Hays APWH Period 0 Flash Cards

Paleolithic Era

REGION: All over the world

- "Old Stone" Age

- Early years of human history - predates agricultural societies

- People stayed in small bands

- Ability to make fire was most important innovation/discovery

- Division of labor assigned by gender: men hunted, women gathered

Neolithic Revolution

REGIONS: Middle East, South Asia, Europe, East Asia, Latin America

- The development of systematic agriculture as a result of the end of the last Ice Age around the year 8000 BC

- Started in the Middle East and spread to Africa, Asia, and Europe

- Domestication of crops and animals to establish a more stable food supply

- Led to many effects, like sedentary settlements, job specialization, food surpluses and trade, governments, etc.

Pastoral Society

REGION: Throughout Afro-Eurasia

- Typically nomadic and focus on caring for herds and flocks

- Nomadic lifestyle made the exchange of technological advances with established civilizations possible

"Out of Africa" Theory

REGION: East Africa

- Model for human origins that poses Homo sapiens originated in East Africa, then spread throughout every region of the world

- Widely accepted, though has come under fire recently due to fossil record

Ancient Mesopotamia

REGION: Middle East

- Civilization that developed between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern-day Iraq

- Polytheistic and built ziggurats to please their gods

- Developed first form of writing - cuneiform

- Needed natural resources, trading regularly with Egypt and Harappan society

Code of Hammurabi

REGION: Middle East

- Code of laws developed by the most powerful Babylonian king

- Concept of written set of rules to govern society (rather than arbitrary rulers) impacted later civilizations

- Legal principles of protection of peoples' rights, as well as lex talionis, "law of retaliation", where punishment resembles the crime

- Made class distinctions in differences of punishments

Ancient Egypt

REGION: Middle East

- Ancient civilization that developed in the Nile River valley

- Polytheistic with many gods

- Society ruled by a pharaoh believed to be the physical embodiment of a god (Ra)

- Worshipping the dead led to mummification and construction of tombs/pyramids

- Written language (hieroglyphics), papermaking, 365-day calendar, monumental architecture

Ancient China

REGION: East Asia

- Developed around the Huang He (Yellow) and Yangtze Rivers - unpredictable flooding

- Not much is known about the Xia Dynasty

- The Shang Dynasty developed a pictographic system of writing and began a tradition of ancestor veneration

- Also, the first Golden Age of China during the Zhou Dynasty

- Silk production was a highly guarded imperial secret because it was a luxury product in high demand

Zhou Dynasty

REGION: East Asia

- Longest dynasty in Chinese history (900 years)

- Introduced the Mandate of Heaven (power to rule comes from heavenly powers) & Dynastic Cycle to justify their takeover of the Shang

- Feudal - divided territory into many regions control by people loyal to the king

- Saw the movement from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in China

Ancient India (Indus River Civilization)

REGION: South Asia

- Well-planned, fortified and uniformly constructed cities

- Speculation as to why this civilization declined continues because the written language remains untranslated

- Caste System maintained order and stability, developing after Aryans migrated into South Asia, making contacts with indigenous peoples and invaders

- No central authority - hundreds of chiefdoms existed

Hinduism

REGION: South Asia

- World's oldest organized religion; limited spread beyond India

- A person is reincarnated on the basis of behavior

- Hindu ethics - dharma (obey religious & moral laws), moksha (salvation of the soul by meeting responsibilities)

- Bhagavad Gita outlines what Hinduism expects of people on the path to salvation

Buddhism

REGION: South Asia

- Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha, or "enlightened one")

- Four Noble Truths - all life is suffering, desire causes suffering, eliminate desire and you eliminate suffering

- Achieve nirvana (spiritual independence) by right behaviors

- Appealed to lower castes in India

- Cultural diffusion spread ideas to Japan (Zen Buddhism), China (Mahayan Buddhism), and northern India (Theravedic Buddhism)

Jainism

REGION: South Asia

- Popularized by Vardhamana Mahavira

- Practiced extreme nonviolence to living things or their souls

- Contradicted the caste system, believing if all things had souls, there should not be rigid social classes

Mauryan Dynasty

REGION: South Asia

- First united state in the Indian subcontinent

- Founded by Chandragupta Maurya

- Ashoka - united entire subcontinent through bloody battles, built infrastructure for trade, and supported Buddhism while encouraging religious tolerance

Gupta Dynasty

REGION: South Asia

- Founded by Chandra Gupta, who made alliances with powerful families

- Golden Age of ancient India

- Decline caused by White Hun invasions, social tensions, and economic difficulties

Judaism

REGION: Middle East

- May be the world's first monotheists

- Hebrew scriptures captured in Torah (later part of the Tanakh)

