"Three changes transformed the way humans lived."

There’s no official rule that people need to live in states. And there’s no law that states must have cities. People who live in states and cities don’t have to farm or trade with people in outside regions. But these four things are often connected. We’re going to explore why and how they’re linked.

When we study history, we usually hear about cities and states with farming and trading. That’s because these places are where people exchanged new ideas and created. They become important locations in history.

But there was a lot going on during this period of time we’re covering in Unit 3. There were also places that weren’t organized into states or cities, didn’t farm, and didn’t focus on trade. We’ll learn about these places too. However, we’ll talk more about how trade grew, cities were built, and states were formed. These changes have had a big impact on how people live and connect with each other.

Village networks

By 6000 BCE, people had spread all over the world. Some communities began farming and raising animals, while others kept gathering food and hunting. These groups found their own ways and tools to live.

New ideas and tools often came from solving problems or from interacting with other communities. Usually, an idea or tool was invented in one place. Then, it was shared with others through trade, conflicts, or marriages. When communities met, they often took or changed new ideas to suit their own needs. Major inventions began in one area and then spread across the world. As more people learned to use and enjoy new ideas and creations, those inventions spread. Think of products like iron, or even boba tea.

At this time, local networks were essential for survival. Farming villages and nomadic tribes traded with each other. Different groups became skilled at trading different goods. This shows how complex early human societies were.

Long-distance trade

Trade networks began locally but grew to cover large distances. These networks moved goods, people, and ideas across the world. As cities appeared, they created metropolitan networks. These networks connected cities with their surrounding villages and rural areas. Cities could influence these areas because they had more people.

Trade networks expanded even more. In Eurasia, people learned to domesticate and train horses. With horses, people could spread messages to farther regions. Rulers expanded their empires more quickly. Camels in western Asia and Africa made it easier to travel across deserts. Llamas did something similar in the Americas.

At sea, trade networks expanded as people built better ships. They also learned to navigate or sail better. Skilled shipbuilders and sailors were essential for trade networks in many seas. This included trade in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Baltic seas—and later the Pacific Ocean. On land, infrastructure projects like building roads made traveling more efficient. More people traveled, learning new languages and sharing ideas in new places. However, the number of travelers was still small compared to the total number of people.

Cities

What came first, cities or trade? Cities often developed around major trade markets. But, as cities grew, they also made more trade happen. People in cities had extra resources like money and food. They wanted luxury items to make their lives better.

The first cities started around 6,000 years ago in places like Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. About 5,000 years ago, cities emerged in China, India, and Southeast Asia. Later, more cities sprung up from 4,000 to 2,500 BCE. These were in Mesoamerica, the Andes mountains in South America, the Mediterranean Basin, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Cities were built for different reasons. Some were on trade routes, others for defense, some for religious events, and some as government centers. These cities were often part of agrarian societies. Farming usually created a surplus of food. This extra food went to soldiers, priests, builders, and other workers. Yet, there wasn’t just one way to form a society or a city. Each community developed its own unique structure and way of life. Communities like Shang Dynasty China, Aksum, the Indus River Valley, and Mesopotamia were all unique.

One thing these societies all had in common was a group of wealthy people. Usually, this group was small. Most people in the cities were much poorer than the wealthy. The majority of people had to work very hard. They were also more likely to get sick because cities were crowded with people, animals, and waste.

States

The wealth from long-distance trade benefited a small group of elites. These elites had special rights and power because they controlled resources. To protect their status, elites began to support the development of a state. A state includes rules, laws, government structures and armies. These measures protected everyone, but especially the wealthy. Sometimes, the pursuit of more power and wealth led elites to start large-scale violence and wars.

The rise of the state was closely connected to the development of writing. And writing was probably the most important development during this era. The ability to read and write was rare. Generally, only the wealthy read and wrote. Therefore, writing deepened the distance between elites and commoners. The first written texts weren’t love poems or novels; they were inventories and receipts for things people owned and traded. Writing started as a way to record the trading of goods and surpluses of food. Writing allowed a merchant to record that they had traded three goats for five bushels of wheat. It let rulers write down instructions to the commanders and governors overseeing their states.

Still, not all states were the same, as we will see. Assyria, in Mesopotamia, had a hierarchical structure. It was quite different from the negotiated power of Jenne-Jeno, in West Africa. Instead of a ruling elite, different groups split power in Jenne-Jeno. The Olmec cities of Mesoamerica had decentralized rule by religious leaders. This was a big difference from the centralized power of Akkadian kings in Mesopotamia.