Chapter 12

I learned that Gatherers and hunters changed over time, but there are no written records of this. Egalitarian kinship were highly sophisticated in regards to economics and the society. They did not use a political system, but rather they focused on kinship. I also learned that in order to wipe out the Mongol legacy, Yongle and others promoted Confucianism and an exam system. This was to construct a new China. In Europe, the continent was divided into many smaller states that were always in conflict. One example is the Hundred Years War between France and England. We then move on to the Ottoman Empire. It was related to China. This is because of the scale of power and age of both empires. In India, The Mughals brought a moment of political unity. They were very tolerant of non-muslims and prompted diversity through cultures. The last thing I learned was in the Americas. The Inca Empire were about 10 million people with its territory being 2500 miles long. One thing that fascinated me was how the Incas had gender parallelism. Unlike gender equality, gender parallelism focused on the roles of each gender. Every role that everyone had was valued no matter what sex one was.

Chapter 11

Pastoral societies Lived of of meat, milk, and blood. This is all because pastoralists were less productive than agriculturalists. There was a high level of gender equality.  The population was small, Therefore, the people in these societies were extremely social. Women also did the same tasks as men like raising the herd and riding. Pastoralists were always on the go. So they lived off of their animals and traded animal products for goods with the agriculturalists. Temujin built a powerful force by having alliances based on loyalty. He was generous to his friends and ruthless to his enemies. He obtained a reputation for destroying his enemies but rewarding those who are loyal to him. One small thing he did as well was taking in warriors who lost battles with him. In 1209, Temujin wanted more power but still keeping together the Mongol alliance. He went of to China and central Asia. He could not get to Europe and got checked on their power. The Mongols contributed security to the Silk Roads which increased trade in Central Asia. They also had an unprecedented level of International communications because of the communication between China and Persia. Every empire eventually dies, and that is what happened to the Mongol Empire. The Black Death was the Mongol Empire itself. They were like suicide bomber. The hurt others but also hurt themselves. This decreased the empire's wealth and increased rebellions.

Chapter 8

As Rome and the Han Dynasty were collapsing, China was "reunified" under the rule of the Sui. The dynasty was harsh and had warlike rhetoric. The Sui Dynasty did not last long because of this harsh rule. One thing that the Sui Dynasty achieved was the expansion of canals. After the Dynasty lost power, the Tang and Song Dynasty came into power. These dynasties created a system that lasted for over one thousand years. China's exam system was made so anyone can take it regardless of class. The wealthy had and advantage because they could pay for tutors and school. Schools grew in great numbers throughout China and the system became a success. Because of the investments into the canals, the transportation for rice and wheat became inexpensive. This caused an economic boom. This boom produced more food which meant more people. This growth in food production caused the Chinese population tho double. Elite women in the Tang Dynasty had many freedoms, while under the Song Dynasty they had to follow a more conservative practice. Under the Song Dynasty, men were supposed to be scholars and administrators, while women were weak and distracting.

Chapter 9

In this chapter of the textbook we learn about Islam. Islam originated in the cities and desserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Bedouins inhibited the central region of the Arabian Peninsula. Mecca was a very significant location because the Kaba and and people from all aorta of clans and tribes could be found. The amount of people in Mecca made it a wealthy location. Muhammad Ibn Adbullah was born in Mecca and seen as "the only God" in a religion sense. He had to move because the wealthy were getting annoyed with all the change that Muhammad wanted to create. Because of this he and his followers moved to Medina. Unlike other religious figures, Muhammad exiled, enslaved and killed his enemies. Non-Muslims became muslims to not be taxed. The Quran mentions how men and women are seem as equal but in marriages women were seen as inferior. The weird thing is that men were allowed to have multiple wives.

Chapter 10

Something that I found in the reading is that Nestorian Christians were found in the Middle East and China. People that followed the ways of this practice in Iraq and Persia, did not preach to Muslims to accommodate Islamic leaders. In China, these particular Christians adapted to Chinese culture, but was then diminished when the dynasty at the time moved to remove all foreign faiths. At the time, Western Europe was in an intense competition between political and religious authority. In the east, the Byzantine emperor was in charge of the church and state. The Roman Empire was falling apart due to it getting too big. Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire. When Christianity was being controlled by the Empire, some problems arose. One was told what to think by the government of the time. The Western Roman Empire was falling apart, while the eastern part was thriving for about one thousand years. The Roman Empire in the west "moved" to Constantinople. As the Roman Empire was fell, the Vatican became the unifying entity and a strong and influential force. The term "Christendom" became common because the religion became an empirical force.

Chapter 7

One thing that I learned about was the Silk Roads. I learned about the "inner" and "outer" Eurasia. China, The Middle East, and the Mediterranean, had urban centers, states, and empires that were known as "outer" Eurasia. Between these areas of particular land was considered "inner" Eurasia. One religion that was mentioned was Buddhism. Buddhism was on the spread along the Silk Roads. The Silk Road had some diseases that included smallpox and measles. There was also the Bubonic plague that occurred between 534 and 750 C.E. This plague could killed thousands of people in a single day. We then move to the West Africa. We see caravans of camels that carried gold and salt. Camels had a big influence on how products were transported. Men were satisfied with positions of "patriarchal" power, while women were involved in agricultural and crafting work. Lastly, wealthy western African cities made trade centers, and structures of culture, education and religion.

