Horticulture Societies
Agrarian Societies
Guns, Germs & Steel
Discovering the New World
Germs Germs Germs
100
Why did societies switch to horticulture?
Environmental change and Population growth
100
What were the main demographic features of these societies?
Increase in population (increase in city size), Empire-building, High birth rate(3x industrial societies), High death rate, War, Plague, Social Stratification
100
(From Chapter 2) If humans are all the same, why are our societies so different?
Because the biophysical environments vary greatly around the world.
100
By what percent did germs decimate populations in the New World?
95% (approximately)
100
What are the major causes of societal extinction?
War/Conquest & Infectious Diseases
200
Why did warfare increase in these societies?
Land! (Boundary maintenance, population pressures, self-defense, greed for more economic surplus)
200
What were the main technological innovations of these societies and why were they significant?
Plow, Numerical System, Writing System
200
(From Chapters 8 and 9) What area of land had the greatest concentration of plants and animals? Give examples of why.
The Fertile Crescent (4 out of 5 animals, 200,000+ species of plants)
200
What fueled the conquest of the New World by the Europeans?
Ideology of European Christianity which religiously sanctioned wealth and bringing coverts to God
200
What is the Germ Theory of Disease? And how was it confirmed?
Diseases CAN be transmitted from person to person. Confirmed by the discovery of microorganisms (microscope)
300
What were the consequences of warfare?
Rise of the Polity, Cult of the Warrior, Increased Female Infanticide, Walled Urban Centers
300
What are the three P's? And what do they mean?
Power: the ability to control others; Property: ownership of material wealth; Prestige: honor accorded by others
300
(From Chapter 4) Describe the importance of the East-West Axis.
Ease of species spreading (domesticated plants and animals from Fertile Crescent now expanding to different locations). Led to food surplus and storage, which created larger and denser societies which advanced technology, political/social organization, and spreading of disease.
300
How did the Europeans benefit from the conquest of the New World?
Increased wealth (gold and silver), Created new markets and increased economic activity, Changed basis of European inequality from land to money
300
What does an infectious disease depend on for "fuel?"
A crowd. (A highly concentrated population increases likelihood of epidemic)
400
How did the technological progress result in moral-ethical regress?
Inequality (hereditary, gender, economic, political), Homicide, Wife Abuse/Female Infanticide, Slavery, and more
400
Name three ways elites maintain their power.
Restrict military technology to specialized group; Using force to maintain social order; Kleptocracy; Religious Ideology
400
(From Chapter 6) Explain the shift to horticulture and (some of) its consequences.
Climate change (natural cooling of the Earth) led to decline in available wild plants and animals. Required domestication and plant cultivation to survive. This led to an increase in population size and density.
400
How did the conquest impact those living in the Americas?
Eliminated societies (vast depopulation), Spawned large-scale trans-Atlantic slave trade, Changed culture of surviving societies
400
Describe the scientific discoveries that provided evidence that micro-organisms were causing disease.
Semmelweis: antiseptic techniques for childbirth; Lister: clean surgical equipment; Pasteur: confirmed germ theory; Koch: credited theory with scientific experiments
500
Describe the social organization of these societies. *Remember the Iron Law of Oligarchy
Leaders form an oligarchy in which they rule the organization, not serve it. These leaders control the paid personnel, files/records, resources (economic), jobs, and more. A leader's power grows internally and is not halted by members.
500
Describe the economic inequality that existed in these communities.
Elite is 2% of population but held 50% of income; Living conditions for peasants miserable; Malnutrition; Peasant Revolts; Widespread serfdom and slavery
500
What is the shape of the family tree?
Diamond. (farther you trace up through ancestry, greater the number of duplicate ancestors)
500
Describe the subsistence technology used by the Europeans and how that offered support in their conquest?
Maritime Technology: ocean-going ships with compass; Military Technology: cannons, steel, weapons, guns, etc; Horses: advantages in combat/travel; Social Technology: political organization, writing, printing; Ideology; Germs
500
Name and describe three historical incidences of a native society's depopulation between 1492 and 1778.
(1492) Columbus: 100% of native population gone with 40+ years; (1520) Cortes: Aztec population declined 90%; (1532) Pizarro: Impact of war and smallpox on Inca; (1540) de Soto: Mound Builders; (1778) Cook: natives died from venereal disease, huge impact on population
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