World History

Question 10 Answer Oliver's question 9 I think your post is quite accurate. Whether the octopus image represents greed or the simple fact that Britain was a colossal Empire is in the mind of the beholder. It is certainly true that in the modern world the issue of incredibly rich corporations and individuals have become bigger issues today. Seemingly, Nations states are more and more doing the bidding of elites. It seems that the common people have loyalty to the nation state while the wealth have loyalty only to their wealth. Interestingly, Matt Taibbi wrote a book on the 2008 financial collapse called Griftopia. In it he described Goldman Sachs as a giant blood sucking octopus just like the image of Britain.

World History Week 7 1)What was The Great Dying? Cite examples and details from the historical record in your response. Could this be considered a genocide? Why/ why not? The Great Dying was the massive death of Native inhabitants of the Americas after contact with Europeans. It was due to the fact that the Natives had had no exposure to the Old World infectious diseases such as small pox, measles, and others. Up to 90% of Native population died in South America, Mesoamerica, North America and the Caribbean. Genocide is define as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, so this mass death due to disease cannot be considerate genocide. 2) What did native Siberians and Native Americans have in common in terms of their experiences with Europeans during the early Modern period? Native Siberians had some experiences in common with Native Americans in the consequences of their contact with Europeans. They experienced lethal diseases and depletion of many of the animals ...

Page 678 Q 1 Why did Christianity take hold in some places more than in others? Chapter 15 Page 678 Q 1 Why did Christianity take hold in some places more than in others? Christianity did very well in those countries that it conquered. The people of these countries were defeated people. They faced lethal diseases, forced labor missionary activity, and general social disruption. Some people in these countries voluntarily adopted Christianity because as a result of their defeat they felt the Christian God was superior to their Gods. On the other hand, china was a strong undefeated country with an ancient culture. China was a large country completely outside of the control of European nations. Conversion would have to be by persuasion and not by force. The population was very large and had several religions and school of thought with a long written tradition.  Eventually Christians missionaries were banned by an emperor due to the suspicion of subversion.  Similarly th...

Chapter14 Q 3   page 633 What lasting legacies of early modern globalization are evident in the twenty-first century? Pay particular attention to the legacies of the slave trade. Early modern globalization had a lot in common with our current global economy. Much productive activity was geared to export rather than local consumption. There were large private companies like the British East Indian Company operated globally. There was an international currency in silver and gold while now the international currency is the US dollar. One last thing legacy of Early Modern Globalization is racism. Three of the Major products of the American colonies were sugar, tobacco, and cotton. Due to the scarcity of population and the labor intensity of this industries, slaves were brought from Africa in large numbers.   They came to be looked upon as inferior or even subhuman. We have yet to completely free ourselves from this attitude as is evident from the current ongoing demonstrat...

Chapter 13 The experience of empire for conquered peoples was broadly similar whoever their rules were. Does the material in this chapter support or challenge this idea?       Page 589 The material in this chapter challenges this idea. The European conquest in the Americas had a much different and horrific effect on the conquered peoples than the Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman Empires. In the Americas the indigenous peoples died off in large numbers due to war, Europeans infectious diseases that they had no immunity to, and the arduous labor they were forced to endure. They were viewed as inferior, and especially in the Spanish colonies their traditional cultures and religions were usually suppressed.   In contrast in the other three empires, religious differences were generally tolerated. The conquered peoples were not viewed with the disdain that greeted the Native Americans. The conquered peoples of the 3 empires even utilized the conquered peopl...

For The Mongols (1)     Ability to mobilize people and resources (2)     Centralized bureaucracy   (3)     Encouraged commerce (4)     Religious freedom (5)     Use of conquered people in government Against   The  Mongols (1)        Mass murder of groups that resisted. (2)          Use of slavery for conquered people (3)          Heavy taxes in Persia and Iraq (4)          Destruction of agricultural lands and infrastructure in Persia and Iraq (5)         In Russia destruction of skilled craft work by deportation of skilled craftsman Photo Reference: https://www.ancient.eu/image/11455/mongol-warriors-in-battle/

Christendom refers to those parts of the world, where Christianity was the dominant religion or even the state religion. At one point in time this included the Roman Empire, the Middle East and parts of North and Northeastern Africa. As the Western Roman Empire collapsed Christendom was centered in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire known as Byzantium. As Islam became a religion, Islamic conquest spread to the Middle East, North Africa, and even to Sicily, and Spain. In the Middle East and North Africa the Christian religion retreated as many people converted to Islam. In Europe, as the invasions of the Northern European Barbarians abated, and many of them converted to Christianity, including the Franks, Germanic Tribes, and ultimately Russia, a period of relative peace developed and cultural and economic development could proceed. Christianity became predominantly a European Religion. As opposed to the Chinese and Islamic civilizations, Europe politically was not a unified Empire...

