Blog 2

Erica Garcia

Blog #2

            For this second blog, there was a lot of material that was covered in the reading.  In the four chapters that I read it covered the Eurasian Empires, Eurasian Cultural Traditions, Eurasian Social Hierarchies and Classical Era Variations.  Though there was a lot of material in these sections I plan to talk about what I found to be the most interesting in each topic.

            In the first part of the reading I learned a lot about the different empires that were established between 500 B.C.E to 500 C.E.  In the reading it states “Empires have been a source of metaphors and lessons about personal morality, corruption, political life, military expansion and much more”(97). This chapter started off by asking, if we, the United States are the new Roman Empire? Many commentators saw a comparison, with the Roman Empire being corrupt and dictatorial at home then soon following its collapse, they see the similar thing happening to the American empire. Besides the comparison between the United States and the Roman Empire, what really interested me was the collapse of the empires. Many of the Empires got to big, which lead to many draw backs, such as it becoming to expensive to provide resources, huge estates enabled them to avoid paying taxes, free peasants were turned into farmers, and a reduced central government.  Another huge factor was widespread disease.  Diseases lead to decrease in the population, which lead to “demographic disaster that meant diminished production, less revenue for the state, and fewer men available for the defense of the empire’s long frontiers”(117).  To China and the Roman Europe, the collapse of the empires meant a decrease on urban life, a diminishing population, a decrease on international trade, pretty much they saw it as civilization was “unraveling”. In order to prevent this comparison from actually happening the book states “ Americans must face up to their responsibilities as “ the undisputed master of the world “ as the Romans did in their time” (97).

            Continuing along to the next chapter, Eurasian Cultural Traditions, I read a lot of interesting things. Reading about their culture, religious patterns, cultural traditions lead me to the comparison of Jesus and the Buddha. This caught my attention because I am currently taking a Religion class and we are discussing many different religions. Both religions are very influential.  Even though Christianity and Buddhism are two different religions their teachers are actually very similar. Even though the Buddha was born to luxury and Jesus was born to a lower class family, both claimed to have personally experienced a different level or reality. Both were considered to be “wisdom teachers” that challenged the predictable values during their time.  This urged “the renunciation of wealth, and emphasizing the supreme importance of love or compassion as the basis for a moral life” (146). Though they both had different teachings they both had the same meaning to their teachings, which was personal transformation.  This was very important during many changes that were going on in this era.  It gave people hope and something to believe in.

            In the third chapter, Eurasian Social Hierarchies, what stood out to me was slavery in the classical era. I found it interesting that women were the first slaves, they were usually raped and then enslaved as for men they were captive then killed.  Slavery meant “ ownership by a master, the possibility of being sold, working without pay, and the status of an “outsider” at the bottom of the social hierarchy” (165).  But being a slave was considered to be social death. Slaves did not have rights; they did not have a personal identity that was recognized in any society. A form of slavery was practiced in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas.  In Rome, the making of a slave society was not hard to come upon because of the way they viewed slavery.  They looked at slavery as “it was a terrible thing to become a slave, but a good thing to own a slave”(167). Slaves were not limited to only the upper class; the lower class had slaves as well.  They were used to do domestic work and used in a sexual way.  Even if their owners set the slaves free it was hard for them to live in their society.  Slaves that were free did not become citizens nor were they able to gain political power.  Their status was considered to be in between slavery and freedom. Being treated as a slave, being tortured and not being treated as a human lead the slaves to rebel.  In 73 B.C.E, there was a slaved gladiator named Spartacus.  Spartacus led 70 slaves in order to bid for freedom.  This led many other slaves to join this revolt, which lead them to crucify many slave owners.  They did this mainly because they wanted to escape Roman slavery.  They did not have an over plan or goal besides to escape and get revenge. Unfortunately this revolt did not affect the slave system.  This is unfortunate, but at least they tried.  I would not know what I would do if I was in their shoes.

            Lastly the Classical Era Variations, which brought interest in the Maya Civilization. Between 250 and 900 C.E the Maya people were known for their cultural achievements. During this time, the Maya people were known to be merchants, nobles, priests, architects and sculptors.  It was said that the priest developed the mathematical system that we use today.  They developed 0 and place notation along with complex calculations. They Maya people were very talented that they even used their mathematical formulas in order to “plot the cycles of the planets, to predict eclipse of the sun and the moon, to construct elaborate calendars and to calculate accurately the length of the solar year” (194).  If it were not for these incredible creators where would we be today? What kind of system would we use? I really enjoyed reading about the Maya people and how they were able to create a mathematical system that we still use today.

