CiaraJeanne

Chapter 9: Islam Islam’s impacts on Each Afro-Eurasian Civilization: Civilization Extent of Conversion Reasons for Conversion & Impacts India Mostly Northern India No more than 20-25% of the population (minority) Not many converted because the prevailing polytheistic Hinduism was so different from the strictly monotheistic Islam; minority Muslims lived separately Some converted because they thought of Islam as more egalitarian than Hinduism Sikhism formed: blending of Islam and Hindu elements Anatolia By 1500, 90% became Muslim Turkish Islam Was previously governed by Christian Byzantine Empire, so the monotheism was not new to them They had a small population, so it was easier to influence Christianity was already decaying and could make room for Turkish Islam Africa Usually for the upper classes; lower class not forced to convert North Africa already Islamic West African cities became major centers for Muslims...

Animals + People What stood out to me the most in this chapter was the difference between the Americas and Eurasia in the extent of their trading. I thought that surely, there would be vast interaction among peoples in the Americas. The book states that the exchange was hindered due to lack of domesticable animals. And this is an interesting point as well. It seems that modernization lags in societies that are like this. Not only does a lack of animals hinder trade. In the past chapters, it was mentioned that it also means agriculture can’t be practiced on a large scale. Deductions: Society - Animals = no agriculture + no trade = no big civilizations It reminds me of the question Ms. Andrews asked in class a few lectures ago: “Who here truly loves all animals?” When she first said that, I thought that she was going to connect it to history and how animals were important to human development. If not love, we have to at least appreciate all kinds of animals because history w...

Chapter 6: I feel confused Going into midterms, in this chapter I was really concerned on which notes to take. I started to try and remember a lot of little details, but I wasn’t sure if I needed to remember those exact details or just remember general trends about each group Maybe I’m just losing confidence in myself because I’m nervous about the exam. I think that this chapter was especially difficult to read because we’re looking at a lot of little groups. It would have been fine if it was just divided this way: Africa Mesoamerica Andes River Civilization-less People But it’s not. There are many subcategories under each one: Africa Meroe Axum Niger River Mesoamerica Maya Teotihuacán Andes River Chavín Moche Wari and Tiwanaku Civilization-less People Bantu Pueblo Mound Builders Pacific Oceania It was very difficult to get my thoughts together and it fried my brain to memorize everything. I will just explai...

Chapter 5: Social Inequality I didn’t really know how to write this blog entry. I have mixed feelings about this chapter. So I’ve just decided to write how I’d feel if I lived in each of the different civilizations, with regards to social inequality. China: I’d probably like to live in China the most. Even if I became a slave, slavery wasn’t so widespread and it would be unlikely that I’d have to do hard labor, which I really hate. There’s still a chance that I could be born a peasant farmer, but I think that would be better than slavery. At least I get to live with my family and I get to marry who I want. If I was born a man, I’d probably try to take the civil service exam for a better life. It would be pretty hard considering I’d have to memorize all of Confucius’ teachings, but with some studying, nothing is impossible. India: I would not like to live in India at all. The caste system is too restrictive. And what if I’m ostracized by my jati ? I didn’t know Indi...

Chapter 4 & Serving is Different from Helping and Fixing This chapter touched on the different religions that emerged during the second wave of civilizations and compared them to one another. I found it most interesting to see how different groups made religion into their own by changing certain parts of it. Some religions completely disintegrated in certain parts of the world and others evolved into the ones we know today. Maybe it’s because I was focusing too much on cold hard facts, but while reading the chapter, I completely forgot to focus on the possible reasons why these religions started showing up in the first place. I’m so sad to say that I can’t identify the cause for their beginning yet. I think it was mentioned that people wanted to have an explanation of life and the universe because of societal changes? But why now? There were societal changes before this time. Religions’ cause for spreading was evident. For one, it was a way to keep people together and...