Blog Number 8# Chapters 22 and 23 Chapter 22 once again to me this chapter deals with uncertainty and conflict. The one good thing to me is that the major powers in the world have somewhat settled down and gone to their respective corners. What this chapter tells me is that throughout the world there will always be conflict; however there has been the avoidance of World Wars which is pretty much a positive to take away from the negative. Its like the law of where there is an action there is an equal reaction when governments try to control to much of the people rights the people will push back. Also if the governments do not assist its people the people will respond. There will always be a battle for independence and prosperity. To me it seems as though were we are having our most problems Africa, India, and South America are still considered living in the third world where governments are still in their infant stages and revolutions of sorts still need to occur. Chapter 23 is an time where I hope that we are becoming more of a humanistic and accepting society that has learned from our mistakes. We are not only beginning to look to helping our humankind but as well we are looking to help with the natural resources such as the animals, land and water. With that said I hope that we are no longer a society that looks at just the here and now but also take into consideration the future generations. We now seem to be living in a society that we want to leave the world in a better place than we found it in.

Blog Number 7# Chapters 20 and 21 Chapter 20 was an interesting one, as we progress closer to modern time it seems we’ve become more and more violent. It was interesting to see how much the Treaty of Versatile had an effect on things throughout the world. We had the great depression throughout the world, the US was just one of the last to get out of it thanks in part to FDR’s New Deal. It was also interesting to see how societies were moving towards a socialized government assisted focus. It was also interesting to see how the Second World War really more or less started because of the treaty of versatile with Germany and the beginning of Hitler. With Japan it was interesting to see just how British and Westernized they wanted to be. Its funny because it seems that Japan is still trying to Westernize and Americanize themselves today. Chapter 21 was all about revolution with the Russian and Cuban revolution as well with the strong existence of communism throughout Europe and China. To me this was an expected timeline of events. With the continuance of war throughout the world, borders were beginning to be firmly established and defended. There were no more land grabs, no more territory skirmishes, these were leading to all-out war and possible cultural extermination. Thus cultures were looking to establish and have well-grounded cultural defending governments in place to help keep them and their beliefs safe. The problem now is that with technology today people living within these communist and socialist countries are either being deprived of their rights or realizing they are being deprived of their rights.

Blog Number 6# Chapters 16, 17 and 18 Chapter 16 was refreshing to read in that it was for sure a time of change but, the change came from the people looking for something better. I like to see how as the world evolved so did the people meaning that the people became more educated and demanded better conditions for their livelihood. This showed that the indigenous people wanted to maintain their own way of life and their own cultures. This is demonstrated through the American, French and Haitian revolutions. This also helped in the abolition of slavery throughout the world, or at least the movement in that direction. As well this assisted in the beginning stages of the feminist movement in the Americas and Europe. This also seemed to mark the time in Europe where militaries were beginning to act on behalf of their own nations. Chapter 17 was to the most important stage of world history, the industrial revolution helped pave the way for where we are today and without it we would have been in the dark ages for who knows how long. With the rising population it was imperative from a resource perspective that the world need to adjust and be one step ahead of the game which is where science and technology came to the fore front. One thing that I was not aware of was how much the railroads played such an integral part of the industrial revolution within Great Britain, I guess I never really thought about it but with the size of Britain it makes sense. It is also interesting to see during this time how many Europeans began to spread throughout the world. Once again I found it very interesting to see how different these industrial revolutions were from one region to another but how they were all occurring at the same time such as the Russian, European, Latin and Central Americas. It was also interesting to see how much production was coming from the US and Europe and how little was coming from the rest of the world. Chapter 18 is when Europe began to race for supremacy in Africa and Asia with the French British and Germans leading the way. To me this is when true racism began with the stereotypes of the Chinese and African people. I was amazed to see how much of Africa and the south pacific had been colonized by the Europeans, it was one big land grab with the indigenous people not know what hit them. This is also when it was the big businesses taking advantage of the people by enslaving them through cheap labor. It is also interesting to see this global migration from the major population centers to less populated areas. This led to people looking to become more racially segregated and with similar people. This colonial era is one that I personally can do without, it just seemed like a time of snootery and elitism.

