West Civ Day #49- Last Day

Today in West Civ we had our exam and I think that it was rather easy. This exam wrapped up a great semester in Mr. Schick's class. Even though it wasn't as good as Human Geo class we were still fun. I hope that everyone had as much fun as I did. This is my last post of the 2014 Western Civilization class.

West Civ Day #48- Making Middle Ages

Today in West Civ we took a test on the Middle Ages and I got a 97% and I was very happy to hear that. That means that I will be getting an A for this quarter and this semester. I knew the test was going to be relatively easy and it turned out that it was very easy. I am happy because on the last test of the year I got an A and on the last three tests I have gotten high scores. But my mistake in last nights blog was that this is my second to last blog tonight. So this is the second to last blog tonight so yeah.

West Civ Day #47- Last Lecture

Today in West Civ I took over class and reviewed what will be on the Middle Ages test tomorrow. I think that I am ready for the test and it should be rather easy but I still must study a little before taking it tomorrow. I can not believe already that this will be my second to last blog. I will have one next Monday and that will be the last blog of the West Civ class. It has been a fun class, not as fun as the Human Geo class of course but still pretty good.

West Civ Day #46- Germanic Kingdoms Unite under Charlemagne

Today in West Civ we took notes on Charlemagne:             Bold=Test Question
-New date of Middle Ages is 476- 1453 AD
-What happened in 476? Romulus Augustulus was told to step down so no emperor means no empire.
-New Society has classical heritage of Rome, beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and customs of various Germanic tribes
-These invaders cause disruption of trade, downfall of cities, and population shifts to rural areas
-Loyalty was lost because the people of the town only cared who the lord of the manor was not the lord of the government
-Clovis rules the Germanic people out of Gaul
-In 496 he has a battlefield conversion making he and his 3000 soldiers Christians
-511 Franks are made into one kingdom making Clovis and the Church partners
-Church + Frankish rulers = rise in Christianity
-520 Benedict writes rules for monks: vows of poverty(live simply in monasteries), chastity(no marital relations), and obedience (listen to church superiors)
-Sister Scholastica wrote similar rules for nuns
-Operate schools, maintain libraries, and copy books
-Pope Gregory gets worldly power(secular)
-Definition of theocracy is Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads and raise armies
-Gregory's kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England from Spain to Germany
-Clovis rules Franks
-Most of Europe consists of smaller kingdoms
-Clovis' descendant is Charles the Hammer (Charles Martel)
-Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732(if not won then Western Europe would become part of Muslim empire)
-Charles Martel has son-Pepin the Short
-He works with the Church and is named king by the grace of God by the pope
-Pepin dies in 768, leaving two sons
-Son #1 Carloman dies in 771
-Son #2 is Charles known as Charlemagne
-He wanted to build another empire like Rome
-Fought and spread Christianity
-Most powerful king in Western Europe
-Tries to become very powerful
-Treaty of Verdan was Charlemagne's grandchildren split up the empire and all three grandchildren get a piece of the empire

West Civ Day #45- New Notes

Today in West Civ we continued to take more notes on the Middle Ages:
-Describe how Christianity evolved from a cult into the largest religion in the world? (ESSAY)
-Paul spread the word, emperors tried stomping it out, Constantine has battlefield conversion, then Charlemagne
D-A European Empire Evolves
         1-Franks Control largest European Kingdom
                 a-The Roman province formerly known as Gaul
                 b-Ruled by Clovis-The Meravingian Dynasty
         2-Major domo-The mayor of the palace-Ruled the kingdom
         3-Charles Martel-Charles the Hammer
                 a-

West Civ Day #44- Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne

Today in West Civ we took more notes on Middle Ages:
-Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
-Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from
-Middle Ages= medieval period
-500-1500 AD
-Medieval Europe is fragmented
A-Invasions trigger changes in Western Europe
     1-Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
           a-Disruption of trade
                  1-Europe cities are no longer economic centers
                  2-Money is scarce
           b-Downfall of cities
                  1-Cities are no longer centers of administration
           c-Population shifts
                  1-Nobles retreat to the rural areas
                  2-Cities don't have strong leadership
     2-Decline of learning
                  1- Germanic invaders are illiterate but they communicate through oral tradition
                  2-Only priests and church officials could read and write
                  3-Knowledge of Greek (literature, science, philosophy) is lost
     3-Loss of a common language
                  1-Dialects develop in different languages
                  2-By the 1800s French, Spanish, other Roman based languages are evolving from Latin
B- Germanic kingdoms emerge
     1- The concept of government changes
            a-Roman society: loyal to public government
            b-Germanic society: loyal to family
                  1-Germanic chief led warriors
                  2-During peace he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)
                  3-During wartime warriors fought for the lord
            c-"The King? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"
            d-Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul- their leader is Clovis
     2-The Franks under Clovis
            a-Another battlefield conversion
            b-Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
            c-The Church in Rome approves of this "alliance"
            d-Clovis and the Church begin to work together
-Clovis' military expertise + the Church's support and money = A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE BETWEEN TWO POWERFUL FORCES
C-Germanic peoples adopt Christianity
      1-511 AD- Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom
      2-600 AD- Church + Franks rulers convert many
      3-Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
      4-Monasteries and convents
            a-520 AD-Benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries
                    1-Poverty, chastity, obedience, study
            b-His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
            c-731 AD-The Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
            d-Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books (Bibles, Greek texts)
      5-Pope Gregory expands papal power
            a-Papacy = popes power
            b-Secular power = worldly power
            c-So...under Gregory the Great...
PaPal Power(Power of the Pope) is Political Power Presented from the Pope's Palace
            d-The church can use church money to:
                     raise armies
                     repair roads
                     help the poor
            e-Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome and as head of an earthly kingdom(Christendom)
  

