Final Quiz

Final Quiz

            Before this course I had taken US history, California history, and the history and culture of San Francisco. I can honestly say that history had never really been my subject and has not been something that I found very interesting. Maybe it was the teachers or the way the teachers implemented their curriculums; but after this course it has given me a deeper understanding and appreciation for our history. This course was taught in a variety of ways to keep us motivated to learn an entire semester worth of work, 756 pages of information, and thousands of years’ worth of history in just 10 weeks. Although at times it seemed like there was endless amount of reading, blogging, and writing papers, in the end it was all worth it. I can now say that I have a vast amount of knowledge that I would not have had if it were not for this course. It is hard to believe that the human evolution from the ancient Stone Age to now all the way up until now being in the Post Modern World is filled with so much history and change. The one thing that has stuck and that I remembered the instructor saying is that history does not change, the only things that change it are people’s interpretations.

            Through reading assigned chapters and all the blogs that we had to write I can see why that Professor Andrews had us do all that work. Doing the blogs really prepared me for class and allowed me to participate in class discussions or ask questions on things that I may not have understood. The two exercises that I enjoyed the most was the debate and the segregation of men and women simulation. Doing the debate really made me realize how much I knew. The debate that I had participated in was whether or not the Mongols were a true empire. In my group we defended that the Mongols in fact were a true empire. Although they did not have a place to call their original home, they migrated according to season and had the communication all though not written communication, they still had a strong military that allowed them to conquer major empires. The second exercise I liked was the where the men and women were separated and had to answer questions. I am so proud that our class was the first where the girls actually won!!!! It is amazing how so much has changed over time in the roles of men and women. Women are now not seen as being oppressed, but rather free to do whatever they please and participate in activities outside the home.

            My understanding on how religion plays such a major role in history has greatly increased. The thing that stood out to me most was the discussion on Muslims had how they enforced religion enough that if you did not follow that religion you had to pay taxes. Another was when Europeans came to the Americas and took over the Natives land and had them conform and convert to euro lifestyles and Christianity as their religion.

            With this short amount of time to write on everything I learned, I am so overwhelmed in deciding which things I liked and learned from this course. Although depressing, I enjoyed learning on the Great dying and the unrecognized genocide. It is always nice to be able to learn things about our past even if they do not shed a good light on certain people, for example Hitler and the holocaust.

            Over all I just want to say how much I appreciated this course and everything we learned. I definitely recommend others to take this. I will warn you that it is a lot of work and takes up a lot of your time but in the end to see how much you can learn and accomplish it is all worth it. Thank you Professor Andrews for everything you taught me.

project video website- gay marriage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8BYWm0GuuE

Blog #8!!!!!

I still can’t believe that we have covered 24 chapters in a 10 week period. 756 pages that’s crazy!!!! Although it has been stressful at times and it seemed like some of these things I did not quite understand, in the end with all the class discussions and blogs that I have seen make me understand some of the questions I had a lot better.

            In chapter 21, the thing that stood out the most was the section on Hitler and the Nazis. This significant event that happened in history is an example of EXTREME nationalism. With the discussion in class, I cannot believe that Hitler took things so extreme as he did and that people actually believed and complied with everything that was going on. When we discussed how some people did not know that they were in fact playing a role in the murders of hundreds and thousands of people is dumbfounding. I could not comprehend how some people did not know or just chose to look the other way while this was all going on. The most interesting part is how this massive system of mass murders was organized and how they psychologically got people to feel that they were not playing a role in their evil plan. I have learned about some of the camps that people were held out, especially through the story of Ann Frank that most people have probably read in high school. What today looked like a horrific nightmare was the reality for many people during this time. This chapter was very sad but as always full of relevant information.

Chapter 22 was on the Rise and Fall of World Communism. Here we learned that the Russian Revolution took place in a single year, 1917 and was led by the charismatic leader, Vladimir Ulyanov also known as Lenin for short. Here a substantial number of members fought for the end of their role in WWI. Next China’s revolution took several decades but finally ended in 1949 also lead by a charismatic leader by the name of Mao Zedong. Although they only started with 60 members, their support grew enormously. China had been fighting for foreign imperialism and peasant exploitation which was a radical social change.