Blog Number 5# Chapters 13, 14 and 15 Chapter 13 was a chapter that just made me laugh in that the European view on things during that time was so elitist and self-promoting. They just seemed like they knew everything and were always right and never wrong even when it was obvious that they were. This was shown in everything the Europeans touched in the Americas. I found it hard to believe the number of Native Americans that died from European diseases, and also how delicate civilizations were during this time to such things. I found it interesting to see the parallel emergence of the big powers Russia and China. Chapter 14 was a very disappointing read in that it marked the beginning of the real slave trade throughout the world. It also showed the Portuguese to be nothing but a bunch of pirates, while the Spaniards looked like they just wanted to colonize anywhere they could get to. It seemed to me that because the Portuguese didn’t have much trade to offer they went heavily into the slave trade and created a market. Chapter 15 was nice to see some stabilization from the humanistic globalization of Christianity. Although Christianity had its obvious downfalls the basic humanistic fundamentals were entrenched throughout the world. I also liked how science started and was seen as more of Cultural Revolution. I just can’t imagine now being in a time where science was looked at as witchcraft, even when the answers are irrefutable. The early stages of the enlightenment would have been a very scary time to be living in especially if you were looking to prove science.

Blog Number 4# Chapters 9, 11 and 12 Chapter 9 was a chapter that helped me better understand what is going on in the Middle East today. The birth of Islam played an integral role in establishing the Middle East and Africa as we knew it then and today. During this time the desert in the Middle East and Africa was in a state of change and uncertainty, with Islam being the one stabilizing factor in these areas. I also found it very refreshing to see that Islam at the time was a very tolerant religion which helped in the stabilization with the people in the area. I also find it very depressing that they are a religion that has not grown with the times and placed more value on the humanistic beliefs. I also found it refreshing to see how the Islamic religion brought upon more of an open network of exchange for goods and technologies. Chapter 11 was a very interesting chapter in that the Mongols were a bunch of bad asses who dominated the world for a short but brutal time. They were basically the initiators of psychological warfare by sending bodies riddled with the plague to the enemies by catapults. I also found it interesting that they were able to conquer the largest area of land ever known to man without really adding anything from a humanistic rule. They were however a very resourceful group that more or less started the global exchange by taking the best of all cultures and not only improving upon them but also spreading these new improvements globally. Chapter 12 was a cool chapter because it showed me how and why both China and India are who they are today. They really wanted to Isolate themselves during that timeframe and seem to want to do the same today. The only thing I think China has going for it is that Buddhism is still fighting to stay relevant within China’s communist rule. While with India I find that even though the government has renounced the Caste system it is still very relevant today. Both of these actions show how China and India want to be left alone to practice what they want. It was also cool to see the emergence of the Americas and the global population increase.

