1 / 27

Chapter 1 Ancient America and Africa

Chapter 1 Ancient America and Africa. The American People , 6th ed. The Peoples of America Before Columbus. Migration to the Americas. Archaeologists have unearthed remains pointing to the arrival of humans in America at about 35,000 B.C.E.

sumitra
Download Presentation

Chapter 1 Ancient America and Africa

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 1Ancient America and Africa The American People, 6th ed.

  2. The Peoples of America Before Columbus

  3. Migration to the Americas • Archaeologists have unearthed remains pointing to the arrival of humans in America at about 35,000 B.C.E. • Scientists generally agree that the first inhabitants of the Americas were nomadic travelers from Siberia. • These peoples traversed an ancient land bridge which connected northeast Asia with Alaska.

  4. Hunters, Farmers, and Environmental Factors • The first wave of humans found an abundance of megafauna: gigantic animals. Changes in environment and over-hunting wiped most out. • Adaptable humans learned to exploit new sources of food from plants in the agricultural revolution. • Erosion, deforestation, and salinization added to America’s environmental stresses over the centuries.

  5. Mesoamerican Empires • Mesoamerica: the middle region bridging the great land masses of North and South America. • The Aztec people of present-day Mexico numbered about 20 million in 1492. • The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan later became Mexico City. • Aztec society was divided into four classes: nobility, free commoners, serfs, and slaves.

  6. Regional North American Cultures • In the southwestern region of North America, Hohokam and Anasazi societies developed established communities thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans (who called them the “Pueblo” people). • Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest formed societies emphasizing fishing, wood craftsmanship and ceremonies such as the Potlatch. • Several societies of Mound Builders developed in the Mississippi River valley and Great Plains.

  7. The Iroquois • A confederation of five distinct tribes with unified land and goals: • The Mohawk (People of the Flint) • The Oneidas (People of the Stone) • The Onondagas (People of the Mountain) • The Cayuga (People at the Landing) • The Seneca (Great Hill People)

  8. Pre-Contact Population • Recently, scholars have estimated that the pre-contact population of America north of the Rio Grande stood at about 4 million. • Some estimates put the population of the Western Hemisphere at about 50 to 70 million at the same period.

  9. Contrasting Worldviews • The stark differences in European and American cultures stemmed from perceptions of social relationships and interaction with the environment. • Differences included concepts of property and communal ownership of goods and food sources.

  10. Africa on the Eve of Contact

  11. The Spread of Islam • Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, began preaching the tenants of his revelations in 610 B.C.E. • Islam spread rapidly across the Arabian Peninsula and the whole of northern Africa. • Eventually, the religion encompassed most of the Eastern Hemisphere.

  12. The Kingdoms of Central and West Africa • The Ghana Empire • The Mali Empire • The Songhai Empire • The Kongo Kingdom

  13. African Slavery • Slavery existed as a normal social condition in this period and had little to do with skin color. • Slaves were a sign of wealth for the owners, who treated their property very well. • The status of slavery was not inherited and always held the potential for reversal.

  14. The African Ethos • As in Europe, the center of African social organization was the family unit, which was often matrilineal. • Individualism was seen as distasteful and widely disdained. • Africans believed in a Supreme Creator and worshipped ancestors.

  15. Europe on the Eve of Invading the Americas

  16. The Rebirth of Europe • Stemmed from revived Italian trade with long-distance ports. • Led to a rediscovery of forgotten ancient knowledge. • Economic and political implications for societies that survived the Black Death. • Enclosure of estates • Development of English Parliament

  17. The New Monarchies and the Expansionist Impulse • From 1450 onwards, France, England, and Spain sought social and political stability. • Economic distress, civil disorder, plague, and Renaissance culture encouraged impulses to expand into the New World. • The Europeans ultimately hoped to discover an eastern oceanic route to Asia and exploit the African gold trade.

More Related