World History Guide:
Agricultural Revolution
Discover how human civilization began through the invention of Agriculture, called the Neolithic Age. During the Paleolithic Period, which last from the beginnings of human life until about 10,000 BCE, people were nomads and lived in small groups of 20 to 30 primarily hunting and gathering. In these groups, work was divided between men and women, with the men hunting game animals, and women gathering fruits, berries, and other edibles. These early people developed such tools as spears and axes and even harnessed the power of fire.
The Agricultural Revolution, or Neolithic Age, was a fundamental change in the way people lived. The shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture led to permanent settlements, the establishment of social classes, and the eventual rise of civilizations. |
Crash Course #1 Agricultural Revolution
Crash Course #1 Agricultural Revolution
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Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization is located in present day Pakistan and India. However, these current populations of Pakistan and India are not the ancient ancestors of the Indus Vally Civilization.
The Indus Valley people built planned cities with sophisticated sewage and plumbing systems. The plumbing system would have been the envy of any 18th Century European city. All of their houses were of equal size, suggesting broad egalitarianism throughout the civilization. Even more interesting was the use of a ceremonial bath, called The Great Bath, in the center of the city. Later civilizations and religions in the region would also place an importance on a ceremonial bath. Archaeological evidence suggest the Indus civilization was stable and prosperous. They had extensive trade networks using seals to denote a property. However, we are unable to decipher the writing to this day, limiting our knowledge of this civilization. The civilization mysterious declined several thousand years after it began. There are three main theories to the decline; 1. They wore out the valley's fertile soil or 2. an earthquake changed the environment or 3. foreign invaders destroyed them. |
Crash Course #2 Indus Valley Civilization
Crash Course #2 Indus Valley Civilization
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Ancient Mesopotamia
The Mesopotamian Civilization began in present day Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
While the region is called the Fertile Crescent it was difficult to farm large areas of land. The people worked together to overcome environmental challenges of unpredictable flooding (irrigation for farming), no natural barriers for defense (built walled cities), and limited resources (traded with others including Indus Valley and Egypt). Those challenges and the solutions to them lead to the development of centralized government and cities in Mesopotamia. In Mesopotamia they invented the wheel, sail, and plow all to help make their lives easier. These inventions still have a massive impact on society today from the growing of crops to the movement of goods. Each individual city was its own entity called a city-state. Eventually they were conquered and grouped together in an empire. Hammurabi developed a Code of laws to follow in this new empire. It was important in the fact that it reinforced the principle that government had a responsibility for what occurred in society. Later a nomadic group from the north, the Assyrians, took over all of Mesopotamia. They would later conquer Egypt as well. The Assyrians perfected terror as a means to rule. (typically cutting off enemies noses or skinning them alive). In order to control their empire they had a massive army that used such tactics such as ladders for scaling city walls, iron-tipped weapons, and dug tunnels to collapse city walls. Conquered people who continued to cause problems for the Assyrians would be forcibly moved from their homeland. The Assyrians were eventually defeated by a combined group of enemies as ruling by fear is not sustainable. |
Crash Course #3 Mesopotamia
Crash Course #3 Mesopotamia
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Egypt
Egyptian civilization develops along the Nile River and was one of the longest lasting early civilizations. The geography shaped the culture of Egypt. The Nile flooded regularly provided rich nutrient soil to grow crops.
Upper and lower Egypt are united into a kingdom and ruled by pharaohs, who are believed to be gods. The people of Egypt's belief in the pharaohs would even lead to the building of pyramids and massive tombs upon their deaths. In them were vast riches of gold, jewelry, and other valuable possessions. The believed these pharaohs would need all the possessions they had in their life in the afterlife. Egyptian customs for preparing a pharaoh for the afterlife led to huge advances in technology. The preparing and burying the bodies of the dead include mummification led to discoveries of heart rate and a pulse. They had huge advances in mathematics and geometry as they built pyramids. They also created the first 365 day calendar. |
Crash Course #4 Ancient Egypt
Crash Course #4 Egypt
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Ancient China
Ancient Chinese civilization is ruled by powerful family dynasties. Just rulers are believed to have divine approval, a mandate of heaven. Chinese history would follow a long chain of dynasties rising to power, then slowly waning before a period of upheaval, and a new dynasty would begin.
In Chinese culture, family is central to society and religion. The worship of oracle bones and the veneration of ancestors is central to them. According to Confucius, people were to live in harmony following 5 key relationships. Most important being the father to his son. A high value in individual education was also emphasized. Improvements are made in technology and trade and the society develops a early Feudal society. Shi Huangdi would rule according to the principles of Legalism. Confucius principles would later gain a foothold of the society with the rise of the Han dynasty. |
Crash Course #7 Ancient China and Confucianism
Crash Course #7 Ancient China & Confucianism
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Israel and the Origins of Judaism
The religion of the ancient Hebrews is the world's first major monotheistic religion. The Hebrews establish covenants with Yahweh (Hebrew for God), who is over all people.
Their history begins with Abraham who possibly came from the Mesopotamian city of Ur. Key ideas of God as both father and Shepard are present. Eventually they would wander from Mesopotamia to Egypt in search of a promised land. Moses would lead the people out of Egypt to the Middle East as they would follow a new code, the Ten Commandments. Eventually three kings would form a new powerful Kingdom built on trade. King Solomon's Temple was built to glorify himself and Yahweh. However the heavy taxes and labor weakened his kingdom. The Jews would be conquered by the Assyrians and forced to move to Babylon. There the religion would struggle to continue until the Persian King Cyrus conquered Babylon and allowed 40,000 Jews to return to the promised land. Their ethical and moral systems, as set forth in the Torah and Ten Commandments, become a foundation for Christianity and Islam. |
Israel Reading Notes
Ten Commandments Document
Ten Commandments Analysis
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Early Indian Empires
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Crash Course #5 Hinduism, Buddha and Ashoka
Crash Course #5 Hinduism, Buddha, and Ashoaka
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Persia
Persian kings forged a multicultural empire stretching from the Indus River to the Nile. They ruled the former kingdoms of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Assyria, and India.
