Summer of Pandemic - History Blogs

To my fellow classmates during the summer of a pandemic. We did it! Cheer to all! Stay safe out there. -Iris https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pRJ2y9mJQmT8ZaUypXdLDaLmlgrHLTXC/view?usp=sharing

“Why Pride sponsors shouldn’t hit pause during Black Lives Matter protests.”    https://strategyonline.ca/2020/06/09/why-pride-sponsors-shouldnt-hit-pause-during-black-lives-matter-protests/ Justin Dallaire. June 9, 2020 So many differences in the world made up of so many different people. Different languages, cultures, and beliefs. Each person has a unique identity and for all of us, it is a basic human right. Of course, this is not entirely true as it is today. Our world's history has fought for decades for human rights and equality. We have come a long way considering the women's suffrage movement and the civil rights era was not too long ago in modern-day history. Had I not taken this class, I would not appreciate or understand the history of our world as much as I do now. I have more of an interest and spark in history. I do know if one thing is for sure, history will always repeat itself, even if it is decades later, or even more. The article argued the importance of...

Coronavirus: Why Africans Should Take Part in Vaccine Trials https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52678741 By Anne Mawathe,  Africa health editor, BBC News,  May 18, 2020 This article was very controversial considering the current world's coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matters protests due to racial injustices. The pandemic has caused hurt, fear, anxiety, frustrations, anger and so many more emotions as the world faces a plague of the COVID-19, and no one can escape it. Furthermore, the Black Lives Matter protestors are at a high, causing major disruption in efforts to support the excessive amount of black lives lost by law enforcement. This paired with the pandemic brings a chaotic world to live in with disease, unemployment, and no racial prejudice and a huge divide and hate amongst humanity due to color. Now that I understand more about history, I know that the social movements of people against the law often lead to wars but are also movements for chang...

Turkey Turning Hagia Sophia Back into Mosque Divides Social Media - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/turkey-turning-hagia-sophia-mosque-divides-social-media-200711104417533.html Umut Uras, July 11, 2020 This article struck me. I first began to read and understand the people of Istanbul and their victory to take back what was theirs, the mosque, Hagia Sophia. The mosque was converted into a museum. Natives built the mosque in 1453 as a sacred place to worship. In hearing the rich history, culture, and pride, I was moved by the article. My heartfelt happy for the Muslim people in Istanbul and their freedom to practice their faith in an establishment that was meant to pray in. Prior to a mosque, the Hagia Sophia was a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire before the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453 and changed its name to Istanbul. Christian Byzantine Empire was the eastern part of the Roman Empire for the Turkish people. People are torn in today’s world a...

In the 1930's, women began to enter the workforce by the numbers. "Woman can do anything," became a famous party slogan in the 1960's when nearly half of the workforce was women. It was not until a movement prior to World War I. It was not until then, could women hold legal and political equality, marriage, aberration, divorce, pregnant leave, a woman could choose their surname. When women work just like a male, the burden of household chores, childcare and other things go left undone and this was the same back then. Because the woman tends to do the household chores and cares for the children, all while working and caring for the family. Women continue to get challenged when it comes to political leadership. The idea does not sit well for some, but women continue to push and it is working. More women hold power in this country like never before and it was all hard-earned fighting and bloodshed lead by the former women leaders in society who have dared to be heard.

America prides itself on having the "World's highest standard of living," or "There's no way like the American way". During the Great Depression, this was especially the case as blacks were at a severe disadvantage trying to survive life, and whites were deemed as wealthy and happy. It is as we are going back and repeating history by continuing the racial injustices in our country. The rate of unemployment in today's economy mirrors the snapshot of high unemployment during the Great Depression. The protests against police brutality against colored people rises and is consistent with the era during the Great Depression. It came full circle and here we are again, our world facing the newest depression that is yet to be written in history books as we are living it now.

