In this lesson, you’ll learn about the collapse of some societies. This quick opening activity will give you a framework to help you think about the different factors that cause societies to collapse. Societies today still face the kinds of challenges that can cause collapse, so this framework will also help you think about present-day situations.

Causation
This activity is focused on the cause of societal collapse. You probably recognize that while it’s nice to have a framework to help you analyze collapse, it’s not always straightforward, and there are often multiple causes for it.

In this quick activity, you will be presented with a few fictional scenarios of societal collapse, and you’ll decide if these societies fell due to internal factors, external factors, or environmental factors. You’re about to learn a lot about collapse, and sometimes the different reasons for this can get confusing. To help, you’ll have a framework to use to analyze each collapse.

Your teacher will review the following theories of collapse with you:

1. Internal weakness: Did the society undergo some kind of internal instability, such as a series of bad rulers or too much expansion that led to the society being unable to maintain itself?
2. External factors: Did another population—an invader—take over this society?
3. Environmental disaster: Did an environmental disaster (natural or human created) take down the society?

Another way to think about this is to decide if a society was pushed (external factors), or if they jumped (internal factors). And environmental disaster could be either internal or external. Your teacher posted some fictional scenarios around the room, and it’s up to you to decide if you think the society fell due to internal weakness, external factors, or environmental disasters. Your teacher will assign a color of sticky note to internal weakness, external factors, and environmental disaster, and depending on the cause of collapse, you will place the relevant color on each poster. You can only choose one type of cause for each scenario. Also, be prepared to discuss your reasoning with the class!

Empires are complex states that have to keep different communities unified and under control. Many different problems must be avoided or the empire will collapse. Invasion, lack of money, and internal challenges all can be risky for empires. This article looks at different causes of collapse in the Roman Empire, Han Dynasty, Persian Empire, and Inca Empire, as well as Maya states (which weren’t really empires).

This article introduces the causes of the decline of multiple empires, allowing you to compare causes across several different cases. Together, this information provides important evidence for understanding why empires collapse, which is an important part of the era problem. In other articles, you will explore some cases in more depth.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. According to the author, what are two general factors that usually bring down an empire?
2. How might changes in population affect an empire?
3. What problems did Rome and the Han Dynasty have with taxes? What were their specific circumstances?
4. In both Rome and the Han Dynasty, what was a problem with some of their emperors?
5. What factors made it easier for Alexander to conquer Persia?
6. Why did the Spanish have lucky timing when they took over former Inca territory?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Are there any lessons we can learn from the collapse of these empires that might help us think about how to keep our own society from collapsing? If so, what are they? If not, why not?

The Roman Empire lasted for hundreds of years—even longer in the eastern part of the empire. But during that time, it underwent numerous transformations. It split into four parts, changed its citizenship laws, and dealt with economic pressure. Though the Western Roman Empire’s power declined, the Roman Empire continued to influence religion and law across vast regions of Eurasia and North Africa. Historians still debate just what the fall of Rome meant and how it happened.

This article gives some potential explanations for why the Roman Empire fell. It examines various arguments and narratives about this collapse. You will also get to compare several different historical narratives in the form of secondary sources. Looking at these varying explanations for the fall of Rome will allow you to think about which argument is most convincing and how historical narratives deal with causation. It’ll also give you some evidence to think about how networks and communities changed over the course of the Roman Empire.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why did the Romans concede land to the German tribes?
2. What’s one thing Diocletian did to stabilize the Roman Empire?
3. What are some key differences between the eastern and western parts of the empire?
4. What are some reasons that the Roman economy was weak?
5. What did the Antonine Constitution do?
6. What problems did the Visigoths have with Rome? How did they react?
7. What was left of Rome after 476 CE?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. How did changing ideas about what made up the Roman community help the Roman Empire survive and later contribute to its decline?

