Chapter 13-The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century

In this chapter we are able to see how the world of the fifteenth century identified various types of societies that it contained. The Paleolithic values carried out into the classical civilizations, people during the time were hunter-gatherers, agricultural peoples, emerging small states, nomadic or pastoral communities, and established empires had emerged too.  As time went by all of these types of societies were changing than how they had begun. Many societies during the fifteenth century didn't practice hunting and gathering such as Australia up until the Europeans arrived in the late eighteenth century. Those agriculture village societies, avoided themselves from getting into larger incorporations and didn't quite develop their own city or state. These agricultural people normally lived in small village-based communities. The societies these agricultural people had created was one without an oppressive political authority, class inequality, and the solitude of women which wasn't really seen in many of the civilizations. The nomadic peoples were different they didn't gather or hunt and weren't agricultural people either, they were more independent than the rest and they lived in smaller communities amongst the agricultural people, they way the nomadic people would get food was by paying fees and taxes in order to keep pasturing their animals. Overall, we can see how many of these societies changed as time went by because modern societies are totally different than how they worked during the fifteenth century.

Chapter 12

The domestication revolution involved both plants and animals. Those who lived in more preferred environments had the chance to combine both farming and animals and their economy gave them power to create remarkable civilizations with substantial populations in the world. In some areas of the world it was simple to farm but other areas it was hardly helpful to farm because of the climate changes that occurred. Many of the people in the societies learned their own ways by raising animals in their farms and occupy necessary land to make a living. These animals were definitely helpful for these people because it helped them for transportation or to even carry heavy things. All this lead to the emergence of Pastoralism in Afro-Eurasia world, unlike for the Americas they didn't have large animals that could help them move around but some of their domestication shaped unique societies which improved diverse communities. All of this led by having pastoral societies having their struggles with because not being able to make much money from their production. The pastoral societies helped support the smaller communities than those agriculture ones. People normally lived in small encampments, villages, towns, cities which are categorized as agrarian civilizations. Throughout the chapter we are able to see how not only hunter and gatherers created their societies but also pastoral societies were created as time went by with domestication.

Chapter Ten

It's been said that Europe somehow became the global center of Christianity, but that destiny was far from clear in 500 c.e. During this time only about one-third of the world's Christians lived in Europe, while the rest found there homes in various parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. All these different areas seemed to have follow different forms of Christianity such as Nestorianism.

Earlier Christian communities during this time of North Africa, Nubia, Central Asia, and western China had been taken away as these regions were introduced to other religious traditions like Islam, Buddhism, or Confucianism. Overall we are able to see how Christianity was the one religion that expanded the rest of the religious traditions in the world. Throughout this chapter it mainly focuses on the regions that became the center of Christianity which was Byzantium and Western Europe. 

China and the World- Chapter 9

In this chapter, it focuses in China and their culture and achievements as years passed by. The collapsed of the Han dynasty signaled the rise of powerful and locally entrenched aristocratic families. During these centuries, the chinese migration began with a movement of people that gave southern China about sixty percent of the country's population. This migration the chinese made was followed along by their intensive agriculture, and an environmental transformation for the country, and elephants which inhabited the migrating lands. During the "Golden Age" of their achievement, the chinese regained their unity under the Sui dynasty. They not only regained a dynasty but also arts and literature, setting standards of poetry, painting and ceramics. This transformation in China helped the country in expanding more throughout societies. Economically they would rely on their Canal system which linked northern and southern China. Supplying the Chinese with food was possible because of their network of internal waterways which stretched about 30,000 miles. Not only food but these waterways also provided cheap transportation system throughout China which became very useful for the chinese people. The Chinese people had a large population which helped them with the growth of agriculture.
Throughout the chapter, the women were also brought  and how they were seen in their society because the Elite women in the Song dynasty were allowed to participate in social life, they had freedom than those women during the classical times. The religion chinese culture were based on is seen in the end of the chapter and their religion was Buddhism. The religion buddhism happend to enter China through their Silk Roads trading networks which is pretty logical. China is a country that achieved many aspects in each and every one of their societies during the centuries.

