WW Chapter 13

Much of the Paleolithic values and systems carried on into Classical civilizations. much of the time there was a gather hunter influence if not it was agriculturally influenced. The absence of agriculture in Australia fired those people to master and manipulate the land that they had, and they did what they thought fir with it not necessarily the smartest ways of farming. They based their way of agriculture on the Paleolithic ways of the past. In the more Northwestern civilizations the scene was different. the civilizations had sturdy house, specialization and a more structured society.

In the early 15ht century the Ming Dynasty China was changing. they left behind their mongol ways and focused on Confucian learning. Their government became much more centralized and it was said that China was the "best governed and most prosperous" civilization of that era.

In Europe the same type of changes were occurring this time period was referred to as the renaissance. Zheung He led many voyages, but after the emperor died the voyages stopped, there was no support from other political leaders at that time. The stop of the voyages was the extinction of the best navy and stopped the potential of the grab civilization. Chinese expeditions were larger than any that Europe had ever put out. Europe sought wealth and power and possible Christianity conversions, China didn't need those things and didn't seek that through its expedition. Why Zheung He is forgotten could be because his expeditions had less potential and drive, thus making them less memorable. 

n the Americas the 15th century civilizations were the Aztecs and the Incas. The Aztecs had a worldly approach they valued the world, sun and everything that is life. incas were similar but when they took over a place they wanted those who had been taken per to almost worship them. many of theses places had connections with each other amazingly. 

WW Chapter 10

The Worlds of European Christendom.

West Europe collapsed in 5th century.
East Europe collapsed in 6th century.

Byzantine Empire included Egypt, Greece, Syria and Anatulia and practiced Orthodox Christianity, differing from Roman Catholicism in the use of painting, nature of the Trinity and importance of faith.
Eastern Orthodox Christianity was practiced in Russia, brought over by many different trades amongst people the religion was picked up.
The Crusades came about around 1095, they were called "holy wars." They crusaders went around and made people vow to their religion in return removed their sins, many Europeans supposed these crusades.

I like to read about religion in history books because you get such a broad look into different and interesting religions. I like to see what other religions are out there and how they came about. Sometimes I feel too focused on my own Catholic region that I don't give the right respect to other cultures and traditions. Its also very interesting to learn that so many times people found new religions amongst the traders simply because they liked something they saw. I don't agree with the crusades too much force was used to convert people.

WW Chapter 9

The Golden Age of China consisted of achievements in arts, literature, excellence in poetry, landscape painting and ceramics. Tang and Song built a state structure that consisted of six major ministries, personnel, finance, rite, army, justice and public works. The Song dynasty was China's most skilled, richest and most popular on Earth, because of its cultural and political achievements. Women in the Song Dynasty were regarded as distractions for men, they led less strict lives but still had many restrictions. They began to work and have more control of their lives later in the dynasty.

DGP Chapter 6

Polynesians.
Their culture is less well understood. They had no system of writing nor did they encounter anyone who could write for them so much of their history is lost. What historians do is what they gather from evidence left behind by them like pottery and sculptures. The Polynesian people crossed 4,000 miles across central Pacific to Polynesia. Although they moved a lot and encountered new people their population was surprisingly homogenous. Their method of travel was the outrigger canoe, a hallowed out tree log, for big voyages, they used two very large hallowed out logs. Trade was mostly local. These people who are normally portrayed as barbarians were said to actually be hospitable, cheerful and good natured. They developed their language from other cultures and their language changed over time. The reason why the Polynesians and Vikings societies were said to have died down because overtime the people forgot or lost the ability to make boats which were necessary for traveling, trading, communicating and thus surviving.

WW Chapter 8

The silk roared provided no only good but also unity across Eurasia. Large and prosperous states allowed the Silk Road to flourish with their provided safety. Silk was the major product hence the name, most were luxury products, generally moved silk east to west. Along with goods, cultures were brought alone the silk road. Buddhism appealed to many.

Diseases spread along the road, in the case of seaborne illness in Athens, 25%of the population died. there was no means to cope with new diseases. This was actually a leg up when Europeans wanted to invade the Americas, disease was an unintentional weapon.

Later the became a vast way of trading. it connecting ore people than the Silk Road and created centers of commerce on routes. This was a cheaper way of transportation and was more of a mass market than the Silk Road.

Cultures began to influence each other.  Southeast Asia influenced Srivijaya with its Buddhism, Swahili Civilizations flourish because of their prime location and many visitors settled there.

Africa was good for trading gold, salt ad slaves amongst other things.

The Americas were sort of left out. There is no evidence of other cults great influence, none of the Mayans or Aztecs.

WW Chapter 11

Islam touched two worlds East Asia and Western Eurasia, it helped shaped the history of Afro-Eurasia. Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, was born in Mecca, he felt a powerful and overwhelming religious experience in the mountains, he was convinced that he was Allah's messenger.
The Quran is like the Islamic Bible. Medina was the place of the "super tribe of muslims" early on. The Islamic/Arab empires eventually stretched from Spain to India. For some converting was spiritual for others it was more of a social thing.
The community was divided, there was a lack of leadership after Muhammad's death so they created Caliphs. The Sunni Muslims believed in the Caliphs, the Shia  believed that there was no need for Caliphs it would take away from Ali and his sons. In early Islam, men had authority over women, the Quran included restrictions and protections for women. The Arab empire os defined by four places, India, Anatolia, West Africa and Spain.
The new civilizations of Islam is a network, a network of faith and exchange. It has a huge exchange of goods, technologies, food products and ideas. Many Islamic people have accomplished amazing achievements.

