Americas

 Land bridge that existed between Asia and North America nine and fifteen thousand
years ago called Beringia
 Asian and Americans Indians share a genetic marker on a Y chromosome that justifies
migration theory
The First Americans: The Olmec
 Stretched from north of Panama up to the desert of central Mexico
 Mesoamericans were polytheistic; male and female traits present, and demanded blood
sacrifices of enemies taken in battle or ritual bloodletting
o Corn was domesticated by 5000 BCE, forming the basis of their diet
o Accurately predicting eclipses and solstices allowed for direct timing for planting
and harvesting crops
o Created the only known written language in the Western Hemisphere
o No overarching political power, but trade allowed for culture to diffuse
 The Olmec were recognized for their giant head sculptures
 Flourished along the Gulf Coast of Mexico from about 1200 to about 400 BCE
 Built aqueducts to transport water to cities and crop irrigation
 Grew maize, squash, beans and tomatoes
The Maya
 Large population (>100,000 people at its height of 500 BCE), arose after the decline of
the Olmec
 Large-scale agriculture and the resultant abundance of food allowed for development of
special trades and skills other than farming
 Graves uncovered that suggested humans were sacrificed for religious purposes
 Mayans perfected the calendar and written language that the Olmec had begun
 Decline occurred due to poor soil and drought that lasted nearly two centuries (900 BCE)
 Mayan history was in the form of glyphs (pictures representing words), and recorded
folding books called codices; by tradition (old religious practice) codices were normally
burned
The Aztec
 Tremendously wealthy filled with gold
 Largest city of that time with inhabitants of 200,000
 Tenochtitlan was planned, clean and orderly (city occupied by the Aztec); had a trash
collection system, markets, two aqueducts brining in fresh water, and public buildings
and temples
 Aztecs bathed daily, unlike the Spanish that discovered them; some wealthy homes
might even have a steam bath
 Used barges made of reeds that were filled with fertile soil; lake water constantly
irrigated them (known as chinampas – “floating gardens”
 Performed ceremonial sacrifices
The Inca
 Most highly developed/complex society
 Had a road system free of debris and repaired by workers stationed at intervals that
varied
o Enabled rapid movements of highly trained Incan soldiers
 They had no system of writing; however, they kept records using a system of colored
strings and knots called quipu
 The ruling class lived off the labor of peasants
  Farmed corn, beans, squash, quinoa and an indigenous potato; peasants only received
1/3 of the crops – 1/3 for the Incan ruler and 1/3 set aside in a kind of welfare system for
those whom are disabled
 Peasants worked for the ruler for several days per month on public work projects – for
example, constructed rope bridges made of grass
 Did not practice ceremonial sacrifice, but they did donate to the gods – food, clothing,
and coca leaves
o During emergencies, like natural disasters, they sacrificed prisoners
o Ultimate sacrifices were children, whom were well fed and specially selected –
believed that children would go to a much better afterlife
 Machu Picchu is an architectural beauty; constructed via human labor containing walls
and buildings made of polished stones, perfectly fitted together without the use of a
mortar
North American Indians
 Very widely dispersed compared to Mesoamericans (Mayan, Aztec and Incan societies)
 Practiced hunting and gathering; horses were introduced by the Spanish, allowing for
ease with hunting
 Pueblos were town/villages made of permanent stone-and-mud buildings
o Pueblo peoples abandoned their cities most likely due to drought
 The Hopewell lived in the present-day Ohio River Valley
o Practiced agriculture which was also supplemented with hunting and fishing
o Obtained shells from the coast, copper from Canada, and obsidian from the
Rocky Mountains – created necklaces, woven mats, and carvings
o Archaeological findings indicate their society was socially stratified from their
artworks and other goods
Indians of the Eastern Woodland
 Explorers expected to find same findings as in other regions, however, it was ravaged by
European diseases brought by the Spanish which transmitted among the natives
o Rather, they found gold, silver and an abundance of land
 Tribes which had chiefs that were male, of which women counseled – not a patriarchal
society as one would see in Mesoamericans, South Americans and Europe
 Women – cultivated corn, beans and squash and harvested nuts and berries
 Men – hunted and fished, as well as provide protection
 Some tribes, women had power and influence (Iroquois, Lenape, Muscogee, and
Cherokee)