- Enslavement and harsh treatment caused the Jewish Diaspora, or spread from their homeland

- Experiences and practices contained in the Hebrew Bible

- Ten Commandments - religious teachings that also serve as an ethical code of behavior

Phoenicians

REGION: Middle East, North Africa, Europe

- Civilization with a vast Mediterranean trade network

- Empire expanded from Israel/Lebanon/Jordan area to Northern Africa, southern Europe, all the way to modern-day Spain

- Phoenician alphabet (22 symbols representing sounds), developed to facilitate trade, greatly impacted the Greek, Roman, Arabic and Hebrew alphabets

Nubia, Kush, Axum

REGION: Middle East, East Africa

- Three African kingdoms that prospered off of regional trade along the Nile River

- Nubia - deeply impacted by Egyptian culture & trade

- Kush - conquered Egypt at one time and became trading partners with Rome, India and Arabia

- Axum - East African trading society in modern-day Ethiopia that largely converted to Christianity

Confucianism

REGION: East Asia

- Major philosophy that emerged from Hundred Schools of Thought, founded by K'ung Fu-tzu (Confucius) as the Zhou Dynasty declined in China

- Teaches people to understand their role in social hierarchy (Five Relationships) and respect institutions

- The best way to promote good government is to hire people that are well-educated and able to do the job

- Respect for elders and reverence for ancestors (filial piety)

Daoism

REGION: East Asia

- Religion founded by Laozi in the late 500s BC

- Teachings collected in the Dao De Jing, believed natural principles that govern the world could bring order to society

- Humans should live simply in order to achieve harmony with nature, rejecting worldly things

- Dao ("the way") - like water, soft yet can erode the strongest rocks

Legalism

REGION: East Asia

- Emerged from the Hundred Schools of Thought - used to end the Warring States period

- Notable people - Shang Yang and Han Feizi

- Focused on human behavior with centralized government, strict laws and punishments to control people

- Government strength lies in agriculture and military

- Qin Dynasty was ruled by it under Shi Huangdi

Qin Dynasty

REGION: East Asia

- Ended the Warring States Period, restoring order and stability to China

- Ruled by Shi Huangdi ("First Emperor") - centralized bureaucracy

- Standardized Chinese script, coinage, weights and measure to aid commerce

- Initiated construction of the Great Wall of China to keep northern invaders out

- Overthrown & replaced by the Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

REGION: East Asia

- A golden age of classical China

- Han Wudi - established imperial university to educate government officials and invaded Vietnam and Korea

- Confucianism replaced Legalism as the ruling philosophy

- Rise in epidemics led to Yellow Turban uprising

- Internal weakness led to its downfall in 220 AD

Chavin and Olmec

REGION: Latin America

- Among the first civilizations in the Americas

- Chavin - South American civilization around Peru that depended on llamas

- Olmec - core of Mesoamerican civilizations

Teotihuacan

REGION: Latin America, Mexico

- First major metropolis in Mesoamerica, located near present-day Mexico City

- Collapsed around 800 CE

- Most remembered for their city planning and the gigantic "Pyramid of the Sun"

Mayan Civilization

REGION: North America, Latin America

- Elaborate system of writing, accurate calendar, concept of zero

- Built large ceremonial centers, which included pyramids, palaces, and temples

- Practiced slash-and-burn agriculture

- Terrace farming developed to capture rainwater & silt to increase soil fertility (for cotton, maize, and cacao)

Austronesian Migrations

REGION: Oceania

- Farmers and herders that probably originated around China

- Immigrated to Pacific Islands (as far as Hawaii), but also west to Madagascar

- Exported their agricultural way of life (except to the aboriginals in Australia)

Hittites

REGION: Middle East

- Established empire in Anatolia around 1600 BC

- Controlled most of Asia Minor and parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia

- Used chariots in Bronze Age, but started to use iron weapons

Assyrian Empire

REGION: Middle East

- Used horse-drawn chariots to conquer standing armies

- Standardized military units led by officers appointed on basis of merit and skill

Greek Philosophy

REGION: Europe

- Established basic ideas in Greco-Roman philosophy and science focused on logic and empirical observation

- Socrates - developed method of questioning everything, executing for "corrupting youth"

- Plato - taught everything was based on ideal forms, wrote "The Republic" to illustrate ideal government led by philosopher kings

- Aristotle - believed people could depend on senses and reason to make sense of the world

Peloponnesian War

REGION: Europe

- War between Athens and her allies (Delian League) and Sparta and her allies (Peloponnesian League)

- 27 year war that concluded with Spartan victory, ending the Golden Age of Greece

