Asia, Africa, and the Americas - Intro to AP World History

Africa

Continent that is home to a large number of different geographical features, from deserts and savannas, to mountains and rainforests and many kingdoms with luxurious trade

Sahara Desert

Hottest and driest desert in the world that limited contact between groups in africa and the rest of the world, forcing them to develop independently

Africa Trade

Traded mainly gold and valuable salt which was found in Western Sudan and the Sahara Desert which was mined by slaves

Berbers

Group of people that facilitated trade in the Sahara and they used slave lsabor which led to the African Slave Trade

Kush

Kingdom that conquered Egypt around 700 B.C. which led to the cultural development of oral traditions

Griots

Storytellers in Ancient Africa that told stories from family trees and generational stories

Animism

Religious idea where the attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects and natural phenomena was worshipped

Axum

Between the 3rd and 6th century CE, Axum (Aksum) became a great market in northeastern Africa where merchants used access to the Nile and Red Sea to trade with civilizations beyond Africa

Axum Traits

* Written language
* First African kingdom to mint its own coins
* Gold and ivory were two of the most valuable exports of the region
* Christian kingdom that was located in what is present day Ethiopia
* The arable land of the region made agriculture successful

Zimbabwe

Located near the Zambezi River, Limpopo River, and the Indian Ocean, Zimbabwe used access to these bodies of water to grow their trade routes, especially with Asia and the capital city, Great Zimbabwe, became the heart of the prosperous empire

Zimbabwe Traits

* Shana name for “stone houses”
* Houses were also made out of mud-brick
* Its economy thrived on gold mining, cattle herding, and cotton and pottery production
* Still a country and its bird, often seen in ancient artifacts, is on the flag
* Legend of the Great Zimbabwe ruins is that it used to be the playground of giants

Three Kingdoms

South of the Sahara desert and with access to the Niger River, these kingdoms established trade throughout the Trans-Saharan region and along the West coast of Africa where gold and salt made the region richa the Berbers, a pastoral nomadic Trans-Saharan tribe, helped to facilitate trade throughout the region as a result of their nomadic lifestyle and culturally, most people in the region practiced either animistic religions or Islam which had been introduced to the region and many people converted, but most regions of Africa had animistic religions before the Abrahamic religions were introduced and many parts of Africa are still animistic, although Islam and Christianity have significantly influenced the continent

Ghana

One of the three African kingdoms that was one the Northwestern region of the area

Mali

One of the three African kingdoms that was on the Western region of the area

Songhai

One of the three African kingdoms that was on the Eastern region of the area

Caravans

Camels became the backbone of Trans-Saharan trade and were called “the ship of the desert,” camels were used to carry goods across the desert and these groups could have anywhere from 500-1200 camels per these groups

Trans-Saharan Trade

Trade across this desert was very hard because the desert was hard to cross but the objects were very valuable and people crossed with caravans and Berbers facilitated the trade with slave labor

Mansa Musa

This person ruled Mali from 1312-1337 CE and he is often remembered as one of the richest people in history, he was also a Muslim and famously made the hajj to Mecca and along his journey, he spent so much gold, rumours travelled quickly to Europe that Africa was a land of gold and he ordered the construction of the Great Mosque and many Islamic learning centers in Mali

Timbuktu

City that became the center of trade and learning in the region of Mali

Prince Henry the Navigator

A Portuguese person that began establishing trade relations in West Africa in the 1420s and he particularly wanted to trade for gold and enslaved people and this began the African slave trade that would continue for centuries

Europeans

These people began establishing trading posts along the West coast of Africa in their search for gold, spices, and natural resources which started with Prince Henry the Navigator and competition between European countries quickly escalated to gain access to the resources of Africa and Europeans also continued to try to spread Christianity throughout Africa and these situations led to the Atlantic Slave Trade

Ibn Battuta

This person was a successful Muslim traveler and explorer and he traveled throughout Africa and Asia and he documented a significant number of his travels in a variety of books

Olmecs

Ancient ancestors of the Mayans who inhabited Central America and Mexican rainforests

Olmec Achievements

They made massive stone heads for their rulers and they invented early forms of writing, the calendar, and various athletic competitions