Chapter 24 dealt with Accelerating Global Interaction. Here the most interesting things that I took from this chapter were on relevant issues that we are facing today. The section on global environment transformation and going green were the ones that are key issues that are in headlines every day and will continue to be until something is changed and done about this issue. The whole idea behind people changing their habits is not so the government can be in complete and utter control in every aspect of our lives. These changes need to be made so our earth can be enjoyed for the many generations to come.

QUIZ #4 STUDY GUIDE

Sheila, Noel, Katrina, and I got together the Saturday before the quiz and made this study guide for the test.... GOOD LUCK!!!

Quiz #4

1- Discuss the roots and development of Renaissance humanism.


Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems. The Enlightenment thinkers in eighteenth-century Europe had become increasingly critical of slavery as a violation of the natural rights of every person. The abolition of slavery made a remarkable transformation in human affairs. Enlightenment thinkers were increasingly critical of slavery

-religious groups, especially Quakers and Protestant evangelicals, became

increasingly vocal in opposition to slavery

-growing belief that slavery wasn’t necessary for economic progress

- notion that slavery was out of date

2. 1348 and 1492 as pivotal years in the transition to the Modern Era.

1348 the plague

1492 Columbus came to America in search for gold, god, glory

3- God,gold & glory as motivators of colonial expansion into the Americas. True

Iberians: from Spain and Portugal they led the way Western Hemisphere. The

main motivations for coming to America was the search for God (networks of

trade), gold, glory.

The impoverished nobles and commoners found opportunity for gaining

wealth and status in the colonies. Missionaries were looking to enlarge the

realm of Christendom and Persecuted minorities were in search of a new

life

4. Discuss The Great Dying.

The Great Dying; was genocide. The majority of people died of diseases due to lack of immunity, they didn’t have the kinds of animals to help then develop that immunity, they were forced out of their environments, they were force to adapt to new environments. Some adapted to Christianity to survive. Some intermarried to survive. 90% died: most died from smallpox plague, the rest died from hunger.

5. What were the various strategies for commercial exploitation developed by Europeans during the early Modern era?

Beyond the multitude of individual tragedies that is spawned-capture and sale, displacement from home cultures, forced labor, beatings and brandings, broken families-the Atlantic slave trade transformed the societies of all of its participants.

The Atlantic slave trade represented and enormous extension of the ancient practice of people owning and selling other people

6. What were some of the abuses of the early Industrial Revolution?

At the heart of the Industrial Revolution lay a great acceleration in the rate of technological innovation leading to an enormous increased output of goods and services. A “culture of innovation,” a widespread and almost obsessive belief that things could be endlessly improve.

7. What does Strayer mean by the "echoes" of Atlantic Revolutions?

They expressed ideas of republicanism, greater social equality, and national liberation from foreign rule. Beyond this limited extension of political democracy three movements arose to challenge continuing patterns of oppression or exclusion. Abolitionists sought the end of slavery; nationalists hoped to do away with disunity and foreign rule; and feminist tried to end, or at least mitigate, male dominance. Although they took root first in Europe, each came to have a global significance in the centuries that followed.

8. Discuss the events and significance of the Haitian Revolution.

Saint Domingue was widely regarded as the richest colony in the world. It produced 40% of the world’s sugar and half of its coffee. Given the enormous inequalities and its rampant exploitation set in motion a spiral of violence for more than a decade. Surrounded by confusion, brutality, and massacres the power gravitated to the slaves. Haitian Slaves revolted against the French control and successfully became free. Free and independent citizens.

9. In what sense were the "Arab Spring" and "Occupy" movements echoes of the Atlantic Revolutions?

The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010.The protests have shared techniques of mostly civil resistance in sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies, as well as the effective use of social media^[21][22] to organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and Internet censorship.^[23]

The Occupy movement is an international protest movement against social and economic inequality, its primary goal being to make the economic structure and power relations in society more favorable to the underclasses. Different local groups have different foci, but among the prime concerns is the claim that large corporations and the global financial system control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and is unstable.

