Kristina Pinochi

This was the first time that Ive read or learned about the Mongols. After reading I was surprised that I had not in any other history class because the Mongols played a major part in uniting Eurasia. They supported trade by creating a massive network and that allowed Europe to get China's ideas and technology. For the first time paper money and banking was introduced. The reason the Mongols had a very powerful military was because they forced people to fight and if they refused they would kill them and it is hard for people to respect them. The Mongols conquered and took over China and had the largest land base in all of human history. I thought it was really amazing that there was gender equality. Women had rights and were allowed to fight in the military. I also liked reading that they did not force anyone to follow their culture or religion. Overall the Mongols had a lot of accomplishments in a short period of time.

China was a major classical civilization and has been since the Ancient Era. Trade has always been huge in China. Confucianism was reborn in the classical era because it was used to reorder during the Golden Age. Neo-Confucianism he wanted relationships of power to be orderly.  The economy in china grew quickly because of technology and engineering. There were a lot of improvements in industrial production. A major importance to note was rice was drought resistant so they always had food.  Reading about the examination system was interesting. I think it would be really scary to have only one exam that determines my whole life. It would really suck to be poor because you would not be able to afford a tutor.  After reading this chapter it seemed like almost everyone wanted to be Chinese because they had a really good economy. I would not want to be a female in china during the classical period because of the foot binding that was required for women. 

This chapter is important because it focused on Christendom. Christendom began in the Classical Era in year 0 when Jesus was born. He was seen as a threat to Romans because he had a lot of followers and they felt they were loosing control so they killed him. People had to hide while practicing Christianity in their homes. Eventually the Romans decided to make it the official religion. The problem with that was once it became the official religion the government had the control on how people could interpret the religion. People were not allowed to have their own interpretations. It was interesting to read that Byzantium would say that the empire did not fall or collapse it just moved east to Constantinople. Vladimir was a prince in Russia who wanted to control people of different backgrounds. He "shopped" for religions and chose Eastern Orthodox as the religion to be practiced. A huge reason why he did not choose Islam was because Islam did not allow people to drink and that...

This Chapter focused on three routes used for trading. The first was the Silk Route in Eurasia. This route provided products mostly for the elite. Things like porcelain, gold, paper and food. Unfortunately this route caused the population to decrease because the rats were able to carry the black death. The silk road was not a real road, but it did cause a huge increase in trade. The second route was the Sand route located in the Sahara in West Africa. This route was used to trade gold, slaves, and salt. Things were carried by camels, horses, donkeys and slaves. It was challenging for traders to navigate because they had to rely on other people for directions. This rode lead to hierarchy and advanced commercial centers. The third trading route was the sea in the Indian ocean surrounding Africa, Mediterranean, and China. This route allowed the trade of porcelain, spices, and bigger items because boats were transporting goods. Ideas were able to spread because of these boats and that ...

There were different variations of how places were socially. Places like the Niger River cities had relative equality. Men and women balanced each other and worked together. This reminds me of the gather-hunter era. The Bantin Migrations was most significant because there was no social hierarchy because they were gathering and hunting. Once agriculture started taking place it lead to social inequality. Americas greatest city was Teotihuacan and it was very inspiring. They were very big and only had to trade within each other. The Pacific islanders were interesting to read about. They only had small villages with no large cities. Everyone had rolls to play. There was Social hierarchy  because they conquered within each other.

Social inequality started taking place in the Neolithic Era. In China wealthy families had land. Peasants were forced to give their land to the wealthy. Landlords were able to escape taxes leaving the peasants to make up for it. Most people were actually peasants and a lot of them could barely survive. Peasants were the backbone for society because they worked so hard. Merchants were seen as unproductive and greedy. In India they had a caste system. The caste system was made up of priest, warriors, merchants, peasants and outcasts In Rome a third of the population were barbarians or slaves. It started with people enslaving animals for agriculture and then that lead to human slaves. Slaves were so miserable they would commit suicide. It is interesting to look at how social inequality has developed over time In the Paleolithic era there was no real social hierarchy because everyone was moving all the time. In the Neolithic era people had property after they learned how to obta...