Transcript The First Americans

The First Americans
Theories
 Land-bridge
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Ocean levels dropped – glaciers/thick ice
Over Bering Strait – land appeared
Following large animals - mammoths
Coastal waters
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Crossed arctic waters by boat
Traveled along west coast
Civilizations Develop
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From hunters to gatherers to farmers
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Larger animals disappeared
Had to find plants/wild game
8000 years ago in Mexico
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Began growing squash and lima beans
Methods of irrigation
Raised animals
Population settles and grows into cities
Cities become centers of government/religion
Mayas (250 AD-900 AD)
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Mexico/Central America
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Cities with pyramids, palaces
System of government
Written language
First calendar/astronomy
Carved stories into stone
900 AD abandoned cities/ended
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Overpopulation? Disease? Theories only
Language remains as root language/Central
America
Aztecs (900AD – 1400s)
Present day Mexico City
 Series of islands/large lake
 Tenochtitlan
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200,000 population
Center was sacred place of temples
Human sacrifice
Armies/conquerors
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Much of Mexico
Harsh rulers
Demanded high taxes
Spanish eventually conquer
Incas (1200-1400s)
West coast of S. America
 Cuzco - capital
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Linked by network of roads
Huge stone buildings
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Arts
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Machu Picchu
Weavings, gold and silver
Engineers
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Canals, irrigation berms, bridges
Machu Picchu
Inca Empire
Stone work
First Cultures
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Mound Builders
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From the Appalachians to the Mississippi R.
Large piles of earth
Some were burial grounds or foundations of
buildings
Built the first cities in North America
Mississippians -Cahokia, Illinois – 40,000 pop.
Early Western Civilizations
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Anasazi
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Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado
Cliff dwellers – largest communities over 1000
Built into cliffs for protection
Baskets, jewelry, pottery
Abandoned mysteriously by 1300
Hohokam
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300 BC to 1450 AD
Arizona farmers
Irrigation canals
Traded for seashells w/those on coast- jewelry
Largest Mound – Cahokia, Illinois
Hohokam – Casa Grande
Hohokam - jewelry
Anasazi – Canyon de Chelly
Ways of Life
Culture Areas – Regions in which groups
of people have a similar way of life
 Societies began by meeting basic needs
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Agriculture allowed people to grow/store
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Women gathered roots, berries,
Men hunted game
Crops suited to climate/irrigation/fertilizer
Populations grew where they farmed - cities
Trade became common
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Beads, shells, flint, salt for currency,
Ways of Life
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Shared beliefs
 Felt a close relationship to natural world
 Spirits dwelled in nature - part of lives
 Green corn ceremony – Cherokee
Indians of SE – late summer – ritual
lasted over a week – spiritual renewal
at the end of the growing season
 Pueblo Indians had kachinas
 Strong oral traditions – storytellers
memorized stories to pass on
Kachina Dolls
Native Americans – Far North
By 10,000 BC Native Americans had
spread over the continent.
 By 1500 natives were diverse group of
people with distinct ways of life
 Far North – Canada-Arctic
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Cold, harsh, covered with ice
No farming
Hunters/fishermen – used kayaks
Hunted caribou, moose, bear
Dense forests
Native Americans - Northwest
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Northwest – Pacific Northwest
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Southern Alaska to California
Large permanent settlements – plenty of
game/fish
Societies in the Northwest
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Wealth dictated status
Custom of potlatch – ceremony in which the hosts
showered their guest with gifts like canoes, furs,
baskets, cloth
Families status was judged by its wealth
Native Americans – Far West
Far West – different geographic regions
 Forests, grasslands
 Southern areas of California – deserts
 Housing varied by area
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Pit houses dug in ground
Cone-shaped houses covered in bark
In North – made of wooden planks
Native Americans - Southwest
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Southwest
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Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah/Colorado
Some farming – irrigation
Desert monsoons
Had to learn to collect/store water
Pueblo people such Hopis, Zunis
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Stable towns that lasted
Built large apartment houses (adobe)
Native Americans – Great Plains
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Great Plains – vast regions
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West
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Hunted buffalo – used for many things
Migrated seasonally with the buffalo
Tepees/clothing/shields/tools
East
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Farmers – corn, beans, squash
Lived along rivers – earth lodges – log frames
covered with soil
Native Americans – Eastern Woodlands
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Hunters/gatherers, fished
Farmers by 1000 AD
Algonquian
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Great Lakes, Canada, Atlantic Coast
Iroquois
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New York – 5 Nations
Each made up of clans (groups of related families)
Matriarchal society – owned property
Chose sachem – tribal chief
Constant warfare in the 1500s
 League of the Iroquois – established council to keep
peace – each tribe free to handle own affairs
Native Americans of Southeast
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Mild climate – hot summers - farming
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Cherokees and Creeks
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Wooden houses plastered with mud
Natchez People of the Gulf Coast
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Complex society
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Top was Ruler – Great Sun
Nobles
Bottom was Stinkards
Law made Nobles marry Stinkards
Class membership kept changing
Muslim Link in Trade
Complex trade in Asia and Africa
 Linked Far East with Europe
 Growth linked to Islam
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Islam started by Muhammad
Belief in one true God
Holy Book – Quran
Mecca – holy city – pilgrimages
Islam transmitted through conquest and trade
Arabs conquered North Africa and Spain
Spread to India and into Africa
Merchants spread religion
African Trade
Egyptians traded as far back as 3100 BC
 Sailed through Mediterranean, Red Seas
 Traded for
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Silver, horses, ivory, spices, copper, cattle
Advances in Learning
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Arab scholars
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Developed algebra and sent it to Europe