Persia pioneers enlightened tolerance in government. When they conquered other groups they would not destroy the temples or religious sites of their enemies. Instead they would kneel before them and pray. This helped them gain support from their former enemies and ensured a long reign of successive monarchs. The Persians supported the Zoroastrian religion. Founded by a prophet named Zoroaster in the 7th century BCE. The religion is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. One of the main ideas is that of a constant battle between armies of good and armies of evil over a persons soul. Your own decisions decide if you will go to a place similar to heaven or a place similar to hell. The importance on personal decisions between good and evil and the idea of a heaven and hell can be seen in Judaism, Christianity and Islam as well. |
Assyria vs. Persia Reading Notes
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Greeks
Ancient sea traders spread goods, culture, and innovative ideas in the Mediterranean and beyond.
Two civilizations, the Minoans and Phoenicians, are early precursors to Greek society. Important aspects include religion from the Minoans and language from the Phoenicians. The geography shaped early Greek culture, as people were separated by mountainous terrain, allowing for the establishment of individual city-states. Rival city-states develop distinct political systems. Athens takes its first steps towards democracy, and Sparta develops into a military state. Athens will reach a "golden age" in the arts, science, economics, and military power but war with Sparta and a plague bring an end to Athenian achievements. Alexander the Great conquers Greece, Persia, and Egypt and extends his empire to the Indus River. He spreads Greek culture throughout the empire. Hellenistic culture, the blend of Greek with Egyptian, Persian and Indian cultures, flourishes throughout Greece, Egypt and Asia. Its achievements have a lasting effect on Western Europe. |
Crash Course #5 Persians and GreeksCrash Course #5 Persia and Greece
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Roman Empire
The early Romans establish a republic on the Italian peninsula, conquer all of Italy. This republic has the three best parts of government: a monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy within it. Society is divided between the patricians (aristocracy) and plebeians (commoners).
Rome becomes and Empire long before it ever has an emperor. Their first major expansion was the defeat Carthage in a series of wars. The Romans then create an extensive trade network throughout the western and then eastern Mediterranean. Problems in the republic lead to civil wars. The republic collapses, and Julius Caesar becomes dictator. After Caesar's assassination, Octavian emerges as Rome's first emperor. Octavian, now known as Augustus Caesar, leads Rome to a "golden age" a period of Roman peace called the Pax Romana. Civil service workers keep the empire running even through some periods of very bad emperors. Most Romans are farmers and small laborers. Agricultural production and trade run the empire. They trade internally via the Mediterranean Sea and the Roman Roads, externally they trade along the Silk Road for goods from China, India, and the Middle East. The Roman Empire become to large to govern and splits in two. Economic, military, and political decay and outside invaders bring down the Western Roman Empire, but the eastern half survives as the Byzantine Empire until the 15th century (late middle ages). Greco - Roman culture continues to influence the arts, science and technology, government, and legal systems of the Western world and other parts of the globe. |
Crash Course #10 Roman Republic or Empire or Not?
Crash Course #10 Roman Republic or Empire or Not?
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Christianity
Christianity begins with the teachings of Jesus in Judea. His teachings to lower class Jews gain a small but strident following.
His disciples, the inner circle of followers of Jesus, spread the word after his death. Christianity expands very quickly in the Roman Empire because of two main reasons. 1. The Roman roads and trade networks allow the religion to spread quickly despite persecution by Roman rulers. 2. Another reason why Christianity then expands is one does not have to be born Jewish or Christian to be a member of it. Paul plays a major role in its expansion because of this very debate among early Christians. Eventually Christianity becomes the main religion of the empire. |
Crash Course #11 Christianity: from Judaism to Constantine
Crash Course #11 Christianity: from Judaism to Christianity Fill in the Blank Notes
Christianity Power Point
Christianity Lecture Notes
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The Silk Road
The Silk Road is the series of trading routes connecting Chinese markets to the Roman world and everything in between.
The trade routes affected 1. a wider economic impact than just the wealthy, 2. helped with the spread of ideas and religions, and 3. facilitated the spread of diseases. Three large empires dominated the Silk Road trade with many smaller kingdoms in between facilitating trade as well. The most import are Rome in the west, Han China in the East, and the Mauryan and Gupta empires in India. Rome and Han China experienced a wider economic impact causing the decline of their empires. For Rome the silk roads created a trade imbalance in goods from the east, possibly causing huge inflation that led to the decline of the empire. In China, the wealthy land owners, who paid no taxes, started buying all the peasants land with profits from silk road trading. This lead to a peasant revolt and the fall of the Han dynasty. Hinduism and Buddhism spread along the silk road from India during the Gupta and Mauryan dynasties. Hinduism would be simplified and take on more characteristics similar to monotheism, while simplifying the gods to just three. Buddhism which was declining at the time would gain popularity in China and even Japan. Plagues from the East such as bubonic plague, measles, and small pox all spread along silk trade routes devastating populations who did not have immunities to these new diseases. |
Crash Course #9 Silk Road
Crash Course #9 Silk Road
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