Europe on the Brink of Change

 With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages emerged; without a centralized
power, Europe experienced political and military discord
 Christian Churches remained intact
 Genoese merchants returned from the Black Sea in which they brought a rat-borne
illness known as the bubonic plague resulting in the Black Death
Life in Feudal Europe
 Most Europeans lived in small villages that consisted of manorial housing or a castle for
the lord, a church, and simple homes for peasants or serfs
 Lords owned the land, knights provided military service to a lord, serfs worked the land
in return for protection
 Catholic Church was the only church in Europe at this time, in which owned a vast
amount of land, and became wealthy from tithes and rent from land
  Women often died from childbirth and child mortality rate was high (often died before the
age of five)
 Seasons dictated the rhythm of life – spring began preparation of the soil in which they
planted crops, early summer indicated harvesting, and winter brought people indoors to
weave, sew clothing, thresh grain, etc.
The Church and Society
 After the fall of Rome, the Christian church united in dogma unofficially dividing into the
western and eastern branch
o The eastern branch was led by the Patriarch of Constantinople – adopted the
Greek language
o The western branch remained in Rome, becoming known as the Roman Catholic
Church – used Latin; became the most powerful organization of western Europe
 Life revolved around the church; the sacraments marked every stage of life
Christianity encounters Islam
 After Muhammad’s death in 632, Islam spread by conversion and military conquest
across the Middle East and Asia minor to India and northern Africa
 Islam conquest led to conflict with Christians in which expanded all the way to Spain;
however, in the Battle of Tours led by Charles Martel defeated the army of Abdul
Rahman al-Ghafiqi
o Islam was slowly pushed in the eleventh century during the holy war called the
Reconquista; this drive later extended to early military conflict between
Christians and Muslims for domination of the Holy Land, known as the Crusades
Jerusalem and the Crusades
 Religions lived peacefully until 1095, when European Christians decided to retake the
Holy Lands; this is when the Crusades had begun
 Church’s promised a wholesale of forgiveness of sins, which motivated many
 The French knights retook Jerusalem in June 1099 with horrific slaughter; one recorded
that it was very bloody in which none could live (without sparring women and children)
 The Crusades had lasting effects
o Negative – wide-scale persecution of Jews began because they classified Jews
with infidel Muslims, labeling the as “the killers of Christ”
o Positive – trade expanded between East and West because Crusaders
experienced silk, taste of spices, and utility of porcelain
The Iberian Peninsula
 Lisbon, Portugal because the center for merchants desiring to undercut the Venetians’
hold on trade
 Portuguese sailors used triangular sails and built lighter vessels called caravels to sail
down the African coast
 King Ferdinand (Portuguese) married Queen Isabella uniting two of the most powerful
independent kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula
 Queen Isabella was motivated by religious zeal, which led to the beginning of the
Inquisition in 1480 – brutal campaign to root out Jews and Muslims, whom of which
converted to Christianity, but secretly continued to practice their faiths
o Ruled for twenty-five years
 In 1492, after six years of lobbying, Christopher Columbus persuaded monarchs to fund
his expedition to the Far East from the Spanish monarchy
o Queen Isabella envisioned her faith being spread to the East; Ferdinand was
more interested in acquiring wealth and trade
West Africa and the Role of Slavery
 Africans were hunter-gatherers; water was too scarce for farming
 Wives, children and dependents (including salves) were a sign of wealth among men, as
well as polygyny
The major African Empires
 Islam continued to spread quickly across North Africa – only those whom were Muslim
could rule and engage in trade
 The first major empire to emerge in West Africa was the Ghana Empire; replaced by the
Mali empire
o Mali’s ruler Mansu Musa gave away enough gold to create price inflation in the
cities along the route
 Timbuktu became the leading Islamic center for education, commerce and slave trade
The role of Slavery
 Those whom seek protection, or relief from starvation would become the servants of
those who provided such relief
 Servitude often relieved debt owed
 Muslims not only enslaved Africans but also Europeans
 Institution of slavery was rampant due to the mercantilist system demanding a
permanent, plentiful labor supply
o A race-based slavery system in the New World was implemented because
Africans were easily identifiable and slave trade in that region was very common