Unit VI: The Mongols, Japan, Africa, and America

Standard  SSWH6 The student will describe the diverse characteristics of early African societies before 1800 CE.  SSWH8 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the development of societies in Central and South America.

Learning Objectives  a. Identify the Bantu migration patterns and contribution to settled agriculture.  b. Describe the development and decline of the Sudanic kingdoms  c. Describe the trading networks in Africa  d. Analyze the religious process of blending of traditional African beliefs with new ideas from Islam and Christianity.

Learning Objectives  e. Explain the rise and fall of the Olmec, Mayan, Aztec, and Inca empires.  f. Compare the culture of the Americas; include government, economy, religion, and the arts of the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas.

Geography

Genghis Khan  Genghis Khan was given the title “Universal Ruler” in 1206 and went on to create an immense empire.  The Mongols inhabited the area to the north of China, a region now called Mongolia.  With superior military technology and battle tactics, they were able to conquer vast territories.

Genghis Khan  The Mongols used siege warfare and warriors on horseback.  The use of such machines as catapults, giant crossbows mounted on stands, and bamboo- tube rockets packed with gunpowder and fired from a longbow helped the Mongols improve siege tactics.  Battle provided a test of the soldiers’ abilities and was for them to acquire riches, honor, and personal power.

Feudal Japan  There were two sources of power.  One was the central government, in which an important family held power in the name of the emperor.  The other source of power consisted of powerful local landholders who established and led a class of warriors.

Feudal Society of Japan  Emperor (Spearhead)  Shogun (chosen by the most powerful Daimyos)  Daimyos (local lords)  Samurai (protectors of the Daimyo lords)  Merchants, peasants, farmers, craft workers  Eta (social outcasts)

Feudal Japan and Korea  Zen Buddhist was introduced from China and became very popular in Japan.  The Tea ceremonies and Noh plays were new forms of art that developed during Feudal Japan.  Korea was conquered by China and ruled by China for most of its history until it was annexed by Japan in 1910.

The African Continent

Africa  It is the world’s second largest and second most-populous continent.  There are four natural regions of Africa: Desert, Grasslands, Rain Forest, and Mountains.  About half of the world’s diamonds come from southern and central Africa.  There are 54 countries in Africa.

The Bantu Language  An original “cradle land” of the Bantu language lay in the region that is today the Nigeria-Cameroon border.  From there people began to migrate.  With the development of agriculture, over time Bantu languages began to spread.

The Sudanic Kingdoms  Ghana was the first great Sudanic trading empire.  Ghana reached its peak as a wealthy kingdom in the mid-1000s.  The empire began to decline as a Muslim group from North Africa, gained control of the Saharan trade routes and parts of the Sudan.  Ghana survived until the 1200s, but it never regained its former power.

The Sudanic Kingdoms  Sundjata took over the remnants of Ghana and founded the empire of Mali.  The most famous of Mali's rulers, MANSA MUSA, shaped the Islamic character of Mali and expanded the empire to its greatest size. In 1325, during a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Arabia, the people of CAIRO marveled at his wealth and generosity.  By the late 1300s, Mali had lost its political influence over the Sahara.  The trading city of TIMBUKTU was captured.

Mansa Musa

The Sudanic Kingdoms  In the 1400s Songhai, the last of the great Sudanic empires, rose in power.  SUNNI ALI, a Songhai ruler, gained control of a large area around the middle NIGER RIVER.  Songhai enjoyed its greatest power in the 1500s. He established a government and built a fleet of warships to enforce peace along the Niger River.  In 1591, the Moroccans conquered Songhai, bringing the 800-year history of the Sudanic empires to an end.

Sunni Ali

The Olmec  They were the first major civilization in Mexico.  They left eight giant stone heads and many objects made of jade.  Olmec was made up of a large class of farmers and a class of small elites.  Their art suggest that they worshipped a god that was part jaguar and part human.

Olmec Art

The Mayans  The Mayans were the most advanced culture of the Americas.  They were skilled architects and engineers; the Mayans built pyramid- shaped temples and developed a writing system that used hieroglyphs.  Their decline is unknown and mysterious.

Mayan Temple

The Aztecs  The Aztec had been wandering warriors.  According to legend, the Aztec priest had instructed them to settle where they saw a sign – an eagle sitting on a cactus and devouring a serpent.  They saw this sign on an island in Lake Texcoco in Mexico.  It was there that they built their city of Tenochtitlan.

Mexico’s Coat of Arms

The Aztecs  In the mid-1300’s, the Aztecs increased their power by conquering nearby tribes.  Conquered tribes had to pay taxes to the Aztec rulers.  The Aztec incorporated into their culture the inventions of peoples they conquered or with whom they traded.  The decline of the Aztecs resulted from revolts and the Spanish Explorers.

The Incas  The Inca Empire located in the Andes Mountain of South American expanded into present-day countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile.  The Inca built fortresses and irrigation systems and laid roads many of them paved.

The Incas  They used Llamas to carry trade goods.  The rulers of the empire prevented local famines by maintaining storehouses and distributing food supplies when crops failed.  Just as with the Aztecs, the Spaniards conquered the Incas in the 1500s.