Ancient History: The Americas and Africa

8/9/2019 Ancient History: The Americas and Africa

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HOW DID CIVILIZATION BEGIN IN THE AMERICASo The Americas

The first people came from Asia over the Berlin Strait in Alaska. When they land in Alaska, they start to move south for food andwarmth. Sometime before 10,000BCE (possibly 50,000 years ago) the firsthumans migrated to America from Asia. These people were called Nomads because they were hunters andgatherers.

This means that they ate from plants and hunted animals forfood. There would be a food taster to see if food was poisonous. They also fished

People began to widely populate North, Central, and South America. By 7,000BCE, farmer started. Civilizations formed

People begin to settle down. Now they are going to grow theirown food. They built better permanent houses. They are no longer "cavemen". They also have a community now and have a government. Thereis also job specialization. Someone may become a tailor, a carpenter, abuilder, an artist, etc.

What they did Started government Farming

Squash, tomatoes, beans, maize, peppers, Domesticate danimals

Llamas For wool

Jewelry Necklaces, earrings, etc.

HOW DID THE OLMACS DEVELOP A CIVIVLIZATION?o The first civilizations in America (including the Olmec) Developed inMesoamerica

It started in Cancun because of the mild temperature, adequate rainfall, rivers, gulf coasts, etc. The Olmecs started around 1500BCE.

They had pyramids and temples They had steps in the front and they are flat on top. Had a courtyard where they played a ball game likebasketball without unsing your hands or feet. On the biggest holidaof the Gods because the would have a game and the winners of thegame got sacrificed to the Gods.

Built sculptures Big heads (see picture)

Religion Polytheistic Prayed for rain, fertility, victory in war.

Mayans WHAT WERE THE MAIN ACHEIVEMENTS OF THE MAYANS

o The Mayan civilization Started from the Yucatan Peninsula (in southern Mexico) they spreadthroughout Mesoamerica. Flourished from 300 to 900CE They traded and built roads to do so. There were roads going throughthe area.


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They liked to use long feathers to accessorize. There are many tropical birds that drop its feathers.

Honey and chocolate In the rain forest, cocoa plants grow.

Most were farmers The problem was that they had too much rain.

They raised the ground level and built channels around itso the excess water could drain off.

The climate was good. Biggest city - Tikal

Up to 40,000 people living there. It is in present day Guatemala.

They were excellentin astronomy. They were able to predict (centuries ahead) accurately. (end orworld= 2012, Dec 21)

Temples Believed in human sacrifices Found cave paintings (recently) of human sacrifices.

Had a writing system For history, stories, data, government things.

ENDS around 900CE Some say they just left the area Some say they just faded away It could've been disease Fighting (civil war or other)It could've been a hurricane (hurricane area) Soil depletion (like the potato famine)

HOW DID THE AZTECS RULE?

o Aztecs Around 1300, they were building an empire starting from centralMexico.

They are around Mexico city. These people were quite recent.

Major city: Tenochtitln It is near present day Mexico city. They put dirt in the lake so that they could get to their islands. That is called a causeway.

They conquered by force They spread to a much larger area in Mesoamerica.

Conquered over 10 million people that were in theirempire.

They were a very aggressive war-like people. When they asked people to do anything they wanted or

they would take them. They formed alliances or took you over. Either you agree or are forced. People who made an alliance with them had to pay tribute. Sometimes people were tribute.

They were used as sacrifices along with criminals, slaves,and captives.

Very religious Involved daily human sacrifices. A few each day. Thousands ayear. War took on a religious meaning


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The people they conquer are the sacrifices. Farming

Floating Islands They built on the edges of lakes lots of dirt piles wherethey could plant.

They also drained swamps. Aqueducts Clever ways of adapting to the environment.

