Discussion for Ap World History

Ammar Chanawala                   1.06 Discussion for AP World History

Is civilization an effective organizational tool for studying history?

Civilization is certainly one of the most important and effective organizational tool for studying history as it allows us to explore how humans are today and primarily how they survived through difficult times; for instance, during the earliest civilizations with the Mayans and Incas, they had developed their own sense of math as well as the calendar and other intellectual innovations. Moreover, even further down in history during the Paleolithic era, studying the earliest civilizations allowed us to understand how they survived as they hunted and gathered foods as well as how they endured hard times such as drought and famine, etc. This all together allows us to expand our horizons and see how we came to be today and properly explore human geography.

Why were people willing to give up a nomadic lifestyle for a more settled existence?

Nomadic lifestyle doesn't have as much of an assurance for food and safety as more settled lifestyles could provide; for instance, if one moves and often changes their location, food may be scarce at times and the weather may be difficult to endure, thereby resulting in a difficult time for the travelers as some may not be able to survive and thrive as they would have in a settled existence. Settled existence ensures stability, while nomadic lifestyle does not.

How did location play a vital role in the development of early societies?

Location is key to the success of the development of societies. For instance, being close to river provided resources such as water and fish. But a down fall is reoccurring floods. Landlocked cities were better for expanding but more open to attacks. Also being too far from water sources could cause droughts during summer. Cities on mountains were more secure, which means fewer attacks. But supplies were more harder to attain.

What costs and benefits resulted from the transition from hunter-gatherer to sedentary agricultural civilizations?

There are a variety of benefits of transitioning to sedentary agricultural civilizations considering that sedentary agricultural civilizations allows for settled existences as it provides proper and stability in terms of foods; also, in this type of civilizations, it's a cooperation with both females and males; the issue that raised with this is the whole issue of the weather as in if a drought or flood occurs and ruins the entire area's crops and main source of food. Moreover, the costs of hunter and gathering was that it was difficult in having a stable home and shelter; often times, there may be scarcity in food, depending on how well the hunting and gathering went, etc.