Mayans

Groups of people that replaced the Olmecs and controlled modern day countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador from about 250 CE to 900 CE

Yucatán Peninsula

Peninsula where the Mayans are located

Chichen Itza

Most populated Mayan city that is located on the edge of the Yucatán Peninsula

Mayan Government

They had city-states ruled by kings and they did not have a singular ruler for the whole region and the kings were given the right to rule from the gods and they also became a god when they died

Mayan Temples

These step pyramids found in archeological sites are remnants of sites where various important rituals were practiced, such as prayers, dedications, and even human sacrifices and at the base of each of these temples, an arena was built for the sacred Mesoamerican ballet ame to be played which was dedicated to the gods like the maize god which was the most popular god

Mayan Economy

This was based on agriculture and trade and they used terrace farming

Terrace Farming

A method of growing crops on hills or mountains by planting on terraces or steps built into the slope

Mayan Achievements

This group of people developed a sophisticated system of mathematics, the concept of zero, and astronomy and they used these skills to create an elaborate 365 day calendar, that is nearly identical to the one we use and they predicted that 2012 was going to be the end of the world and developed a writing system using glyphs that were used to document a variety of things

Aztecs

This group of people controlled Central Mexico, near modern day Mexico City from about 1300-1521 CE and they reportedly migrated from an unknown region known as Aztlan, going on to found a sprawling empire in Central America and this empire consisted of a number of city-states that paid tribute to an emperor to live independently

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztecs that was built in the swamp of Lake Texcoco which would later become Mexico City after the Spanish invasion in 1521

Chinampas

Artificial fields that the Aztecs built so they could farm in swamps and they would pile layers of mud and vegetation on top of each other to raise the soil level above the water and they grew the three sister crops

Three Sister Crops

Maize, beans, and squash

Aztec Religion

This group was polytheistic and animistic, and they primarily worshipped their sun god, Huitzilopochtli, but another important god was Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent and they believed that how you died impacted your afterlife and they used human sacrifice

Huitzilopochtli

The Aztec Sun God

Quetzalcoatl

The Aztec Plumed Serpent

Machu Picchu

One of the most city-complexes built by the Incas

Inca

This group was an empire that existed in the Andes Mountains in South America between the years 1400-153, located in what is now modern day Peru and Machu Picchu was an important location for this empire

Inca Religion

These people had an animistic, polythiestic religion, which focused on the sun god, Inti and the emperor was believed to be part god and they built temples lined with gold to worship the gods, mummified bodies, and made sacrifices to places or objects they believed were inhabited by spirits and heaven was divided into four parts

Inti

The Inca Sun God

Inca Heaven

This was divided into four parts and those that lived a good life would go to the parts with sun, food, and water. Those that lived a bad life would go to the underworld with only rocks to eat

Inca Achievements

These people were known for their road and bridge system that allowed travel throughout the empire and they also had a communication system of runners to carry messages along the road and they used stone and iron tools, as well as developed irrigation systems, aqueducts, and water storage systems to aid their mountain-based agriculture and they developed a system of record keeping based on using knots, pictured left, to keep track of information and this system was called Quipu and was used in place of a written language and they also developed a 12 month calendar

Inca Economy

They were based on a high-altitude agricultural society and being located in the mountains required the Inca to use terracing to grow crops and their society was cashless and didn’t have marketplaces so instead, government storehouses would distribute goods, clothing, and other necessary supplies to citizens and people paid taxes in the form of labor to receive those goods and their main crops were potatoes, maize (corn), and squash

Shang Dynasty

This dynasty emerged around 1600 BCE in the Huang He valley, helping establish Chinese civilization and they left behind significant amounts of bronze, utilized by nobles with farmers getting none and they created a sharp separation between the social classes would eventually fall to the Zhou Dynasty

Xia Dynasty

Chinese dynasty from 2070-1600 BCE

Zhou Dynasty

Chinese dynasty that replaced the Shang as the ruling family around 1045 BCE marking the beginning of the Classical Period and they used many of the same cultural and political practices developed by the Shang but also developed the Mandate of Heaven and they developed a strong central government, but gave out land to various nobles using the system of feudalism

