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Monika Milani

Professor Pritchard

History 5A

7 March 2019

Midterm 1

The evolution of Homo Sapiens Sapiens from our earliest known ancestors are

Australopithecus from East Africa and South Africa. The most famously well-preserved skeleton

of an early Australopethicus ancestor is Lucy. It was found that the Australopethicus species live

about 4 to 2 million years ago. They had many characteristics like Humans do: They walked

upright, three and a half to five feet tall, a brain capacity of 400 to 500 cubic centimeters, and a

face that combines ape and human features.

Homo Erectus appears to be the first hominid ancestor that traveled out of Africa with

their fossils found in various parts of Europe, Java, and China. They are speculated to have

emerged about 1.9 million years ago. They used fire and made stone tools. Although a part of our

genus, some scientists believe that they had not contributed to modern Human DNA before they

went extinct.

From there, the Homo Sapiens came about around 400,000 to 100,000 years ago and

originated in East Africa. It is speculated that they used symbolic language and artistic

expression religiously and aesthetically (as the art found in their burial chambers would suggest).

Their brain capacity was much bigger than the Australopethicus’ 500 cubic centimeters of space-

sitting at 1,400 to centimeters of capacity.

Then, our own species, Homo Sapiens Sapiens emerged about 150,000 years ago. During

out first 100,000 years one of our cousin species, the Neanderthal, was still around. They were
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very much like modern humans in their stature- the main difference being their stout and

muscular appearance. Neanderthals went extinct about 28,000 years ago. The Neanderthals were

close enough to our species’ genome that they had contributed to our DNA. These traces can still

be found.

Many different Human species can be traced in existence, such as the Homo florensis

(nicknamed “hobbits”), Homo Ergastor, Homo Heidel bergensis, and more- whether they had

any part in forming our genome the way it is now or not.

As for why the modern humans have reigned supreme in survival among the many

cousins we once had, a lot of it was out of sheer luck. Any one species of the human line or other

animals of the world could have been where we are- but, they’re not.

With Ice Ages, extinctions, and influctions of heat, any species must adapt to survive.

Modern humans and their ancestors are known to have eaten practically anything that they can

and many different cultures of the world have adapted to eating the regional foods available. If

any hominids were in the wrong place at the wrong time or didn’t have the right tools or skillset

on them, it may have lead to But what exactly, what really caused the rest of the species to

disappear? What moment sealed their fates? That is a question that is still being answered every

day.

The Analects, documents that compiled Confucius’ teachings after his death in 479 BCE.

Confucius’ teachings centered much on family ties, personal relationships, filial piety, and moral
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force. In The Analects’s section, ‘On Government by Moral Force’, it reads that Confucius

believed the government and its ruler must believe in fair employment, no unfair punishments,

business support, structured morality, and a love for their people. Overall, this structure of

governing is very much based on morality, dignity, integrity, belief in the people being good as

long as the ruler is good in themselves, and the virtue of the ruler. Confucius’ teachings

influenced empires’ way of governing.

Legalism appealed to Han Fei of the Qin dynasty as an alternative to Confucianism.

Legalism contrasts Confucianism by, instead of focusing on letting good happen naturally,

employing measures to prevent people from doing what would be considered bad and

unfavorable things. Han Fei thought more about the “facts” than the spirituality of the

government. This is based on order and swift, severe punishment.