Oliver Q. - World History

     In the past, there has been countless times through history that we hear about numerous people dying or being affected by viruses/diseases.  Many people were isolated and lacked domesticating animals that meant the absence of acquired immunities to diseases like smallpox, measles, typhus, influenza, malaria, yellow fever, etc.  One was "The Great Dying"(pg 557), when people of Europe arrived to America, there was a smallpox pandemic brought over through the travel by sea that caused so many people to die from the plague plus hunger.  "The Little Ice Age", it was a period of unusual cool temperatures that happened during the early modern period with the peak in the mid-seventeeth century more specifically hitting China, Europe, and North America.  While those in tropical areas experienced extreme heat causing societies and civilizations to go through a tough time of drought, widespread famine, and epidemics that caused many people to die.  Alt...

    July 4th is the day celebrated by Americans as its Independence Day or almost as its "birth day", but it isn't about the fireworks, BBQs, or showing off the red, white, and blue colors that we have been accustom to throughout the years.  This historic day was about being independent form Great Britain as the colonies of America formed a committee creating the Declaration of Independence to cut ties from the Britains.  It is often portrayed and talked about that it only depicted white men in wigs but this also consisted of Native Americans, African Americans and women that played a key role especially during the American Revolution.  The Boston Tea Party was a significant protest that involved dumping the English Tea into the waters because of taxes from the British government.  The famous Paul Revere warned people that the British were coming on a horse.  Women played an important role as nurses and some even military missions.  For examp...

Tony Orpeza's Question & Answer 9.  The image I chose to write about is the one depicting Britain's enormous amount of greed on page 790. I think Strayer chose this particular cartoon because of the volumes of truth it actually speaks. At a time where the world could have been created in a peaceful, equal manner, a country like Britain did everything they absolutely could to extend their power and reach among other civilizations. An example is Britain being defeated in the American Revolution only to go back and try to start an opium war with China. The hand above Egypt, shows me that Britain indeed was plotting a scheme to get a piece of Egypt along with the other countries it has its hands on. I personally do not like this image, but I felt like I could relate to it. Today in America it seems that we owe so many countries so much money. This picture for some reason reminded me of today. The difference is that global bankers and elite families with mass amounts of money ar...

1) What was The Great Dying? Cite examples and details from the historical record in your response. Could this be considered a genocide? Why/ why not? The Great Dying was in the Americas where it was a natural phenomenon also known as "the Little Ice Age" which the period of unusual cold temperature spread mostly in the Northern hemisphere.  Scholars debate the causes suggesting: "a low point in sunspot activity, leading to less intense solar irradiation of the earth"; "chief cause was volcanic eruptions, whose ash and gases blocked the sun's warming energy in the upper atmosphere"; scientist also link it to the "demographic collapse in the Americas" which is the Native Americans deserting their farmland and traditional practices of forest management that caused a revival of plant life to take in large amounts of carbon dioxide and green house gas which got into the atmosphere and resulted in a global cooling.  This is a tough consideration o...

What can Galileo's discoveries with his telescope and his conviction by the Inquisition tell us about the Scientific Revolution?         The brilliant Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei unlocked the potential of the telescope to observe the night sky.  Throughout history, there has always been a conflict between religion and science.  Galileo made discoveries trying to understand the cosmos using his telescope.  His findings were even til this day incredible, but was simply misunderstood.  The advancements of science seemed to be at a stand still or pushed back whenever it was being connected or related to religion.  His empirical evidence transformed the debate over the nature of the cosmos which compared to Copernicus' advanced theory of the solar system.  Galileo had constant critics and warnings especially from the Church about his publications in regards to his new found knowledge.  I feel that the Inquis...

What drove European involvement in the world of Asian commerce?    One of the main reasons was the desire and popularity of tropical spices.  These spices were sought after not just to use as condiments and preservatives but were also known to be aphrodisiacs.  The other products of the Chinese innovative technology such as paper, the compass, gunpowder, and silk were becoming world renown.  There were also treasure seekers looking for emeralds, rubies, and sapphires which were in high demand in exchange for other popular goods like fur, silver, and gold.  It seems as if Asia had so much "exotic" things that many people needed to have or wanted to own these commodities.  But it also gave Europeans to expand territory, exploration of new or unknown lands, trade, and even conquer or control people especially to put their beliefs into the natives of the lands they visited.   A topic that resonated with me was when Spain established themselves in the ...

What were the distinctive features of Chinese empire building in the early modern era?     In the modern era, China was expanding its territorial size of the country and started to reach even those of non-Chinese people.  The Manchu, or China's Qing dynasty, conquered China as outsiders becoming a foreign dynasty but continued massive projects of imperial expansion (1644-1912) and contain the cultural traditions of the Chinese like Confucian teachings, Chinese language, and Chinese bureaucratic techniques to govern the growing empire.   The Chinese reached regions known as Tibet, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and central Asia to trade or even conducted battle/wars in order to take control using military might then instill the Chinese ways.  This new Chinese imperial state was growing and was still a masculine society which is upsetting.  Its disappointing to know that the Qing rulers were very firm with the Confucian gender roles favoring the men as women were s...

