Prehistory
• Primary sources
• First hand accounts: letters, diaries, speeches
• Secondary sources
• Written after the fact: textbook
• Hunters and Gatherers
• Weapons and tools made of stone
• Discovery of fire and wheel
Neolithic Revolution
• The change from hunting and gathering to
farming
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Leads to the development of:
Communities
Governments
Advances in arts and sciences
Written system
• Domestication of animals
Civilization
Ancient River Valleys
Mesopotamia
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“Cradle of Civilization”
“Land between the rivers”
Modern day Iraq in Middle East
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Important city-states
• Sumer
• Ur
• Babylon
• Religion
• Polytheistic
• Ziggurats
Contributions of Mesopotamia
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Wheel
Sailboat
Copper and bronze tools and weapons
Cuneiform
12 month calendar
Number system based on 60
Code of Hammurabi
– “an eye for an eye”
– Goal was to ensure justice and protect the
weak
Ancient Egypt
• Egypt it in Africa
• Nile River
– “lifeblood of ancient Egypt”
– “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”
– Yearly flooding provided fertile soil
• Pharaoh
– Leader who was believed to be a god and had
control over all of Egypt
Contributions of Egyptians
• Writing
• Hieroglyphics
• Papyrus
• Architecture
• Pyramids
• Temples
• Sciences
• Math
– geometry
• Medicine
– Embalming
– Medical procedures: setting broken bones
• Astronomy
– 365 day calendar based on the movement of stars
India
• Subcontinent of Asia
• Indus River
• Earliest civilizations in India developed here
• Harrappans
– Trade
• Earliest settlers in cities such as Mohenjo-Daro
and Harrappa
– Very advanced cities: public sewers and water supply
• Indo Aryans
• Brought the culture to area that is still practiced
today
• Caste system
China
• Located in Asia
• Earliest civilization developed along the
Huang He River (Yellow River)
• Grew millet,soybeans
• Shang dynasty
– Built Anyang (first capital city of China)
– Ruled with the aid of rich nobles
Bronze casting, silk
and calligraphy
China
Gobi Desert
Huang He
Himalaya Mts.
Classical Civilizations
Greece
• Greece is made up of 3 peninsulas
• Hilly terrain which caused people
to settle in city-states Male, native born,
– Athens
land owners
• Direct democracy: every citizen
takes a direct part in government
• Women, slaves and foreigners not allowed to
participate
– Sparta
Typically conquered people or those
that owed a debt
• Totalitarian: complete control over every
aspect of life
• Oligarchy: government run by a select few
Golden Age of Athens
• Period of peace,
prosperity and growth
Socrates
Conquered
people
used as
slaves
Socratic Method: teaching by
asking questions
Pericles: Athenian
leader who rebuilt Athens
and is responsible for the
building of the Parthenon.
Plato
Aristotle
Polytheistic
Alexander the
Great: Created an
empire that stretched
from the Med Sea to
the Indus River. Also
created a new
culture: Hellenistic
Blending of Greek and Middle
Eastern cultures
Contributions of the Greeks
Democracy: Rule of the
people
Comedies, tragedies, play and historical
writings
Ionic
Corinthian
Rome
Alps Mt.
• Italian peninsula
• Shaped like a boot
• Protected by Alps in the
north and seas all around
• Roman Republic
citizens
– Type of government that
has a leader, not a king or
queen, who is elected
– Patricians: Rome’s
wealthy landowning class
– Plebeians: small farmers,
merchants and artisans
Senate: lawmaking body
Consuls: elected officials
Tiber River
Twelve Tables: civil, criminal and
religious laws that were written
down and placed in the Forum.
Senate and
the People of
Rome
SPQR
Julius Caesar
Declared dictator
for life, killed
March 15 44 BC:
the Ides of March
Supported by the
poor for his
reforms
Rome
Augustus Caesar
Member of Second
Triumvirate as
Octavian, first
emperor of Rome
Pax Romana:
Period of peace
and prosperity in
Rome
Constantine:
Legalized
Christianity in
Rome
Prior to this Chrisians
were persecuted by
Romans due to the
fact that they refused
to worship the
emperor as a god.
Rome
• Rome divides into 2 empires
Roman Contributions
Western Roman Empire
Eastern Roman Empire
Latin: becomes basis for
many modern languages
Constantinople is
capital
Becomes Byzantine
Empire
Rome is capital
Falls 476 AD
Law: “innocent until
proven guilty”
Christianity: beginning of
the spread of the religion
Corrupt
emperors
Bad economy
Lack of
loyalty from
troops
Roman Empire
relied on slave
labor
Engineering: roads and
aqueducts
India and China
Indo-Aryans invade and develop a
civilization
Golden Age of India was brought
about by Gupta Empire
-zero
-infinity
-decimal system
Hinduism and Buddhism develop
in India
Hinduism remains the religion of
choice
Caste system is put in place for
social ordering.
Zhou dynasty uses Mandate of
Heaven to acquire power to rule
All dynasties after Zhou claim
Mandate as reason for rule
Qin dynasty comes to power
under Qin Shi Huangdi: first
emperor of China
-responsible for the
building of the first
Great Wall of China
Civil Service examinations are
implemented under Han dynasty
-find the best minds to
work in government
-Confucius thought is
the main focus of these
exams
The Middle Ages
Feudalism in Europe
Barbarians settle
much of Europe
after the fall of the
Roman Empire
Vikings leave Scandinavia to
look
for a new food supply
The need for order
grows from this
chaos. Hence the
development of
Feudalism: a political system
based on the ownership of land and
loyalty to those that gave the land.
Developed out of the need for
social organization, leadership and
goods.
fief: land given to a lord in return
for his loyalty.