 In what way(s) do you see the historical developments described in this chapter continuing to evolve in our world today? Make a separate blog post for each chapter.  My book does not go up to chapter 24. The last chapter is 23. Ways of the World, Third Edition

 In what way(s) do you see the historical developments described in this chapter continuing to evolve in our world today? Make a separate blog post for each chapter.  Globalization has heightened since 1945 in today's world. After World War II, the United States worked hard to not fall into an economy much like the Depression-era. The world's economy continues to transform and repeat behaviors in history, only to get the same results it seems. Factors such as feminism, capitalism, environmentalism, fundamentalism, global modernity display the impacts of capitalism and culture in our world. Working backward until now - In 1945, the UN, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund was established. In the 1960's there was a rise in feminism, and the Six-day Arab-Israeli war happened. In the 1970's Greenpeace was established, and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the United Nations and created the Iranian revolutio...

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 when the Europeans came in to take of the ingenious people in America. 56 million people died by 1600. When Christopher Columbus and his fellow Europeans came into the America’s, they killed nearly 90% of the Native American population. As the natives died, so did their crops. The environment began to change because of the changing in the soil. Soon, the Little Ice Age, small pox, measles and other diseases took over by killing millions of people as an environmental response. The Europeans intent to kill and wipe out a colony is definitely genocide and the diseases that followed created a pandemic, making this double deadly.  2)  What did native Siberians and native Americans have in common in terms of their experiences with Europeans during the early Modern period?   ...

My grandmother lived through malaria in Indonesia in the 1940’s. She was a young child who survived malaria herself. She often told me of the sad stories of people dying left and right from either malaria or starvation. Bodies lay piled in the masses in the middle of a dugout street, and way too many small children left to die. I recall her many memories and stories on this pandemic. Malaria hit in Southeast Asia in 1942 when the US Army and the Japanese were at war. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites that attack the human body and is carried through mosquitos and said to come from as far back as the ice age. Antimalarial combats this disease, and at this time was scarce.   Many American soldiers fighting in the war contracted the disease. Once a person has malaria, they are either very ill for several weeks and got better with rest and healing or the disease went rampant and the person died. Signs of malaria are fever, chills, and weakness. This is much like th...

The 4 th of July or Independence Day is an American celebration of the independence granted to the 13 Continental Congress during the American Revolution. After the independence of the delegates, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. The 18 th Century, American holiday began in 1941. It is widely celebrated in today’s world, often with barbecues and fireworks to display our patriotism. My family and I often celebrate by having our own fireworks display at home with family. We barbeque our favorite dishes, swim, play corn-hole, horseshoes and potato sack races. There is always watermelon, fire sparklers and barbeque for as young as I can remember.

Science in the 19th century challenged the faith of the enlightenment. Charles Darwin argued that life was a constant change and a struggle for survival. He believed evolution occurred through natural selection which created conflict with Christians. Karl Marx also highlighted pain and struggle in life and human civilization and in turn the start of socialism. Sigmund Freud concentrated on human emotions and thought that our conscience influences human sexuality and behavior such as aggression. In the 20th century, physics created a new view of science. Findings such as light bending, matter, and energy are equivalent and space can warp light. All of these scientists formulated the birth of our modern science today.

The world economy goes back further than our modern world today. Economic globalization is similar both now and roughly the early 1700's. World trades of spices, gold, silver, textiles, coffee, chocolate, and sugar are some of the things that were traded globally. By the 18th century, the trades touched so many places as items from global commerce made their ways to countries far and wide. Things such as Indian rugs, china eating dishes, and Mexican chocolate were in places far from their origin. This created a highly competitive market. In today's world, modern economic globalization picked up in the year 2000 when goods shipped out quickly and vastly across the world. Today, China continues to be a key player in the world of economy and global commerce.