What they share in common with the Atlantic Revolution:

- they also shared a set of common ideas

- grew out of the European Enlightenment

- notion that it is possible to engineer, and improve, political and social life

-the core political idea was “popular sovereignty”—that the authority

to govern comes from the people, not from God or tradition

-and ruled should last only as long as it served the people well]

-but in the long term, the revolution gave ammunition to groups without

political rights

10. How did the move from traditional forms of production to the "cash crop" system affect Africans under colonial rule?

p. 601

Colonial rule, created conditions that facilitated and increased cash-crop production to local farmers. Many colonies came to specialize in one or two cash-crops creating an unhealthy dependence, what traditional used to be an independent life style.

BLOG 7

BLOG # 7

Chapters 17, 18, & 20

Chapter 17 discussed the various revolutions during the 1700’s: the North American (1775-1787), the French (1789-1815), Haitian (1792-1804), and Spanish American Revolution (1810-1825). The most interesting of all the revolutions that were talked about during this chapter was the Haitian Revolution were the slaves revolted successfully. In this revolution took place in a French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue. Saint Domingue  was one of the world’s richest plantations that produced 40% of the world’s sugar and half of its coffee during that time. Here the population of slaves (500,000) outnumbered the rest of the population which were divided into ranks. Whites, poor whites, free people of “color”, and then on the bottom of the totem pole was the slaves. But here, “socially, the last had become first. In the only completely successful slave revolt in the world history, the lowest order of society –slaves- became equal, free, and independent citizens. Politically, they had thrown off the French colonial rule, becoming the second independent republic in the Americas and the first non-European state to emerge from Western colonialism” (Strayer pg. 509). This entire revolution is inspiring in so many different ways. The fact that in a world that never thought it would be possible to have slaves actually come out top succeeded. It is nice to see that in history the slaves came together in a common goal to attain a certain goal with all odds stacked against them. Once again this is AMAZING!!!

BLOG 6

BLOG # 6

Chapters: 14, 15 & 16

            This week we read chapter 14 on Empires and Encounters and, chapter 15 which was about Global Commerce, and chapter 16 which was on Religion and Science. Although all three chapters where full of interesting information, the one that interested me the most was chapter 14.  Talking about maritime expansion voyages that took place in the early 16^th century. The story that is taught in every history class is the voyage and conquered territory of the US by Christopher Columbus. When people say that Christopher Columbus discovered the new world I always want to tell people that statement is not really true. Although Europeans conquered this land, in all reality they invaded what was already the home of Native Americans. Going even further into the chapter it leads into the section on the Great Dying. Although this event is a combination of many factors the main idea to get from this is that through the invasion of the US by Europeans, we spread diseases to the Native Americans that caused their population to dramatically decrease. “Long isolation from the Afro Eurasian world and the lack of most domesticated animals meant the absence of acquired immunities to Old World diseases, such as smallpox, measles, typhus, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever” (Strayer pg. 407). Reading about this chapter made me reminisce on the childhood movie that a loved as a child, Pocahontas. Watching that movie makes it seem like Europeans coming to America was always good, along with plays during the times of Thanksgiving when they show the pilgrims and Indians coming together peacefully at a table to have a feast. Reading this chapter portrayed the complete opposite. As a child they do not tell you of all the brutality and suffering that the Native Americans had to endure.  It is sad that entire tribes have died out and that land that was once theirs is still conquered by those who invaded it. Even the Native Americans who managed to survive and develop the necessary immunities needed for the spread of diseases, life still was not easy. They were forced to adapt to European ways of life and convert to religions such as Christianity. Even today there are few numbers of distant generations of those that once roamed the US territory before it was discovered and conquered by Christopher Columbus and other voyagers in search of a new world.

