Answered by Nelson from Australia | Dec. 09, 2013 20:57
It was built to protect the people and territories south of the wall from a continued threat of invasion by the northern nomadic tribes.
In Chinese history, a large number of people participated in constructing the wall and many died from that, due to heavy workload. There were no advanced machines, so they had to carry the heavy stones and bricks to the mountains one by one and pile them into walls.