The Great Dying is a reminder in today's world, that the history of the Americas repeats itself and pandemics have cycled around since before our time of COVID-19. The theory is the absence of pets or domesticated animals weakened the immunities of people to become ill with smallpox, malaria, yellow fever, the flu, and typhus. The Native American people died at alarming rates when they were exposed to the African/European diseases. Similarly, as in today's world, the ice age came about due to climate change of cool temperatures. Pandemic followed by a global climate crisis stemmed from the Great Dying and the Ice Age from 1450-1750. Who would have known nearly 600 years ago we would face the same type of issues of the spread of COVID wiping out mass amounts of the population, followed by global warming, which eventually leads to global cooling.

In the first half of the 2 nd millennium AD, approximately 1000-1500 AD China was growing quicker than ever and was the fastest growing economy at the time. When Europe also expanded, after 1500, both economies were expanding and were about equal in size and economic stability. Silver trades were done between Europe and China between 1400-1800 AD. Both China and Europe grew more successful year after year. China grew much quicker than in Europe prior to 1500 AD.  The Renaissance occurred between 1300-1700. Because China supported the trade economy with Europe, Europe was able to re-birth its country during this time and not China. Therefore, I do not agree “ The first half of the 2 nd millennium AD marked a period of rebirth in China that was just as significant as the Renaissance in Europe.” After the middle-ages, the re-birth occurred in Europe during the Renaissance, a time for cultural, political, artistic, and economy. 

We all have a right to breathe as humans. "I can't breathe," said George Floyd as his last few words before he dies by the knee of a police officer. We should all appreciate each breath we take, as it is a life we are breathing and another day of opportunity in this world. When we are breathing, we are blessed with life. Today's social injustices, of racial prejudices, is taunting America. It's time for the US leaders to listen and change things. We must not continue to repeat a history of murder for Black Americans. In other countries, such as Mexico, women are fighting to breathe. They are getting murdered at a quick rate and the Mexican leadership is said to have turned a blind eye. The people of Mexico are now protesting to fight and stand up to social inequality and gender issues. No matter what country you are in, prejudice and hate turn into anger, riots, death, and the destruction of the human bond to trust. We must value life and the breaths we should a...

I was able to find at least 3 good talking points for the Classical period of Chinese civilization.

  I was sad / disappointed / angry to read that… Though in early Islam, the men and women were considered equal in the teachings of the Quran, this may not have been fully the case. It was understood in the Quran that there was a level of gender inclusiveness and believers were both men and women. However; socially this was not the case. In the eyes of marriage, the Quran placed women as subordinate and inferior, leaving men with the power and overall authority. The Quran goes as far as to read, "Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient." JUST WOW! I could not believe my eyes when I read this. It makes me upset to read that women have always been put in dimmer light and the value of women has never been fully respected, not even in religion. However; we have evolved as human species to fight for equality and respect. To have authority over ourselves, to ear...

  I found it interesting to read that… The old folk character, Mullah Nasruddin, the Wise Fool of Islam expressed many different parts of the human ego. From vanity to lack of rational, his tales were used in these villages to capture spiritual life such as generosity, tolerance, and humility. These stories are jokes and communicate moral teachings about human and social behaviors. These tales were thought to expand the human thinking past the conformity and social conditioning of the way people think. 

Today in the U.S., people are fighting for social justice and racial equality; not to mention on top of a pandemic that has hit the entire globe and has taken over four hundred thousand lives and nearly 7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. The world seemed to shut down, people began to isolate and then the riots began in U.S.  In regards to racial and social justice, I believe it is now time to challenge and not to conform to the old ways of racism. It is time to make a change as we are far overdue in our nation. I believe all lives matter and together, united we are stronger than ever. We must remain vigilant and strong. 

I somewhat agree that the histories of Africa and the Americas resembled those of Eurasia however Eurasia has more artifacts and records than the Americas or Africa did. Eurasia also contained over 80% of the population of the world. Larger religions such as Christianity and Buddhism took up a majority of Eurasia while smaller regions consumed Africa.  Bantu Africa did not experience the massive migrations or did it experience invasions from Alexander the Great. Eurasia covered an area of 21,049,000 miles and grew to a population of 5,041 million compared to Africa's 11,608,000 square miles and population up to 1,110 million. The Americas together covered 16,245,000 miles and had a population of up to 972 million. The human migration began in Africa and then went into Eurasia and the Americas. These three super-continents lead the Agricultural Revolution and transformed human life.