BLOG 5

BLOG # 5

CHAPTERS: 11, 12, 13

               This week’s readings were chapter 11, 12 & 13. These chapters focused on the Worlds of Islam, the Mongols and other nomadic people, and the Worlds of the 15^th century. Islam seemed to be the hot topic of this week’s readings and topics discussed in class. Here I learned that Islam is one of the largest religions so I found it very interesting how it all started and how it was spread worldwide. Unfortunately with the terrorist events that took place on 9/11 the Muslim people and the Islamic religion get a bad reputation. Although there are some groups that are extremists that believe in terrorist acts to get their point across, there are many other people out there who believe in Islamic traditions that were started from the beginning that do not deal at all with any forms of terrorism. Other stipulations that follow are the negative restrictions that are believed to be against women. Although we see some women not being able to show their faces, dress a certain way, and have certain roles in society, it has not always been this way. In the beginning, there were rules that protected the women of Islamic culture and in a sense put them higher up in society and their roles.

In this blog I am going to primarily focus on Chapter 11 since this was the one chapter I found to be the most interesting and relevant to things going on in today’s world.

The religion of Islam was started by a man named Mohammad who believed that he was the prophet of God. Like Christianity, the Islamic religion is also monotheistic (believing in one god). The god that was praised in Islam was Allah. Muhammad delivered the messages of the Quran (which is the Islamic religions scriptures; like Christianity has the Bible) in its most sacred traditional language which was Arabic. As he claimed to be the messenger of the Quran, Mohammad started to gain many followers. As a merchant he traveled all over to gain more followers that would believe in his teachings. In the Islamic tradition there are five requirements for those who believe in this faith which are called the 5 Pillars. Throughout Mohammad’s life, he gained many followers but nobody ever discussed what would happen after his death. There was great controversy on who should take over as the messenger of Allah. Some felt that it should be someone who was related to him while others thought that one of his religious advisors would be the best person to take on this task. The best idea that Islam portrayed, that should also be taken on by everyone in the world is to not look at the world and what best helps yourself; but rather what helps society and the community as a whole.

Chapter 12 focused on the nomadic people which primarily focused on the Mongols. The Mongols strategically moved around according to season but did not have a place that they could necessarily call their own. Even though they moved around from place to place they had the structure and communication skills to stay in contact and come together to protect their own. With their military, they were able to conquer Persian and Russian civilizations along with many others. The Mongols adopted religious ideas, military strategies, and the structure of prospering societies, and turned them into one. Taking bits and pieces of things that worked in other civilizations helped spread other ideas practiced by various civilizations where ever the Mongols traveled.

PRE-INTERVIEW

BLOG # 4

(SORRY ABOUT THE LATE POST…I WROTE ALL OF THIS ON A PAPER AND FORGOT TO PUT THIS AS A PART OF MY BLOG)

Before Interview:

Before this assignment the only things that I’ve really learned about gay marriage were the things that I see on TV. I see all of the issues that deal with PROP 8 and have relatives and friends that are in homosexual relationships; but I have never really looked into the legality of everything and asked questions as to what it was like to be in a homosexual relationship and the struggles that they have to face. Before the interview I am going to look up more about PROP 8 and what the ruling behind that is.

Before the interview I am going to look up via internet and through text books about the different kinds of struggles that one may go through. By doing this interview face-to-face I hope to learn enough to put myself in their position and understand what it is like. I can only learn so much through a text book, but when someone tells you their personal experience it makes the situation much more real and easier to understand.

I will conduct my interview with a man named Jonathan who is a friend of my best friend’s mom. I will conduct the interview at the hospital where he works. For this interview I will print out my interview questions and write down important things he says and take notes about the entire interview. I will ask some of the following questions:

1.      How long have you and your partner been together?

2.      Had you guys ever thought about marriage?

3.      Are you married?/ If so…How long?

4.      Where did you grow up?...Where do you live now?

5.      What age did you “come out”?

6.      What was your family’s reaction?

7.      What were your friend’s reactions?

8.      What are the public’s reactions? Both positive/negative

9.      What do you feel about the term marriage?

10.   When do you think people will change their opinions on gay marriage?

Reflection #3

This week we read three chapters from Robert Strayer’s book the Ways of the World. Chapter 8: Commerce and Culture discussed the importance of trade. Chapter 9: China and the World, which talked about China’s relations/impacts with other countries. Chapter 10: Worlds of European Christendom which discussed how Christianity spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world during the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The Chapter that fascinated me the most was chapter eight which talked about how trading goods was all started. Although today technology has impacted the way we produce, import and export goods, the idea behind it is the same as it was back then.  Different areas all generate different products that are needed in other regions such as China with their production of silk, Southeast Asia and their spices, and Sahara for their salt. During this time they did not necessarily always sell their goods for money, in some cases they traded one good in exchange for another.  For example West Africans needed salt so they turned to Sahara for their salt and in return gave them the gold of their region.  It was interesting that as trade became more popular, people started specializing in a particular product that they knew would be in demand.  Trade caused consumers to become less self-sufficient and heavily rely on those who produced the goods that they needed. The biggest thing that came out of trade to me was the idea that certain items would now symbolize wealth and status. For example silk had become a highly desired commodity that symbolized a person’s wealth/status.

As I continued reading, chapter 9 caught my attention when they contrasted women during the Tang dynasty to the women in the Han dynasty.  Images during the Han dynasty depicted images of female submission and passivity where as in the Tang dynasty they described paintings and statues depicting women having been a part of a social life and given more freedom than they had in classical times. The quote by Sima Guang, “The boy leads the girl, the girl follows the boy; the duty of the husbands to be resolute and wives to be docile begins with this,” really stood out to me. The whole idea that man was dominant and women were just basically along for the ride was really apparent during this time period. It made me thing how lucky that today we as women have so much more freedom than women had in the classical times. I can’t even imagine what someone from the classical era would say if they knew how we lived today.

After reading the assigned chapters I still cannot believe how easy this book is to understand. I am so used to taking a history class and trying to decipher what the author is trying to say but this is not the case. I feel that I am able to truly grasp the ideas and am gaining a lot of insight on things that I have not learned before. I look forward to next week’s readings.

Chapter 6 Study Guide/ Group Questions

Chapter 6 Study Guide:

Eurasian Social Hierarchies (500 B.C.E-500 C.E.)

• In India a 26yr old Hindu woman from Goa puts a personal add in the newspaper/internet in order to seek a partner. (puts name, age, education level, employment, drinks/smokes, but most importantly what her cast is)
• This woman listed herself as a “scheduled cast” known as Chambar/ “untouchables” = lowest category of the hierarchy of India’s ranked society.
• These personal adds shows how India still refers to the cast system and how deeply entrenched/enduring ancient patterns of social life can be.

Most Recent 250 Years

• Social structures which were once thought to be a natural/permanent way of life have now been put to question. Although many caste/class/patriarchy/slavery has disappeared in most countries,
• in places like Eurasia they still exist (in political frameworks of states/empires) define between rich/poor, powerful/powerless, slaves/free people, men/women
• French/Russian/Chinese Revolution challenged/ destroyed ancient monarchies and class hierarchies
• Abolitionists in 19^th century attacked slavery
• Women’s movement  confronted patriarchal assumptions of the relationship between man and women
• India’s struggle for independence in the 20^th century (Gandhi) to raise status of “untouchables” to Harijan (“children of God”)

Society and the State in Classical China

• Shaped by actions of the state.
• It was apparent that there was political power and social prestige of Chinese state officials. For over 2,000 years, the bureaucrats/officials acted in the name of the emperor in both capitals and provinces.
• They were more loyal to the central state rather than their families/regions
• Confucius believed select based on merit/personal morality rather than by birth/wealth
• Han dynasty had authority in China (200B.C.E and required each province to send a man of promise to the capital where they could be evaluated based on their performance

An Elite of Officials

• 124 B.C.E, Emperor Wu Di established an imperial academy where officials were trained (with an emphasis on Confucian teachings) By the Han dynasty there were over 30,000 men that were enrolled. Mostly filled with wealthier men, some were from the lower class but had been sponsored to pay for their education.
• Those who made it into the bureaucracy entered a realm of high privilege and prestige.