Advances in medicine
Astronomers measured the earth – sphere
Advances in technology
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Developed triangular sail
Allowed sailors to use the wind even if it changed
direction
East African Trade
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East Africa
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Zimbabwe – center of trade @ 1400s
Lay en route between east coast and interior
Traders had to pay taxes to pass through
Kilwa – chief trading city on coast
Attracted merchant ships from India/China
Active Slave trace between Africa and Asia
Traded cloth, pottery goods with interior for
gold, ivory, furs
West African Trade
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West Africa
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Nomad and Caravans linked interior, over the
Sahara and north to the Mediterranean
Ghana – first major trade center in 800s
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By 1200, Ghana absorved into Mali
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Rulers became rich from the trade of salt/gold
Timbuktu -Mansa Musa – made a hajj to Mecca
Center of learning
Mali declined by 1433, Timbuktu captured by nomads
Songhai Empire – trade of slaves, salt, gold
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Restored Timbuktu
Trade was restored
East Asian Link
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Chinese empire unified under a strong ruler
in 221 BC
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Highways, canals, postal system linked China
Trade expanded in 1300s
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Advanced technology compared to other
civilizations
First to develop the printing press – 400 yrs
before Europe
Improved navigation
Magnetic compass allowed boats to sail out of
sight of land and find way home
Chinese Sailors Explore
By the 1300s, Chinese ships sailing from
Japan to East Africa
 Zheng He sailed to Africa
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300 ships – trade
Visited 30 countries
Traded silks and pottery for spices, gems ,
herbs and ivory
Spice Trade and the Silk Road
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Overland route opened by Marco Polo
Chinese silks, bronze, pottery, spices
Many routes – linked Xi’an China to Persia
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– cloves, nutmeg, pepper, silk, bronze, pottery
Demand for goods in Europe increased
As water routes were discovered, the Silk Road
declined in importance
Judeo-Christian Tradition
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Judaism
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1700 BC system of beliefs called Judaism
Israelites – nomadic people of the Middle East
First major religion to believe in one God –
Monotheistic
Moses brought God’s laws - Ten Commandments
All people believe in God and God’s laws
Other religions believed rulers to be gods
No man, no matter how wealthy, was above the
law including rulers
Judeo-Christian Tradition
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Christianity
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2000 years ago Jesus began to preach
Many believed that the Messiah - sent from God
Gospels spread his word
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Romans viewed as a threat but then converted
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Recount the life of Jesus
Teachings emphasized love, mercy, forgiveness
All men have equal chance for salvation (everlasting life)
Appealed to poor and oppressed
Became the official religion of the Roman Empire
Spread through evangelization
Greek and Roman Traditions
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Judaism and Christianity shaped
European religions and moral thinking
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Ancient Greece and Rome shaped
European political traditions
Athenian Democracy –
Greek Traditions
Athens – center of learning 400 BC – birth of
democracy
 Direct democracy – form of democracy in
which an assembly of ordinary citizens make
decisions
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Different from constitutional democracy (elect)
Any adult could participate
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Except women, slaves, foreigners
Depended on educated citizens
Schools taught history, grammar, public speaking
Roman Government/Law
509 BC Romans overthrew their king
 Set up a Republic -form of government in
which people choose representatives to
govern them
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Elected Senate and assembly made laws
Code of Laws
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Defined rights of citizens
Everyone was equal under the law
Innocent until proven guilty
Framework of American system of justice
Rise and Fall of an Empire
Long years of civil wars
 27 BC Octavian declare himself Emperor
 Lasted over 500 years
 Roman ideas about law and government
spread
 Invaders in 476 AD ended the Roman Empire
 1000 years after known as the Middle Ages
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Middle Ages
Europe fragmented after fall of Rome
 Feudalism – system in which a ruler grants
parts of his land to lords
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In exchange – lords owed the king military
service and financial assistance
Lords grant land to lesser lords
Lords protected by king – paid him taxes
Roman Catholic Church
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Great power – daily life revolved around rituals
Center of learning – only clergy could read/write
The Crusades
Pope Urban II – 1095
 Declared a crusade
 Win back the Holy Lands
 9 total crusades
 European traveled to Holy Lands
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Exposed to Muslim civilization
Tasted foods with spices
Learned advance technology for navigation
Inspired Europeans to look overseas- trade
The Renaissance (rebirth)
1300s Europe moved out of Dark Ages
 Scholars rediscovered classical Greek,
Roman text
 Artists, science, inventions
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Printing press
Powerful New Nation-states emerged
Spain, Portugal, France, England
 Shifted trade routes
to Atlantic Ocean
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The Reformation
Most of Europe was Catholic
 Not all were happy with the corruption
 Martin Luther
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German monk
1517 - Demanded reform – rejected
Followers were called Protestants
Led to the Protestant Reformation
Over time Luther’s movement split into many
churches
Series of wars between Catholic/Protestants
Age of Exploration Begins
Renaissance
 Rise of nations
 Expansion of trade
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All led to the beginnings of exploration
Exploration Leader
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Henry the Navigator
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Brother of king of Portugal
Deeply religious – spread Christianity
Set of center of exploration – Sagres
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Brought in mathematicians, mapmakers, sea captains
Teach navigation and sailing
Learned to use astrolabe, magnetic compass to
determine precise latitude
Exploration Begins
Portuguese sailors began to sail southward
 Along the west cost of Africa
 1498 – Vasco da Gama passed the
southern tip of Africa- continued north and
east to India
 Da Gama’s course became an important
route and brought wealth and power to
Portugal
 Pressed to East Indies to trade spices
Essay Question
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How are the religions of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam different from the
beliefs of the early Native Americans?