The way the course as broke down made it easy
to distinguish between the eras in history. The course identified 5 major eras
of Homo sapiens: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Ancient, Classical, and modern.
As we evolved as Homo Sapiens so did our need to more advanced tools and technology. Furthermore, we grew from small bands of gatherer/hunters in the Paleolithic era expanding out of Africa to agricultural communities in the Neolithic era. Moving into the Ancient era, having a need to compete for wealth, status and power, we expanded into social structures such as Civilizations and City-States and began to interact more between different continents and increase trade. Eventually Homo Sapiens became complex empires and Cosmopolitan urban centers in the Classical period. Competing for dominance between civilizations, political units began to rise and straddle more than one continent at a time. Once we reached the Modern era, Capitalism was invented, creating immense competition on a economic scale. The Industrial Revolution occurred, creating even bigger social gaps between the wealthy and the poor. Colonial Empires began to form and superiority over all others appeared to be in the hands of Western Europeans.
The development of Agricultural during the Neolithic Era was crucial to the expanse of man. Advances in agriculture lead to surplus, which could be traded, ate, or stored. It extended human life, and provided population growth. It was one of the first reasons that started policies, government, taxation, and hierarchy. It gave Homo Sapiens for the first time a sense of ownership.
The Silk, Sea and Sand Road are great examples of beginning of international trade. Although they had a different purpose in each trade, they shared a common factor, they were expanding trade among the world.
Depending on who you ask the Modern era is said to have occurred roughly around 1400. In 1348, the Plague happened wiping out 25% of Europeans in the world. This caused significant changes in the world because it causes people to question faith, medicine, and their mortality. Then in 1492, Columbus "discovered" the Americas and ultimately connected the world on a larger economical level, with trade, expansion and exploitation. With the expansion of Europeans into the Americas brought with them disease, which essentially wiped out 80-90% of the Native Americans. If the ones not killed many were forced to leave their homes to make way for Manifest Destiny and expansion. Furthermore, the Atlantic Slave Trade enslaved roughly 3.5 million Africans to work the cost crops in the Americas.
Although a condensed breakdown of the subject matter I received in this course, you can see as time went on and we became more advanced, our greed and need for wealth, power and status grew as well.
The required papers on the Migration of Polynesians and other Pacific seafarers into the Americas helped me gain a better understand on how America was populated, and How the people migrated throughout the Pacific. Later the paper Putin article and paper helped illustrate a social injustice and genocide of a people that is still suffering today from the choices and mistakes of the Russian government many years before hand. Lastly, the opportunity to interview a person who had to endure suffering her in America because he was an African American gay man was truly enlightening and offered me a hands on education I would have never sought out if otherwise not required.
The moral to this all is everything that has happened in our history has helped shape the event to come. Expanding out of Africa lead to agriculture, agriculture lead to surplus and ownership, ownership lead to more advanced social structure and eventually a Hierarchy, which grew into empires and eventually capitalism was created and colonial exploitation occurred. As social structures started to grow further apart from each other, greater social injustices began to occur. It appears however, as time goes on and we enter into a post-Modern era, we are returning to a more excepting society with more justice and equal rights for most.
As we evolved as Homo Sapiens so did our need to more advanced tools and technology. Furthermore, we grew from small bands of gatherer/hunters in the Paleolithic era expanding out of Africa to agricultural communities in the Neolithic era. Moving into the Ancient era, having a need to compete for wealth, status and power, we expanded into social structures such as Civilizations and City-States and began to interact more between different continents and increase trade. Eventually Homo Sapiens became complex empires and Cosmopolitan urban centers in the Classical period. Competing for dominance between civilizations, political units began to rise and straddle more than one continent at a time. Once we reached the Modern era, Capitalism was invented, creating immense competition on a economic scale. The Industrial Revolution occurred, creating even bigger social gaps between the wealthy and the poor. Colonial Empires began to form and superiority over all others appeared to be in the hands of Western Europeans.
To take a
step back, during global dispersion of humankind it was easy for them to
migrate because they were nomadic or easily adoptable to the environment, they
had no sense of direction of where they were, no baggage to tie them down to
one specific location. With the end of the ice age ~12,000 years ago, there was
a change in the animals they hunted, they may have gotten stuck in areas due to
a rise in the ocean, they may have decided to settle in general areas that were
nicer weather – wetter lands. First migrations into the Americas from Siberia
were done by land across the Bering Strait (land bridge of ice) or by sea down
the west coast of North America.
The development of Agricultural during the Neolithic Era was crucial to the expanse of man. Advances in agriculture lead to surplus, which could be traded, ate, or stored. It extended human life, and provided population growth. It was one of the first reasons that started policies, government, taxation, and hierarchy. It gave Homo Sapiens for the first time a sense of ownership.
500B.C-1400B.C.
is seen as the Classical era because much of the world was encompassed by major
thinkers existing during this time frame. However, you could almost
define all the great thinking’s from one person. (Seminal ideas –significant
ideas, root idea, formative ideas). Some examples of major thinkers are:
Socrates, Confucius, Jesus, and Buddha.
Empires
set tone for Classical Era. They often spread progress.
Continually, the Persian Empire set the benchmark for what other empires would
be like. The Persian Empire bridged Ancient & Classical Era. Classic Greeks
were Humanists. They emphasized knowledge over faith. Human beings
had agency; people could make things happen, and they were in charge of
their own destiny. The Persian Empire rose and fall quickly, but had a
golden age of accomplishment. They created a political structure and
governed their people with good diplomatic skills. They didn’t force
people to convert to a specific religion or become like a Persian. They
mainly cared that everyone used the same currency.
The Silk, Sea and Sand Road are great examples of beginning of international trade. Although they had a different purpose in each trade, they shared a common factor, they were expanding trade among the world.
Depending on who you ask the Modern era is said to have occurred roughly around 1400. In 1348, the Plague happened wiping out 25% of Europeans in the world. This caused significant changes in the world because it causes people to question faith, medicine, and their mortality. Then in 1492, Columbus "discovered" the Americas and ultimately connected the world on a larger economical level, with trade, expansion and exploitation. With the expansion of Europeans into the Americas brought with them disease, which essentially wiped out 80-90% of the Native Americans. If the ones not killed many were forced to leave their homes to make way for Manifest Destiny and expansion. Furthermore, the Atlantic Slave Trade enslaved roughly 3.5 million Africans to work the cost crops in the Americas.
Although a condensed breakdown of the subject matter I received in this course, you can see as time went on and we became more advanced, our greed and need for wealth, power and status grew as well.
The required papers on the Migration of Polynesians and other Pacific seafarers into the Americas helped me gain a better understand on how America was populated, and How the people migrated throughout the Pacific. Later the paper Putin article and paper helped illustrate a social injustice and genocide of a people that is still suffering today from the choices and mistakes of the Russian government many years before hand. Lastly, the opportunity to interview a person who had to endure suffering her in America because he was an African American gay man was truly enlightening and offered me a hands on education I would have never sought out if otherwise not required.
The moral to this all is everything that has happened in our history has helped shape the event to come. Expanding out of Africa lead to agriculture, agriculture lead to surplus and ownership, ownership lead to more advanced social structure and eventually a Hierarchy, which grew into empires and eventually capitalism was created and colonial exploitation occurred. As social structures started to grow further apart from each other, greater social injustices began to occur. It appears however, as time goes on and we enter into a post-Modern era, we are returning to a more excepting society with more justice and equal rights for most.
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