1.1 & 1.2: the americas, west africa and europe jachimiec u.s. history 2015-16

1.1 & 1.2: The Americas, West Africa and Europe

JachimiecU.S. History2015-16

Ancient Cultures in the Americas• First hunters arrived 22,000 years ago (Ice Age) via Beringia

land bridge• Agricultural Revolution 8000-3000 B.C.• Mix of nomadic and farming tribes

Great Empires of Middle and South America

• Olmecs (1200-400 B.C.) in southern Mexico• Maya (250-900 A.D.) in southern Mexico and

Guatemala• Aztecs (1200s-1500s A.D.) in south-central

Mexico• Incas (peak around 1400 A.D.) in Andean

highlands of Ecuador, Peru and Chile

Olmec “Colossal Head”

Chichen Itza

Tenochtitlan, Valley of Mexico

Machu Picchu, Peru

North American Tribes• Diverse climates=diverse peoples and ways of

life• Sophisticated trade patterns, roads

Cahokia, Illinois

Mississippian Mound Cultures

Common Traits

• Highly religious and ritualistic• Extensive trade• Land not treated as a commodity (source of

life)• Animistic beliefs• Kin-based relationships organize clans and

tribes

West Africa

• Large, powerful kingdoms and sophisticated societies• Connected by trade to Europe, Middle East and Far East

– Gold– Salt

• Kinship bonds highly important• Polytheistic religions that favor a single creator• Collective ownership of lands according to family, village

and/or tribe• Trade (including slave trade) begins with Portuguese

arrival in 1440s

Caravan to Timbuktu

Europe

• Social class dictates position in life.• Low social mobility• Renaissance (1400-1600): rediscovery of classical

learning and artistic/cultural reawakening• Christianity dominate religion– Split within the Church in 1500s between Roman

Catholicism and Protestantism (Reformation)• 1400s- emergence of strong nations: England,

France, Spain and Portugal

Age of Exploration: Why?

• Interest in Far East (Marco Polo, Crusades)• Desire for more efficient trade routes to get

exotic goods (spices)– Want to bypass Muslim overland routes

• Monarchs see expansion as a way to increase their wealth and prestige.– 3 G’s: Gold, God & Glory

Age of Exploration: How?

• Improvements in cartography (map-making)• Technological improvements– Astrolabe– Magnetic compass– Caravel/Lateen sails