Lesson 3: States in Africa and the Americas
Duration of Days: 3
Lesson Objective
Students will compare how states in Africa and the Americas governed and maintained power during the period c. 1200–1450.
How did African and American states organize political authority?
What forms of continuity existed within these regions?
Mexica, Inca, Great Zimbabwe, tribute systems, city-states
APWH Unit 1 Topics 1.4, 1.5
Skill 1.B
Reasoning Process: Continuity and Change
Selecting relevant evidence to support analytical claims.
This lesson emphasizes regional diversity and challenges Eurocentric narratives of political development.
Purpose: Regional analysis and comparison
DOK: 3
Indigenous governance systems and historical representation.
Students may underestimate the complexity of non-Eurasian states.
Visual supports; scaffolded evidence selection.
Source-based analytical paragraph.
Maps, visuals, primary descriptions