Pre-History to 1500
INTRO TO WORLD HISTORY
Introduction
 History is necessary to human survival
 Must know where we came from
 Regardless of beliefs, history begins 2 million BC
Dawn of History
 Old Stone Age or Paleolithic Age
 “Lucy” 1959 by Leakey's in Tanzania
 First people were hunters and gatherers
 Animism – spirits in everything
 Neolithic Agricultural Revolution – farming
and domestication of animals
 Lead to cities and civilizations
 Civilizations grew along rivers
Features of Civilization
 Organized Government
 Complex Religions
 Job Specialization
 Social Classes
 Arts and Architecture
 Public Works
 Writing
4 Oldest River Valley
Civilizations
 Ancient Egypt
 Mesopotamia (Sumer and Babylon)
 Ancient China
 Ancient India
Egypt
 Along the Nile River with yearly floods
 Pharaohs seen as gods, ruled in dynasties
 Religion – polytheism, gods for nature
 Afterlife – Osiris, mummification, tombs
 Pyramids used as tombs
 Hieroglyphics written on papyrus
Sumer and Babylon
 Fertile crescent – Tigris and Euphrates
 City-states ruled by hierarchy
 Built ziggurats for religion
 Cuneiform – wedge writing
 Sargon – 1st empire builder
 Hammurabi – code, 1st written laws
 Phoenicians create the alphabet
China
 Grew around Huang He (Yellow) River
 Dynasties – Shang, Zhou
 Religion – polytheism, ancestor worship
 Mandate of Heaven – divine right to rule
 Feudal state
 Silk making, first books
India
 Grew around Indus River Valley
 Polytheistic with mother goddess
 Aryan society: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas
 Vedas – story of early Indian civilizations
Greece – Early People
 Minoan Civilization
 Island of Crete in Aegean Sea
 King Minos and Palace at Knossos
 Disappeared, volcano and tidal wave
 Mycenae
 Sea traders, moved ideas and items
 1250 B.C. Trojan War
 Fall of Troy same time as Mycenaean
disappearance
Greece – Rise of City-States
 Mountainous peninsula
 Polis – city
 Acropolis – high city, temples to gods
 Monarchy – King or queen rule
 Aristocracy – rule by landowning elite
 Oligarchy – Small, powerful, business elite rule
 Military
 Iron weapons
 Phalanx – formation of armed foot soldiers
Greece - Sparta
 Government
 2 kings and council of elders, assembly of citizens
 From birth, trained for military
 7 – boys sent to barracks, training, beaten
 20 – marry, 30 – move out & join assembly
 Women – trained, ran estates & business
 Isolated from trade, looked down on wealth
Greece Athens
 Aristocracy became democracy
 Democracy – Government by the people
 Set up legislature – lawmaking body
 Cared more about art, philosophy than war
 Good navy
 Women – secluded in homes, family and kids
 Education was important above all else
 Greeks believed all others were barbarians
Greece - Religion
 Polytheistic
 Many gods and goddesses
 Zeus – leader, God of Gods and Humans
 Many children became other gods
 Used to explain nature
 Temples built, prayers & ceremonies to placate them
Greece and Its
Glory
 Philosophers – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
 Developed rhetoric and logic
 Architecture – columns
 Sculpture of gods, goddesses, athletes, politicians
 Drama – Tragedy and Comedy
 Writers – Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
Alexander the Great
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King Philip killed at daughter’s wedding
Conquered lands: Greece to India, Germany to Egypt
Spread cultures, mixed together = Hellenistic
Named over 20 cities after himself
Conquering more
than ruling
 Traveled 10,000 miles,
men made him
turn around
 Died 3 days after return
Rome – The Beginning
 Republic – government of
the people
 Patricians – Upper class,
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landholding, made laws
Consuls – 2 patricians,
ran daily government
Dictator – Time of war,
complete control
Plebeians – farmers,
merchants, bulk of
population
Tribunes – Plebeian officials
Veto – can block laws
harmful to plebeians
Roman Society
 Women given more power, held jobs, business
 Boys and girls taught to read and write
 Religions – similar to Greek but different names
 Citizen-Soldiers were part of legion (5000)
 Provided own weapons with no pay
 Conquered lands treated with justice
 Built roads, connected empire
 People assimilated and united under Roman rule
Rome – Empire Building
 Imperialism – Establishing control over foreign lands
 Corruption common, caused declines
 Reformers - Julius Caesar
 Popular Military General
 Public works jobs, reorganized government of providences
 Created calendar – Julian Calendar
 Killed by best friend, Brutus
 Census – count people
 Good and Bad emperors
 Pax Romana – Roman Peace
 Bread and Circuses
Roman Achievement
 Literature – Aeneid, Satirize – make fun of
 History – Livy, kept track of events
 Philosophy – Emperor Marcus Aurelius – stoic
 Art – Sculpture, Mosaic – picture made of tiles
 Architecture – Huge temples, arch and columns
 Engineering – built aqueducts
 Law – Civil Law and Law of Nations
Christianity
 Early Religions tolerated by Romans
 Most were polytheistic, like Romans
 Jews rejected Roman religion, persecuted, revolt, fled
 Jesus born in 4 B.C.
