Prologue: Outline

Instructions: Use this annotated chapter outline to review the major topics covered in this chapter. Return to skim any sections that seem unfamiliar. Then test your understanding of the chapter by selecting the quizzes and short-answer activities included in this Online Study Guide.

I.

Opening vignette
  A. Different peoples have believed that the world was created in different ways.
    1.

myths of origin try to answer a fundamentally human question: what happened in the beginning?
    2.

try to provide a larger context to anchor particular societies
  B. World historians also try to puzzle out beginnings.
    1.

modern creation stories depend heavily on fields that developed during and after the Scientific Revolution (astronomy, physics, geology, biology)
    2. but modern models are better at answering how things began than why
    3.

many modern people have tried to reconcile scientific and religious understandings of beginnings

II.  The History of the Universe
  A. The largest modern framework for understanding beginnings is “big history.”
    1. “history of everything” from the big bang to the present (around 13.7 billion years)
    2. the largest possible context for understanding the human journey
      a.

the idea of the cosmic calendar: whole history of the cosmos as a single year
  B. The study of cosmic history is disturbing to many.
    1. gives a sense of the insignificance of human life
    2.

but human awareness of the universe makes us unique and can inspire awe

III.  The History of a Planet
  A. Our solar system emerged around 4.7 billion years ago.
  B.

Life first appeared on earth about 600 million years after the earth itself was formed.
    1.

remained at the level of single-celled organisms for about 3 billion years
    2. all multicelled creatures have evolved over the past 600 million years
  C. Each species has had its own history.
    1. but history books and courses focus on our own species, Homo sapiens
    2.

Homo sapiens only appeared in the last few minutes of December 31 on the cosmic calendar
  D.

The short history of Homo sapiens has had more consequences for the planet than the history of any other species.
    1. human communication skills allow us to learn from each other
    2. ability to accumulate knowledge and pass it on to future generations
    3. humans have had a massive impact on the earth

IV. The History of the Human Species . . . in a Single Paragraph: A Preview
  A.

The history of Homo sapiens has occupied roughly the last 250,000 years and is typically divided into three major phases.
    1. Paleolithic age was very long; 95 percent of human history
      a. settlement of every major landmass
      b. construction of the first human societies
    2. agricultural era began about 12,000 years ago
      a. domestication of plants and animals
      b.

dependence on domestic plants and animals to sustain life fundamentally shaped the human experience
    3. modern industrial era: from around 1750 to the present
      a. massive increase in the rate of technological change
      b. massive increase in human control over nature
      c. rise of “modern” societies

V.  Why World History?
  A.

As recently as the mid-twentieth century, almost all college-level history courses were focused on particular civilizations or nations.
  B. Since then, education has moved toward world history.
    1. the world wars revealed the evils of unchecked nationalism
    2.

economic and cultural globalization has emphasized the interdependence of the world’s peoples and their unequal positions
    3. new awareness that many human problems are global in scope
    4. third world peoples wanted to have their histories known, too
  C.

The “world history movement” has tried to create global understanding of the past by highlighting broad patterns that transcend particular civilizations.
    1. also tries to include the distinctive histories of many peoples
    2. this is a massive task that has generated much controversy

VI.  Comparison, Connection, and Change: The Three Cs of World History
  A.

Most world historians agree on three major issues that define their field of study.
    1. the need for constant comparison
      a. world history is comparative
      b. comparison is a recurring theme throughout this text
      c. comparison is useful in fighting Eurocentrism
      d.

the art of comparison must be learned and is a matter of careful choice
    2. awareness of connections
      a.

effort to counteract the habit of thinking about peoples or states as self-contained and isolated
      b. no societies developed in a vacuum
      c. cross-cultural connections have existed for a very long time
    3. examination of “big picture” changes
      a. What caused both large and small transformations?
  B.

Change and comparison in particular help to counteract “essentialism” or “stereotyping.”
    1.

it’s too easy to define particular groups of people as having unchanging characteristics
    2. in reality, every category of people has endless divisions and conflicts
      a. human communities are in a constant state of flux
    3. but human existence also has broad continuities