Qin Dynasty

Chinese dynasty that emerged in 221 B.C. after the warring states period and Shi Huangdi was its legalist leader and they had harsh laws and made inventions like the terracotta army

Han Dynasty

Chinese dynasty that was established in 202 B.C. with Liu Bang as its ruler who rebelled against the Qin dynasty and they didn’t use legalism, had a civil service bureaucracy, and encouraged assimilation

Japanese Hierarchy

Emperor, shogun, daimyos, samurai, merchants and artisans, and then peasants and farmers

Daimyo

Japanese landowners

Samurai

Japanese professional warriors

Minamoto Yoritomo

Person who seized the government of Japan in 1185

Shogun

Japanese commander-in-chief who had total control and let the emperor and the imperial court act as a figurehead

Shogunates

Japanese time periods that were run by a singular shogun

Kamakura Period

Japanese place that held the Yoritomo shogunate

Japanese Invasion

The Mongolian ruler of China invaded this place twice by seaside in 1274 and 1281

Ashikaga Yoshiaki

Third Japanese shogun who set up his government in his flower palace in Kyoto in 1333 and he switched sides and fought for the imperial court after being called to fight the rebels by the Minamoto family

Go-Daigo

Emperor who made a bold move to regain power during the Kenmu Restoration and it failed so the Ashikaga shogunate restored its power

Oda Nobunaga

A powerful daimyo that placed an Ashikaga shogun in power in 1565 after the 15th shogun was assassinated and later he used guns from Portuguese trade and conquered and unified a third of Japan

Ashikaga Decline

This shogunate finally ended in 1573 when Nobunaga banished Ashikaga Yoshiaki out of Kyoto

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Nobunaga’s successor who completely unified Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate and they expanded Japanese trade with Europe and let Christians in

Sakoku

Japan became country locked because of the Europeans in 1630

Ezana I

Person who officially adopted Christianity in the mid-300s CE and everyone converted from their polytheistic religion

Great Zimbabwe

The capital city of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe that is now in ruins

Bantu

Group of people who spread the Shona language throughout Zimbabwe because of their migrations throughout Africa

Great Enclosure

This structure was uniquely built because it did not have mortar so it relied on rocks that were perfectly shaped so the wall would not collapse and could have been used for housing for royal people or it could have been a grain storage facility

Timbuktu Invasion

The Songhai Empire captured this city in 1521 CE and made it the center of learning for Islamic culture

New World Slavery

Slavery that was based on race and used in the Atlantic Slave Trade

Old World Slavery

Slavery that was based on culture, language, and religion and they had more opportunities than slaves in the “New World”

Yuan Dynasty

Mongol ruled dynasty that lasted from 1271-1368 CE and they were the first foreign-ruled dynasty in Chinese history to commandeer all of China and with no experience in the running of such a large and complex empire, the Mongols gradually adopted many Chinese cultural and bureaucratic models

Gold

Valuable resource that was traded in Africa and it was found in Western Sudan

Ivory

Resource that was traded by Kush and later controlled by Axum

Salt

Valuable resource that was more expensive than gold and it was traded in Africa and found in the Sahara Desert

Quipu

An Incan system of record keeping based on using knots in order to keep track of information and it was used in place of a written language

Gao

City in Mali near the Niger River

Swahili States

East African area near the Swahili Coast where people traded many valuable resources

Mesoamerica

Central American area where the Aztecs and Mayans settled

Zapotec

Civilization developed in the Oaxaca valley with fertile land and San José Magote became the center of power in 1300 B.C.

Codex

This is an ancient manuscript

Calendar

An item that helps keep track of dates and the Mayans developed one that looks almost identical to the one we use now

Astronomy

The study of space that was used by the Mayans and camel caravans

John Cabot

European explorer from Italy who voyaged in 1497 and discovered Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island in North America

Christopher Colombus

European explorer who was sent by Spain in 1492 and “discovered” North America

Hernán Cortés

This Spanish Conquistador conquered the Aztecs and claimed Mexico on behalf of Spain at around 1500 CE

Japanese Feudalism

Feudal Japan had a four-tiered social structure based on the principle of military preparedness and at the top were the daimyo and their samurai retainers. Three varieties of commoners stood below the samurai: farmers, craftsmen, and merchants