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First States (6:29)

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.

Key Ideas

Think about the following questions as you watch the video


  1. 00:48 According to Merry Wiesner-Hanks, where and when did states first emerge?
  2. 01:44 According to Urmi Willoughby and Merry Wiesner-Hanks, what are some features of a state?
  3. 02:23 According to Wiesner-Hanks, what kind of states were the first states in Sumer?
  4. 03:30 What evidence does Willoughby use to justify the argument that Cahokia and Moundville were states?
  5. 04:32 Does Willoughby think states were forced on people, or does she think people worked together to build states?
  6. 06:17 What do the two scholars think of the idea that states need collective imagination?