Monday, August 31, 2015

Mississippians: Mound Builders

We spent the last blog looking at impressive feats of architecture and human ingenuity via the Aztecs. This week we will spend some time looking at an impressive culture much closer to us.

Near St. Louis, MO, about 1,000 years ago, the Mississippians built series of "mound settlements" that became little/mid-sized cities. The most well known of these sites was Cahokia, which grew to 20,000 people. These settlements were centers of trade, agriculture and entertainment for the natives.

Watch this video and read this article about Cahokia and the Mississippians. Do you see any similarities and/or differences between the Mississippians and Aztecs? What was the most interesting thing you learned?

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Aztecs: Barbaric or Genius?

Welcome to US History for the 2015-2016 School Year! I am very excited to be your teacher this year and am looking forward to our journey. We are going to be learning A LOT over the next nine months and a major part of your education will be this blog. Every Monday a new post will appear. Follow the directions. Watch the videos. Read the articles. Think critically about what you are learning. Then, by Sunday at 11:59PM, post a 100 word comment in the Comment Section. This post will be a quiz grade every week, so don't forget!

We will start with the question: "What was America like before it was America as we know it?".  The answer is that it was very diverse and filled with millions of native tribes and cultures. One of the most fascinating were the Aztecs.  They dominated the Mexico region of North America for centuries before being wiped out by Hernan Cortes in the 1500s.  Visit this website to learn more about this culture.

For the comment section this week, I want you to debate the following statement: "Prehistoric cultures were not sophisticated. They had no technology, culture, belief systems or entertainment. They were basically cavemen." Is this true? Use the Aztecs, and the info you learned from this site, as proof for your answer.