Stuff they had Gold and jade jewelry Cotton clothes Exotic parrots. Marketplaces

Government Nobles - Leaders: Political, Religious, military. Commons - Farmers, merchants, artisans

The spanish conquer the aztec HOW DID THE INCAS BUILD AND CONTROL SUCH A HUGE EMPIRE?

o Incas Not it Mesoamerica In South America From a small state high in the Andes Mountain Range. It spread by the 1400's to include a huge area. The Incan empire stretched from Columbia all the way to Chile.

2,500 miles long Capital City: Cuzco (in Peru) (like the Emperor's New Groove)

Beautiful City Temples and Palaces

Lots of Gold and Silver. Gold plates Silver bathtubs Running water in the bathrooms.

Gardenso They kept control of such a big empire by:

A strong Empire Though they had a strong army, they preferred to negotiate.(they want loyalty in exchange for peaceful relations)

They built roads for two reasons: Trade. Army transportation. A network or some 14,000 mi. of roads

Communication language They had to all speak the same language. Relay runners deliver messages.

They collected taxes Money always is good. They taxed the trade This made a lot of money to keep the vast empire under control.

They built bridges Rope bridges Connected their lands which had many valleys

Left local leaders (chiefs) in place BUT ...they take their sons, bring them to Cuzco and put them in a bigboarding school. This way, if the chiefs misbehave, they have their sonsAlso, they are training their future leaders the Incan ways (language, wa


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of life, laws). They are nice to them because they want to form alliancesWhen he is grown up and learned their Incan culture, they send themback home.

They also kept in Cuzco, their most sacred things. They told them that they'd keep it safe unless they causetrouble.

Required work Every able-bodied person was required to work a certain amountof days each year for the Incan government. Included able women and

children of an adequate age. BUT in return, when you were old, the Incan government tookcare of you. (like SSA) The government also stored food. It might be a bad year so thegovernment helps them. Stored high in the mountains. They actuallymade freeze dried potatoes.

Religion Polytheistic Believed that their king was a descendant of the sun God and thequeen, the moon god.

Farming Terracing Irrigation

o In the 1500's there was a civil war. The king had no descendant. Spanish conquistadors took over.

WHAT IS THE GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA?o Africa: geography

Africa is BIG It is a continent

It is the world's largest continent besides Asia. Made up of ever 50 independent countries. It is 3X larger than the US

5,000 mi from north to south 4,600 mi form east to west

It is so big that it has a variety of climates and landforms. (topography) Desert

Largest in the world - Sahara (in the north) Kalahari desert - (in the southwest) 40% of Africa is desert The deserts are uninhabitable and pretty much useless. Also, deserts act as natural barriers making trade difficult. Desertification

The desert is getting bigger All of the sand blows around and covers good land with sandpebble and gravel. This is how deserts grow. Saheel

The area at the southern end of the desert. There are no trees which is bad because trees keep gooddirt in one place.

Savanna - 40% Tall grass, short trees, and bushes fill the savanna. (like the lionking) Not particularly hilly Some farming maybe because the rainfall is sort of irregular.

It might not rain for 2 months at a time.


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You constantly hear of droughts. Mainly used for animal grazing.

Africa does not profit from its geography. Tropical Rainforest (jungle)

Less that 10% of Africa is Rainforest They are located in Central Africa The climate is hot and wet There is lots of vegetation and thick growth However, there is a lot of disease in the rainforests.

They were carried by insects such as the Tsetse fly. There is a lot of teak wood and also mahogany.

At least you can get wood from the rainforest. There is one place good for farming - Temperate (or Mediterranean)zone

It is located on the Northern Coast and in South Africa The problem, for the most part, is that geography andlandforms and climate in Africa are not good for farming eitherif there is too much or little rain or if it is too hot. Getting enough food for the people in Africa has always and willalways be a problem.

o Shape of the land Africa goes up to a plateau in the center. That was the Great Rift Valley

In eastern Africa cuts through plateau. The long coast around Africa

The long coast around Africa has few good natural harbors. There are few tall mountains in Africa

Mt. Kilimanjaroo Rivers

Rivers can act like highways. They are good for trade andtransportation. Nile Niger Congo Zambezi

o Natural Resources They have a large amount of Natural Resources

Diamonds You have to cut diamonds A lot of it went to Amsterdam Now a lot of it goes to India, though, to cut it and polish it,and facet it.

