WW Part 5

In early modern European colonies being significant. The Mugal Empire pulled together Hindus and Muslims, Qing dynasty in China doubled in size, and the Ottom Empire re-established older political unity in the Islamic heartland.  Also, early modern empires entered a new stage of globalization; European Empires in the Americas, Spaniards in the Aztec and Inca empires, etc. Europeans controlled most the the Americas, which was dude to their geography which positioned them well for the Americas. However, rivalries within the Americas provided allies for European invaders, leading to the demographic collapse of Native American societies. Pre-Columbian Western Hemisphere had a population of around 60-80 million, but the Europeans brought European and African diseases and killed off about 90 percent among Native American populations; as well as, population drops in Mexico.

Europeans did not just conquer and govern established societies, instead they created whole new societies. All were built on the theory that governments should encourage exports and accumulate gold and silver to serve their countries, as colonies should provide closed markets for the mother country’s manufactured goods.  However, colonies differed depending on the cultures and economy that was already established. Later on, plantations started to boom in North American and the use of African slavery became a main source of labor. and so North America gradually started becoming more dominant in the world.
                      
Around 1500, a small Russian state centered on Moscow began to emerge. Over three centuries Russia began to grew into a massive empire. Moscow started to conquer neighboring cities, and early expansion into the grasslands to the south and east was for security against nomads. Russia's conquest was made possible by modern weapons and organization. With imperial expansion, Russians became a smaller proportion of the overall population, rich agricultural lands, furs, and minerals helped make Russia a great power by the eighteenth century.

By 1526 Mughals had united much of India, however, the Mughal Empire's most important divide was religious. According to the book, 20 percent of the population was Muslim, but most of the rest were Hundu. The Emperor Akbar accommodated the Hindu majority buy assimilating many Hindus into the political-military elite, imposing a policy of toleration, and abolishing payment of jizya. However, Emperor Aurangzeb’s policies provoked Hindu reaction and created opposition movements fatally weakened the Mughal Empire after 1707        

Interview

1. What do I want to know about the History of the event, era, situation or injustice? With regards to my interviewee I would like to hear racism, prejudice and segregation from his point of view.

2. What can I find out before meeting for the interview? I know what city and when his was born so I could do research on the current events of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s to get a better understanding of the questions I could ask that he would best qualify to answer.

3. What resources will you consult before meeting with the person? I will use the internet for the bulk of my resources to conduct research.

4. What can you find out by only experiencing the person's face to face presence? How the events and situations of injustice impacted his life and the choices he made.

5. Where, when and with whom will your interview be conducted? It will be conducted tomorrow June 26th with a 84 year old gay black man at a coffee shop in the south bay.

6. I will record this interview with my Phone. 

7. What special challenges do I foresee? I am not sure how open he is about the questions I am going to ask him. I am not sure there are any significant challenges, I will just have to wait and see.

Some Questions I am going to ask:

What significant events occurred that directly impacted himself or his family during his childhood.
When know he was homosexual and when did he come out to friends and family.
What forms of prejudice, racism and/or segregation did he face.
Background of his family.

WW Part 4

The rate of growth and longevity of Islam fascinates me.  It is one of fastest growing religions and as the book points out, encompasses 22 percent of the world’s population.  

The initial concept of Islam is stimulating depending on it’s interrupted.  For example, the Arabian Peninsula, where Islam was founded, consisted mainly of nomadic tribes that were constantly warring with each other.  Life seemed chaotic, but they did halt fighting to worship gods, ancestors, and spirits in the years before Islam.  In my opinion what I always found the most interesting about Islam is what the prophet Muhammad was told in his first revelation.  He was told to “read,” and that lead the religion into something powerful because the nomadic people did not read or write, and as Islam began to take hold of this region of the world, it really opened up a lot of potential which eventually lead to the Ottoman Empire, among other things.  However, after Muhammad’s death it did led to divisions in the religion due to the arguments breaking out on which Caliph (Successors of Muhammad), would continue on the legacy.  Creating ultimately two separate components of Islam: Sunni and Shia.   