Charlemagne is crowned
Holy Roman Emperor in
800 AD.
Medieval Manor
Manors were self sufficient
Feudaliam con't
•
The shogun (like the king) ruled the country through
the daimyo (like the nobles), who were the heads of
the samurai (like the knights).
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Peasants farmed the land in exchange for protection
by the samurai, who operated under a code of
conduct known as bushido (like chivalry).
•Feudalism also took
hold in Japan
–Emperor
• Shogun: real power in Japan
– Daimyo:
noble landowners
Samurai: equivalent
to a knight
Magna Carta 1215
• “Great Charter”
• King John forced to sign
– Took away some of
the king’s power
• No longer raise taxes
without the consent
of the Great Council
– Guaranteed freemen
the right to trial by
jury of peers
King Edward I
set up a group
of people who
were to advise
him called
Parliament.
House of Lords
House of Commons
Established the idea that people have certain rights and the power
of government should be limited
Growth of the Roman Catholic
Church
• Faith
– People deeply
religious
• Wealth
– Tithes (church tax)
– Europe's largest
landowner
• Education
– Officials typically the
only ones who could
read and write
• Crusades
– Holy wars wages against
Islam
– Wanted to gain control of
the Holy Land (Jerusalem)
• Effects of the
Crusades
– Trade increased due to
desire for exotic goods
– New ideas and goods
are brought to Europe
– Intolerance for religions
such as Judaism and
Islam
Byzantine Empire
• Survived for 1,000 years
• Natural center for trade
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Silk, spices and furs imported
–
Grains, olives and wines exported
• Greatly influenced by
Greek culture
• Emperor Justinian
created a comprehensive
code of laws
– Justinian’s Code
• Corpus of Civil Law
– Becomes the basis for western
civilization laws
Sample Seventh Grade Schedule
Islam
Golden Age of Islamic
Culture
Mathematics
-Arabic numerals
-alegebra and geometry
Medicine
-discovered blood moves to
and from the heart
diagnose measles and smallpox
Arts
-images of people forbidden
-geometrical designs
Architecture
-mosques
Decline of Feudalism
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Rise of powerful kings
Development of gunpowder
Growth of a middle class
Growth of towns
Growth of trade
Black Death: also known as the Bubonic Plague entered into Europe
through trade. Fleas on goods that were shipped by boats carried the
disease.
Depleted much of Europe's workforce. Helped bring an end to feudalism
due to the fact that many serfs left the manors to work in the towns
Renaissance and Reformation
Renaissance
• “Rebirth of learning”
• Began in Italy
– Venice and Florence
– Located near major sea routes
– Wealthy from trade and banking
– Embraced “classical” past of Greece and Rome
• Characteristics
– Growth in secularism: looking at the world
from a non religious viewpoint
– Humanist: believed that each person was
unique
Renaissance Thinkers
William
Shakespeare:
wrote plays that
have endured to
modern times
Dante: Wrote the Divine
Comedy which helped create
the Italian language
Leonardo da Vinci: he was
the definition of a
“Renaissance Man.”
Mona Lisa and Last Supper
Michelangelo:
commissioned by the
church to paint the Sistine
Chapel. Most works were
or religious nature. Pieta
Filippo Brunelleschi's
dome
Renaissance thinkers con't
Miguel Cervantes: wrote
Don Quixote
Johann Gutenberg: inventor of
movable type. This allowed for
the mass production of books
which led to increase in learning.
The Bible was the first book mass
printed.
Copernicus: believed that the
planets revolved around the sun
Galileo: helped develop the
scientific method
Machiavelli: wrote The
Prince which told that a
leader must do whatever is
necessary to rule. Believed
that “the ends justify the
means”
Reformation and Counter Reformation
• Martin Luther
– Objected to sale of indulgences
– Posted Ninety Five Theses
– Broke away from the church
• Other Protestant religions started
– John Calvin
– Henry VIII of England started Church of England and
became the head of it
• Weakened the church's power
• Wars fought between Catholics and Protestants
Counter Reformation: begun by the Catholic Church in response to the
Reformation.
At the Council of Trent the sale of indulgences was ended. Inquisition was begun to
try heretics or those that held beliefs that went against the Catholic Church.
Africa and the Americas
Medieval Africa
Kingdom of Ghana: Controlled major trade routes and gained wealth through taxes
and trade.
Kingdom of Mali: Mansa Musa, leader of Mali, who helped spread Islam throughout
West African kingdoms. Timbuktu becomes the center of learning and trade.
Kingdom of Songhai: Askia Muhammed divides the empire and ruled according to
Muslim law.
Gold and Salt trade
Beginning of West
African Slave Trade
Americas
Maya Civilization:
Aztec Civilization:
Inca Civilization:
Chichen Itza: important
city that had pyramids
Tenochititlan: capital
city
Machu Picchu: best
example of an Incan city
Tikal: capital city
Worshipped sun god
plus many others
United empire with roads
Practiced human
sacrifice
Constant warfare led to
the decline of the Mayan
Began cultivation of corn
Needed human
sacrifice to appease
sun god. This was
done on massive
scale.
Quipu: knotted rope that
kept records
Typically lived in cities in
the Andes Mountains
Typical social structure
of nobles, merchants
and farmers
Mississippian Civilizations: developed along Mississippi River,
mound builders, farmers who grew corn on a large scale and
developed trade networks that extended to the Rocky Mountains
Effects of European Conquest
of the Americas
Triangular Trade
Commercial Revolution
• Mercantilism
– The theory and system of
political economy prevailing
in Europe after the decline
of feudalism, based on
national policies of
accumulating bullion,
establishing colonies and a
merchant marine, and
developing industry and
mining to attain a favorable
balance of trade.