Humans have been present on this Earth for nearly 3.5 million years when “Homo erectus” first evolved with an upright posture enabling the use of hands (Ponting). “Homo erectus” evolved into “Homo sapiens” one hundred thousand years ago and both lineages lived in small, mobile groups. For nearly two million years, their way of life was based around hunting and gathering food until ten to twelve thousand years ago when agriculture evolved. Early humans depended upon their knowledge of crops and seasons in order for survival. Eventually, as brain size increased and more humans adapted to different environments, advances were made in human technology. Humans began to work with and occasionally against their environment to create a stable way to acquire food as well as a more stable lifestyle. On the other hand, the environment, the climate in particular, definitely dictated the movement and survival methods of early humans.
In Sparta, the boys were taken from their homes and forced to live in a military school and learn to fight, steal, and murder helots then served in the army until they were 60 while the girls learned to wrestle and defend the city while the men were away at battle. In today's American society, all children are required to get an education in math, science, English, and history. They are not taken from their homes and have a choice of whether or not they want to enter the army.
The Black Death was a plague that killed nearly 50% of people. One of the long term effects was people's viewpoint on religion. Many people who saw the death affecting everyone and thought it was the hand of God stopped believing in God. This could have spurred the Renaissance/Enlightenment thinkers who focused on humanism and secularism. They such as John Locke believed reason was the most important, not faith. It also broke the Church's absolute power. Many of the churches who were the only place for refuge and those who went to administer last rights then got sick and died as well. Sonce so many people died, there were more jobs open and actually raised the standard of living. Wages rose because there were less people and marked the end of feudalism. It paved the way for the renaissance. It also led to persecution of certain groups such as Jews
Guerilla warfare. Traditional overwhelming firepower