Although, Islam today is considered extreme towards women, up until the last 250+ years, Islam seemed to be more liberal in a loosely based sense.  Even as the world continued to war, break down, and build up, Islam grew and remained strong because it really grabs the attention of people, in an essence Islam is a good book of morals and guidelines if you want to approach it from a non-religious stand point.

 

I remember learning about Chinggis Khan growing up, but I had no clue he had brands of beer, rock bands, and even a chocolate bar named after him.  It made me laugh a little about the candy bar. It just goes to show the power of persuasion can have on a group of people. However, even though the Mongol’s once controlled lands from the Pacific coast of Asia to Eastern Europe, they left no cultural imprint on the world. They numbered about 700,000 people and were fearsome, but unlike the Arab world and Islam, they offered no new civilization or religion. The Mongols never tried to spread their own faith among subject peoples.  Matter of fact, the most impressive thing the Mongols accomplished was probably the discipline and loyalty of their army to its leaders.  This paved the way and ensured steady momentum for the Empire to expand as rapidly as it did.  Not to mention, the strategic decision making by the Empire’s leaders in dispersing its conquered subjects into different regiments. Maybe Chinggis Khan’s policy was a major factor as well, “whoever submits shall be spared, but those who resist, they shall be destroyed with their wives, children and dependents…so that the others who hear and see should fear and not at the same.”

The way Strayer breaks down how the world was shaped after the voyages in 1492 is inspiring, but when he concludes with, “But none of these developments were even remotely foreseeable in 1492,” it seemed obnoxious.   It seemed that Strayer was making a point in chapter thirteen that many cultures choose to avoid becoming assimilated into the growing civilizations and empires in the fifteen.  Groups of people that were still gather-hunter societies were happy with their way of life.   As for the Aztecs I found it crazy the tribute they collected from its people.  Their level of sacrificing human life in the name of the Gods was fascinating but I had heard stories of it since elementary school. Lastly, the Inca Empire shared a similar “rages to riches” story, growing from a modest group of people, in which they encompassed more than the Aztecs.  They required its conquered people to not so pay in tribute, but rather to pay in labor. 

WW Part 3

I sometimes enjoy Strayer’s writing technique.  For example, I liked how Strayer compared the early twenty-first century plans to expand roads further for trade and economic growth just as the Silk Road network across Eurasia did.  This shows an obvious correlation and emphasizes that global trade has been important for centuries and is nothing new.  The inventions of roads across Eurasia created the possibility of different groups and people to trade their valuables and delicacies on a much grander scale than ever done before.  These trades, which usually consisted of jewels, silks, cloth, and other valuables that were not offered in their specific area, allowed the mainly the rich to access these items a lot more easily.  However, it also enabled the wealthy and powerful to gain more wealth helping large cities to keep up with the stresses of its people.  However, this did bring about widespread disease as new foreign people and animals were introduced to new regions.

I have believed for many years now that China is the dominating country in this world.  Many American’s still believe that America is the strongest superpower in the world, yet neglect to see or are ignorant to that fact that China even controls a big portion of our economy.  With that being said, China has been a superpower since the third-wave of civilizations.  As Strayer points out in the book, all of China’s neighboring states, virtually had no choice by to work with or do trade because of the gravitational pull China’s booming economy had on that region of the globe.  However, it was telling to see that China also absorbed outside influence in its endeavors as well.  Meaning Buddhism mainly, but also Christianity and Islam, taking root in China as the economy started to attract many new visitors.  The interesting thing about China is the fact that they have been able to sustain themselves over the centuries, even with the rise and fall of many dynasties.  This probably occurred due to a stronger cultural and societal unity than other countries that have risen and collapsed, but also due to China maintaining a relatively strong economy even at its weak points.