West Civ Day #43- Making of Middle Ages

Today in West Civ we started to learn about the Middle Ages. These are the notes from the class:
-feudalism is a political, military and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances
-system based on personal loyalty to people who can help you
-lord owns land and need people to help defend it and work it
-vassals help the lords on the land
-FEUDAL PYRAMID:

KING

 

Most powerful VASSALS

(nobles and bishops)

 

KNIGHTS who are mounted warriors who received

FIEFS for defending their lords land

 

PEASANTS(mostly SERFS)

Landless, powerless, moneyless, right-less

just working the land for "the man"

 

-FIEFS are parts of land Knights would get

-SERFS are peasants

-Manor is the lord's estate

          -Lord's manor house-a church- some workshops- 15-30 families- all on a few square miles

-a self-sufficient community

-harsh if peasant

-Peasants are poor AND pay high taxes

         -tax on grain- tax on marriage- Church tax(10%)

 

West Civ Day #42- Total Tests

Today in West Civ we took the final of the third Roman tests. I got a 98 so I was happy but I am happier to be moving on because this third part of the fall or Rome was dragging on. Looking back I wished that we learned more about after Christ and the empire and emperors instead of before Christ and the republic. But we can't change that because we are on to Middle Ages.

West Civ Day #41- Cool Class

Today in West Civ we got to review and do whatever homework that we wanted. So Mr. Schick didn't teach and the class was easy today. He gave us this easy class to get ready for test tomorrow and he had other things to do as well, s it worked out for everyone.

West Civ Day #40- Ending Empire

Today in West Civ we took notes on the end of the Roman empire and what happened as it collapsed. There was a mix of religion, invaders, and too large to control in the west. The test on all of this stuff and questions from other two tests will be on this test and I think that I should be able to do pretty well on it. I think that this test is going to be relatively easy like he last two that I took in this class.

West Civ Day #39- Rome Reading

Today in West Civ we had to take notes from our book so here it is:
-greatest change in Rome was Christianity
-started in Judaism
-Germanic borders became more wealthy and organized
-this was a result of living as a neighbor during roman period of peace
-from 200 emperors would have to hold them off by army
-Christianity became major and official religion
-burden of government and army became to hard
-barbarians attacks became to fierce
-empire collapsed

West Civ Day #38- Roman Review

Today in West Civ we reviewed the last piece of the Roman empire. The test is tomorrow so I think that I am ready for this test but I will have to study. If this is an open blog test then I will be posting all of my notes from the journal onto this blog. I hope that it is because that will take a lot of stress off. But then again I think I am ready for this test because I love history. And that was pretty much what we did today, so yet another rather boring class than usual.

West Civ Day #37- Roman Review

Today in West Civ we continues to review about the Romans. We read and took notes from a PowerPoint that was about the Roman emperors. I think that this test coming Wednesday should be relatively easy. There will be a lot of questions but I think that I will be able to handle it. I think that the class today was somewhat boring and that tomorrow we do something fun to review like a game, exercise, or class outside. That would be awesome.

