Review Class Day 2
The Significance of Agriculture in
Meso-America
•
Maize
= corn = most important
crop
•
Meso-America
= south from
central Mexico to the northern
reaches of modern-day Honduras
• Location of the first complex societies in the region
•
As a result, more human needs
Maya
•
Mesoamerica, 200BC-AD900
•
Geography: made it easy for agriculture to become highly developed
•
at least 50 city-states, each with a god-king ruler
• linked through alliances & trade•
class structure: priests & warriors, merchants & artisans, peasants
•
DBQ 9:
• huge stone pyramids for gods & rulers • Video: Temple of Chichen-itza:
http
Maya
•
religion: many gods (corn, death, rain, war)
•
pray, offerings of food, flowers & blood, human sacrifice (usually enemies)
•
DBQ 9:
•
calendars
used to predict what god was in charge of the day
•
highly skilled astronomers & mathematicians
China 1027 BC-AD 220
•
Geography: Mountains, desert & ocean caused isolation: “middle kingdom”
•
Qin 221-206 BC
•
Shi Huangdi abolished the feudal system & centralized power-created military
districts ruled by an appointed official
•
Standardized measurements, national coins, uniform writing, repaired roads
& canals
•
Terrra cotta soldiers
China
•
Han (206-220 AD)
• Shi Huangdi died in 210 BC, people revolted
• Peasant leader took control, reduced taxes & eased harsh policies of the Qin
• Wudi was the most famous:
• Established a civil service system = exams used to determine who would get government jobs (Exams were based on the teachings of Confucius)
• Improved roads & canals, strengthened the economy: Silk Road
• Confucian values were established in Chinese government & society
• “Golden Age” contributions:
Confucianism
•
Confucius wrote
The Analects
in 551 BC
•
People should accept his/her place in society:
social order
•
filial piety = respect shown by children for their parents & elders
•
People had certain duties & responsibilities based on their place in society
•
People are naturally good
Hinduism-about 1500BC
•
Developed by habitants of the Indus Valley & Aryan invaders
•
Polytheistic = belief in many gods
• Brahman = universal spirit • Brahma the creator
• Vishnu the Preserver • Shira the Destroyer
•
Reincarnation & the caste system
• Goal is to achieve union with brahman, but this is impossible to achieve during one
lifetime
• Hopefully good behavior during this lifetime will mean you are born into a higher
caste when you are born into your next life
• Karma = deeds of a person’s life that affect his/her existence in the next life • Dharma = moral & religious duties that are expected of an individual
India
•
Mauryan Empire 321-185 BC
•
Geography: a peninsula, but plains, mountains & plateau made it difficult
to unite
•
Started in Ganges Valley, was the first united Indian Empire
•
Established a
bureaucracy = way of managing a government through
departments that were run by appointed officials
who did things like tax
collection & building of
infrastructure = roads & bridges
•
Asoka
was a Buddhist ruler
known for his religious tolerance
•
United a diverse group of people, & brought peace & prosperity: schools, library
•
Spread Buddhism with missionary (= person dedicated to spreading a religion)
Buddhism
•
Developed in India, spread to other areas
•
Founded by Siddhartha Guatama in the 500s BC, later known as the Buddha =
Enlightened One
•
Four Noble Truths
• Life is suffering
• Suffering is caused by desire for things that are illusions
• The way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate desire
• Following the Eightfold path will help people overcome desire
•
Eightfold Path
• “Right” ways of acting to achieve nirvana = union with the universe to release from the cycle of death & rebirth
•
Similar to Hinduism in that they believe in karma, dharma & reincarnation but they
Greece: Geography
•
Geography
•
a peninsula
therefore the people became seafaring who used the oceans for
trade and food
•
mountainous interior
• caused city states to form along the coast
Greek City-States
• Began to emerge around 800 BC
• Called polis, consisted of a city & its surrounding countryside
• 50-500 square miles of territory; 20,000 or less residents
• Each had an acropolis, which was a fortified hilltop on which male citizens gathered to conduct business
• Had its own army & government (hence influencing our word political)
• Monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny, democracy
• Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Corinth, Miletus, Naxos & Samos
• Each was a different size, population, military & style of government
• Sparta & Athens were the largest, but were vastly different
The acropolis
Accomplishments of Ancient Greece
•
Democracy (= direct participation, “civic values”)
•
Pericles Funeral Oration
•
Mathematics (Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes)
•
Philosophy (drama, reasoning, natural world)
•
Sophocles
• “The world is full of wonders, but none is more wonderful than man”
•
Architecture (“classical”)
• Realistic, orderly, balanced
Rome
•
Geography: also a
peninsula
•
Early Roman Government
• Republic = representative democracy
• Three branches of government, Senate = makes laws (legislative)
• The Twelve Tables = uniform set of laws
•
Roman Accomplishments
“Pax Romana” = Golden Age
• Conquered a large empire under strong leadership • Success due to loyal & flexible legions
• Built roads, bridges & aqueducts that are still standing today (trading)
The Fall of Rome
•
Human suffering: citizens were poor, unhappy & had little freedom
• Lacked the ability to participate in government (it was expensive to hold political office)
• Army lacked discipline & loyalty
• Romans lacked patriotism & became indifferent to the empire’s fate • Food shortages
• Spread of disease, population decline
• Economic weakness: inflation & low wages (used slave labor)
• Ineffective rulers
• Barbarian invasions from the north
• Physical size of the empire was too large to manage
• Christianity preached peace, charity & devotion
Christianity
•
Based on the teachings of Jesus
• a Jew & a Roman subject
•
Ignored wealth & status = appealing to poor
•
Monotheistic
•
Ten Commandments
•
Love for God, neighbors, enemies & themselves
Quiz
1. The Romans first established a republic, or a government in which
(1) power rests with citizens who have the right to select their leaders (2) power rests with a small minority who are supported by the military (3) power rests with the citizens who participate directly in law-making (4) power rests with the nobility and the wealthy
2. Hammurabi’s Code, the Ten Commandments, and the Twelve Tables were all significant to their societies because they established
(1) democratic governments (2) official religions
3. One way in which filial piety in Confucian China and citizenship in ancient Athens are
similar is that both
(1) emphasized duties and responsibilities in society
(2) encouraged the development of advanced technology
(3) promoted respect for the physical environment
(4) required that legalist principles be followed
4. Which belief system was the basis for the civil service exams given during the Han,
Tang, and Song dynasties?
5. A person who practices Hinduism would most likely
(1) believe the Vedas are sacred
(2) worship in a synagogue
(3) pray facing Mecca
(4) make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
6. At the height of its power, which ancient civilization controlled the
entire coastal region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea?