Final Quiz

I have really enjoyed this class for many reasons.  This is the first class that I have taken at Notre Dame De Namur.  I was a senior at San Francisco State University while I worked at my families business when my father passed away unexpectedly.  I focused my attention on the business and did not return to school for three years.  Returning to school has meant a lot to me.  I forgot how much I enjoy learning.  History classes have always been especially enjoyable for me. 

This class has had a heavier workload than I originally anticipated. It moves incredibly fast and the reading requirements are difficult to keep up with while trying to help run a business. Fortunately, the class has been fun and the material is incredibly interesting. 

I remember the first time we were asked to work in groups.  I felt that I was outside of my comfort zone and really wished I could find a way to avoid it.  The assignment was to read a excerpt from the Epic of Gilgamesh. We had to take a small part of the excerpt and act it out in a group.  It seemed incredibly silly but it ended up being fun.  It was a fun way to break up a extended class period. In the end I actually learned a lot. I was surprised at the incredible similarities between modern societies and ancient ones. It also gave me insight into the origins of many issues that we have today.  Learning about ancient cultures and the way that they viewed issues such as slavery, homosexuality, the environment and feminism has allowed me to view these issues as more of an outsider looking in.

I have been able to see the way that the past has shaped the world.  The rise of Western European influence being a relatively new concept was something that I had never known.  I always enjoyed history and felt I had an above average understanding of it.  It turns out that I knew very little about anything that happened before 1492.  I had taken philosophy classes and was aware of the work of Plato, Aristotle, & Socrates but I would not have been able to place them on a time line.  Now I can place most major civilizations accurately in a timeline and confidently discuss the relationships that they have had with one another. Prior to this class I was aware that Columbus had gone in search of a easy trade route to the "riches of Asia" but that did not mean anything to me.  I was amazed at the trade routes of the silk, sand and sea roads.  While I completed my research paper on The Great Depression I was surprised by the effect it had globally.  It had never occurred to me that the failure of the markets to correct itself during The Great Depression had added support to the anti-capitalist Nazi party in Germany.  I realize that was not the cause of Nazi Germany but it did have influence as Germany struggled to rebuild after WWI.

When I was in school as a young person I don't remember anything about the Islamic world.  Occasionally, I would have a class with somebody who was Muslim but that was rare and they always seemed so different.  I know that they must have come from another country but I had never imagined the rich history of the Arab Culture or the short but mighty dominance of the Persian Empire. I think it is so important that today's educators educate their students on the Muslim religion.

The debate we did in class regarding China and the Mongols was fun and I left feeling surprised that I had gotten to a point where I could even "hold my own" in a debate on subjects that I had just recently even heard of. Four weeks ago I had absolutely zero idea who the Mongols were and where they came from.  More entertaining than that, however, was how we beat the guys during the exercise where we were not allowed to speak.  It definitely gave all of us some insight into the ability of power to corrupt.  I was surprised that I actually got excited when we found a way to overcome the situation.  I understand that it was only a class exercise but I truly felt empowered when I first heard the computer spit out the answer.  It also made me feel closer to the other girls in the class because we had accomplished something together.

Ultimately, I am very impressed that we read that entire book in ten weeks.  I am even more impressed that I have retained a majority of it.  I started another class two weeks ago and was able to utilize my new understanding of world history to promote a lively discussion regarding the affect of colonialism and how it relates to the gap in economic prosperity between poor and wealthy nations. 

I can not express enough how much I enjoyed this class. I forgot how much I love to learn. I have learned a lot.  I feel like I have been through a lot in the last few years and the opportunity to finally finish my education means the world to me. There was a time when I would have taken it for granted and I am grateful that I have learned to really appreciate it.

Thank you Ms Andrews and the rest of the class for you participation in this opportunity.  I look forward to the rest of my classes at Notre Dame.

Ch 14-16

As we move into the early modern era these chapters are interesting because they shed light on the reasons that things are the way they are now in many places.  There were many differences between Spains colonization of South America and Englands colonization of North America.  Due to the sexual imbalance of the early Spanish colonies of South America there was a new race of children from Spanish men and Native American women.  These children were called mestizo's.  The Spanish monarchy encouraged the settlers to marry into important native families.  At this time a social heirarchy was formed that viewed Mestizos as illegitimate and placing Native Americans at the bottom of society.  Native Americans were used for labor purposes.  Brazil and the Caribbean economy became based on sugar production. Sugar production required intense and often fatal labor conditions that consisted primarily of slave labor.  Eighty percent of African slaves transported to the "new world" ended up in Brazil and the Caribbean.  In North America English settlers had a very different experience.  The Brittish were the last of the European countries to colonize The Americas. The wealthy wealthy lands of the Aztecs and Incas had already been conquered by the Spanish and Portuguese.  The British settlers came to The Americas in large numbers in order to "escape aspects of an old European society rather than to recreate it".  English colonies did not tend to sexually mix with the Native Americans. 

In all of the Americas the native population was diminished.  Slayer refers to another scholar who calls this "The Great Dying".  Slayer also includes a quote from Winona Laduke who calls Columbus "A perpetrator of genocide".  In some places the native population diminished by almost 90%.  This death was do a great deal to the native populations inability to fight off foreign disease. The virtual extinction of Americas indigenous population and the resulting labor shortage opened the door for more european colonization and a slave population transported from Africa. 

Columbus' journey to the Americas was the product of Spains desire to find a faster sea route to the riches of Asia. Along with the colonization of the Americas these western countries found way to infuse themselves into the rich trade routes of the Indian Ocean through multiple ways.  Western European countries used many different strategies to create wealth.  The Portuguese took over important ports in the Indian Ocean and imposed taxes on trade.  Spain conquered the Phillipine Islands nameing them after King Phillip. Companies were formed as a way for government to outsource colonialism.  An example of this was the East India Company.  Russians exploited indigeneous Siberians for fur or "soft gold".  France did the same with Native Americans.  They traded european products with the Native Americans including alcohol.  Native Americans became increasingly reliant on these European products.  Alcoholism is still a major problem within Native American populations. 

This spread of Western Europe set the stage for the dominanceWestern European ideals throughout including the spread of Christianity and products The Enlightenment.

Chapters 21 thru 24

Wow, I can not believe I actually finished the entire book! One thing that sticks with me, as I mentioned in my last entry, is the idea that nationalism is such a new concept. The effects of this new way that individuals define themselves, the national pride and the propaganda, was further fuel for the World Wars of the 20th century.  Nationalism also allowed for the growing experiments with governments based on Marxist ideas.

I have been aware of and taken classes on these subjects before. I was already familiar with the players in WWI and WW2. I had already heard about the trench warfare of WWI and the consequences of it's peace agreements. Nazi Germany, especially, has been an important subject in many of my earlier classes. We even had a holocaust survivor speak to the students at my school.  What I think is interesting is the way that Strayer approaches these subjects.  He tries to make us understand the many situations that brought mankind to these sorts of atrocities.  It is an interesting approach since so many of us leave these lessons wondering how the heck could something like that happen on such a large scale.


Strayer also uses this approach by devoting a relatively large section to the growth of communism in Russia and China. The similarities and differences in each governments approach to communism is explained in relationship with its people. The two countries had similarities in that both countries suffered from a large gap between the wealthy and the impoverished. Besides that the people of these countries were very different. One thing that I had never realized was that communism brought so many new freedoms to women in these countries. The civil rights aspect and the original intent of these new governments paints a different picture of communism then I was taught in earlier classes. The cold war was just ending as I entered school and there was the idea that we we good and that they were evil.  I remember the fall of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin wall. I did not really understand it but I do remember the feeling that something important was happening.

The end of the cold war without actual bloodshed is also an interesting concept to me.  It is especially relevant to the discussion that we had in class last Monday regarding a possible post modern era. The idea that wars could be avoided for the good of mankind and the consideration of the affects of modern weapons on the environment is not something that we had seen in earlier times.

Ch 17-20

World History is taught through the lens of Western Europeans. This is due to the fact that Western Europe and the United States are the wealthiest and powerful regions of the world. This transition happened with the colonization of the America's, increased presense in the Indian Ocean and eventually the Industrial Revolution.

As I read these chapters I am interested in the section on nationalism. The insinuation that nationalism is such a recent concept was shocking to me.  It had never occured to me while reading the earlier chapters that individuals had associated themselves more closely with their small societies or religious affiliations.  Even though the same religions developed and played out differently in different parts of the world. For example, a Muslim in parts of Africa followed a unique day to day life from a Muslim in India. With boundaries of nations being relatively stable and the end of empires, the concept of a national unity with a set of values and an associated pride, has become such a large part of our daily lives. Nationalism, like so many other developments in world history, feels like the natural way. It is the rhetoric of the 24 hour news agencies.  It is especially apparant with the upcoming election or next weeks Fourth of July celebrations. Obviously, there have been historical cases of national pride. The Greeks, Romans and the Chinese are some early examples of this.

In contrast to this realization is the fact that the nineteenth century enlightenment was the first time in human history that slavery was seen as unatural. Although slavery as a racial concept was relatively new, the ownership and subordination of other human beings existed in the most ancient civilizations. Interestingly, as the slave trade became illegal and slavery began to disapear European colonization became more controlling and racially charged. The end of slavery throughout the world, with the acception of Haiti, did little to change the lives of the enslaved. Laboring classes were often defined by their ethnic backgrounds. 

