Chapter 1 Roots of the American People - JR

By JR Ripp
  • 1400 BCE

    Aztecs take control

    Aztec armies brought half of modern-day Mexico under its control.
  • 1300 BCE

    Anasazis abandoned their cliff dwellings.

    They emerged in Southern Utah, Colorado, northern Arizona and New Mexico. Their largest community housed 1,000 people.
  • 900 BCE

    Mayas begin to abandon their cities.

    Disease or overpopulation may have been the cause, but the real reason is a mystery.
  • 250 BCE

    Mayas built cities in what is now Mexico and Central America

    The cities contained large public plazas lined with pyramids, temples, ball courts and palaces.
  • 221 BCE

    China is unified into a single empire.

    The empire covered a large portion of Asia. Highways, canals and postal systems linked China together.
  • 100 BCE

    Hohoman were highly skilled farmers

    These farmers dug irrigation canals in the desert of present day Arizona.
  • 27 BCE

    Octavian declares himself emperor

    The Roman Empire last for almost 500 years. Roman ideas about law and government spread over a wide area.
  • 600

    Islam emerged on the Arabian Peninsula

    Growth in trade was linked to the rise of Islam. The founder Muhammad taught that there is one true God.
  • 1000

    Trade Centers appear in Eastern Africa

    Zimbabwe, the most powerful, became the center of the empire.
  • 1000

    Woodlands people took up farming.

    The earliest woodlands people lived by hunting, fishing, and foraging for nuts and berries.
  • 1050

    Chinese invented printing with movable type.

    The Chinese invented this 400 years before the technology was developed in Europe.
  • 1200

    The kingdom was absorbed into the empire of Mali.

    Shifting trade routes and disruptions caused by war gradually led Ghana to weaken.
  • 1500

    First Europeans reached America

    They encounter the Native American people who were a richly diverse group of people.
  • 1500

    The League of the Iroquois

    Five Iroquois nations went through a period of warfare. Their leader convinced them to make peace, so they created the league. The league made laws to keep the peace.

  • Judaism arose among the Israelites

    Judaism was the first major world religion to teach monotheism, the idea that there is only one God.