Chapter 6

Something that I learned from this chapter was about Agricultural revolutions and complex societies. The fact that new products  were emerging through agriculture made complex societies become possible. I also learned about Egypt and Nubia. The Nile river made connections with Egypt and Nubia last long. Both of these cultures were influential to one another. At one point Nubia conquered Egypt. I found fascinating how obelisks were as high one hundred feet and how the Romans recognized Axum as a powerful empire. I also found interesting how people with skills in crafting with iron were considered important. Then we moved on to the Maya. The Maya had a flourishing empire between 250 and 900 C.E. Staying in the region, I learned about Teotihuacan. I learned that this city had impressive and sophisticated architecture, and how it mysteriously collapsed in 650 C.E.

Culture and Religion/Eurasia and North Africa

 As one of the first civilizations, China believed in legalism. legalism is the concept of rules and laws through "a system of rewards and punishments." I find this interesting because to keep the people in order, they provided high rewards. To keep them from staying out of trouble, they provided heavy punishments if necessary. What I also found intriguing was the Confucian answer to restoring order. Confucius was from a aristocratic family. He suggested that strong moral people should teach people how to behave, and that goodness should be part of all relationships. The text mentions Siddhartha Gautama. We read a book ab out him senior year of high school. Basically he taught that to end suffering we have to get rid of desire.

Chapter 3

One thing in found interesting was that the Persian Empire was the largest empire in the world in 500 B.C.E. Their empire was essentially run by a monarchy. When the king dies the people have to shave their heads as a sign of mourning. Persians believed in a God known as Ahura Mazda. The Conquest reached from Egypt to India obtaining new languages, cultures, and states. Moving on to the Greeks. The population consisted of nearly 3 million people. Unlike the Persians, the Greeks had a society where the people had some political say on what goes around. We can see this today with totalitarian regimes and democratic countries.

First Civilizations

The term " civilization" was created due to the Agricultural Revolution. This is interesting because out of the Industrial Revolution we obtained more mass beneficiary products and out of the Agricultural Revolution we obtained a term. This term comes from the word cities which is important to this particular part of the chapter because in this section of history, societies started to see an increase in population. It's also fascinating because out of this particular revolution we obtained Pyramids, temples, palaces, sculptures, literature, complex calendars, gender hierarchies, and even slavery. All these concepts and structures are seen in today's modern society. We still see pyramids in Egypt, we see palaces in India, we see well written literature in England, we still these unfortunate gender hierarchies and we went through period when slavery was still used, especially here in America. What also caught my attention was the idea of states. In order to keep people calm and in order the concept of a state was created. Unlike most countries today, these states were ruled by a king. These "totalitarian:" regimes were common in this period of history. Although these societies were under totalitarian rule, there were still check and balances. These checks came from "the temple" and  the "private economy." Like today we live in habitative environments in order to survive.  The same concept applied back then. Civilizations lived by water to ensure they had foos to eat and water to drink.

"Neolithic"

The Neolithic era is where new plants were blooming and the meddling and breeding of certain animals. I find this interesting because we see these effects today. We see chickens and cows being farmed for the sole purpose of feeding us unhealthy food. The difference between wild and man raised  animals as that they produce more of what they can be used for. Cows produce more milk, sheep produce more wool, and chickens laid more eggs. We could possibly see this also with dogs. Just like we are similar  to apes, dogs are similar to wolves.  This process is known as domestication.  An issue with domestication is that humans, animals and plants alike get dependent in certain aspects. Plants and animals maintained by humans won't be able to survive like its wild counterpart. Humans are dependent of plants and animals to eat. We evolved from these ancestral creatures to what we are today. Furthermore, Global Warming was an asset in the past compared to today. Today global warming is seen as an eventual mankind killer. In the Agricultural Revolution global warming was useful for the creation of new plant specious and "resource-rich areas." Just as there were flourishing communities, animals and plants were also becoming extinct. These extinctions are the same as present time because this was a natural warming. Today were seeing the extinction of plants and animals, dryer land due to man made pollution. Who knew that  disaster today would be a beneficial factor back then. In the Neolithic Times there existed a concept known as chiefdom. This is basically a government structure to maintain order. Unlike today, leaders of these societies didn't punish people to sustain obedience, they used generosity to keep their followers happy. This Neolithic and agricultural time brought upon the idea of tampering with animals, plants and other humans as well. This era was the birth societies that implemented rules maintain order. 

"First Peoples"

I find it interesting that the human race was created about 250,000 years ago. Our undeveloped ancestors were born in the continent of Africa. From Africa these homo sapiens started to migrate to what we call today Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This migration occurred about 45,000 years ago. About 20,000 years ago, our homo sapien ancestors learned to hunt with spears and bow and arrows. Migration from Indonesia to Australia occurred about 60,000 years ago. Around this time is when the boat was starting to be used. In 1788, the Australian population was about 300,000 with the people speaking over 250 languages. Migration to the Americas occurred about an average of 20,000 years ago. The most recent migration was to the Pacific Ocean islands, which occurred about 3,500 years ago. These places include: the Pacific Basin and the Island of Madagascar. Paleolithic societies consisted of about 20 people. These Paleolithic individuals were freer from oppression and tyranny than people today. Paleolithic societies had leaders but not with any kind of power. People who were hunters had more leisure time than people in agricultural and industrial societies. Paleolithic societies   believed in a feminine superior not from this world. A natural global warming occurred in which plants and animals that couldn't live with the ice age could now flourish. This warming also increased the human population. People in Japan were the first to figure out pottery.