1. Mid-term Power Point By Courtney Scherer September 22, 2011
2. Scientific, Technological, and Environmental Advances About 10,000 years ago mankind began making a major mark in history by beginning to shape their environment in accordance to their needs by domesticating plants and animals, terracing hills, and draining swamps. This was the beginning of the agricultural revolution. The selective adaptation of corn took thousands of years before reaching Mesoamerica, showing the great deal of variation that can easily occur agriculturally. Many different areas were able to become domesticated and agriculturally stable quicker than others. Advances in transportation facilitated trade and war advances such as chariot-driven peoples, the Hittites from Anatolia (pictured right) specifically, were adopted early on in Egypt and Mesopotamia due to their great advantages. Both this and metallurgy allowed for military innovation.
3. Scientific, Technological, and Environmental Advances Emergence of empires, beginning in 500BCE with the Persian and Greek empires, brought along advances in the way people practiced systematic knowledge in order for leaders to to have better organized power over their people—this included advances in astronomy, for calendar production and ritual practices, mathematics, for land surveillance, in writing and measuring systems, and in animism, the understanding of the spirituality in the world. Greek thinkers sought understanding of that of which was rational and nonreligious, and remained committed to expanding their knowledge of these things. Examples of these thinkers include the astronomer Thales, the scientist Democritus, and the mathematician Pythagoras. Aristotle was one of the most significant of these thinkers, with extensive writings on physics, astronomy, logic, the weather, etc.
4.
5.
6.
7. The Expansion of Power The formation of human communities when agriculture was first discovered—people got along and interacted with neighboring communities with little social inequality Some agricultural societies gave rise to chiefdoms where an appointed chief would handle rituals, organized warfare, internal conflicts, etc. The largest known of these societies was known as Cahokia (pictured below), around 1100 C.E. First civilization gave rise to a new level of social inequalities in wealth, status, and above all, power. Upper classes along with slavery were becoming norms and people were punished based upon social status in civilizations such as Mesopotamia. Men were the ones taking on the powerful positions in society. More power was seeming necessary and states arose due to needs for more organized regulation over the complex, densely populated cities, with irrigation and both external and internal conflicts. States became so powerful that inequalities were able to be justified by religion or simply by force.
8. The Expansion of Power The formation of the state into hierarchical empires 6,000 years ago was a large expansion in power. Empires can be described as simply states, political systems that exercise coercive power, but on a larger scale with more aggression, war, influence, and exchange with other states and people. Examples include the extremely powerful Persian Empire with their elaborate imperial centers, particularly Susa and Persepolis (pictured below). The Greeks were also very powerful, defeating the Persians in the Peloponnesian War with more than thirty city-states along with an incredible naval force. The Roman empire flourished and gained immense authority under Caesar Augustus during the paxRomana, or the Roman peace and were known for their elaborate body of law. The Chinese Empire was stabilized under the Han Dynasty, who consolidated the imperial state and was able to establish long-lasting political patterns and were known for their well-trained officials to maintain their emerging bureaucracy. (pictured above)