The Landlord Class

• In China, wealth=land
• By the Qin dynasty unified China by 210 B.C.E, most of the land was owned by peasant farmers. The pressure of pop. Growth and taxes made it so that they would go into debt. The only way that they could get out of this debt was to sell their land. As wealthy landlords took over, they were able to acquire enough land to avoid paying taxes which decreased states revenues and made it so the peasants had to pay more taxes with money they didn’t have. Also they were able to get their own military forces to challenge the authority of the emperor.
• Wang Mang (believed in a Confucian good government) he ordered private estates to divide up and be nationalized and divided up among those who didn’t have land, government loans to peasant families, limits on how much land a person can own, and end to private slavery. This was opposed by wealthy landowners/invasions/poor harvests and led to Mang’s assassination in 23 C.E.

Peasants

• Throughout China’s history most of its population has been peasants. (Households of 4-5 people, representing 2-3 generations) some had land or sold things in the Markey but for many it was a hard struggle. Most would end up having to sell their land to large landowners and work as tenants of sharecroppers.
• Such hardships created periods of rebellion.  Groups came together to form what was know as the Yellow Turban Rebellion (got its name from the yellow scarves they wore around their heads) 360,00 armed followers looked forward to the “Great Peace” which would be a golden age of complete equality and social harmony and common ownership of property. But was suppressed by the Han dynasty but had weakened it so much that a few years later were able to overthrow the Han dynasty.

Merchants

• Peasants were oppressed/exploited but were also honored/celebrated in ideology of the state for being the solid productive backbone of the country.
• Merchants were viewed as unproductive and as those who made money off of others hard work. Social threat because their way of live impoverished others and deprived revenue from the state.
• Many of them became wealthy enough to buy land or educating their sons and sending them to civil service examinations
• Many had back door relationships with state officials/landlords

Class and Caste in India

• Like China, birth determined social status for most people. These inequalities were seen as natural, eternal, and ordained by the Gods.
• Indian society truly embodies what we call the caste system (casta=race/purity of blood)

Caste as Varna

• Formed by the god Purusha and was seen as eternal/changeless.

• Some say the cast system evolved from and encounter between light-skinned Aryan invaders and darker-hued native people and others say that it came from the interaction of many culturally different people along with different inequalities. Race was not as important in the caste system.
• Hierarchical system:
• Brahmins/priests: whose rituals/sacrifices could ensure proper functioning of the world (now Tribal medicine men/ sorcerers are in this class)
• Ksatriya: warriors/rulers who protected and governed society
• Vaisya: Commoners who cultivated the land (now evolved into a business class with a prominent place for merchants)
• Sudras: native peoples that have been incorporated into Aryan society.  Were regarded as servants and were not allowed to take part in Aryan rituals. (now became the domain of peasant farmers)
• (Below Sudras evolved the “untouchables”: who did work that was considered unclean/polluting.

The 3 top classes were seen as pure Aryans and were called the “twice born” (they experienced both physical birth and a formal initiation into their respected varnas and status as people of Aryan decent.

Chart page: 162

Caste as Jati

• Another set of social distinctions arose from specific occupations. These occupational groups (jatis) blended with the varna system to create classical India’s unique caste-based society.
• Emerged from Hindu notions of rebirth as a reflection of the good or bad deeds of a previous life (karma).

Slavery in the Classical Era: The Case of the Roman Empire

• Some say the domestication of animals provided us the model for enslaving people
• War, patriarchy, and the notion of private property all lead to the growth of slavery

Slavery and Civilization

• Slavery generally meant ownership by a master, the possibility of being sold, work with no pay, “outsider”, and bottom of the social hierarchy. For most it was looked as a “social death” no rights/independence

Chart page: 166

The Case of Rome

• Greek attitude towards slaves= it wasn’t good to be a slave, but it was good to own one
• Many slaves were prisoners of war
• Slaves were regarded as “barbarians”- lazy, unreliable, immoral, prone to thieving

Resistance and Rebellion

• Most did what they had to do in order to survive but some went against  enslavement by committing mass suicide, or resorted to weapons of the weak= small scale theft, sabotage, pretending illness, working poorly, placing curses on their masters, fleeing
• Catching slaves became and organized business
• Famous uprising of slaves occurred in 73 B.C.E when a slave gladiator named Spartacus led 70 other slaves for a school for gladiators in a desperate bid for freedom