Greek Golden Age

REGION: Europe

- Emphasis on empiricism and logic

- Innovation in math, science, engineering, architecture, philosophy, literature, and government

Alexander the Great

REGION: Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia

- Philip II (Alexander's father) conquered all of Greece

- Alexander took over, conquering the Persian Empire

- Controlled Ionia, Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia by 331 BC

- Hellenism - spread Greek culture to areas, affecting them politically, socially and economically

Hellenistic Empire

REGION: Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia

- Period during reign of Alexander the Great and the subsequent division of his empire at his death

- Egypt (under Ptolemy) was wealthy with capital at Alexandria, home of world's largest library

- Built on the former Persian Empire (led by Seleucus), it had common law and trade practices, combining Greek and local cultural and political styles

Achaemenid Empire (Ancient Persia)

REGION: Middle East, Europe

- Cyrus the Great founded the empire, spreading it from India to the borders of Egypt

- Darius created a centralized government with bureaucracy, provinces based on culture (satrapies), standardized coins and measures

- Organized courier service and built postal stations along the Persian Royal Road

Zoroastrianism

REGION: Middle East

- Religion based on the teachings of Zarathustra, who proclaimed visions revealed to him the supreme god Ahura Mazda ("wise lord")

- Belief the material world is a blessing to be enjoyed in moderation

- Concepts of good and evil, Heaven and Hell

- Influences can be seen on Judaism and Christianity

Persian Wars

REGION: Middle East and Europe

- Wars between Greece and Persia started by Darius attacking the Ionian Greeks,

- Athens-led Delian League formed to discourage future Persian aggression

- Famous battles like Thermopylae, Marathon, and Salamis

- Persian emperor Xerxes lost the war, ending Persian dominance and starting the Golden Age of Greece

- Much of our knowledge of the wars comes from the Greek historian Herodotus

Roman Republic

REGION: Europe

- Replaced Roman monarchy in 509 BC

- Republican constitution gave executive powers to 2 consuls elected for one-year terms by an assembly dominated by aristocrats

- Roman Senate dominated the decision-making process

- In times of crisis, a dictator was appointed with absolute power for 6 months

- Served as a model of government for many later civilizations

Twelve Tables

REGION: Europe

- Laws displayed publicly

- Attempted to quell the trouble existing between patricians (aristocrats) and plebeians (commoners)

- Dealt with basically every aspect of society

- Created legal concept of "innocent until proven guilty"

Punic Wars

REGION: Europe, North Africa

- Example of the Roman Republic's expansion attempts

- Series of 3 wars between Rome and Carthage over control of the Mediterranean Sea

- Rome defeated Carthage, becoming undisputed "Masters of the Mediterranean"

Julius Caesar

REGION: Europe

- Defeated his major rival Pompey Magnus, slowly gaining more and more power

- Named dictator for life, but had major improvements on Roman life

- Assassination on the Senate floor on the Ides of March

1st and 2nd Triumvirate

REGION: Europe, Middle East, and North Africa

- 1st Triumvirate (Pompey, Julius Caesar, Crassus)

- 2nd Triumvirate (Mark Antony, Lepidus, Augustus)

Augustus Caesar (Octavian)

REGION: Europe

- Grand nephew and heir of Julius Caesar

- Defeated Mark Antony in brief civil war

- Made major improvements on Rome and initiated the Pax Romana, a long period of peace and prosperity

- Started the worship of the Roman caesar as a god

Christianity

REGION: Middle East, Europe

- Jesus preached a very un-Roman message

- Teaches salvation for believing that Jesus is the Son of God and was crucified, buried, and resurrected

- Spread thanks to the Pax Romana and missionaries like Paul

- Peter became the first pope

Constantine

REGION:

- Moved Roman Empire's capital to Byzantium on the Bosporus Strait, renaming it Constantinople

- Passed the Edict of Milan, allowing religious freedom and tolerance and ending the persecution of Christians

Fall of the Roman Empire

REGION: Europe

- Rome experienced many problems in its later years - overextension, not enough food, use of barbarian mercenaries, loss of identity, rampant corruption, etc.

- Fall of the western half of the empire precipitated by Germanic attacks, often fleeing the path of Attila the Hun

- Western Rome fell in 476 AD, but the eastern half survived until 1453

- Some Roman government and cultural ideas survived and blended with Germanic culture.

Bantu Migrations

REGIONS: West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa

- Movement of Africans all over Africa from about 3000 BC to 500 AD

- Bantus established decentralized governments

- Carried with them their language, farming techniques, ironworking technology, and distinct culture

- Fundamentally transformed the linguistic and cultural landscape of Sub-Saharan Africa and forming the basis for later complex societies and states

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