The Han Dynasty was a “golden age” for China, but it didn’t last forever. Historians—ancient and modern—argue about exactly what happened that led to the decline of the Han. Whether it was because of problems with natural disasters, taxes, ineffective leadership, eunuchs, warriors, invading outsiders, or all of the above, the debate—unlike the Han Dynasty—is alive and well.

This article and activity provide different explanations for the decline and collapse of Han Dynasty China. You will learn multiple theories about the causes of the empire’s decline. This will help you think about how those theories and this article fit into the community and production distribution frames. You’ll also find evidence that’ll help you compare the Han Dynasty’s collapse to the collapse of other empires.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What are some challenges that the Han faced that were outside of their control?
2. How did Han rulers deal with tribal groups from the border regions?
3. How did farmers and land-owning elites contribute to the empire’s wealth? How did they relate to one another?
4. What was the Yellow Turban Revolt? How did it affect the emperor?
5. What are the three main theories Chinese historians had for why the Han Dynasty collapsed?
6. What’s one modern theory for why the Han Dynasty collapsed?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. What does the narrative of Han decline and collapse look like through the filter of the production and distribution frame? Use evidence from this article and the accompanying sources to analyze patterns of production and distribution and present a claim.
2. How does the decline and collapse of the Han Dynasty compare to the collapse of the Roman Empire? Use evidence from this article and other articles and videos in this era to support your claim.

How and why did Teotihuacan and the Maya city-states collapse? Mesoamerica’s Classic Period (between 200 and 900 CE) was formidable. These societies were significant urban centers that were thriving until they encountered crises. Although we do not entirely understand why they collapsed, the evidence shows that in this region, collapse was usually followed by a regeneration in a nearby city or society.

Why and how do societies “collapse?” What does it mean for a society to “collapse” at all? This article challenges the networks and communities frame narratives by exploring two societies that both declined, but still arguably make an impact to this day through their people and culture. This evidence will help you to respond to the era problem by giving you additional information about collapse and restructuring.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. The Aztecs who found Teotihuacan’s ruins were also the ones who named the ancient city. What does the name mean, and why did they choose it?
2. How were Teotihuacan and the cities of the Maya Classic Period similar?
3. How were Teotihuacan and the cities of the Maya Classic Period different?
4. Why does the absence of a writing system make it hard to determine why an empire falls?
5. Why does the author argue that it’s difficult to pin the “collapse” of a society on one single cause?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. How does evidence from Teotihuacan and Maya societies contribute to your understanding of what “collapse” means, and what might happen after societies collapse?

Sometimes, things go wrong. Empires fall, societies collapse. In this short video, Jared Diamond, the author of Collapse, covers a lot of ground. From the Pacific islands and Mesoamerica to East Africa and Afghanistan, Diamond explains the causes and consequences of collapse. But collapse isn’t just about the past. Are we approaching a collapse today, and what will be the role of climate change in our future? This video attempts to answer these important questions about our past and future.

This video provides an introduction to the topic of societal collapse to help you connect the stories you have read about Rome and China to broader historical trends. It gives you evidence, via the communities frame, to help you respond to the era question about how human systems restructure after catastrophe.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. How does Jared Diamond define collapse?
2. What evidence does Jared Diamond offer in making his argument that societies collapse together?
3. According to Diamond, what countries did American officials think were the least important to American power during the twentieth century? Were they correct?
4. What evidence does Diamond use when he asserts that the environment plays a role in collapse?
5. What is Diamond’s point of view on whether or not we are headed for collapse, and what does he think will dictate this outcome?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. Jared Diamond argues that societies collapse because of actions that people take and decisions we make. Do you remember any actions or policies made in the Roman or Han empires that led to their collapse?
2. How does Jared Diamond argue that collapse in the twenty-first century would be different than any previous collapse? Do you agree or disagree with him and why?

In the Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan, a figure called the Xalla sculpture was created out of stone brought to the city from far away. Teotihuacan was a diverse city, and the Xalla sculpture was a spiritual and cultural touchstone that represented the worldview of the people of Teotihuacan. When the city was destroyed around 550 CE, so was the Xalla sculpture, but today, archeologists have reconstructed the sculpture and placed it in a museum.