     Throughout our lives we encounter a time where "breathing" becomes a topic or is emphasized during an activity.  When we are exerting energy especially in a physical fitness aspect, we need to properly focus on our breathing so that we can conserve our oxygen intake when running or learning how to breath in and out while lifting weights.  In yoga or mindfulness practices, breathing is one of thee main concentrations in order to achieve a sort of balance.  But overall, breathing is an essential because we need to in order to live.   In recent events to where the quote "I can't breath" is now a world wide and well known phrase that people just don't say, but is a statement of how important a breath can be.  A man named George Floyd could not breath because of a police officer who used excessive force to apprehend this man but also use illogical technique of putting his knee on the back of George's neck which constricted not just oxygen but bloo...

FOR: 1. Acceptance and prominent roles for women in the Mongol society. Among the Mongols, the remarriage of widows were not negative compared to how the Chinese saw it, and women were able to ask for the divorce.  Mongol women also served as political advisers and were active in military affairs too.  One passage of importance I read said, “Girls and women ride and gallop as skillfully as men. We even saw them carrying quivers and bows, and the women can ride horses for as long as the men; they have shorter stirrups, handle horses very well, and mind all the property. Mongol women make everything: skin clothes, shoes, leggings, and everything made of leather. They drive carts and repair them, they load camels, and are quick and vigorous in all their tasks. They all wear trousers, and some of them shoot just like men.” 2. Mongol Empire revitalizes Silk Road commerce (13th-14th century) 3. The Mongols recognized the effectiveness of gunpowder and during their conquest of C...

  Christendom historically refers to the "Christian world" specifically the Christian states, Christian majority countries and places in which Christianity is the dominant religion. In a historical meaning, this was during which the Christian world represented a geopolitical power opposing paganism and especially Muslim belief.      There are many similarities yet differences between Islamic and Christian belief.  These are the two biggest religions in the world with Christians at 2.3 billion and Muslims at 1.8 billion world wide (Hackett, Conrad.  McClendon, David.  “Christians remain world’s largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe.”  pewresearch.org  April 5, 2017).  With both religious groups consisting of over 50% of the religious world population. Beyond the theological debates, political and cultural differences generated division even among the orthodox. The bishop of Rome gradually emerged as the domin...

This is going to be a very interesting, but hopefully fun experience... so let's get started!  I believe that China from approximately 1000 to 1500 A.D. was more significant in the Renaissance period compared to Europe.  Here's why: The Chinese innovation was ahead of its time and even way before Europe.  Many of their inventions spread to many civilizations where they were modified and tried to develop something of their own.  But since Europe was on the opposite end of the Eurasian continent, it took a long time for these developments to even happen or be heard of in Europe. The Chinese inventions of gunpowder and more were brought to Europe by traders during the Renaissance.  China was the innovators and thee original creators of many things that spread all over the world just to be imitated or altered to their own benefits masking the Chinese inventions. China sparked the Renaissance and forever changed the course of Western civilization and there is evidenc...

  What I found most sad was what women had to go through and still even face today.  I was raised and taught to respect women especially growing up with my family consisting of powerful, intelligent, and hard working dedicated women.  I now have two daughters who I continue to help support, raise their awareness of feminism, and understand how important it is to be a woman but also a woman of culture.  During the Tang dynasty, the Chinese elite women enjoyed freedom but Japanese and Korean women experienced pressures of Confucian orthodoxy.  Japan’s women, unlike those in Korea, were more free from the oppressive features of Chinese Confucian culture, like the prohibition of remarriage for widows, seclusion within the home, and foot binding.  Japanese women continued to inherit property, Japanese married couples often didn't have to live with each other or stayed with their family still and marriages happened but didn't last long which these were not the Co...

  What I found the most interesting was about the exchanges and trades during the era of third-wave civilizations from 500 to 1500, in the Silk, Sea and Sand Roads of the Afro-Eurasian world.  It was a very big operation of business, travel, and commitment (perseverance) through different terrain, geography, weather, etc but they continued to trek back and forth.     We have the convenience of phones, instant messaging, and other ways of communication with the use of technology.  For about 2,000 years the goods, ideas, beliefs (religions), technologies made their way across Eurasia on the several routes of the Silk Roads but also brought diseases too. Then for around thousand years or more, the Sahara was like an ocean of sand that connected parts of Africa together and the Mediterranean but also separated them too.  There were various ways for transporting goods like packing up an animal or sending messages by foot, but along the way such as the Inca ...

Is it a time to conform? Is it a time to seek friendship? Is it a time to challenge? Is it a time to make change? I believe that history is indeed repeating itself and changes have been needed for so long now.  Challenges have always been obstacles, but it's how we go over those walls, make way to go through them, and/or create a path to go around it.  Friendship isn't to be sought out for, from my experience I know the friends that are still around and are with you through all your ups and downs are your true friends.  Friendship comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.   For where I stand, I have a lot I've been trying to process.  Amid the COVID pandemic, parents in another country, talking to my daughter about racism, and worried for my youngest brother who's in the military/police officer.... its a lot to take in. Today I felt like I needed to draw out something and the first thing I could picture in my mind was the powerful clenched fist. The closed ra...