Unit 2: Ancient Asia, Africa, and World Religions

Unit Description

The civilizations that flourished in ancient India, China, and Africa again show us the impact of geography on early humans and the importance of agriculture as well as trade.

Ancient India also created the first organized religions through Hinduism and Buddhism. These two religions have over 2 billion followers today and play a large role in the world. Understanding these religions and their cultures expands our understanding of history and of our world today.

In ancient China, dynasties pushed new ways of thinking in religion, philosophy, and economics. Modern China is the most populous country in the world and learning about its history can help us relate to China today in a world that is becoming increasingly dominated by this vast and interesting country.

Lastly, we will study the kingdoms of ancient Africa. Africans and African Americans today descend from kings and queens of kingdoms such as Egypt, Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. When we look at the problems facing African nations today, we have to wonder how troubles could have befallen on such powerful kingdoms. In this unit, we will learn about western Africa’s geography and natural resources that created some of the wealthiest civilizations in history. We will analyze how ancient Africans used systems of trade to capitalize on these natural resources to increase their power and wealth.

We will also study monotheism and the three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam which all begin with a common idea: a belief in one god. The similarities and differences between these three religions had both a positive and negative impact on history.

Essential Question

Is trade necessary for advancing civilization?

Themes

    • Historians must challenge the dominant historical narrative because it is often told from the perspective of the oppressor.
    • The standard of living of a group of people depends upon a region's environment, access to natural resources, and the ability to exploit resources for their benefit
    • Push/pull factors cause people to migrate to seek a better life, which causes cultures to diffuse and mix their traditions.
    • A region’s economy typically becomes reliant upon its resources and environment.
    • The development of legal systems establishes an authority structure through formalizing laws and consequences.
    • Societies use social systems and belief systems to create a shared identity and organize themselves according to power and authority.
    • Societies enter conflicts to increase their power and defend their way of life.
    • Humans develop different technologies and innovations as they settle in a region to organize themselves and meet community needs and wants

Standards Addressed

Historical Thinking Skills

  • 6.1.1- Produce clear and coherent writing
  • 6.1.2- Construct and interpret a parallel timeline
  • 6.1.3- Analyze information in primary and secondary sources
  • 6.1.4- Identify and compare measurements of time

History: Key Events, Ideas, and People

  • 6.2.1- Relationship between geographical features/early settlement
  • 6.2.3- Describe the characteristics and achievements of the ancient river civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, and China.
  • 6.2.6- Analyze the origin and spread of major world religions
  • 6.2.7- Summarize key features of ancient West African kingdoms (Ghana, Mali, and Songhai)
  • 6.2.8 Identify characteristics of Chinese dynasties’ political, economic, and social structures.

Geography: Culture and Environment

  • 6.4.1- Identify and describe physical features and climate conditions that contributed to early human settlement in regions of the world.
  • 6.4.2- Explain how world migration patterns and cultural diffusion influenced human settlement.
  • 6.4.3- Explain the connection between physical geography and its influence on the development of civilization.

Economics: Resources and Interdependence

  • 6.6.1- Explain the impact of job specialization in the development of civilizations.
  • 6.6.2- Analyze the progression from barter exchange to monetary exchange.
  • 6.6.3- Describe the economic motivation for expanding trade and taxation
  • 6.6.4- Explain how the development of trade and taxation influenced economic growth in the ancient world

Unit Outcomes

Students will know:

    • The importance of geography to ancient Asian civilizations.
    • The beginnings of planned communities in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa.
    • The creation and practices of the organized religions of Hinduism and Buddhism.
    • The effect of King Asoka on India and Buddhism.
    • The political rule of Chinese dynasties.
    • The beliefs of the three Chinese philosophies created after the Warring States Period.
    • The economic benefits of increased trade along the Silk Road.
    • The origins and practices of the first monotheistic religions- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
    • The differences and similarities between the Abrahamic religions.
    • The geography of Africa and its impact on human settlement.
    • The cultural and intellectual contributions of the African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.
    • How trade helps advance civilizations.