Questions for paper

I am doing my report on The Great Depression. Each of my grandmothers grew up as children during The Great Depression. My mothers mother Claire grew up in the Mission District of San Francisco. Her father lost his job and they ultimately lost their house. My fathers mother Virginia grew up in a close knit community in Brooklyn, New York. Her father also lost his job. They were forced to accept government assistance, waking up at 5:00 A.M. to stand in line for milk. She watched the close knit neighborhood where she knew everybody transform itself as tent cities moved into the vacant lots next door. I thought it would be interesting to interview both Grandmothers to see the similarities and differences in how they experienced this time.

The questions I chose to ask are below:

1.) Where did you live during The Great Depression?
2.) What happened that first made you aware of The Great Depression?
3.) About how old were you?
4.) How did it affect you personally at this time?
5.) What government programs were you aware of?
6.) How long was your father out of work?
7.)  How did you feel about the quality of your life?
8.)  Were you aware of the problems that were going on in the banking system?
9.) Do you think things are better now?

I tried to keep the questions the same for both of my grandparents. Obviously, as I asked questions and the differences became evident I asked further questions on some of these subjects. One example is asking further questions about the "Hoover Cities" that sprung up around my Grandma Gin's neighborhood.

Ch 11 thru 13

One has to wonder how different the world would be if China had continued it's large maritime expeditions. The willingness of foreign leaders to offer tributes to open opportunities for trade with China speaks to its wealth and adcancements. The Chinese fleet, which was much larger then Columbus', could have populated the America's. The Chinese felt themselves to be self-sufficient and with the death of Emperor Yogle "...the chief patron of the enterprise"(p372) abruptly ended it's maritime voyages.
Many of Chinas superior technologies had already traveled across the silk roads and expanded further During the reign of the Mongolian Empire. The Mongolin Empire did not leave it's influence in the form of religion. Instead it used relay systems which allowed the rapid transmission of information from one side of the empire to the other. The Mongolean Empire brought togethe the peoples of East Asia, Europe and Islam.
Unlike Islam, the Mongolean Empire and the many empires before them 15th century China was not interested in imperialism. There was a push toget back to the Confucian ways of doing things. The Ming Dynasty brought back the examination system, restored acres and repaired infrastructure which had deteriorated during Mongol rule. "During the  fifteenth century, China had recocered and was perhaps the best-governed and most prosperous of the worlds major civilizations."(P371)

As China returned to it's confuscian belief system Europe was also returning to it's classical thinkers with the beginning of the Renaissance. The Renaissance began in Italy around 1350 and ended around 1500.  They revisited classical Greek traditions and felt that they were removed from "the religous world of feudal Europe"(p373). Art excelled during the Renaissance. It was the time of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.

The Ottoman Empire lasted from the 1300's to the early twentieth century. The power of the empire made the Turks the "dominant people" of the Islamic wolrd, ruling now over Arabs"(P379) . The Ottoman Empire took control of Constantinple in 1453 destroying what was left of Christian Byzantium.

Part Three

I am grateful that we have moved into the classical/postclassical era in part 3 of our book. The paleolithic and neolithic eras are interesting but without written words so much is unknown. As we moved into the ancient era and now into the classical/post classical era i enjoy that there are so many lessons to be learned from our ancestors.

It is interesting to see how the main trading locations for the silk roads and eventually through the Sahara desert by Camel had such a large affect on the wealth and diversity of Eurasia and Africa. A sea based trading system was created using the predictable monsoon currents. It connected people from China to Africa. Trading was used primarily for luxury goods. This is important to note because, at the time, people still produced for their own consumption. It was unlike the modern world, in that few people actually sold their own labor.

Besides the trading of luxury goods; there was a trade of ideas and religious beliefs. In this way Buddhism spread from India to China and throughout Asia. The Swahili civilization on the coast of the Indian ocean adopted Islam after being exposed to it by Arab traders. Chinese achievements such as paper making, silk production, the magnetic compass, ship building and movable type spread "as the movement of traders, soldiers, slaves, and pilgrims conveyed Chinese achievements abroad"(259).

Slavery continued during the classical era. Originally, most slaves were women. I was unaware that originally in Europe most slaves were from the Slavic speaking regions. That the word "slave" comes from the word "slav".

The shift in power between the Orthodox and Catholic churches were very interesting for me to read. Raised Catholic, I enjoy reading about our history. I was unaware how this shift in power happened as Western Europe began to resemble Europe as we are c familiar with it. I have to wonder how different the world would seem if Byzantium's Orthodox church and it's love of Greek thought had been the dominate Christian religion. Similarly, as I read ahead into chapter 11 I was surprised to see how  from the very beginning there was a rift between Islam and Judaism. Again, I have to wonder how different the world would be if the two religions had not disagreed.