Comparing Patriarchies of the Classical Era

• Men= superior over women, sons preferred over daughters
• Men could have more than one wife and regulated the social/sexual lives of wives/daughters/sisters
• Men had legal property rights
• Restrictions on women were more prominent in the classical era than the pastoral/agricultural societies

A Changing Patriarchy: The Case of China

• Han dynasty
• Yang, masculine related to heaven/ strength/ rationality/ light
• Yin l, lower feminine principle, earth subjects/ weakness/emotion/ darkness
• 2 notions…(1)”men go out, women stay in” (2)” three obidenences”-husban,father,son
• Male officials blamed the fall of the dynasty on “unnatural/disruptive” influence of women in public affairs
• Daoism provided new images of the feminine and new roles for women (dao=mother)

Contrasting Patriarchies in Athens & Sparta

• Fluctuated over time, varied place to place
• Women had to be represented by a guardian in legal matters, not referred to by name
• Women= man who was infertile
• Women’s roles were domestic affairs/ raise sons
• Aspasia & Pericles
• Sparta =more restrictive against homosexuality
• Sparta=patriarchy

Reflections: Arguing with Solomon and the Buddha

• Buddhist teachings: “impermanence”-everything changes; nothing remains without change

OUR GROUPS QUESTIONS:

Danielle, Noel, Sheila, & Chris

1) What is the difference between India's and China's social systems? (chapter6)

2) Why were the Chinese successful where as the Romans failed to unify their empires during the classical era? (chapter4)

3) Give at least 5 reasons behind the collapse of the Chinese and Roman empires.(chapter4)

4) What were the functions of the caste system in China and India?(chapter6)

5) What caused the collapse of the Mayan civilization?(chapter7)

6) Legalist, Confucian, and Daoist all had answers to China's search for order. Elaborate on one.(chapter5)

WORLD HISTORY REFLECTION #1

                                                            Week 1 Reflection 

When I signed up for this class I really did not know what to expect. I was relieved to find out that although we are going to be learning a lot of information in a short period of time, I am not going to have to memorize every date there is. I love history, but it has always been hard for me to recall specific dates. I have taken four history classes in junior college and enjoyed each one of them. I am really looking forward to learning more about the 5 different major eras of Homo-sapiens that we briefly discussed in last weeks lecture.

Chapter 1 focused on how Homo sapiens populated the planet.  I found it fascinating that Homo sapiens all started out in Africa and from there migrated throughout Europe, Australia, the Americas, and the Pacific.  It was hard for me to picture the world as it was in the past. The book talked about how there was pieces of land (countries) that had once been connected and that different parts were frozen over by ice so people were able to migrate to different parts of the world. Seeing the world as it is today separated by massive bodies of water, I do not see how people made it without the technology we have today. It was interesting how man kind has been able to adapt and survive in a variety of environments. 95 percent of the time that we have inhabited this planet, we have survived by gathering wild foods, scavenging, hunting, and fishing. As we had discussed in class and reiterated by the book, our ancestors were known as “gathering and hunting,” peoples not “hunters and gatherers.”  

Chapter 2 goes into a discussion of the first farmers and the revolution of agriculture. This period was when we shifted from “gathering and hunting” to domesticating aspects of nature for the benefit of human kind. Instead of hunting, we tamed and started selectively breeding sheep, cows, and chickens to be better than the ones that they would have caught in the wild. This entire chapter was so interesting to see how over time many things have changed. Today we now use chemicals to alter our food so it lasts longer and machinery to replace people that would have been working in the fields. To see all this change it makes me think, what is going to happen next?

Chapter 3 was about the first civilizations of cities, states, and unequal societies. It discusses the hierarchies of class from upper class, commoners, and at the bottom slaves. Gender roles also came into play during this time. Women took on more motherly roles such as raising children, cleaning, spinning/weaving, and making pots. Men tended to take on the role of being the provider. The part that stood out to me the most in this chapter was the section on writing and accounting. To see the various symbols that were used to stand for animals (that were shown in the  chart on page 71) compared to what we use now is completely different. Both written and oral communication has changed over time and it is hard to believe that even with the many different languages that are spoken all over the world today, we are still able to communicate and have the ability to learn different languages.

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