Laura's Online Journal

I can't believe just how much I am learning in these chapters.   Chapter 7 dealt with "Commerce and Culture".  How interesting to read how the civilizations expanded because of the different trade routes that were available at specific times in history. There was the Silk Road originally established in Eurasia which - as we know- was where the bulk of the human population resided.  It was named after the commodity that was being sold.  Women played a very important role here since it was them that had to take care of the silk worm environment so that the silk could be produced.  They acquired the silk and wove the fibers into thread to make the luxury materials that everyone wanted. Then there were the Sea Roads which used the Indian Ocean as the means for trade among China and eastern Africa. Finally, there were the Sand Roads which were used to transport goods and services across the Sahara Desert.  This trade route joined North Africa and the Medi...

I'm trudging along, finally finished Chapter 6 and it wasn't easy.  I don't know why this chapter was difficult for me to complete.  I had my momentum going from the beginning of the readings and then Chapter 6 came along and stumped me. The three main civilizations that were discussed were Africa, the Americas, and Pacific Oceania which, by the way, I have never even heard about.  I honestly didn't know of a region known as Pacific Oceania in any of my studies growing up.  I'm still learning new things, I guess. After reading about 35 pages in this lesson, the theme that emerged from the pages for me was the fact that no matter how simple or complex a civilization was formed or even how long it lasted in the world's span of time, they always came to an end.  People that were once so vibrant and full of life were wiped off the face of this earth with almost no trace whatsoever.  These were people that had families of their own, day-to-day struggles and ...

The title of Chapter 5 is "Society and Inequality in Eurasia/North Africa".  So the main topic discussed here was the caste system in India, the unjust selection of individuals in China who could be selected for positions of civil service, and finally, slavery as it was in the Roman Empire.  There was also the view of the patriarchal societies in these regions and more specifically in Athens, Sparta, and Greece.  Basically, it boils down to women being subordinate to their male counterparts and restricted in their daily lives. I have looked over my previous posts and had a habit of summarizing the chapters instead of just giving my opinion of the content.  So I will try to change it up as such in this blog post.  Bear with me. As I have pondered the material, what stands out for me is the word "patriarch".  In all of these societies, males dominated over women and children and it was just accepted.  This was the way it had always been and would co...

Chapter 4 speaks mostly about the religious practices in different regions.  The text begins with the introduction of Confucianism and Daoism. Confucius' actual name was Kong Fuzi and he was born in 551.  He was an everyday person who lived thousands of years ago in China.  He was born from wealthy parents.  During this time, China was going through turmoil.  There was much disorder in the land, and Confucius believed that he had the answer to all of China's troubles.  His profound way of thinking was what set him apart from other forms of understanding and, in turn, became a leading culture in China. Daoism was started by a figure named Laozi.  Whether this person actually existed isn't known for certain, but the Daoism way of thinking did make its mark and moved forward in China. Confucianism and Daoism were opposite ways of thinking.  Confucianism thought was patriarchal and viewed the family in hierarchical terms.  It focused on educa...

So, as I've previously mentioned, History has never been one of my strong points.  Chapter 3, while interesting at best, did have me flipping pages back and forth to the map illustrations just so I could visualize exactly where all of the cities and empires that the chapter was referring to were situated. The text begins this chapter with the Persian Empire, which was the largest and perhaps greatest of empires that ever existed.   The map depicting the area that this empire encompassed was amazing. The Persians, ruled by a king, were able to acquire more and more land through their conquests making them unsurpassable. The Persians created a successful system of government that was the foundation for future administrations to follow.  There were officials that ran certain departments, so to speak, such as tax collecting, record keeping, etc.  It is from here that I can see the origins of the systems we have in place today.  They also tried to promote the cus...

I have never been much of a history enthusiast.  I always wanted to be but had a difficult time organizing all of the information.  In the end, everything was intermingled and nothing made any sense.  Now that I am much older, things seem to fall into place with a bit more ease than in my younger years.  I can actually retain information now for my own knowledge and not just for an exam.  I appreciate my current learning experiences in a much more enriching way. One thing that seems to pique my interest, according to the textbook reading, was that the first homo sapiens came to originate in Africa.  Catholic Theology is a passion of mine and so right away, I connected this information with the story of Creation and the Garden of Eden.  I wanted to find the connection from the Scripture passage of the whereabouts of the Garden of Eden and the textbook reference to Africa to see if a correlation could be made. In Genesis 2:  10-14, the follo...

I finished creating my blog.  Yeah!!!!