Emerging Global World
Olmec
They were from Mexico. They mysteriously disappeared between 400 B.C. and 200 B.C. Seemed to have had a large class of farmers and a small elite. This elite held military. large class of farmers and a small elite. Elite held religious power. They left behind 15 giant stone heads.
Mayan
Occupied most of the Yactoh peninsula. Population declined sharply, people fled from the cities. ruled by kings and priests. Were skilled architects and engineers. Worship of many gods. Built many steep, pyramid-shaped temples.
Aztec
Settled on an island in Lake Texcoco and built their city, Tenochtitlan. In the late A.D. 1400s, unrest grew among surrounding peoples. Military dominated Aztec society. they worshipped Quetzalcoatl. Learned metal working, pottery making, and weaving.
Inca
West coast of South America and the Indes mountains. Spaniards destroyed this empire. emperor had absolute power. One small ethnic group among many. Polytheistic religion. Their art was pottery.
Zheng He
Led voyages in South Pacific and Indian Ocean. Helped to extend Chinese maritime and commercial influence throughout the regions bordering the Indian Ocean.
Vasco Da Gama
Vasco da Gama was the first person to sail directly from Europe to India.
Christopher Columbus
Famed Italian explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the "New World" of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492.
Ferdinand Magellan
While in the service of Spain, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European voyage of discovery to circumnavigate the globe.
James Cook
Cook was an 18th century explorer and navigator whose achievements in mapping the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia radically changed western perceptions of world geography.
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer and cartographer best known for establishing and governing the settlements of New France and the city of Quebec.
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange refers to a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology transformed European and Native American ways of life.
New World
Western Hemisphere.
Old World
Eastern Hemisphere.
Advancing European Exploration
Development of astrolabe and compass allowed navigation in the open sea using the Sun and the stars to guide the navigators. The caravels were fast for their time and very maneuverable.
Triangular Trade
Involved three journeys each with the promise of a large profit and a full cargo.
Middle Passage
Slaves were being transported from Africa to America.
Copernicus
Developed the heliocentric, or "sun centered" theory.
Galileo
Developed the telescope.
Kepler
Made the laws of planetary motion.
Newton
Proposed the law of universal gravitational.
Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners. Crash Course: World History #21