Things that make you itch.
A secular definition of a time before history was recorded is an incorrect concept because we have written history from the moment of creation forward in the Book of Genesis.
Prehistoric
The Aztecs practiced human sacrifices. Violence like this was central to their worship of false gods. Some of the things they did were:
Offer human sacrifice to the Sun and Rain god at the great temple.
Play a ball game where the losers were sacrificed.
Hang skulls of those sacrificed on a “skull rack” in the temple district.
A number of things needed to be in place for the Europeans to be successful in their efforts of exploration. Technologically they needed:
Ocean worthy ships.
An ability to know where you were at any given time.
Maps with some reasonable information.
Besides a growing knowledge of the wind patterns at different latitudes (north and south lines on a map), as well as the use of a compass in telling you what direction North was, and pretty horribly drawn maps, there was one more key tool used by sailors in their navigation. It was the:
An Astrolabe
Had a peace treaty called The Great Law of Peace and was between the tribes of the Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Tuscarora.
Iroquois Confederacy
The people that are referred to as Native Americans today are technically not the first and original inhabitants of the Americas. There were others here first. Who were they?
They were the Olmecs and Mayans.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who took three ships out into the “Sea of Darkness”. Those three ships were the:
The Nina, The Pinta, and the Santa Maria
Besides the design of the ship, what other items were instrumental in helping the explorers find new lands?
A combination of Lateen and Square sails.
Ferdinand Magellan, an explorer whose crew sailed all the way around the world by sailing west and going around the southern tip of South America. Everything was going so well until what happened?
He was killed in the Philippines
Who in the Americas, as early as 1200 BC - the earliest of civilizations in the Americas, are considered the true original inhabitants of the Americas?
The Olmecs
The Pueblo Indians lived in what?
Adobe buildings or Cliff Dwellings
Conquistadors (Spanish for “conquerors”) were men sent from Spain to find gold, conquer the people, and convert them to Roman Catholicism. They did this quite well. Some of their names were:.
da Gama, Pizarro, Cortes
What was “The Sea of Darkness?
The Atlantic Ocean before it was called the Atlantic Ocean
What were the 3 “G’s” that motivated individuals like the Conquistadors?
God, Gold, and Glory
Shared the potato with the world.
The Incas
Which Indians migrated, following food sources instead of farming in one place?
The Plains Indians
Eventually the Europeans gain ports and move into various countries and get quite comfortable with their trade routes and conquering various places. There were two places/countries they weren’t excited about the Europeans getting all cuddly and comfy in their countries. They were:
China and Japan
The whole goal of sailing into the “Sea of Darkness” was to:
Find another way to India and the Spice Islands.
To cut out the middle man, the Muslims, on the land trade routes.
To avoid the dangers of going around the southern tip of Africa and beyond.
Every year, two fleets left Spain loaded with European goods in demand in Spanish America; they were guarded by military vessels. Valuable cargo from the Americas, most significantly silver from Mexico and Peru, were sent back to Spain. What was the name of the ship we learned about that gave us an idea of just how much silver, gold, and other goodies came from the Americas to Spain?
The Atocha.
Had a prophecy that Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent and false god, would return from the east in a “One Reed Year”.
The Aztecs
Indians who built earthen mounds did so because:
They buried their dead in the mounds.
A person who claims to have power to heal, seek spiritual direction and look into the future.
A Shaman
The Portuguese wanted to get to the Far East via ship. That’s where all the goodies were. They decided that they need to take what route to get there?
South around Africa, then around the southern tip of Africa all the way to India. Real original Indian food there.
What were some of the things that the Old World provided in the Columbian Exchange?
Cattle, horses, pigs, coffee, bananas, citrus fruits, sugarcane, and plenty of serious diseases.
What were some of the things that the New World provided in the Columbian Exchange?
Corn, pumpkins, pineapples, turkeys, cacao beans (chocolate) , potatoes, and tomatoes.