful!
PROJECTS
• Art Slide Show
• Many galleries on line
• Research history
• Present the art as the people of the time saw it
• Movie Maker
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Select a people
Identify a piece of music you wish to use
Locate art, images to use in the maker
Create a movie-like presentation
Use a minimum of language, tell a people’s story!
ASSESSMENT
• TWEDYADWTS
• Do this daily to check understanding
• Use it as an introduction to the day
• Free Response Essays
• Tell the students the general prompt up front
• Encourage them to use the preparation grids
• Write the essays
• Compare and Contrast
• Change over Time
• Document Based Questions