Centuries and Eras

• Historians divide major divisions of time into eras.

  • Era: a major division of time

    • Eras can be divided into topics, such as technology, food, music, art, etc.

  • Century: a period of 100 years

    • Begin at Year 1 of a new century and continue until Year 100.

  • Many historical eras are from the European perspective

    • Common Era (CE): the widely accepted system of eras that is used worldwide today and is broken into centuries

    • Before Common Era (BCE) - refers to the time when people around the world followed the different calendars created by the region they lived in (ancient times)

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The green portion of this timeline shows the era BCE, which means Before the Common Era. The blue portion shows our current era, CE, which means Common Era. The star shows where we are now, in the twenty-first century.

• BCE refers to ancient time

• CE refers to the current era

• No Era listed = Common Era

• It began being used by many people worldwide in 525 CE

• No Year Zero

• 1200 BCE to 1500 BCE - Olmec people built the first known civilization in Mexico

  • Located in Southeast Mexico

• Large stone heads of the rulers from single boulders

• Used Obsidian (black glass from volcanoes)

• Grew Maize (corn) to feed hundreds of thousands

• Olmec means (rubber people) used and traded rubber

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Early Civilizations in Mexico

1. 250 CE to 900 CE - The Yucatan Peninsula is the home of the Mayan Empire

2. Mayan Achievements

   1. Glyphs: a writing system that uses pictures instead of letters and words

      1. Written history of their people

   2. Advanced Math and astronomy (study of the stars)

      1. Created the number 0

   3. Create an accurate and elaborate calendar

      1. allowed for predictions, such as weather events.

      2. Was so accurate that it was used until 2012 by modern scientist

3. Temples (El Castillo) that worked as scientific stations to study the stars

The Maya

1. 1200CE - In Central America, the Aztec empire began to rule (300 years after the Maya)

2. Nahuatl: the Aztec language (still spoken today)

   1. Words we use today that came from the Aztec language: Chili, avocado, chocolate, guacamole, coyote

3. Tenochtitlan: Capital city of the Atec was built in the middle of Lake Texcoco (modern-day Mexico City)

   1. Chapultepec aqueduct - a system of running water for the city

   2. Chinapas: floating islands (farms) to feed hundreds of thousands of people

      1. Aztec diet: maize, tomatoes, peppers, avocados

4. Advanced religion with a sun god as the main deity

   1. Temples and elaborate traditions surrounded the sun god - Huitzilopochtli)

The Aztec

1. ​Colonization: the action of settling in an area and taking over the native people that live there

2. 1492 - Spain and Christopher Columbus

   1. Set sail searching for a faster way to Asia

   2. Landed in San Salvador (Bahamas)

   3. Encountered the Taino people

   4. Explored the islands of Cuba, Puerto Ricco, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, and Trinidad

3. 1493 - Spain established the first settlement in the Caribbean (Santa Domingo)

4. Spain came looking for gold

5. Denmark, the Netherlands, England, and France soon began establishing colonies in the Caribbean

   1. Set up ports for the trade of sugar cane and other crops

   2. Expand their nation's glory

Colonization of the Caribbean

Colonization of Mexico

1. Hernan Cortes was a Conquistador: a conqueror from Spain who came for the natural resources of Mexico (Gold and Silver)

   1. 1519 CE - 600 men and Cortes approached Tenochtitlan looking for gold, and some Native Americans who did not like the Aztecs joined the Spanish

   2. Cortes was able to take control over the capital of the Aztecs and defeat hundreds of thousands of skilled warriors

1. Horses

2. Armor

3. Guns

4. Dogs

5. Diseases

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Cortes's Advantages

Cortes Control in Mexico

1. Cortes created a Spanish Colony in Mexico (New Spain)

2. Spanish Settlers focused on mining gold and silver and raised cattle on haciendas (ranches)

3. As the demand for more workers increased, the Spanish began to enslave the native people

The Columbian Exchange

1. The Columbian Exchange: the movement of resources, foods, animals, ideas, and enslaved people between Europe and the Americas

   1. Named after Columbus

2. Surprises of the Columbian Exchange

   1. Pizza = Italy didn't have tomatoes for red sauce until the Columbian Exchange

   2. Sugar and Coffee - now major exports of Mexico but were brought by Europeans

   3. Cacoa

Lasting Effects of Colonization

1. Spread of Diseases

   1. Smallpox, Influenza, Malaria, and Yellow Fever were common diseases in Europe.

   2. Europeans had developed an immunity to it and had learned to treat the symptoms

   3. Native Americans had never been exposed to these diseases

   4. 75% of the population died shortly after Europeans came to the Americas

Lasting Effects of Colonization

1. Spread of Religion

   1. Roman Catholicism was one of the dominant religions in Europe

   2. Europeans believed in spreading the ideals and beliefs of their religion to the Natvie people

   3. Europeans forced the native people to change their religion, change their practices, and destroyed the temples of the Aztec religion

2. Catholicism is the number one religion in Mexico today

Lasting Effects of Colonization

1. Language

   1. Native languages became less dominant

   2. Spanish became the dominant religion of Mexico and the Caribbean

2. Ethnicity

   1. Marriages between Europeans and Native People blended the family's ethnicity in Mexico and the Caribbean

3. Other Elements of Culture

Lasting Effects of Colonization

1. Slavery

   1. Europeans often forced native populations into slavery in mines or ranches

   2. Native families could be separated and bought and sold

   3. Working Conditions were harsh

   4. If they rebelled, you would be harshly punished

2. Growth of the Economy

   1. Plantations: large farms that mainly produced one crop

   2. As the need for more crops to be sent to Europe increased, the need for more workers increased

   3. Slaves were brought from other continents, such as Asia (India) and Africa