As mentioned before various religions started to spread into China, but also, Christianity was taking giant leaps all over Europe due to the Roman Empire.  As Strayer mentions in the book, “from Spain and England in the west to Russia in the east – had embraced in some form the teachings of the Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter called Jesus.  Which still makes me laugh at the fact that Strayer’ purposefully chooses to make Jesus “ungodly,” although attempting to be objective unbiased to world history, probably still gets backlash.  To continue, when the collapse of the Roman Empire occurred it left much of that world vulnerable to different religions through conquests.  The rapid Arab/Islamic expansion was causing grief to the Byzantine state, but with that being said the state still remained a major force in the eastern Mediterranean.  To jump forward a bit, as intellectual life started to flourish in Europe after year 1000, universities were being created and reason was being introduced into teachings, which created tensions with religious teachings.  Reason was introduced to Islamic states as well, but natural philosophy and Islam did not mix as well as it had with western culture.

WW Part 2

I had never really looked at the civilization process in waves.  Strayer does a good job of demonstrating the three waves, and yet giving existence to the still roaming gathering/hunting communities in just a few words.  Further, as the book points out, “Many fluctuations, repetitive cycles, and minor changes characterize this long era of agricultural civilizations, but no fundamental or revolutionary transformations of social or economic life took place.”  I find that statement interesting because civilizations were constantly warring, new rulers emerged often, and there were small advances in agriculture, but the idea of any real transformation was a fallacy.  As I continue to read Chapter four, I am enjoying what Strayer has done.  He has shown the waves from a wide view, but as he zooms in he shows that much has occurred in these waves, just not to a significant level when you look at the big picture.  Many advances in technologies were spread, the rise of cultural and religious traditions were circulating, and societies were starting to really intermingle. 

I always thought the United States compared a little to the Roman Empire.  The multicultural society, constantly draining and stretching ourselves economically and globally, to act as the superpower and maintain “peace” throughout the world, but really to just seize and hold control as “the undisputed master of the world,” as Strayer explains.  It was interesting to read about the Persian King, being treated a God, allowing the Jews to return home to build their temple.  That right there tells me, even when a man believed himself to be the most powerful in the world, he understood the importance of needing support.  Also, it was fascinating to have two empires like the Persians and the Greeks to rule around the same time.  Both very different in ruling styles, yet co-existing, but not without clashes.  I was dumbfounded to learn that at the beginning of the Romans, they “were reduced to kidnapping neighboring women in order to reproduce.”  It seems absurd to think the Romans, who had grown so powerful and vast, had to steal women to grow as a population.  It is kind of interesting to view the ideologies that were created throughout time.  Manly the Chinese dynasties that came and went, but could still hold up even in times of disorder and chaos, due to an ideology like Confucianism.

I would have liked to know a little more about Legalism.  It seemed to have to have only lasted a short while, but this being the first I have ever heard of it I found myself interested.  I do not know too much about Daoism, but if I read it right, Laozi penned a short poetic volume, the Daodejing, and then vanished?  Seems a little weird to me, was he a real person, or did someone just use his claims to obtain marching orders?  I understand that chapter 5 is just going into more detail on the religious importance in Asia, but it seemed that Strayer had already touched a bit on most of the text in the previous chapter, so I felt it was a little repetitive.  To shift a little, I like that Strayer makes a point of demonstrating some if not many of the ideologies of these times are still revered, studied, and in some ways still practiced today.  I laughed when I read about Jesus, “began a brief three-year career of teaching and miracle-working before he got in trouble with local authorities and was executed.”  A person viewed by many as the son of God, being explained as simply getting in trouble and then executed seems too human and I bet many people despise Strayer for his choice in explaining history.  However in Strayer’s reflections on Religion and Historians, I think he explains it well, “religion has always been a sensitive subject…Which is not accessible to historians or other scholars, who depend on evidence available in this world.  This situation has generated various tensions or misunderstandings between historians and religious practitioners.”

Although much has been created in the name of God(s), The Caste System is the most interesting to me.  Simply enough it appears to have been created to separate the rich from the poor, the free men from the slaves, the rulers and warriors from the peasants.  It even took it a step further by creating the untouchables, which really treated people as less then dogs, matter of fact, the Sudra were probably treated more like a dog and the untouchables were beneath the Sudra on the list.  The vast inequalities are astonishing to me, and the fact that it lasted so long and even exists today adds further amazement. 

