One of the most interesting facts that really brought up my attention during my reading was that in comparison to World War 1, World War 2 has more civilian casualties. This was a big fact for me because it demonstrates how significant the “hot war” was during that time and how many lives had to suffer for that. But on another note, I think it is important to note how bigger countries use support from smaller third world countries with military and economic aid. This made those smaller countries powerful with a defense and backup from a stronger country.

In these chapters it also brought to my attention how globalization affected many of Americans. It caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, while others became wealthy. This created a bigger gap in between classes. It made fewer people richer and poorer.

It was also interesting to read about the environmental movements in our country. First of all, we all know that there is global warming that is becoming an issue with us sustaining a renewable energy source. We have polluted our environment so heavily due to economic gain. I thought it was interesting how western environmentalist were more concerned about pollution and limiting growth, whereas environmentalist in developing countries were more concerned with food security and social justice. This made me realize how life in other countries is not as fair as it is here. There are many third world countries that are still fighting for their right to public assistance and social justice, freedom of speech. However, there are bigger issues that must also be discussed were everyone needs to be on the same page about saving our environment if we want to live on this planet for a long time.

World communism is on the most fascinating topics to me. Because there is so much depth as to what really is and what different countries fought for makes it that more interesting to me. First of all, I think that is very extreme how the Berlin Wall was built to segregate two part of the county. I remember watching a video in high school that showed how happy the people of Berlin were when the wall got knocked down. It signified such a change and diversity. On the most interesting topics to me when it comes to communism is how much influence some of these political leaders such as Fidel Castro had during the red scare. Fidel Castro is one of the most influential leaders of the communist revolutionary leader. Communism hits very close to home for me. During this time a lot of my family still resided in Central America and faced these ongoing battles of the cold war or what we call the red scare. Many of the soul factors of communism foundation fall sunder the distribution of goods equally to a society, which in many ways seems like it would only be fair. However, the fact that leaders behind this revolutionary movement felt that it was ok to take over by any means necessary really impacted much of the world. Because of this impact, the national security state was founded which created a lot of support to other countries to fight back against the communist revolutionaries. In my opinion, one of the laps of the communist movement was the lack of inequality when it comes to power and regime. Giving people equal access to goods but no allowing them make democratic is what caused these wars.

The most important piece of evidence that was presented in Chapter 17 was the rise of rights for Women. Since the Englishwoman Mary Wollstonecraft wrote one of the earliest books based on feminism, it is important to realize how finally, there was someone who was representing woman during this time. Since woman did not have many rights, this was the perfect opportunity to present these ideas to the world. Wellstone craft argues the emphasis for woman having access to proper education like men usually, no more of that natural standard. Later, when Elizabeth Stanton came on board, there was more support that leads towards a social movement. Not only was she an important figure in the suffrage movement, but she also created a new meaning to the saying that all men and woman are created equal.

What also stood out to me the most was the history behind the American Revolution. The important key points that I took away were the following: it marker a decisive political change, and it south to preserve the existing liberties of the country rather than create new ones. As in contrast, the French revolution started from scratch and recreated everything begging from social order. I also think that it is very interesting that during this time, new things were being changed such as street names, new calendar and administrative systems. It was also important to note that these two countries have influences a lot of the world today, as they are known to run pretty efficiently and in structure.

Because world trade has made a huge impact on the world, I think it is important to note the commerce and consequences it has caused.  For one, this is what created the Atlantic economy which consisted of sugar and slaves. One of the most important consequences of commerce is the lack of equality and the separation of classes. For example, when people were sold as slaves, they were degraded as being a part of a society. They were treated like objects and were not given its true value. This also made it unfair for those in the lower class who could not afford such means. The separation of classes really impacted who could afford what and what good people could trade.

If we notice the way that Mongols worked along missionaries, we can notice the pattern as to where the domains began. It’s important to see their accomplishments as they were mostly in Persia and eventually moved farther east. I thought that it was important that the Mongols always favored trade. Because they were nomads they recognized the importance of helping them prosper as a society. Another cool fact that I thought was interesting was the Confucian Chinese were not as favorable towards merchants and commerce. For example, they did not want to produce as many goods as others, but did participate in the trading. I thought it was so interesting how trade was one of the influences of building roads through cities to help promote trade. Many of these roads were later used to move civilizations that later conquered other. I know that trade is a good thing, but in many ways, it really separated its people into lower class status. Ryan Smithjjjf

Ryan Smithjjjf

Pastoral Peoples: What I found as the most important information of the pastoral peoples is that they would herd livestock around open areas of land. They used the changing seasons such as rain, to flourish their pasturages. I think that this is important to note because like we learned in the previous class, many civilizations migrated through different roads such as the sand road, water roads, and silk roads. Using the adaptation as changing seasons helped them adapt to special environments such as hot desserts. It was also important for me to note that the first pastoral society emerged from hunting and gathering groups who captured species that were in the wild. This has affected the world in general because it has made it a lot more resourceful and easier for us to use species for our everyday lives, especially when it comes to smaller rural towns. I also thought it was very interesting how animals were first domesticated around the same time that the first plants were being cultivated, as both were present in the agrarian societies. Many of these pastoral strategies have been adopted by the peoples of the Middle East in regions that may not be already suitable for cultivation of plants. Many animals were also tamed because they were used for food.

