Homework 4/13

In my political cartoon a man happily walks through with a hat, sunglasses and carrying two suitcases. In the background there are two small houses, with two men out front with angry expressions on their faces. Their feet are chained to the ground, while the man up front walks around freely and happily. They watch him in anger. 

This picture represents the capitulation treaties in the Ottoman Empire. The sultans signed these treaties because they did not want to bother administering justice over foreign merchants. So, this allowed European visitors to be exempt from Ottoman law. It made many Ottoman citizens angry, and eventually the practice was discarded. In my cartoon, the happy man up front is the European tourist while the other angry men in the background are chained to the ground because they are bound by the law while the European is not. 

Homework 3/30

Niall Ferguson's Ted Talk '6 Killer Apps of Prosperity' was very clear and informative. He explained the reasons for the rise of Western civilization and explained why it is coming to an end. I thought he made some very good points, for example his point about competition and how the Europeans endorsed competition in the market and among corporations and this improved their society, while China endorsed conformity by making all applicants for the government take one difficult test. One thing he said that was most interesting to me was that he doesn't think the Western Civilization will fall just because "it is the pattern of history". This is an interesting viewpoint as so many historians have predicted it is inevitable. I thought this talk was also very relevant to this class because everything he discussed we are learning about in class. For example the Ottomans destroying the telescope they had made, it helped his point and it was something we had talked about in class. 

Anatomy of Revolution

Step 1- Causes. Revolution is caused when a middle class feels a sense of injustice and is unable to be heard in the government. They begin to form intellectual groups, and often the government itself is weak or disunited.

Step 2- first stage. The first stage brings two groups directly in clear opposition, and the government is unable to effectively put a stop to it.

Step 3- second stage. The moderate revolutionaries and the radical revolutionaires clash. The radicals almost always win because they are disciplined, well-organized, and fanatical. 

Step 4- final stage. Eventually the radicals disappear and a new dictator comes back into place. People return to their normal lives.

Pocketmap Islam

Homework 3/1

Columbus has his own holiday because he supposedly "discovered" the New World. Kids are taught this from the very first years of elementary school. His discovery led to an opening up of exploration to the New World, which later led to colonizations and settlements, and the formation of a new country. But although this all seems grand and fine, Columbus does not really deserve his own holiday. He was not the only explorer to reach these waters nor the first. It is a well-known fact that the Vikings reached America before him, and though they did not colonize it, they still "discovered" it. I put "discover" in quotes because there were already civilizations living there, and really what Columbus did was create a metaphorical bridge between the two halves of the world. But he himself wasn't really all that grand. He thought he landed in Asia, and never actually admitted he made a mistake. What's more, he brought smallpox and disease to the Native Americans and wiped out more than 15% of their population. Maybe we should reconsider it and call it "Explorers Day" in honor of all the other exporers of this time. The Vikings, Magellan, Prince Henry the Navigator, etc. 

Homework 2/26

No, I do not buy Menzie's argument that Zheng He's fleet made it to America before Colombus. He has a good-sounding theory but no real evidence. A huge part of Menzies' argument is that Nicollo Dicontti passed on Chinese maps to the Europeans. When there is a statue of Zheng He next to an unknown foreigner, Minzies automatically jumps to the conclusion that the unknown foreigner is Nicollo Dicontti. He also takes the fact that Zheng He's ship travels 40 knots, and makes it so that the 40 knots takes the ships to the African cape where he wants it. He uses many ideas about sea charts and fits them into his theory. He believes we must accept this theory because he is a former marine and assumes we wouldn't know any better about sea routes and winds. I think he finds a few interesting ideas to support his thesis, but none of them seem to be cold-hard evidence, which is what historians will need to accept his argument. 

Homework 2/13

1. Aztecs learned urban tradition in the valley of Mexico

2. Aztecs were "barbarian"

3. Aztecs went on a pilgrimage

1. Nobles did the warfare, individuals sacrificed on battlefields were nobles

2. The Aztec Empire was a tribute empire

1. Did anyone rebel/complain against the high levels of human sacrifice?

Homework 2/10

What are the five examples of proof that Aquinas gives to prove the existence of God?

1. Everything on earth changes and moves as a result of something else; therefore the first mover must be powerful and does not need anything to move IT. This force is God.

2. Everything is a cause and effect chain- the ultimate first cause, before everything else, is God.

3. There must be something that exists first because of itself, this is God.

4. For one thing there is always something better than the first. So there must be something that is "truest, and best, and most noble, and in consequence, the greatest being". This greatest being would be God.

5. Natural things, lacking reason, move because of a purpose of a greater power, not by chance. This greater power is God.