Changes and patterns of social life in the second-wave civilizations occurred, just at a much slower pace than today's modern world. Life ceremonies such as childbirth, marriage, and death were honored and rituals were developed. Developments such as agriculture, creation of cities, humans settled to one particular area, and states began to build. These all happened over time and in fact, people did not get to live to see the entire social change that was brought upon these actions. Religions emerged, leaders conquered empires and other social and cultural patterns became. Social systems were formed as well as patriarchy. All of these patterns in history have had a lasting effect as these made an impact on today's world to some degree.

The secular outlook on the world comes from a long line of history dated back to the second wave era as far as the early 1st century B.C.E. with Christianity.  The thinkers of this era go all the way back to the 9th century of the second-wave era with the religious/philosophic ideas. These regions have lead humans, even through today's world.

I think contemporary circumstances are mostly unique compared to the past, in particular, the second-wave empires as they may not be relevant in today's world. The ancient legacies of the second-wave empire do in fact teach lessons that related to the world back then however in today's modern world, it seems as if these are merely lessons for the empires back then and not today. For example, in China the Chinese leaders compared themselves by proving their excellence by the number of scholars killed under their dictatorship as to say the leader who killed the most was the better one and so forth. The influence of the second-wave whether inspirational or precautionaries were lessons for this era and not so much the new age. 

The NY Times published the following article  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-inequality-history.html  about the economic need for small businesses and essential workers. I find it interesting that history is repeating itself to some degree as the wealthiest 1% always seem to get tax breaks, however; they heavily rely on essential workers and the small businesses for the grunt work of things. To sustain an economy, we need local networks and workforces and not rich kings and elitist. The working class and poor people most times feel they do not have the power as the rich do, however, when they come together as a community, they find that they have an immense power to overthrow the rich as the rich relies on them and without them, money does not generate. During the Bronze Age, 50% of the population was killed by plague, wars, fire, and famine. When these rich towns died, two new small communities were built, both fairly and sustainable by all of t...

  It was surprising to learn of the most distinctive first civilization cities, Uruk. This was the largest city in Mesopotamia and had a population of over 50,000 people. The astonishing city could be seen from miles away. In the center of the city was a stepped pyramid and walls over 20 feet tall surround the center. This city was built by people of different trades such as copper workers, masons, and weavers. The city was filled with other temples and places of ritual. The Epic of Gilgamesh comes from this which is Mesopatmia's poem describing Uruk. The poem goes like this, "Come then, Enikdu, to tamparted Uruk. Where fellows are respledent in holiday clothing, where ever day is set for celebration, where harps and drums are played. And the harlots too, they are fairest of form, rich in beauty, full of delights, even the great gods are kept from sleeping at night." This poem captures the spirit of the city and the sacred and vibrant energy it has.

I was sad / disappointed / angry to read that the social order of the Catalhuyuk in southern Turkey in 7400-6000 B.C.E. buried their dead under their houses and then filled the houses with dirt and built new ones on top, layer after layer. There was nothing between the homes in this village, not even the streets. The homes built so high people would walk on rooftops to enter the home. The idea was to keep social and gender equality of these the hunting and gathering communities as the did not have dictators, kings, queens, aristocrats, chiefs, or bureaucrats. Men and women could commonly wear many hats and do many things despite gender. Social equality is not what made me sad at all, in fact this is delightful to hear of the social justice brought on even back then. What made me sad was the idea of dead bodies in a home, the smell of them, the living on top of them, and just the idea that people lived on graveyards for several thousand people, all within a small geographic area grossed...

