Classic Civilizations – Regents Prep Questions

Greek Contributions to Western Civilization

• Democracy.
• The Alphabet.
• The Library.
• The Olympics.
• Science and Mathematics.
• Architecture.
• Mythology.
• The Lighthouse.

Another important ancient Greek concept that influenced the formation of the United States government was the written constitution. The original U.S. voting system had some similarities with that of Athens. In Athens, every citizen could speak his mind and vote at a large assembly that met to create laws.

The Greeks made important contributions to philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. Literature and theatre was an important aspect of Greek culture and influenced modern drama. Greek culture influenced the Roman Empire and many other civilizations, and it continues to influence modern cultures today.

Ancient Greece is the birthplace of Western philosophy (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle), literature (Homer and Hesiod), mathematics (Pythagoras and Euclid), history (Herodotus), drama (Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes), the Olympic Games, and democracy.

Ancient Greek thinkers made big discoveries. Pythagoras found ways to measure and describe shapes that we still use in maths today. Aristotle studied plants, animals and rocks. He devised experiments to find out about the world we live in.

As for Ancient Greek, if you are a Ancient Greek historian, yes it is very beneficial. Out side of that your only use of it would be to be able to read the ancient manuscripts. The balance is, the time put into learning a dead language, versus the knowledge and benefits in learning it.

Herodotus

Jericho

An unprecedented DNA study has found evidence of a single human migration out of Africa and confirmed that Aboriginal Australians are the world’s oldest civilization.

Theopetra Cave

The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New World and the first to settle in what is now the United States. By 1650, however, England had established a dominant presence on the Atlantic coast. The first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.

Delaware

Spain

The United States now wanted control of Florida. Spain’s attempt to bring settlers to Florida failed, and by 1800 Spain’s control of Florida had weakened. Gaining control of Florida for the United States would mean gaining control of the Mississippi River. That was an important route for trade.

Florida had become a burden to Spain, which could not afford to send settlers or garrisons, so the Spanish government decided to cede the territory to the United States in exchange for settling the boundary dispute along the Sabine River in Spanish Texas.

Native Americans had been living in Florida for at least 14,000 years when the first European contact was made in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who called it la Florida ([la floˈɾiða] “the land of flowers”) upon landing there.