Transcript An Age of Accelerating Connections

Period 3
I.
It’s diff. to see when one phase of human
history ends and another begins
(periodization –historians differ)
A. Between approx 200-850 CE many classical states
and civ. Were disrupted, declined or collapsed
B. Columbus’s transatlantic voyages around 1500
mark a new departure in world history for most
people
C. How should we understand the millennium that
stretches from the end of the classical era to the
beginning of modern world history?
1. It has proven hard to define a distinct identity for
this period
a.
Some call it “postclassical,” but that term has little
meaning
b. “medieval,” but that term is Eurocentric (Hendrick,
Sawdon & Groom) & it also just suggests a lead in to
modernity
c. Strayer uses the phrase “third-wave civilization”
II. Third-Wave Civilizations: Something New,
Something Old, Something Blended
A. There were several distinct patterns of
development:
1. Some areas saw creation of new but smaller civ
where none had existed before
a.
b.
c.
East African Swahili civ
Kievan Rus
New civ in E & SE Asia
2. All were part of the increasing globalization of
civilization
a. the new civilizations were distinctive, but smaller to
earlier civ
b. all borrowed heavily from earlier or more est civ
3. The most expansive and influential third-wave
civilization was Islam (more later)
4. Some older civs persisted or were reconstructed
(Byzantium, China, India, Niger Valley)
a. Collapse of classical Maya civ and Teotihuacan opened
the way to reshaping of an ancient civ
b. Inca formed an empire out of various centers of
Andean civ.
5. Western Europe: successor states tried to maintain
links to older Greco-Roman-Christian traditions
a.
but far more decentralized societies emerged, led by
Germans
b. hybrid civilization was created of classical and
Germanic elements
c. dev of highly competitive states after 1000 CE
III. The Ties That Bind: Transregional Interaction
in the Postclassical Era
A. An important common theme is the great
increase in interaction b/w the world’s
regions, cultures and peoples
1. increasingly, change was caused by contact
w/strangers, their ideas, armies, goods, or
diseases
2. cosmopolitan regions emerged in a variety of
places “miniglobalizations”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/09/0
4/160543754/mcdonalds-goes-vegetarianin-india
B. Period 3 highlights the accelerating
pace of interaction in the third-wave
era, giving special attention to three
major mechanisms of interaction:
1.
trade – esp the growth of long-distance
commerce
a.
b.
2.
Led to the est of many new states or
empires
Religious ideas, technologies and germs
also moved along trade routes (cultural
diffusion)
Large empires, incorporating many
distinct cultures under a single poltical
system
a.
b.
c.
Provided security for long-distance trade
Many of the third-wave civilizations were
larger than earlier ones (Arab, Mongol,
Inca)
Largest empires were created by
nomadic or pastoralist peoples (Arabs,
Turks, Mongols, Aztecs) who ruled over
agriculturalists
3. large scale empires and long-distance trade worked
together to facilitate the spread of ideas, technologies,
crops, germs and religion
a.
b.
Diffusion of all of these occurred
Much of the technologies from China and India
C. A focus on accelerating connections puts a
spotlight on travelers rather than those who
stayed at home.
D. A focus on interactions raises questions for
world historians about how much choice
individuals or societies had in accepting new
ideas or practices and about how they made
those decisions.
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Monday: pages 333-341
Tuesday: Review Mon. reading/notes, read
pages 341-348
Wednesday: Review Mon. & Tues
reading/notes read pages 348-355
Thursday: Review ch 8 reading/notes
Friday - Sunday: keep reviewing ch 8 (a little
each day) begin work on ch 9
Reminder you have a list of terms and review
packet to work on as well.