World History ll Blog

Society & Inequality in Eurasia / North Africa 500 B.C.E - 500 C.E. -Chinese societies were founded more on state actions then by culture believes. Highest position in the hierarchy was taken by elite of officials, government power Han emperor created a formal school to study Confucius to prepare for government service, this became the main learning process in China for over years. To enter the civil service they had to pass a really difficult exam on the Confucius classics. Any male no matter what your social status was was allowed to take the exam. But the wealthier people were more likely to pass the exam because they had the resources and the time to study were as a person who comes from poverty had less time and resources to study mainly because they had to work to survive. If the person passes the test their social status would move up, they would be praised mainly by their hometown. They would be seen as sophisticated afterwards. Wealthy landlords woul...

China Ways to maintain order ~ ~ ~ Legalism- people who followed believed that people where self serving because of this in order to keep these people doing good they had to be rewarded highly and in order to keep these people from doing bad they had to be punished very bad. -Chinas first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, used legalism to keep order. Confucius ~ ~ ~ - Confucius believed he had found a way for social harmony. He remained a teacher and a thinker, When he died his students collected his teaching and created the Analects. Scholars took this and created a body of thought known as Confucianism. - Confucianism taught a strong moral of example that the social superior should teach the rest of the people how to behave. The main point of Confucianism is to teach people how to be strong moral examples. - Believed in Ren.  - Confucianism took over the education system. - Showed loyalty to family, elders, and emperor. Daoist ~ ~ ~ - Believed that people are more human when...

States and Empires in Eurasia Strayers definition of an empire- First definition- political system with coercive power. Second definition- larger, more aggressive states that conquers other states, used their natural resources,  and rules a multiethnic state under a common political system. -They are conquering other people to build a greater empire, they are conquering other ethnic groups not just one this forming diversity in the empire. The political views on how to keep charge on all the people coming into the empire was also something that had to be determined. They would also take the conquered peoples food in order for them to survive. I think it is interesting to see how in the beginning of the chapter Strayer gives a subtle very simple answer to the definition of an empire but by the end he gives a more elaborate definition. I believe that he does this because after writing the chapter and explaining what an empire is to him he feels that the reader now knows what ...

City States emerged in . . . Sumer, Egypt, & Nubia - 3500-3000 B.C.E - produced first written language - Egypt produced along the Nile - Architecture produced the pyramids that are still up today - Nubia developed South of Egypt as a distinct civilization in itself Norte Chico - 3000 - 1800 B.C.E - Central Peru, Small cities - Products produced were cotton nets and they exploited rich fish - Did not form based on on grain but planted beans and fruits - They also used noted cords to keep track of special things Indus Valley, & Oxus - 2200-1700 B.C.E - Had large cities but never produced monuments that were long lasting to keep track of their cities - Weights and measures + style in architecture - Some religious rituals and yoga positions remain today - They had long distance trade connections Xia, Shang & Zhou - 2200 - 771 B.C.E - Dynasties in China established cultural and political patterns such as centralized states, concept of    Mandate to ...

Main Idea - Mongols established established many Eurasian empires due to conquest. 1200 - 1500 Pastorals Societies -  Smaller size than agricultural, less patriarchy Xiongnu Confederacy- Was an early nomadic empire that mastered the bow and horse riding. United under the rule of a single leader in the third century BCE. Because the Xiongnu Confederacy was so big and powerful the Han Dynasty viewed it as its own independent state. This is also where the Mongols originated. Arabs -  Domesticated the camel using it for military conquest prepossess and for subsistence. Turks moved out of central Asia and came across other empires such as Byzantium, China, and Persia. Turkish culture had much influence on the civilizations by converting from Turks to Islam, This helped the spread of religion from Eurasia to Eastern borders of Europe and eventually creating the Ottoman Empire. Masai of East Africa - Nomads who relied primary on cattle, in Eastern Africa. M...

First People; First Farmers (to 4000 B.C.E.) Strayer talks about how usually in history books start with cities and civilizations and don't talk about the Paleolithic people. Strayer thinks that this is incorrect and chooses to start the book with them. First Migrations  Eurasia  Homosapiens developed in Africa around 250,000 years ago Collective learning helped these people develop over time Stone tools helped these humans  Developments helped migrate from Africa to Eurasia (100,000 years ago) First migrations were into the middle east and then into South Asia  (20,000 years ago) cold ice age temperatures forced humans to migrate into Southern Europe People started developing more advanced tools and weapons such as spears, arrows, bows, and more stone tools to hunt Human communication consisted of cave paintings and figurines Australia  Migrations reached Australia 60,000 Y.A.  300,000 people by the time Europeans arrived in 1778 th...