Gold From South Africa

Oil Natural gas, Uranium, Copper, Cobalt, Etc.

They are definitely rich in resources WHAT ARE SOME OF AFRICA'S ANCIENT KINGDOMS?

o African Kingdoms Egyptian Nubian

They flourished around 800BC. They are located South of the Egyptian civilization and is locatedalong the Nile. They traded with Egypt.


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Gold was traded Ivory and Ebony was traded Ostrich Feathers were traded.

They got a lot of traditions from Egypt. By 800BC, though,he Egyptian Kingdom declined and the Nubianincreased in power and made their own Kingdom. They became mostpowerful.

Kush They replaced they Nubians as the most powerful people by

about 700 or 600BC. Meroe

Further south along the Nile river. Made iron 500BC - 300AD, they were most powerful. They also had an alphabet. Raised cattle In Sudan, there was a cultural center with pottery, art, etc. oftendepicting animals.

WHAT IS THE EARLY HISTORY OF AFRICA?o The Sahara desert is a great natural barrier

The Himalayas are also a great natural barrier. This cause China dn India ro be totally different There were no blending of cultures.

The Sahara separates Africa into two. North of the Sahara are Arabs and Muslims.

Lighter skin people People known as the Mahgrib

South of the Sahara is Sub-Sahara Africa. Most are not Muslim Darker skin

o Kingdoms in Sub-Sahara Africa: The Empire of Ghana

By the Niger river Had a flourishing Kingdom (when Europe was in the Dark Ages)from 800-1000 They learned how to trade across the Sahara desert by usingcamels in caravans.

Caravans were used as protection because you needdefense against possible bandits, you need water, and in case youget lost. They traded gold for salt.

Salt was very valuable! The government made money from the trade because thetaxed trade.

This is good because, hopefully, with that money,they will help the citizens. Also, they had a large army of 20,000 Plus, they developed iron.

The Mali Empire This is a bigger empire. It stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Niger River. At its high point from 1200-1450 They did a lot of mining (gold, iron, copper)

They liked copper because it is malleable Farming


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Rice, yams, beans, onions Large army (with horses) Mansa Musa (1307-1332)

A powerful king that used his large army to get even moreterritory. He was a Muslim. He practiced the Hajj (journey to the holy city of Mecca)

He takes a few people with him (80,000 attendants) He used is attendants to carry tons of gold to

Mecca Timbuktu

A major trade and educational center in Africa. Timbuktu continued to be a great center of learning but itdid not survive very long because of attacks from the North

Songhai (1450-1600) An Islamic Empire Their ruler was Sunni Ali

Powerful army Increased the size of the Empire

Axum (or Aksum) (900BC - 600AD) East Africa (Ethiopia)

Had a great location Trading center

Products from the Middle East, Europe, India,Sub-Sahara etc. You could find, iron, ivory, copper, glass, oil,emeralds, clothing of all kinds, olive oil, rhinoceros horns.

Religious centers (Christian, Hindu, African, etc.) It collapsed to invaders

HOW DID AFRICA MAINTAIN ITS TRADITIONS?o Africa

They adapted to the various environments in Africa. Desert

Camels Savanna

No farming Make a living by grazing animals

River/Lake Fish

Rain Forest "Slash-and-burn" They cut and burn trees to quickly remove trees. Use machetes The ashes are fertilizers

Bad thing - you kill the animals Strong Family ties Clans were formed

Tribes were formed from clans Tribalism is a major problem in Africa today. They feel more loyal to their tribe than their country It divides the country and weakens it. Wives

Do the farming Bring the water

Husbands


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Do the hunting Religion

Animism They believe that there are spirits in nature.

Oral Tradition Storytellers (Griots) Very good Tell hundreds of stories

Documents

Ancient History: The Americas and Africa