History

• What is History?


  Thursday 7th September 12023
• History


  The study of past events, particularly human affairs
• History


  The study of change over time, and it covers all aspects of human society
• Caribbean History


  Tuesday 5th October, 2023
• Early men


  • About 3 million years old
  • Posture was stooped and bodies covered with hair
  • Foreheads were low and sloping
  • Jaws jutted out in front of noses
• Development of early men

  1. Slowly developed an upright posture

  2. Became less hairy

  3. Brains grew larger
• Sapiens


  The modern-looking men, the name by which the human race is known today
• Main races


  • Negroid-Black Race
  • Caucasoid-white race
  • Mongoloid-yellow race
• Archaeology


  The study of the past by examining the remains of buildings and artefacts
• Artefacts


  Tools and utensils made by man which people have left behind
• Methods archaeologists use to determine the age of an artefact

  1. Depth in the ground

  2. Coins found with artefacts

  3. Carbon 14 test
• Food cultivation or agriculture is considered the beginning of all human progress
• Caribbean History


  Monday 16th October 2023
• Bering Strait Theory


  The first Americans came to America from Asia/Siberia during the 4th Ice Age, crossing over the frozen Bering Strait
• Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe and landed in the Americas, intending to go to India and China to purchase luxurious items
• Indigenous groups


  • The Maya
  • The Taino
  • The Kalinago
• The Maya


  • Settled in the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America
  • Had the most advanced civilization of the 3 groups
• The Taino


  • Settled in the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico)
  • Their leader was called a Cacique, a hereditary position
• The Kalinago


  • Settled in the Lesser Antilles
  • Their leader was called a Carib, a position gained through showing military strength and courage
  • Frequently raided Taino settlements
• The indigenous people were polytheistic, believing in many gods
• The indigenous people used complex tools made of stone, wood and bone, and had simple weapons compared to the Europeans
• The Indigenous People and the Europeans

  Tuesday 23rd January 2024
• The Tainos and Kalinago originally lived in the Orinoco Basin region of South America
• Migration of the Tainos and Kalinago

  1. Tainos migrated northeasterly to Venezuela, then crossed over to the Lesser Antilles

  2. Kalinago followed the Tainos from South America into the Caribbean
• By 1492, the Tainos were settled in the Greater Antilles and the Kalinago in the Lesser Antilles
• Caribbean History


  Thursday 7th March 2014
• The ancestors of the Tainos and Kalinago migrated to the Caribbean from the Orinoco River Basin in South America (present-day Venezuela)
• Caribbean History - The Maya

  Thursday 2024
• The Maya civilization


  • Thrived in Mesoamerica or Central America, in the Yucatan Peninsula
  • Occupied present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua and El Salvador
• Maya social structure


  • Hierarchical with distinct social classes
  • Ruling elite comprised the Halach Uinic (chief nobles and priests)
  • Commoners were tradesmen and farmers
  • Slavery was present
• Maya political structure


  • Divided into states, each headed by the Halach Uinic (an absolute, hereditary ruler)
  • Assisted by nobles or lesser chiefs
• Maya economy


  • Mainly based on agriculture, with crops like maize, squash, beans, peppers, and potatoes
  • Used advanced farming techniques like terracing and irrigation
  • Trade was also very important
• Maya achievements


  • Developed an accurate system of numbering and the concept of zero
  • Were skilled astronomers who built observatories
  • Developed a system of hieroglyphic writing
  • Built reservoirs and ball courts
• Maya skills and occupations

  • Skilled architects who constructed temples with arches and pyramids
  • Developed advanced mathematics and astronomy
  • Created exquisite sculptures and stone monuments
• Bering Strait Theory


  The theory that the first Americans came to America from Asia/Siberia during the 4th Ice Age by crossing over the Bering Strait when it was frozen
• The first Americans appeared on earth about 15,000 to 20,000 years ago during the 4th Ice Age
• During the Ice Age, large parts of the earth were covered with ice and much of the oceans, lakes, and rivers were frozen
• Many historians and archaeologists believe the first Americans came to America from Asia/Siberia during the 4th Ice Age by crossing over the Bering Strait when it was frozen, forming an "ice bridge"
• The first Americans were not intentionally leaving Asia to come to the American continent, they were simply following herds of mammoths, deer and caribou that they hunted for food, shelter and clothing
• Christopher Columbus sacked Europe and tracked to the Americas or the "New World" as he called it in 1492