            I believe that I have learned a lot in these four chapters.  I am able to understand and appreciate what our ancestors started for us.  We are able to learn from their mistakes and hope we can take the positive and apply it to our society.

Blog 1

Erica Garcia

World History

Summer 2013

May 16, 2013

Reading Journal #1

In the book Ways of the World, it starts off by focusing on the evolutionary line of descent leading to Homo sapiens.  It is said that our primate relatives first started as far back as 6 million years ago in Africa. Our early ancestors are known to have migrated to Eurasia, Australia, the Americas and later to the islands of the pacific. Before migrating and creating history, our early ancestors were known as “gathering and hunting” people.  They were known for gathering berries, nuts, roots, and grain.  They were known to be amazing hunters, gathering live animals and also for their fishing skills.   They were people that did not rely on what the earth produced but rather they took what nature offered them. Theses people were known as “Paleolithic” people.  They were labeled as Paleolithic people because they had tools made from stone rather than metal.   According to the history book, many historians associate what they consider to be real history, with writing, or something that would document that real significance happened.   Many believed that if there were no change then there was no history.  Even though there are no signs of documentation, the Paleolithic people did leave many remains that lead many to discover our early human history.  They left such things as bones, fossilized seeds, engravings, and rock paintings. Even though the Paleolithic people are known for gathering skills, they deserve our attention for their great achievements.  The Paleolithic people are the ones that created the initial settlement of the planet, the beginning of the early questions regarding life and death and the earliest human societies.

            In the first 150,000-year or so the early humans used Africa as its early foundation of civilization.  In Africa they discovered new environments such as deserts and forests.  In discovering this knew environment it lead to technological innovations.  They invented stone blades, tools that were made from bones and grindstones. These new discoveries helped them with gathering food, which marked a new phase in human food collection.

            With new developments, it leads to early humans desire to expand.  From Africa, many migrated to Eurasia, Australia, the Americas, and much later to the islands of the pacific. During this migration many encountered the difficult climate conditions from the last ice age.  Because of all the massive amount of frozen water, it allowed them to create land bridges among the regions but then later was destroyed once the glaciers melted.

            During the migration to other lands it lead to new discoveries in the regions where the early humans settled.  For insistence in Eurasia, they discovered new hunting tools; cave paintings, weaving, pottery, and thicker clothing.  In Australia, which dated around 60,000 years ago, was the first use of boats.  It was also where a new outlook of the world came in to place called dreamtime.  Dreamtime was known to be the beginning, whether it was ancestral beginnings, the creation of nature, discoveries of new land or how they relate to each other and the animals.  Moving to the Americas, they were known for what they hunted, such as very large mammals and bison.  The early humans that settled in the early Americas were known as Clovis people.  The Clovis people were known to gather food near different types of body of water (lakes, seas, river, etc.) But about 10,900 years ago they became extinct just like the large animals they hunted.  Experts are still not clear why this happen but do say it did lead up to a new way of living for the new settlers. Many years later, in the Pacific islands where development of societies (chiefdoms) and the realization that much of the species there would become extinct.  It was very hard to maintain animal life in such a new environment with limited resources.

            Going into the second chapter of this book, it began with the Agricultural Revolution.   The Agricultural Revolution was based on the new development of gathering and hunting food.  With this change brought many more soon after, such as, cities, states, growing populations, animal diseases, civilization, and writing and much more.  This then lead to domestication, which was the changing in nature in order to benefit mankind.  This meant that plants and animals that before were able to survive on their own resources were now dependent humans in order to survive. Another term that came from this revolution was intensification.  Intensification simply meant getting more for less.  It meant that with more food and demands meant that more people were required to misuse their environment.  To summarize the Agricultural Revolution that unfolded through out different places was based on what was available locally to them, and like the author said it also was sheer luck.

            With a lot of migration going on and the development of new establishments brought many drawbacks.  There was exposure to animal borne disease.  Having such diseases killed people because there were no immunities.  They also encountered a lot of changeling obstacles to maintain their food supply.  The Agricultural Revolution led to an increase of the human population as well.  This revolution had transformed both the route of the human expedition and the evolution of life on the planet.  This Agriculture Revolution made it possible for humans to continue to grow as a society and for humans to learn to operate plants and animals for their own purposes.