I found it interesting that scholars thought of the first people as gathering and hunting people rather than food producers. The old stone era was a time when humans foraged for food and dead animals to survive, rather than produce or farm for food. This is the only time in history when this type of thing happened. Up until modern history, humans continue to produce food; in fact probably too vast and definitely not of on the same level as the new stone age. On the same note, it is interesting indeed that modern-day humans pay a tribute to the paleolithic era while recognizing the fashion fad, "Paelo," diet which attempts to emulate the diets of paleolithic humans over 12,000 years ago. The diet is consistent with the paleolithic era diet and the food they would forage such as wild grains, nuts, berries, roots, fish, and meat. Despite the simple fact of history often neglects to recognize the paleo era and the significance of its teachings, its rich substance its relevance t...

Cosmic Era – Evolution of universe from Big Bang, ( 3.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology Gaiac Era – Theory predicts earth’s behaviors as a single organism. For balance between the between biotic and abiotic elements on Earth.  The earth's ecosystems interacting forming components of the earth's structure and regulating the earth. http://www.catholic-saints.net/gaia-and-gaianism/ Paleolithic   Era – aka, old stone age when humans were Neanderthals. https://www.ancient.eu/Paleolithic/ Neolithic Era – The new stone age and the final stage of  cultural evolution  among prehistoric humans https://www.britannica.com/event/Neolithic Ancient Era – The Ancient Era is the earliest era in Civilization IV and its expansions. It begins in  4000 BC  . https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Ancient_Era_(Civ4) Classical Era – The period between the 8th century BC and the 6...

Early humans date back to six million years. Modern forms of humans evolved nearly 200,000 years ago. Human civilization is about 6,000 years old. https://www.universetoday.com/38125/how-long-have-humans-been-on-earth/ Australopithecus aka, “Ape man,” or Southern ape are known to be related to or ancestors of early humans discovered in South Africa. Australopithecus  lived about 4.4 million -1.4 million years ago in the mya during the   Pliocene  and  Pleistocene  epochs. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australopithecus The Homo Erectus aka, “Upright man,” had roughly the same size bodies as the modern human. These fossils were found at different parts of the world, including Indonesia which is where my family is from. Fossils found range back to one million + years ago and were known to have larger brains than other species of humans. https://www.livescience.com/41048-facts-about-homo-erectus.html Homo Sapiens aka, “Wise man,” or “Early human...

I was intrigued by the many facts of history dated back to 14 billion years ago to now and looking in the future on the Big History Project website,  https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home . Bill Gates is one the founders of this project which I am not surprised since he is brilliant, resourceful, and is dedicated to making a difference in our world. Big History is broken into 8 different groups called thresholds, 1) Big bang 2) Star formation 3) New chemical elements 4) New Earth & solar system. 5) Life on earth 6) Collective learning 7) Agriculture 8) Modern revolution. I had only heard of a couple of thresholds individually and did not realize they were all tied together in the Big History Project. It is mindblowing to see all of the correlations of all of the thresholds and how they each made an impact in this world. All of the information found on this project is very valuable. The Goldilocks Theory of, too hot, too cold, and just right is simple and genius. It would take ...

Howdy from Turlock, California, ya'll. I am a Bay Area native and moved to the valley 18 years ago. You read that right, I am not 18 years old fresh from high school but rather was living my life for the past 18 years. I graduated long ago in Y2K (2000). I am a mother of 3 children and it was more important for me to invest my time to raise my children than stay in college. I chose to work full-time, be married, and raise a family instead. So here I am, prepped to finally graduate in Spring 2021. Just one semester before my high school son graduates which is my goal. How could I tell him to go to college when I had not? So, phew, by the hair of a tail I am doing it. I have worked in the Human Services Field since 2002 on state and federal grants. Currently, I work for my local Office of Education as an Operations Coordinator for the Child & Family Services Division. This is my 10th year here. I love what I do and what makes it better is to have the opportunity to work with hu...