Unit 1: 8000 BCE to 500 CE
Lilly Farmer
Chapter 2 (Agriculture)
- In the past 2 centuries, there has been a dramatic decline in the the number of farmers worldwide.
- There was a great increase in the productivity of modern agriculture
- Agriculture is the deliberate cultivation of plants and domestication of animals.
- Agriculture started around 12,000 years ago and has been the basis for almost all human developments since.
- Agriculture is the second greatest process after settlement of the globe.
- "Domestication" of nature created new neutral dependence. Many domesticated animals and plants cane to rely on humans.
- Population increase: too many humans to live by hunting and gathering.
- "Intesification" of living- getting more food and resources from much less land.
Your Life - Your Agriculture
Agricultural Beginnings
- Agricultural Revolution happened independently in several world regions. For example: Southeast Asia, Sub- Saharan Africa, China, New Guinea, Mesoamerica, and Eastern North America.
- Agricultural Revolution coincided with the end of the last Ice Age ( Ice Age was over about 11,000 years ago).
- Women were most likely the agricultural innovators. Men lead in domesticating animals.
- Seperated development of agriculture at several places in the Americas. The Americas continued to rely on hunting for meat.
Globalization of Agriculture
- Agriculture spread in two ways: diffusion and colonization/migration.
- Language and culture spread with agriculture.
- Globalization of agriculture took about 10,000 years. It also cause great changes in world population.
Social Variations in the Age of Agriculture
- Some regions relied much more heavily on animals, because farming was difficult or impossible there.
- Pastoral nomads emerged in Central Asia, Arabian Peninsula, Sahara Desert, and Africa.
- They relied on different animals in the different regions.
- No pastoral societies emerged in the Americas.
- patriarchy- a system of society or government in which a male is head of the family.
Agriculture Reflections
- There were food surpluses to support large populations.
- There were needs of welfare.
- Density of population: competition societies, fundamental motor of change.
- Agriculture gave some people the power to dominate others.
Chapter 3 (Civilizations)
- Empires are simply states, political systems that exercise coercive power.
- Civilizations were expressed in elements of a common culture rather than in a unified political system.
- Eurasian empires of the second-wave era shared a set of common problems.
Features of Civilization
- Civilizations had cities with monumental architecture and population
- They had powerful states that could compel obedience and wage large-scale warfare.
- Much greater inequality in economic function, wealth, and social status.
Major Civilizations
- There were 6 major civilizations.
- They all developed after 3500 B.C.E
- One of the earliest civilizations emerged in Southern Mesopotamia.
- They developed the first written language. There was also an appearance of Egyptian civilization in Nile River Valley.
Norte Chico
- 25 urban centers
- Differed in several ways from Mesopotamia and Egypt
- Smaller cities without walls or signs of persuasive welfare
- Less evidence of economic specialization
- Didn't have a grain based agriculture
Indus River Valley
- Written script that remains unknown
- 2200 B.C.E. - first civilization took shape in China
- China defined by the ideal of a centralized state
- The Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties enlarged the Chinese start.
- Early written language with oracle bones.
Indus Valley Civilization - Ancient Civilizations | Mocomi Kids
Egypt
- Ancient Egypt is probably the most influential of river valley civilizations
- Lasted from 300 B.C.E. TO 332 B.C.E.
- Safest and richest agricultural areas in the world.
- Egyptian communities existed ONLY along the Nile.
- Nile was easily tamed.
- Most famous pyramids were built by peasants between 2575 and 2465 B.C.E.
Ancient River Valley Civilizations WHAP project
World Empires
- 500 B.C.E. - largest and most impressive of the world's empires was the Persians.
- Famous Monarchs: Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes.
- Persian conquests quickly reached from Egypt to India.
- SPA- Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
- Golden Rule = Confictus- not a religion, it was a Chinese philosophy.
- Filial Party- respect for elders.
Sparta vs. Athens
- Athens was a democracy, but Sparta was a military oligarchy.
- Spartan government: not monarchy, not democracy.
- Athenian women were excluded from public life, could not own property, always accompanied by a male, and had no formal education.
- Spartan women recieved public education, were allowed to play in sport, had economic power and influence, and were able to voice their opinions.
- Helots- slaves/ serfs that worked for Spartans.
- Hoplites- infantry who carried shield, sword, and spear.