Extra Credit: Breathing George Floyd’s last words were “I can’t breathe.” The Declaration of Independence guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet almost three weeks ago an agent of the state took away George Floyd’s right to life, without which liberty and happiness cannot be pursued.   The initial police report merely said that in the course of his arrest Mr. Floyd had a medical emergency, was transported to the ER, and died there. If not for cell phones we would never have known the truth. It raises the issue of how often people, especially black people, have been murdered by the police before we had cell phones. The first amendment guarantees “The right of people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Yet we see the police violently breaking up peaceful demonstrations, armed with weapons, including assault rifles. The fourth amendment guarantees us “ against unreasonable searchers and seizures.”   ...

In fact moveable type printing was first used in China around 1045 and was not adopted in the West for 400 years. The paper used by the printing presses was first used in China around the second century B.C.E.(Strayer, page 347) Further more Realism and Chinese art were thousands of years old. While China was a giant unified country whose culture spread throughout much of Asia, Europe was backward and divided into many small states that were constantly in conflict with each other. According to Strayer page 346 “Then movable type was reinvented by  Johannes Gutenberg in the fifteenth century,….. With implications for mass literacy , bureaucracy, scholarship, the spread of religion, and the exchange of information, papermaking and printing were Chinese innovations of revolutionary  and global dimensions.”  Photo Reference: https://lithub.com/so-gutenberg-didnt-actually-invent-the-printing-press/

I challenge you Daisy. I take the position that the first half of the second millennium AD was a period rebirth in China as significant as the Renaissance in Europe. According to Strayer the Song dynasty (960 to 1279 ) was a golden age of Art and Literature.   Photo Reference: https://www.utc.edu/asia-program/modules/songdynasty.php

Chapter 7 I found it interesting to read about the difference between the silk roads and the sea roads. Because of the long distances and the high cost of travel the silk roads mainly were involved in luxury goods. While men were mainly involved in the trade, women were the producers. Women were also mainly the consumers. On the other hand, because ships could carry larger cargos, the sea road products were destined for mass market. Instead of carrying silk, ships carried textiles, spices , timber, rice, sugar and wheat.   The sea roads also led to a greater mixing of different cultures. The sea roads connected Eurasia to Africa and the Middle East. At many important ports on these sea roads people from many different cultures lived side by side with the indigenous peoples of that area. I never realized before that the ethnic integration we associate with the United States was actually ongoing many centuries ago. Strayer Page 285, 292

Chapter 8 I was disappointed to read   about the change of women’s position in Chinese society between the Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty. In the Tang dynasty elite Chinese women had more ability to participate in social life than before. This was partly under the influence of steppe nomads, whose women had relative freedom. However in the song dynasty, patriarchy reasserted control over women. Its essence was the foot binding of elite women. This caused painful fractures and deformities (Staryer 331) . I feel revolted on reading about how Chinese women were mistreated, especially the painful and deforming practices of foot binding. I was thinking about the physical abuse , and emotional abuse those women needed to carry for their whole lives.   My heart is with those women who suffered so much from this practiced do to the cultural view that small feet were more feminine and beautiful. Also I will mention something that   is spinn...

I believe now is a time to challenge and attempt to make change. A black person being killed by the police or authority figures is nothing new in this country.   The brutality of slavery and lynching of black men   and women is part of our history. While lynching and police brutality have aroused passions and political action in the past, there has never been a reaction like what we have seen   the past week and a half. Why have there been ten days of nationwide daily demonstrations all across the   United States and even throughout the world? Certainly, a lot of it has to do with the video of George Floyd being slowly murdered over the course of 8 minutes   46 seconds while he repeatedly begged for his life.   This combined with the callous expression on the face of policeman Chauvin, the impassive expression on the face of policeman Thao, and the failure of the other 2 policemen to intervene. I think the COVID-19   pandemic is a...