World History Homework Chapters 3, 4, 5 & 6 What I enjoyed from chapter three was the evolution of all of these new civilizations and, how these evolutions were occurring simultaneously and autonomously. This was very cool to think about and see how similar yet how different these civilizations are, specifically the Persian and Greek empires that due to proximity of each other traded and feuded with each other constantly while growing their civilizations in completely different ways and beliefs. I liked the fact that even with the most impressive army and navy the Persians were not able to defeat the Greeks. I also found it interesting that with the death of Alexander that the Greece was broken up into three different civilizations, Egypt, Mesopotamia and India. This also led to the beginnings of the Chinese and the Roman empires. These two empires were very similar in their reigns and area of control but very different in their daily lives. Of these two empires I am most impressed with the Chinese. They were very forward thinking in many areas, such as, iron weaponry, rapid agricultural prosperity, and the creation of weights and measures, currency and a formation of a legal system. They also like the Roman Empire were not overly welcomed throughout the land and blood was inevitably shed. In China it is the shedding of this blood that inevitably ended up toppling the Qin dynasty with the Han dynasty quick to replace and consolidate the imperial state. The Roman Empire and Han dynasty were ultimately doomed by the same factors they grew too big too fast and alienated and harshly discriminated against the poor and underprivileged. Another civilization that started in and around this time was India and the Mauryan Empire. This empire did not last long as once again the rulers led with blood shed. This empire did lead to the establishment of the Caste system which was in place for a number of years and also brought Buddhist and Hindu beliefs to the table. During this time China was going through many forms of spiritual and governmental changes. Some of these influencing philosophies included; Confucianism and Daoism which was a more genteel and kind form of spiritual and religious beliefs. While these forms of religion were a more thoughtful there were also many gender and economic inequalities. This also brought upon the legalists the Vedas and the Brahmans who were more focused on ancient Sanskrit writings and beliefs that were closely related to caste systems. This in turn drew more and more people to religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism to find some spirituality and safety. Once again I like how with the beginning of new civilizations occurring simultaneously in complete autonomy so was this formation of religious and spiritual belief. In the Middle East Judaism and Zoroastrianism were beginning during the time of Buddhism and Hinduism were evolving in China and India. I had never heard of Zoroastrian philosophy but it seems as though they were one of the original monotheistic beliefs in a peaceful manner, which I found very interesting. I also found it interesting that there was also this reversion to the ancient Greek tradition such as the arts and Greek rationalism. I liked how the author compared the two religions Buddhism and Christianity as well as the two Jesus and Gautama. I like how the author takes more of a female perspective in regards to Patriarchy as most history takes more of a male perspective; I found this to be refreshing and new. I particularly like how he compares the patriarchy in China and Athens and Sparta. I found it interesting about how the Chinese worked the Yin and the Yang into their philosophy saying that gender and their roles were already written in the stars. In China and Athens a woman’s role was very defined and limited as to what they could do and what rights they had, compared to Sparta where women were for the most part considered equal to men in every facet. One of the graphs I found most interesting was the breakdown of population per continent and how it changed over time. I was also surprised that Christianity had made it so far down south in Africa in both the Meroe and Axum civilizations. I once again was very impressed with the speed at which these civilizations were progressing all on their own with no real assistance from other civilizations. Examples of these are the Andes civilizations the Charvin and the Moche. It is also easy to see how America has been influenced by both Afro-Eurasia from the north and the Hispanic culture from the south.

World History Homework Intro Chapter 1 & 2 Before taking this class I was a little nervous because it had been so long since my last history class. After reading the first few chapters of Ways of the World I’m feeling more at ease. I think the reason for this feeling is because I have found more of an appreciation for history and in this day and age I am more interested specifically in world history. Some interesting things that I found within the text that I think help me understand and follow dates and times are the numerous maps and timelines that show progression and movement. The first thing that pops out to me is the short time that homo sapiens have been around in comparison to the start of life on earth. I also like the reasoning behind the authors starting with this text as that of the beginning of reflection of life and death. I also like the way the text shows the migration of humans throughout the world over the last 100,000 years. Having seen the map it was very obvious to see why humans chose the route that they did. Having said that I also can see how climate also changed the way in which civilizations changed and adapted through new tools and the addition of agriculture. It is also interesting how these new Paleolithic societies had a very equal relationship between men and women and, women actually provided for around 70% of the food as gatherers while men provided for 30% through hunting. Another item that made sense to me as the gods would change based on the moon or the months. Through the natural global warming you can also see the changing Paleolithic society becoming more settled through climate and land boundaries. This settling is also shown in the fact that buildings were being built larger and more elaborate. The change into the Neolithic age is shown through the change in migration and reinforced through the beginning of the agricultural revolution, new tools such as domestication of animals, grain storage and weaponry. What I found most interesting was the fact that this new age was occurring simultaneously throughout the world. While this was happening the hunter gatherers were going by the wayside. This change also brought about the first civilizations which naturally were located in Africa the Middle East and even China, surprisingly Peru also had one of the earliest civilizations. During this time pottery, writings, carvings and accounting were introduced. These new settled civilizations also began building walls surrounding homes, workshops and temples. There was also established hierarchy of leadership which was evolving. These leaders were based on religious ranks as well as economic rank depending upon the society. The population sizes of these civilizations were also starting to increase and as such class equality started to decrease. This inequality included gender bias, job, literacy and class bias. Also, each civilization had completely different agricultural resources, writings and social status and beliefs. One way in which this is demonstrated is shown through religious and marital beliefs.