Big History - Jennifer Simon

1. Jennifer Simon
History 140 – Dr. Michael Arguello

2. Source 1: The Day the Universe Changed
• James Burke’s message is “we are what we know” and “we
see what our current knowledge tells us we see”
• Western society is “insatiably curious”
• We never stop asking questions and we never stop changing
the way we live; we progress due to the knowledge we gain
• There are certain common agreements that we have
protected by turning into rituals (i.e. marriage)
• Not all societies have become westernized in their ways –
such as the Nepalese who live by ritual, live in the past, and
don’t question their belief and way of life

3. Source 2: The Journey of Man
• Spencer Wells is an American geneticist and anthropologist
who uses genetics to trace the beginning of humankind and
the early human migration
• Thirteen genetic markers on the Y-chromosome
differentiate populations of human beings
• Based upon genetic evidence all human beings descend from
one African man who lived in Africa approximately 60,000
years ago
• The first group of peoples migrated from Africa along
shorelines and coastal regions to eventually end up in
Australia

4. Source 2: The Journey of Man (cont.)
• The second group of peoples traveled north from Africa,
splitting up in the area around Syria to sweep interior Asia
and then splitting several more time in Central Asia
• A small group called the Chukchi people migrated northeast,
following reindeer. Of this group a even smaller group
crossed the Bering Sea during the glacial period, eventually
reaching North America. They are ancestors of Native
Americans.
• 800 years later, a group of people in North America traveled
to South America

5. Source 3: Catastrophe
• David Keys develops a theory that a major catastrophe took
place between 500 and 600AD
• Patterns of tree rings show history of climatic conditions
• The world grew dark and cold
• Volcano, Astroid, or Comets were all possible reasons for
this condition
• Most likely Volcano would have been the culpret

6. Source 4: Guns, Germs, and Steel
• Written by Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel was a winner
of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
• This fascinating account of more than 13,000 years of human
evolution and societal development raised controversy amount
scientists as well as widespread praise
• Diamond becomes intrigued when his New Guinean friend asks,
“Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and
brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of
our own?”
• The “cargo” referred to is technology – tools, accessories and
inventions such as the computer and cell phones
• It wasn’t long ago that New Guineans were still using stone tools,
so Diamond successfully took it upon himself to answer the
question of what factors caused this gap between the
development of one culture and another?

7. Source 4: Guns, Germs, and Steel (cont.)
• In search for answers, Diamond maps out the migrations of
early humans and follows how they evolve
• Diamond examines the effects of food production, writing
technology, government, and religion
• In conclusion, Diamond believes that it is ultimately
geography, not biology or race, that produced the cultural
differences

8. Source 5: The World & Trade
The World in 1492
• Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Alhambra decree, expelling
all Jews from Spain unless the convert to Roman Catholicism
• In 1492 Christopher Columbus “sails the ocean blue” on his
first journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Asia, but ends up
in the Americas
• Christopher Columbus’ expedition lands him in Caribbean
lands, although he believes he has reached the East Indies
• The 3 staples in which each land depended on were wheat
(western Eurasia) rice, (eastern Eurasia) and corn (Americas)
• Pandemics emptied North and South America by the
seventeenth century

9. Source 5: The World & Trade (cont.)
• China began replacing paper and copper with silver which
set off a chain reaction for trade
• New World crops: coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco and sugar all
became popular
• Aztec trade consisted of Turquoise, silver, bowls, knives,
combs, blankets, and feather works – eventually; however,
Indians were condemned as non-enterprising and
marginalized from the economy
• The Spanish discovered potatoes which were important in
the Andes and later carried to the Philippines, Asia, and
Europe

10. Source 5: The World & Trade (cont.)
• The coffee beverage was developed around 1400 in the
Yemeni city of Mocca
• Coffee was one of the worlds most precious goods
• Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Mayans who had
what they called ka-ka-wa, which was changed to Cacao by
the Aztecs, and eventually chocolate by the Spanish
• Cacao beans were so precious and rare they were used as
money
• The Jesuits were so taken by chocolate that they began
cacao production