            Following the development of the Agricultural Revolution, it introduced The Emergence of Civilization.  The earliest indication of civilization was around 3500 B.C.E. to 3000 B.C.E. in three places.  One was in Middle Eastern Civilization, Sumerian civilization and rise of Egyptian civilization; these were the first among many.  Civilization was able to start because of their roots from the agricultural revolution.  The people were able to apply agricultural technology to support large populations.  They were also able to establish because of chiefdoms.  The first civilizations were base on highly productive agriculture economies. They were able to use different form s of irrigation, terracing, drainage and flood control which allowed them to have a good handle on the production of their food.

            The emergence of civilization also brought occupational specialization, such as wealth, status and power. The first civilization established a hierarchy that was used in different regions.  With this new hierarchy, it brought a class system in to place.  The Upper Class, was able to enjoy the finer things such as getting out of doing physical labor, and was able to have top positions such as political, military and religious positions.  This was considered to be their surplus production, which was used through many different things such as taxes, required labor and payment for tribute.   All theses things helped support the upper class.  But of course with Upper Class there must be a lower class.   Dating back 2000 B.C.E. the code of Hammurabi mentions how accepted it was to have slaves. The lower class was based around the idea of slaves.  Men and women were divided into different type of labor. Females were used in industrial weaving, while men were used to maintain irrigation canals and to construct ziggurats. Others were used to be servants in households.  The first Civilization slaves were prisoners of war or crimes and then were sold as workers and on occasion for sacrifice.

            The first Civilization was not just about hierarchy and a class system, but it also emerged forms of writing.  Literacy was defined as top status and was given a lot of respect for such knowledge.   The establishment of civilization gave us art, reflections on the meaning of life, useful technology and the control of nature.

            In conclusion to my understanding of the reading, I’m able to take away a new understanding on how early humans were able to establish such a phenomenal system that would carry on to the world we live in today. If it weren’t for the early curiosity of our ancestors we would not be here today.  They were able to use the resources that were available to them, in order to create civilization.  You can say there was a lot of trial and error; there was a lot of stuff that they had to figure out in order to stay alive.  Not only for themselves but the future of the human race.  This reading has given me a new understanding for the early humans in away that I was able to understand the value of the early humans.

Journal Entry 1

Erica Garcia

World History

Summer 2013

May 16, 2013

Reading Journal #1

In the book Ways of the World, it starts off by focusing on the evolutionary line of descent leading to Homo sapiens.  It is said that our primate relatives first started as far back as 6 million years ago in Africa. Our early ancestors are known to have migrated to Eurasia, Australia, the Americas and later to the islands of the pacific. Before migrating and creating history, our early ancestors were known as “gathering and hunting” people.  They were known for gathering berries, nuts, roots, and grain.  They were known to be amazing hunters, gathering live animals and also for their fishing skills.   They were people that did not rely on what the earth produced but rather they took what nature offered them. Theses people were known as “Paleolithic” people.  They were labeled as Paleolithic people because they had tools made from stone rather than metal.   According to the history book, many historians associate what they consider to be real history, with writing, or something that would document that real significance happened.   Many believed that if there were no change then there was no history.  Even though there are no signs of documentation, the Paleolithic people did leave many remains that lead many to discover our early human history.  They left such things as bones, fossilized seeds, engravings, and rock paintings. Even though the Paleolithic people are known for gathering skills, they deserve our attention for their great achievements.  The Paleolithic people are the ones that created the initial settlement of the planet, the beginning of the early questions regarding life and death and the earliest human societies.

            In the first 150,000-year or so the early humans used Africa as its early foundation of civilization.  In Africa they discovered new environments such as deserts and forests.  In discovering this knew environment it lead to technological innovations.  They invented stone blades, tools that were made from bones and grindstones. These new discoveries helped them with gathering food, which marked a new phase in human food collection.

            With new developments, it leads to early humans desire to expand.  From Africa, many migrated to Eurasia, Australia, the Americas, and much later to the islands of the pacific. During this migration many encountered the difficult climate conditions from the last ice age.  Because of all the massive amount of frozen water, it allowed them to create land bridges among the regions but then later was destroyed once the glaciers melted.