Chapter 7- Classical Era Variations

The Greeks, Romans, Persians, Chinese, and the Indians of South Asia weren't the only classical era civilizations that evolved during the time. The Mesoamerican Maya and the Peruvian Moche flourished as well as other civilizations in Africa (Meroe, Axum, Niger River Valley). These civilizations had their own way of constructing their own societies although they were neglected by some civilizations. Throughout the chapter we are able to see the expansion of these civilizations and the history behind them. Meroe was  a civilization in the Nile Valley south of Egypt on the lands of Nubian Civilization. The nubians would trade and fight with the egyptians. The Nubian civilizations finally thrived to the center of southern Meroe. Meroe was a kingdom that was governed by an all powerful monarch a position that was conferred by the women. This civilization housed a wide variety of economic specialties. Their wealth and military power derived in part from extensive long-distance trading connections.
Another civilization from Africa was Axum, it was a center of monumental building and royal patronage for the arts. The one civilization from Mesoamerica that caught my attention was the Mayan civilization.  It's known as the major classical civilization of Mesoamerica, the beginnings of the Mayan people have been traced in present-day Guatemala and the Yucatan region of Mexico. The mayan civilization accomplished so many things during the time. They developed a mathematical system that included the concept of zero and placed notation and was capable of complex calculations. This mathematical ability the mayans had helped them with the observations of the night skies to plot the cycles of the planets in order for them to predict eclipses of the sun and the moon. This gave them the ability to construct calendars and know the calculations of the solar year. The Mayans' lived in an almost totally engineered landscape. The mayans on their own constructed their own water management system and this helped them with the agriculture. The one effect that the Mayans had was the climate change because it led to the collapse of the agriculture. Overall, the Mayan civilization played a significant role during the time because many of the accomplishments they made are used today but have been improved and not just their accomplishments but also from other civilizations in the world.

Ch. 8- (Commerce and Culture)

In this chapter it mainly focuses on the Silk Roads and what their outcome was across Eurasia. For about 2,000 years, goods, ideas, technologies,and diseases made their way on several routes of the Silk Roads. Trade was very important especially because many goods were being transported through the roads. These land-based trade routes linked pastoral and agricultural peoples as well as the large civilizations on the continents outer rim. The silk road trading network prospered most when large and powerful states provided security for merchants and travelers. The most significant outcome that helped the people in Eurasia was that they learned new things and brought diversity to every culture in Eurasia. Diseases in which people were unfamiliar too were also brought through the Silk Roads, they would spread throughout countries in Eurasia and caused deaths of many people which majorly decreased population in societies. 

Although diseases did kill people, it was also useful especially because gave people an idea of how these people should be cured. This led by having people getting cured with medicines or any other cures that would save their lives and get rid of the diseases people had. Silk roads weren't the only ones that were found but also the sea roads which was oceanic commerced which transformed all of it's participants in one way or another. Lastly the sands roads were another important pattern of long-distance trade network in Eurasia. Overall, these three different types of roads changed peoples' lives tremendously because it brought change to their civilization.

Chapter 11

    In chapter eleven we are able to see the focus on how the birth and background of the Islam religion expanded. Islam religion emerged from the middle eastern civilizations and the Mediterranean. This religion seemed to have a variety of Gods, nature spirits, personal bravery was valued in this religion, as well as loyalty and hospitality towards each other. The main person for the birth of Islam was a single individual, Muhammad Abdullah, he had a powerful, overwhelming religious experience that left him convinced, that he was Allah's messenger to the Arabs, which he was commissioned to bring to them the scripture in their own language.  Muhammad in this chapter was the head of the Islam religion especially because he delivered the Quran's message to the people.
   The Quran was monotheistic, it listed Allah as the only God, and as the all powerful creator. Those believers had to submit to Allah in order for them to have a place in paradise. The core message of the Quran was summarized in a set of five requirements for believers and they were known as the Pillars of Islam. These pillars were basically a set of rules in which believers had to follow in the religion. Lastly what really caught my attention in this chapter was the focus of the Islam religion during the time and how it emerged as years went by.

Chapter 6

In this chapter we are able to see how societies are being shaped during the time of the Classical Era for the ancient civilizations. The Chinese society was one that was shaped by the state actions than other societies. The Chinese society had an immense social influence and most importantly political power of state officials. The Chinese society was based on four different social classes the head of the society would be the elite, they would favor the wealthy and those who could educate their own sons and they had their own privileges and prestiges, the second one's were the landlord class, they seem to have some privileges such as evading taxes and kept independent military forces, nationalized private estates and distributed them to the landless. As we can the Chinese culture seemed to have their societies shaped up and settled during the time. India on the other hand, had a caste system that referred to race or purity of blood. In the Indian civilization there was Jati which tied with the varna system, leading to a caste that was based society. The Jati's were the main focus of Indian society. This system was different from that of China.
By the end of the chapter we are able to see how slavery was brought to these civilizations and the reasons as to why slavery began during the classical era in China, India, and Rome. Slavery definitely existed in these societies very differently from each other and most of them involved the lack of rights for people or just independent social identity. In china poor peasants would sell their children into slavery, in India criminals, debtors, war captives were known as slaves, lastly in rome the Greco-roman world was a slave society and wealthy romans owned hundred or thousands of slavery. Slavery was common in these civilizations but were treated differently in some way, slavery created a hierarchy and class level for people who lived in these societies. 