This graphic biography points to some fascinating questions about what causes the collapse of a society. Like many other historical collapses, we don’t have definitive evidence about what caused the fall of Teotihuacan. The story of the Xalla figure provides one piece of evidence that will help you draw your own conclusions about the city’s collapse. The aftermath of the collapse will help you respond to the Era 4 problem: How do human systems restructure themselves after catastrophe?

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What was the Xalla statue made of, and where did it come from? How does the artwork tell us something about the people that built the statue, and what significance do you think this has?
2. What did the Xalla sculpture represent to the people of Teotihuacan?
3. According to the biography, why do we think that the sculpture may have been destroyed by a group inside the city? What might this tell us about the community of Teotihuacan?
4. What happened to the city and the sculpture after they were destroyed?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. How does this biography of the Xalla figure, and the history of Teotihuacan, support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the collapse of societies? How does it support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about what happens after that collapse?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

Causation can be a complicated historical thinking practice to master, especially when the event or process being studied has a number of possible causes (and effects), like the collapse of an empire. In order to help you further develop this skill, you’ll identify what caused an empire to fall. As you become more skilled at understanding causation, you’ll become better at evaluating why historians sometimes come to different conclusions about the same topic, including the cause of an empire’s collapse.

Claim testing, sourcing
Claim testing is a big part of evaluating causes and effects. You must use your claim testing skills to evaluate sources and the evidence these sources use to explain why these empires collapsed. In addition, you need logic and intuition to decide if the causes and evidence that historians (sources) use to explain these collapses makes sense.

In this activity, you’ll be evaluating the causes for a society’s collapse by creating an anatomy and autopsy of an empire you learned about in Era 3. Your teacher will start by assigning you an empire and have you review an article about the empire, taking notes on these topics:

• Important rulers (historical figures)
• Structure and administration of government and military capabilities
• Belief systems
• Social hierarchy including the role of women
• Networks of exchange and trade
• Cultural achievements such as art, architecture, science, and technology
• Reasons for collapse

Once you are done taking notes, get together with your group and pick a historical figure that represents your empire. As a team, draw the figure and then use your notes from reviewing the article to label the figure, following the key given to you on the worksheet. Make sure to combine everyone’s notes so you include all relevant information. After you’re done labeling your anatomy of an empire, work as a group to fill out the Causation Tool.

Remember that you’ve already categorized by time and type. For this activity, you’ll also be categorizing by role.

• Necessary – These causes were required. The historical event or process would not have occurred without these causes.
• Relevant – These causes are important but not required. The historical event or process would still happen without these causes.
• Triggering event – This is the most immediate cause of the historical event or process.

This categorization process can be difficult, and you may not all agree on the time, type, or role. However, you should be able to back up your claims with evidence. Keep in mind that historians don’t always agree about these topics either, which is why there are often different perspectives or histories written about the same historical event or process.

Next, explain, using the body parts outlined in the worksheet, what factors led to the collapse or restructuring of this empire. Use that information to write an autopsy. What body part (or parts) became “sick” and caused its collapse? In other words, what was the cause of death? A death certificate or an autopsy would list all the possible causes of death along with the main, or most significant, cause. In addition, were all of the causes a result of internal problems (the body parts of their empire) or were there external causes as well (outside the body—maybe another empire or nomadic tribes invading)?

Now that you’ve analyzed and categorized all the causes for collapse and written your autopsy, you’ll write an obituary for your empire. An obituary is a summary of a person’s life and their accomplishments, or legacy, that’s written after they’ve died. Think about why you are studying this empire and why it is still important. For example, you might include the empire’s beginning and end dates along with its cultural and political achievements, and then briefly explain what led to its downfall. For your empire’s obituary, you’ll write one or two paragraphs that explain this legacy.

Your teacher will collect your completed worksheets and use them to assess how your causation skills are progressing.