I also thought that it was very interesting how the pastoral peoples used wells for the gathering of the water. Because the dessert was not abundant in water supply, water was drawn from the wells in leather bags and pulled up by a rope that was attached to camels. Another fun fact for me was that this way of living affected population. Because so many more people were staying in one spot and producing food, the population grew, to include hundreds and even thousands of peoples.

HW #3

I thought it was very interesting how India’s main exports were spices. It was nice to learn how different exports and trades from different countries came about. I think that it is very important to note how we all found what resources could get us better good, how we could trade them to other peoples that could use them worldwide. Because agriculture was the main product of goods, it was important to also note that there was also someone that had to do leg work or also known as the labor. Exporting items really did benefit us because we had the opportunity to get a hold of greater goods. But looking at this in a different perspective, this really affected our social structure. For one, it created class division of labor. Obviously, the people on the top of the pyramid were too “good” to perform these tasks, but the labor had to be completed one way or another. This is when slavery came into place and people were being used as slavery and slaves were sold as an item or better said, as a belonging.

When it comes to the topic of slavery there is so much history and detail that needs to be examined. For one, it was a very wrongful approach for production of goods. This topic also related to empires, and how domination can rule over another human being. In every empire there was somehow a way to express inequality. Those at the bottom of the pyramid had no choice but to give the labor for agriculture and chores that did not want to be completed by the elite.

Trade was a fundamental aspect of the ancient Greek world and following territorial expansion, an increase in population movements, and innovations in transport, goods could be bought, sold, and exchanged in one part of the Mediterranean which had their origin in a completely different and far distant region. Food, raw materials, and manufactured goods were not only made available to Greeks for the first time but the export of such classics as wine, olives, and pottery helped to spread Greek culture to the wider world.

Blog HW #2

The early classical era is one of my favorite times because of the architecture and the details in pottery that were made during these civilizations in Mesoamerica. I find the architecture for gathering ceremonies is beautiful and detailed. It is very important to also recognize that on these pieces of architecture in a very large scale. The dominance of corn is important to note because in Mesoamerica, corn was worshiped as it was the primary influence for food source. I find it interesting how important corn is in our everyday lives now. I don’t think our generation realizes how corn is used in all products. If you look at nutrition facts, you will notice corn syrup in almost every good at the grocery store. To add, I don’t think everyone realizes how much corn we feed our livestock to keep us eating meat.

Another important part of the Pre Classic Era knows that the Olmec civilization flourished. I have always been astonished with sites such as La Venta and the big stone heads.  

I found it interesting how much the Greek arts flourished in this era. Zeus and the Poseidon brought a new kind of insight to human figure and we can infer that it created an abstract meaning. 

In Africa, it was interesting to note the importance of the Nubian Civilization that is located along the southern Nile river which is south of Egypt. The Nubian Civilization had close contact with Egyptians where they would trade goods which sometimes caused conflicts and warfare between the two. This was also a great example of how the separation of wealth from goods affected the societies. There have been discoveries of Kings that were mummified and buried with beautiful jewelry and pottery originating from Egypt. Both of these civilizations also had similar potteries. The representations and well belongings of the kings showed a civilization of monarchy based power/government. There is also proof that civilizations migrated to different parts of Africa to settle in less crowded areas, like the Bantu civilization.

I thought it was interesting how the Neolithic era is also called the new Stone Age. It really struck me how important agriculture and animal domestication was during this era. Because I’m taking a biology class right now, it is important for me to understand the importance of farming and our biodiversity. I learned through the reading that during this area seeds and agriculture played a great part into survival. It is important to note this because this was the noted first time that plants were being domesticated for the survival of it’s people. I thought it was important to note this information because this form of agriculture we can say influences other civilizations, and can be seen throughout the world.

What I also found that was important and was mentioned in the reading was the use of flint and productions of materials. The flint was used for making tools that were strong and sturdy. This really got me thinking on how much tools have evolved from where they started.

I’ve always been interested on how important women’s roles were during different eras. As I gathered information, I learned that woman were a vital for plant gathering. Irrigation systems were also run by woman who helped control the planting.

I am very interested in the first known civilizations. It was a refresher for me to remind myself that the first known civilization was the Olmec. I took a lot of anthropology and art of Latin America and it is cool to know that there is a replica of an Olmec head on campus. My former instructed, Edgar Torres also discovered a Mayan artifact while he was doing anthropological research in Central America. I think it is very important to realize all of the small discoveries that the ancient people made that have influenced and shaped our future today.

Yay-I'm done!