Students will be able to:

Historical Thinking:

    • Annotate documents
      • Use the different steps for different types of documents when analyzing their contents
    • Source documents
      • Identify author’s point of view/position on a historical event
      • Identify author’s purpose in producing the document
      • Consider the source’s audience
    • Contextualize sources
      • Understand how context influences content of the document
      • Recognize documents are products of particular points in time
    • U1: Strong body paragraphs
      • TOSEEC
      • Topic Sentences
      • 2 types of evidence
    • U2: Strengthening evidence
      • Context
      • Extended Response
      • Introducing Text Evidence

Unit Vocabulary

  1. Indus Valley Civilization- an ancient river civilization in South Asia that depended on the Indus and Ganges Rivers
  2. natural barriers- nature-made features that are difficult to cross
  3. Indus and Ganges Rivers- rivers ancient Indians relied on for farming
  4. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro- earliest settlements in India; along Indus
  5. Hinduism- polytheistic religion in India; supports caste system, reincarnation
  6. polytheistic- belief in more than one god
  7. caste system- rigid social class system in India; no movement in lifetime
  8. reincarnation- the process of being reborn after death
  9. karma - the belief that a person’s actions determines their fate; “what goes around comes around”
  10. Vedas- holy texts of Hinduism
  11. Buddhism; non-theistic religion focused on enlightenment
  12. Enlightenment- end goal for Buddhist; state of wisdom and reincarnation cycle ends
  13. Eightfold Path - one of the teaching of Buddhism that helps followers find Enlightenment
  14. Huang He (Yellow) and Yangtze Rivers- rivers ancient China relied on for farming + trade
  15. dynasty- a line of rulers from the same family
  16. Zhou dynasty - overthrew the Shang dynasty, ruled through Mandate of Heaven.
  17. Mandate of Heaven- belief that god gave rulers power and took it away; explained fall of dynasties
  18. cast iron - process used to make early weapons stronger
  19. Confucianism - a philosophy that people should act ethically and have respect for the social order; influenced rulers in ancient China
  20. Qin Empire - wanted to unify China through a strong and strict central government
  21. Great Wall of China - 13,000 miles of border protection across China
  22. Silk Road- network of trade routes connecting China with the Middle East and Europe
  23. Import- Something that is bought from another country.
  24. Export- Something that is sold to another country
  25. Han Dynasty - one of the longest and most prosperous Chinese dynasties; supported many innovations in arts and technology
  26. scarce- when there is not enough; opposite of surplus
  27. bartering- trading one item for another; no money involved
  28. standard currency- money that has the same value in different places (like the money we use)
  29. monotheism- a belief in only one god
  30. Judaism- 1st monotheistic religion; Torah, Synagogue, Jew
  31. Abraham- founder of Judaism
  32. Abrahamic- all monotheistic religions are Abrahamic; they trace their roots back to Abraham
  33. Middle East- area where all monotheistic religions began
  34. drought- when it doesn’t rain; kills crops
  35. famine- when there isn’t enough food to feed the population
  36. Exodus- Torah/Bible story where Moses leads Jews out of Egypt to Canaan
  37. Jewish Diaspora- the spread of Jews around the world with no homeland
  38. synagogue- Jewish place of worship
  39. Christianity- 2nd monotheistic religion; Bible, Church, Christian
  40. Jesus- founder of Christianity
  41. Emperor Constantine- Roman emperor who converted Rome to Christianity
  42. Islam- 3rd monotheistic religion; Quran, Mosque, Muslim
  43. Muhammad- founder of Islam
  44. Allah- God in Arabic
  45. Quran- holy text of Islam
  46. mosque- Muslim place of worship
  47. Mecca - the holiest city for Muslims
  48. Sahara- large desert in West Africa
  49. climate- the general weather conditions in an area
  50. raw materials - materials that come from the earth that people use to make product (ex: cotton is the raw material of t-shirts)
  51. Niger River- river West African Kingdoms relied on for farming and trade
  52. Ghana, Mali, Songhai- West African kingdoms that grew wealthy through gold and salt trade
  53. Mansa Musa- Mali leader who went on Hajj to Mecca; shows importance of Islam
  54. hajj- religious journey to Mecca for Muslims
  55. caravan- a group of people traveling together
  56. Trans-Sahara trade- a network of trade routes that crossed the Sahara Desert
  57. Timbuktu- center for learning and Islam in West Africa
  58. cowrie shells- form of standardized currency in West Africa