Athens v. Sparta
Greco-Persian Wars
- The Greeks held off, defeating the Persians on both land and sea.
- The defeat had little effect on the Persians.
- Greek victory also radicalized Athenian democracy.
- Greco-Persian wars were a high point for Athenian democracy and the Golden Age of Greek culture.
- Athens had a coalition of more than thirty Greek city states.
Rome : Enginnering an Empire
- Romans had aqueducts that brought freshwater to the city from the mountain streams and were built by legions.
- Vespian's colosseum was built on the site as Nero's huge manmade lake.
- The colosseum was finished being built in 80 C.E. and Vespian's son, Titus, lead the inaugural celebration.
- Trajan was the adopted son of Nerva, who built a marble Roman forum in 112 C.E. that was the center of Roman city life.
- Hadrian's wall is in Britian and marks the furthest extent of the empire. It once towered 15 feet high.
- Hadrian's pantheon was a "masterpiece" of his reign and was a complex temple to Roman gods.
- Caracalla's bath complex was made in 212 C.E. and was opened in 216 C.E. it was then used for anyone who wanted to "cleanse" past sins.
Chapter 4 (Culture and Religion)
- Chinese empire represented an effort to revive an imperial tradition that already existed.
- Han Dynasty- the second imperial dynasty in China.
- Creation of Chinese empire had only brief and superficial domestic repercussions.
- In Rome, Christianity was born as a small set of small province in a remote corner of the empire.
- Constantine- legalizes Christianity
- Roman- "Almost the entire world"
- Chinese- "All under heaven"
- Chinese relied on a civil service system.
- Romans relied more on regional elites and the arm to provide cohesion.
- Han Empire came to an end in 220 C.E.
India
- India had unparalled cultural diversity.
- India's social structure, embodied in a castle system linked to occupational groups.
- Salvery was non-existing in Indian societies.
Chinese Philosophy's
- Daoism- emphasizes living in harmony with the "Tao (way)."
- Confucianism- the system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and his disciples. More to do with social connection and relationships.
- Legalism- the act of putting law above gospel by establishing requirements for salvation beyond repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and reducing the broad, inclusive and general precepts of the Bible to narrow and rigid moral codes.
- Qin Shihuangdi- founded the Qin dynasty and was the first emperor of China.
- Kong Fuzi- founded Confucianism .
- ying yang- sign for daoism
- Siddhartha Gautama (the Budda)- creator of Buddhism.
Philosophers
- SPA- Socrates, Plato, Aristotle.
- Socrates- credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He walked about the city engaging others in conversation about good life.
- Plato- famously sketched out in "The Republic" a design for a good design.
- Aristotle- was a teacher of Plato and a teacher of Alexander the Great. He represents the most complete expression of the Greek way of knowing, for he wrote or commented on practically anything. Most scientific of the SPA philosophers.
Chapter 5 (Society and Inequality)
- Idea of mandate of heaven was established by 1122 B.C.E.
- Breakdown into the chaos of the "age of warring states."
- Chaos made the quest for order urgent.
The Legalist Answer
- Han Fezi was a leading legalist philosophy.
- Principle: strict rules, clearly defined and strictly enforced, are the answer to disorder.
- Pessimistic view of human nature; only the state can act in people's long term interest.
- Promotion of farmers and soldiers, who performed the only essential functions in society.
- Legalism inspired the Qin Dynasty reunification of China.
- The philosophy was discredited by Qin brutality.
The Confucian Answer
- Confucius was an educated, ambitious aristocrat.
- Principle: the moral example of superiors is the answer to disorder.
- Humans have capacity for improvement: education is key.
- Legalism was discredited, confucianism became to official ideology of the Chinese state.
- The family as a role model for political life, with focus on filial piety.
- Emphasized the great importance of history.
The Daoist Answer
- Opposite of Confucianism in many ways
- Elite Chinese often regarded Daoism as a complement to Confucianism.
- Daoism entered popular religion.
The Buddhist Challenge
- Developed side by side with physiological Hinduism.
- Central Buddhist testing: life is suffering.
- Large elements of Hinduism are present in Buddhist teaching.
- Much of Buddhism challenged Hinduism.
- Appealed especially to lower castes and women in India.
The Three Teachings - Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism l HISTORY OF CHINA