            During the migration to other lands it lead to new discoveries in the regions where the early humans settled.  For insistence in Eurasia, they discovered new hunting tools; cave paintings, weaving, pottery, and thicker clothing.  In Australia, which dated around 60,000 years ago, was the first use of boats.  It was also where a new outlook of the world came in to place called dreamtime.  Dreamtime was known to be the beginning, whether it was ancestral beginnings, the creation of nature, discoveries of new land or how they relate to each other and the animals.  Moving to the Americas, they were known for what they hunted, such as very large mammals and bison.  The early humans that settled in the early Americas were known as Clovis people.  The Clovis people were known to gather food near different types of body of water (lakes, seas, river, etc.) But about 10,900 years ago they became extinct just like the large animals they hunted.  Experts are still not clear why this happen but do say it did lead up to a new way of living for the new settlers. Many years later, in the Pacific islands where development of societies (chiefdoms) and the realization that much of the species there would become extinct.  It was very hard to maintain animal life in such a new environment with limited resources.

            Going into the second chapter of this book, it began with the Agricultural Revolution.   The Agricultural Revolution was based on the new development of gathering and hunting food.  With this change brought many more soon after, such as, cities, states, growing populations, animal diseases, civilization, and writing and much more.  This then lead to domestication, which was the changing in nature in order to benefit mankind.  This meant that plants and animals that before were able to survive on their own resources were now dependent humans in order to survive. Another term that came from this revolution was intensification.  Intensification simply meant getting more for less.  It meant that with more food and demands meant that more people were required to misuse their environment.  To summarize the Agricultural Revolution that unfolded through out different places was based on what was available locally to them, and like the author said it also was sheer luck.

            With a lot of migration going on and the development of new establishments brought many drawbacks.  There was exposure to animal borne disease.  Having such diseases killed people because there were no immunities.  They also encountered a lot of changeling obstacles to maintain their food supply.  The Agricultural Revolution led to an increase of the human population as well.  This revolution had transformed both the route of the human expedition and the evolution of life on the planet.  This Agriculture Revolution made it possible for humans to continue to grow as a society and for humans to learn to operate plants and animals for their own purposes.

            Following the development of the Agricultural Revolution, it introduced The Emergence of Civilization.  The earliest indication of civilization was around 3500 B.C.E. to 3000 B.C.E. in three places.  One was in Middle Eastern Civilization, Sumerian civilization and rise of Egyptian civilization; these were the first among many.  Civilization was able to start because of their roots from the agricultural revolution.  The people were able to apply agricultural technology to support large populations.  They were also able to establish because of chiefdoms.  The first civilizations were base on highly productive agriculture economies. They were able to use different form s of irrigation, terracing, drainage and flood control which allowed them to have a good handle on the production of their food.

            The emergence of civilization also brought occupational specialization, such as wealth, status and power. The first civilization established a hierarchy that was used in different regions.  With this new hierarchy, it brought a class system in to place.  The Upper Class, was able to enjoy the finer things such as getting out of doing physical labor, and was able to have top positions such as political, military and religious positions.  This was considered to be their surplus production, which was used through many different things such as taxes, required labor and payment for tribute.   All theses things helped support the upper class.  But of course with Upper Class there must be a lower class.   Dating back 2000 B.C.E. the code of Hammurabi mentions how accepted it was to have slaves. The lower class was based around the idea of slaves.  Men and women were divided into different type of labor. Females were used in industrial weaving, while men were used to maintain irrigation canals and to construct ziggurats. Others were used to be servants in households.  The first Civilization slaves were prisoners of war or crimes and then were sold as workers and on occasion for sacrifice.

            The first Civilization was not just about hierarchy and a class system, but it also emerged forms of writing.  Literacy was defined as top status and was given a lot of respect for such knowledge.   The establishment of civilization gave us art, reflections on the meaning of life, useful technology and the control of nature.

            In conclusion to my understanding of the reading, I’m able to take away a new understanding on how early humans were able to establish such a phenomenal system that would carry on to the world we live in today. If it weren’t for the early curiosity of our ancestors we would not be here today.  They were able to use the resources that were available to them, in order to create civilization.  You can say there was a lot of trial and error; there was a lot of stuff that they had to figure out in order to stay alive.  Not only for themselves but the future of the human race.  This reading has given me a new understanding for the early humans in away that I was able to understand the value of the early humans. 

Im done!

Yay-I'm done!