Chapter 5

In this chapter we are able to see how the Chinese culture influenced religious traditions during the time. Confucianism and Daoism were two religions that were influenced by the Chinese culture, although Confucianism was a non-religious character, didn’t deny the reality of the spirits and gods. On the other hand, Daoism was in many ways opposite of Confucianism. Education was very useless for the Chinese and also striving for improvement. Daoism encouraged people to live in a simple way and the separation of public life This chapter it not only talks about the Chinese culture but also about the cultural traditions of India, South Asia, Greese and their religious traditions. 

The Indian culture were different from the Chinese culture. The Indian culture developed along with the Indian civilization. The Indian culture looked up to the divine. Their religion, Hinduism, was never a single tradition, because it was brought by the outsiders. South Asian religious traditions would practice human sacrifices. Lastly Buddhism was a religious tradition the Asians would mostly worship during the time in the end these different religious traditions led to something different because they ended up spreading around the world and brought new religions. 

The Classical Era

Once the first civilizations started emerging we can see that most of them were very similar to one another. These civilizations had their differences too such as the values they believed in, how their economy was based on, their resources, how men and women were treated, as well as their writing and lifestyle. Every one of these civilizations were in the need of agriculture especially for irrigation, in order to grow crops and for their own land. As time went by, civilizations started changing because agriculture improved as well as technology which was a huge impact when it started.

Agriculture no only changed during the time but every civilization had its growth in population which meant that more resources needed to given to them. In some civilizations population was a problem because it not only increased but also decreased like it did in the Mayan civilization by eighty five percent in less than a century. Lastly, in the previous chapters we are able to see how each civilization developed as time went by, some improved and some had their difficulties. The growth of population changed the way each civilization had to expand because if the population increased they were in need of more resources and economy to support the larger numbers. 

Chapter 3 First Civilizations

The emergence of civilizations and the Agricultural Revolution made a huge impact for the supporting of large numbers around the world. Agricultural technology was the main reason that the civilizations derived as years went by. In this chapter we are able to see how every city had its own way of use for the people in each civilization. Cities weren't only available for people to live in but also had the main important things humans need to survive which was the distribution of food, work, and had people taking control of the city.  Agricultural technology was very useful for these civilizations because it allowed the people to produce excess of supplies for them. 


Throughout the chapter we learn about an urban revolution, hierarchies of class and gender which was very important for these civilizations, and patriarchy in the cities as well as unequal societies. Every civilization brought something new to the world which made a great impact for us today because many of the ideas that were used back then are used today but have improved during the time. Lastly, we are aware how every civilization brought something new to the world, because today we technology has definitely improved than how it was back in the days. Agricultural Revolution made a huge influence to the cities we live in today. 

Chapter 2 (First Farmers)

It's unbelievable how people back in the days didn't really have a job like we do today. They would live off  from farming before agricultural even existed. I personally believe that if people would farm today in our society they wouldn't be able to resist being out on the fields as their daily job. Back then people couldn't even make excuses of the things they had to do for their living but during the time things started changing and became easier. Agricultural Revolution changed everyones lives because people could cultivate certain plants as well as breeding certain animals for food. Before the revolution even existed everything was all about hunting and gathering and farming. Today, people dont really think of doing these to get food because the culture has changed a lot especially by the modern agriculture America has. The farmers were no longer farming as much as they would before the revolution occurred they seem to have been more dependent on their domesticated plants and animals. At the time the population seem to have increased as agricultural improved especially because more food was to be required. In this chapter I found it very interesting to see the different type of foods that came from different areas around the world and to see how things changed completely with the Agricultural Revolution which changed people lives.

Chapter 1

Its amazing how life has evolved throughout the years. The world that we live in today is so different than what the world millions of years ago was like. Today, society is so technologically advanced that I probably would not be able to survive in a hunting and gathering society. I think that people were very strong back then, both women and men. The men had the difficult task of hunting while the women poured a lot of their energy in gathering. Its just amazing to see how the world has evolved from sticks and stones to computers and airplanes.
When one thinks about the world 250,000 years ago, what comes to mind? For me, I would just think of dinosaurs, but in reality 250,000 homo sapiens emerged in eastern and southern Africa. While here, the Human Revolution took place, this was when culture became more important than biology in shaping human behavior. Also while in Africa humans made amazing technological advances including stones and bones. People were no longer just scavenging for food but rather began fishing and hunting in a more organized manner, for example people made settlements around the movement of game and fish. We can also see at this time, one of the first patterns of exchange. Early life is so interesting to learn and read about. To sit here and imagine life how it was and life how it is now is utterly perplexing. We have come so far as a human race, I cant wait to see where the future takes us!