Great Explorers and Culture

We have learned a lot in class recently so I will type all the information that we have been bombarded with. First off, I will give you the notes that I took on all the great explorers of the Americas.

Native Americans

·       Came to America 14,300 years ago

·       Scientists proved that by the proof of human DNA in feces

·       Arrived in North America near the present day Pacific Coast Line and Rocky Mountains

·       The people that populated North America were the indo Europeans who migrated all over

·       They go to the USA from Russia (they were not all Russian) they crossed a land bridge from Russia into Alaska and that is how they got to the USA-crossed the Beringia land bridge

·       1^st ones to inhabit America, indigenous people-people who are native to a place

·       They didn’t have to fight anyone to get the land because they were the only ones there

·       They were just looking for land to live on and found America

·       They took care of the land because they were spiritual people who lived on their “sacred” land and believed they didn’t own the land

Christopher Columbus

·       Arrived in 1492 in the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria

·       He captained the Santa Maria

·       Landed in the present day Caribbean Islands, near the Bahamas

·       He was trying to sail to India

·       Completed 4 voyages across to the American continents

·       There were already native Americans- about 60-20 million of them, from 1000s of years ago who were already there

·       He had to fight to conquer the Americas and captured Indians

·       He tried to conquer the Americas

·       Stayed in America and made trips back and forth

·       He thought he was in India the whole time

·       Did not respect the land

·       He didn’t work with the people there

Vikings

·       Came to Canada in 1000 AD not to conquer but to raid lands

·       Leaf Erikson was the first European to get to the Americas

·       Stayed for about 350 years

·       Respected the land

Mr. Schick presented our class with a power point to today. Here are my notes about culture.

Culture:

·       Culture: Parts of a group’s everyday life; the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all the members; these same characteristics can also link or divide a region

·       Languages, Ethnic Groups, and Religions are all part of culture

·       Language

o   Arabic unites the Arab world. How? Uses the dominant/ same language

o   If Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish; It speaks Portuguese; is it Hispanic or Latino?

o   Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are its official languages

o   Switzerland speaks many different language and has few conflicts

o   English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world (Lingua Franca)

·       Ethnic Groups:

o   When strong leadership dies out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and now they are all separate countries (Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Albanians = all didn’t get along)

o   Rwanda and Burundi, two ethnic groups, Tutsis and Hutus = they both persecute each other

o   Led to war between each other

o   USA and Switzerland both have peace even when they both have merged multiple ethnic groups

o   Korea and Japan both have mostly one primary ethnic group

·       Religion

o   An unifying and disunifying force

o   5 major religions:

§  Hinduism

§  Buddhism

§  Christianity

§  Judaism

§  Islam