With regards to all the reading, the belief that human existence started in the African Continent had eluded me temporarily, and then in reading chapter seven it was interesting to see that the population of Africa in the Classical Era was so low in comparison to Eurasia.  Further, I do find it interesting how many different types of languages or dialects are in one region of Africa.  I always assumed the development of a sophisticated mathematical system that included the concept of zero having been created in the Middle East area.  I was surprised to learn it was done so in the Maya civilization.  As I write my reflections of the chapters I am reading, I constantly wonder why Strayer covered something more than another, assuming he found a topic necessary to be covered in many pages and less important to be touched on but not expanded upon.  Then, in his reflections on deciding what’s important, he explains his choice and reasoning.  Basically, I find Strayer to do an excellent job in being objective and attempting to cover all aspects.  Yet, I still find Strayer to be repetitive and annoying at times.

Chapters 1-3 Reflection

First I would like to say, when I think of history, although I have learned about homo sapiens and the other types of humanoids throughout history I do not quite look that far back.  Therefore, this course I imagine will be very fascinating because I get to learn and discuss the events of World History, not thousands of years ago but millions.

I know that world has been connected and considered a "super-continent" called Pangaea, in fact scientist believe this has happened more than once.  However, why Africa?  Is it crazy to believe that maybe small controlled groups were more spread out than just one area? If the planet does in fact keep recreating its continent, I would speculate that its possible but no proof to make my case.

The phase of human history intrigues me.  It is interesting how in the span of things, the Paleolithic era represents 95% of the time human beings have inhabited the earth.  We went from the "old stone age" to flying airplanes, putting things in space, and the list goes on.  The last 100 years is quiet astonishing when you compare it to the last 100,000 or 500,000 years.  Chapter one surely agrees, but instead pointing out the food-producing revolution, calling it the "most significant and enduring transformation of the human condition, providing the foundation for virtually everything that followed."  I suppose it was significant because as the book points out, as well as, the discussion in class; once we started producing food and domesticating animals we had surplus and therefore need workers, storage, and someone to over see it all.  It really sprung from there creating structures and civilizations, eventually leadership and government roles arose.

Not to go off on a rant, but I like the scholarly reference, "the original affluent society."  Wanting or needing so little, just enough to support your people is a modest and virtual unheard statement today.  For the most part, everyone is pretty greedy when you think about it.

When I think about the Realm of the Spirit, I ponder if humans lives were controlled by their God(s).  Did they believe in a sense of free will in regards to spirituality?  Did they have the power to decide whether they wanted to pray to the God(s) of their people or tribes?  Obviously, as long as word has been written, religion has been a popular topic of choice, but with little information about spirituality as far back as Paleolithic culture, it is fun to speculate.

I had never really put much thought to the expansion of humans throughout the planet.  It makes sense when you think about agriculture, creating surplus, thus increasing populations.  It is also interesting to see how much agriculture separated humans.  Before the boom in agriculture, everyone was relatively equal, and after wealth and power dominated much of the world.  What I do not quiet understand is how societies went from being virtually equal, to having "chiefs" who relied on the generosity or gift giving of their people, to complete power houses who demanded obedience.

The erosion of equality is what most interested me about world history.  With specializations, gains in agriculture, rises of "birth right" Kings, and other reason everyday humans equality seemed to grow further apart.  Its a sad reality the inequalities the majority of people faced.  I suppose even today we share a majority of inequalities with the rich and powerful, it is just masked and in hundreds of years when they look back on our era, they might imply our struggle for equality.  Just then as people wanted or believed they needed Kings, Priests, or some type of leader; we too believe that governments and leaders are essential to our way of life.  It would be nice to revert to a simpler way of life, without so much need and want for more power, wealth, materials.

Overall it was interesting reading about the "First Peoples," their migrations out of Africa and eventually spreading throughout the planet, the birth of agriculture and from that really creating, for the first time, huge gains in human existence.  Which eventually lead to negative aspects of humans and the inequalities that some if not most still face today.

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