 Apostles and him spread message of peace, love
 Deeply rooted in Judaism
 Romans crucified him for rebellion
 Seen as religion for all – everyone welcome
Roman Decline
 26 emperors in 50 years
 Several tried to help with reforms
 Invasion by several groups of nomads hurt Rome
 Causes
 Military – Mercenaries used, little loyalty
 Political – Corruption, divided empire
 Economic – Taxes, slaves ran away, economic downfall
 Social – Lack of patriotism and devotion
 Long, slow decline
 Lead to Byzantine Empire (Western Rome)
The Americas - Maya
 Olmecs – oldest civilization, not on a river
 Mayas
 Yucatan peninsula
 Tikal – huge temples and city
 Each city had ruling chief
 Priests had highest power
 Most people were farmers – corn, cotton, squash
 Writing system, accurate time, 365 day calendar, zero
 900 A.D. began to abandon cities, don’t know why
Aztec Civilization
 Late 1200s – Eagle on cactus with snake in beak
 Tenochtitlan – city in middle of lake
 Chinampas – floating gardens
 Conquered other tribes and demanded tribute
 Single ruler – royalty, blood letting
 Nobles, warriors, commoners
 Massive human sacrifice, used conquered people
 Calendar, surgery, schools
 Hernan Cortes destroyed in 1519
Early People of Peru
 Chavin
 Worshipped jaguar/man
 Lived high in the Andes
 Mochica
 Built roads, irrigation systems
 Beautiful pottery
 Nazca
 Glyphs – etched lines in the ground
 Lines, shapes – part of calendar?
The Inca
 Pachacuti – founder and first Sapa Inca 1438
 In Cuzco, Sapa lived like god, Queen – Coya
 Quipu – knotted string collection for records
 12,000 miles of road, runners for messages
 Only runners and army could use roads
 Farmed on terraces
 Best metal workers
 Had anesthesia and brain surgery
 Polytheistic, temples to gods
 Destroyed by Pizarro in 1533
North American Natives
 Crossed Bering Land Bridge, moved south
 Diverse cultures based on environment
 Arctic, Coastal, Plains, Woodlands, Southwest
 Iroquois League – 5 nations banded together
 Hitting peak when Europeans arrived
The Middle Ages
 Europe carved up by Germanic Tribes, Franks
 Charlemagne united Europe
 Wanted “Second Rome”, extended Christianity
 Feudalism – system of rule among lords and vassals
 Lord gave vassal a fief thru feudal contract
 Vassal got land and protection, Lord got food
 Knights – began at 7, protect castles
 Castles were self-sufficient
 Peasants poor, hard life, 35
The Medieval Church
 Church was the center of towns and lives
 Cannon Law – churches laws
 Monastery – school, copied manuscripts, hospital
 Papal Supremacy – Pope had more power than kings
 Persecuted Jews – Anti-Semitism
Medieval Economy
 Iron plows, horse harnesses – agriculture
 3 Field system – corn, wheat, fallow = more food
 New trade routes – India and China
 Barter rather than money
 Guilds – group of same kind of artisans
 Set prices, recipes, hours
 Apprentice, Journeyman, Master
High Middle Ages
 Royal families ruled England and France
 Kings conflicted with church over power
 Magna Carta – nobles forced King John to sign
 King is not exempt from laws
 Parliament established
The
Crusades
 “God wills it”
 200 years
 Take back Jerusalem from Muslims
 Rape, pillage, kill along way – got rich
 Economic expansion and grew churches power
Into the Darkness
 The Black Death
 Rats, fleas spread Bubonic Plague
 Spread thru Europe via trade
 25 million people died
 No workers, blamed Jews & witches,
inflation – 100 years
 Church Upheaval
 Popes lived rich lives
 Church accused of corruption
 Hundred Years’ War
 England vs. France in 1337 to 1453
 Joan of Arc and Longbow
Muslim Civilization
 Prophet Muhammad had vision = Islam
 Muslim Civilization was very advanced
 Art, architecture and literature was distinct
Mongols
 Genghiz Khan crossed Persia
 Burned and looted
 Converted to Islam
 Nomadic people
 Golden Horde attacked Russia in 1236
 Ruled Russia for 240 years
 Fierce conquerors but tolerant rulers
Silk Road
 International trade network
 Roads built by Chinese emperor Wu Di
 4000 miles from China to Middle East
 Towns along the road provided markets and
lodging