WW Chapter 6

China was shaped by the actions of the state. There was a big system of civil service elite officials. people in the  bureaucracy were privileged and had high power. Wealth equals class, and so did land owning. Land owning families were the central feature of Chinese society. There were strict peasant rules and conditions. the conditions were so bad. it later led to a peasant rebellion. after the rebellion came a "Great Peace" that was filled with equality, social harmony and common ownership.
Caste system in India. could only rise one social class. Seemed accommodating to immigrants, if the people didn't like the system it was much harder for them to resist and create a rebellion.
Slavery in Rome. slavery was a defining element in roman society.  Many could become free but never really gained any rights. the slavery in Rome was your life.

WW Chapter 6

China and confucianism, Confucianism was involved in everything from class inequality to superstition, it has outlasted Chinas oldest and most influential leaders.
India and hinduism, culturally they were different from other civilizations, it grew from no founder just over the years.
The Greeks had everything, thinkers, Gods, culture, traditions, one of the more distinctive cultures.
Jesus founded Christianity and Buddha Buddhism. Separate religions, neither thought that they would be the ones to create a religion, they spread by stories of miracles and divine healings and outcast of demons.
Historians have always had to approach religion in a special way. Its hard to tell people what the real religion is, everyone thinks their religion is the right and real one, in my opinion historians do a good job of supplying information without being biased.

WW chapter 4

During this period in time 500 B.C.E. to 500 C.E. the world population began to grow. The most impressive empire was that of the Persians it was huge and centralize. Greece however was different, it was a small city state. Other major empires include Rome and Chine. Rome was originally ruled by a king by later by a republic. China was made into an empire then feel apart and was put back together again, it rose from the ashes. All these empires were at one point so strong, but in the end they all seemed  to fall. I like watching historically correct movies about empires, helps me learn!

WW Chapter 3

Civilizations and the Agricultural Revolution go hand in hand. Agricultural advancements meant societal advancements. Agricultural advancements allowed people to support large numbers. The resources from agriculture made cities possible. Cities served as places of worship, redistribution of food, laborers worked there and aristocrats helped run the city. 

After cities came up, social hierarchy arose. There were upper class people, a vast majority of commoners and at the very bottom there were slaves.

Most civilizations were run through a patriarchy. Patriarchy- A system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line. A system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.

DGP chapter 2

     This chapter discusses writing, and the importance of it in early civilizations, they began to value written transmission over oral transmission. People who could read and write were held to more importance than others in early civilization because they could write the laws and interpret them. About six thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, they began to site. At  first it was pictures but then became more complex.
     As time went on the first things to be written down were their societies creation stories. The Jews had their Torah, the Mayans developed a calendar and system of writing. The Mayans may have been the most advanced in their times. The creation stories that follow are those of the ancient societies, historians say to read them without thinking about what you believe, so one is not superior or inferior, thats hard to do. I really like the excerpts from Atra-hasis, about the Gods, how they created people for their benefits, then sent down plagues when they got too loud, I like it because I feel like I'm listening to a story. But some of the others are hard to understand.

ww chapter 2

Ways of the World chapter two...
This chapter covers the development of agriculture in early communities. Many of the agricultural revolutions spread beyond secluded communities. "The globalization of agriculture was a prolonged process, lasting 10,000 years or more after its first emergence in the Fertile Crescent, but was not successful everywhere."
One of the major developments in farming was developing a large cob of corn, domesticating corn and more advanced farming tools.  
Agriculture led to societies which led to social order and finally chiefdoms.

DGP

In chapter one of Discovering the Global Past we being to learn much about the importance of water in early civilizations. It poses an interesting question, "How did the need for steady supply of water affect the technological, economic, political and legal development of ancient societies?"

In Mesopotamia farmers used lots of different types of irrigation. Land must be irrigated or it was "useless."In Egypt, not getting much rain forced the people relied on the Nile, luckily for them the Nile was predictable. In China the people harnessed the water from the Yellow River.

Irrigation system were started before the people were able to write stuff down, so historians rely on the remains of the land. However once civilizations did start writing things down, early on they mentioned the importance of water and water systems.

The earliest laws and rules were regarding water and/or irrigation. There was so much centered on water, it affected their food, money, and power. Even though at times their were power struggles between farmers, all worked together on canals and the water supple. They were smart enough to realize that water was the most important thing and they were able to work together for water.

ww chapter one

"Comparison, Connection and Change. The three Cs of World History." Nothing could be truer, reflecting on this information in the prologue I look back and realize that all the history courses I've taken have all been based upon those "Three Cs." We as history seekers compare the past and present, different societies and much more. We try to make a connection between any similarities, and also ourselves connect with what we are reading to truly achieve a deeper understanding. Change is always constant or perhaps the lack of change in history.

Getting into chapter one homo sapiens arrive. 95% of our time being in the Paleolithic era the other 5% being historic. Strayer refers to this homo sapiens as gather-hunters instead of the traditional, hunter-gather. Chapter one elaborates on the movement of the people, the advanced thinking and problem solving they were able to achieve in such a short time period and their unique technologies, such as arrow and tomols.

Strayer stresses that too many of us view the Paleolithic era with disdain, and think "how far we've come" instead of looking at it "romantically" and seeing just what awe was accomplished so many years ago.
in this textbook the true reservations Strayers true reservations about are beginning to come out, with his first reference to gather-hunters, a feminine emphasis, to his feelings about "kinship" with the Paleolithic era, this textbook is full of his agenda.

yay

I just created my first college blog for my world history class yay!