West Civ Day #36- Nice Notes

Today in West Civ we took notes on sections that we read from the book because Mr. Schick was not here. So here they are:
-in 44 B.C. Caesar secured the votes to become dictator for life
-on the ides of March (March 15) Caesar was lured into the Senate house unarmed and was killed
-this death only made things worse for the Senate
-new emperors would be on their way to become leaders of Rome
-Mark Antony a commander under Caesar and Caesars grandnephew Octavian fought each other
- they joined forces in order to fight Caesar's assassins, Brutus and Cassius
-they would defeat Cassius and Brutus in Greece
-they forced Senate to say that Julius Caesar was a "Divine Being"
-Marcus Lepidus was also part of the group working with Mark and Octavian
-Lepidus would rule North Africa, Antony in Alexandria, and Octavian in Rome
-Antony's affair with Queen Cleopatra made him unpopular in Rome
-he would try to make conquests on the eastern frontier but failed
-Octavian would push Lepidus out of power in order to gain that territory and push Rome toward the Danube
-Octavian would defeat Antony and Cleopatra's forces in a naval battle off of Greece
-Antony and Cleopatra would both commit suicide within a year
-Rome's art, law, philosophy, literature, architecture were based off of the Greeks
-Latin became dominant language
-Augustus/ Octavian refused  the offer or a long-term dictatorship
-he was made commander and chief of the military so he allowed the Senate to supervise Italy and Rome
-he killed many opponents in the Senate and replaced them with friends and allies
-people's assemblies lost their last bit of power
-Greek-cities started to worship Augustus
-shrines of Augustus and Rome began to jump up in the empire
-when he died the Senate declared him a divine human being like Julius Caesar
-it became customary for emperors to be worshipped
-Augustus got the title Father of the Fatherland
-he was one of many Roman wealthy men making their way up the ranks
-Augustus had a combined army of 600,000 men
-by end of his rule all of his soldiers were volunteers
-later emperors gave the soldiers Roman citizenship
-he created the worlds first professional standing army
-Augustus added Egypt, lands from Italy to Greece to the River Danube, a wide swath of Germany to the east of the Rhine
-he chose a successor so rule could continue
-Augustus settled on Tiberius, Livia's son
-Augustus adopted Tiberius as well
-Augustus died in 14 A.D.
-Nero was the last descendent of Caesar was overthrown
-after a brief civil war, Vespasian was made emperor
-in the second century Marcus Aurelius son was killed and another civil war
-Septimus Severus was made emperor
-Augustus' government lasted until the trouble times in the third century
-

West Civ Day #35- New Nero

Today in West Civ we started a video on the insane emperor called Nero. This video was a series made several years ago by BBC. I thinks that this video will be very good and fun to watch over the next several days and I look forward to it.

West Civ Day #34- Excellent Empire

Today in West Civ we learned more about the Roman empire. We took notes about it which I will post on my blog when we finish these notes. So far we covered Caesar, his great-nephew Octavian, and Jesus at the time of the empire. I think that it was incredible that the amount of power Caesar took and two generations later still had in his nephew. That shows how powerful and how much the people liked Caesar. I think that Caesar was the best Roman emperor of all-time, if not the best leader of a nation all-time.

West Civ Day #33-Cool Caesar

Today in West Civ we learned about Julius Caesar. I thought that Julius was a genius and a man who thought way ahead of his time. From all of his battle strategies against Gaul, to actually taking over Rome and become its first emperor. He was smart because he knew that the Senate could not defeat his army, the people loved him so he won the assembly, and the consuls would have no say because they would fear him. He helped Rome into an age brighter than anything that Rome could imagine at the time. He was thinking into the future, a place where Romans would never think to look at. He was ahead of his time, and he lead Rome into the greatest empire the world has ever seen

West Civ Day #32- Ridiculous Rome

Today in West Civ we continues to present. I think that our video was pretty good but it could definitely use a little more work. I think that we got a solid A but maybe not. Unfortunately it went wrong because two videos played at once which was definitely not supposed to happen at all. Hopefully we will get to watch the full video again Friday and explain more as well.

West Civ Day #31- The Problem Project

Today I West Civ my group was supposed to present our project, but everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Arri's computer froze on screen and JP and I did not have the app to play the video and Sung can't connect to the white board with his laptop. I am very upset because I want the class to see this video because it was very funny. But I guess we will just have to wait another day to present.

Western Civ Day #30- Roman Review

Today in West Civ we review all of the info about Rome that we have learned so far that will be on the test Friday. I think that I am ready for this test and should do well because this section is relatively easy.

West Civ Day #29- Interesting Italians

Today in West Civ we watched a bunch of weird videos on the Punic Wars. the voice of the narrator was really annoying but there was a lot of good information. It was about Carthage and Rome fighting over land and control of the Mediterranean. I don't think that we have learned enough information about Rome yet to take our test on Friday when we don't even have class on Thursday. Plus tomorrow we will be working in our groups for the projects I believe so we'll see what happens but I don't see how we can possibly learn all of Rome in one and a half weeks.

West Civ Day #28- The Prime Punic

Today in West Civ we read a section about the Punic wars and then took notes on them. So here are the notes.

-the Romans fought Carthage
-Carthage was on the north coast of Africa
-Greeks fought Carthage so when Rome became power they fought Carthage
-winner took command of western Mediterranean
-three phases/ rounds of the Punic wars from 264 B.C. to 146 B.C.
-first phase Rome forced Carthage out of Sicily
-Carthage came back in the second phase
-they captured and defeated most of Italy
-but with help of allies and their own men Rome forced Carthage out
-Carthage was beaten badly
-scared of Carthage, Rome went offensive and captured and destroyed Carthage
-all of the land that Carthage owned became Roman like Sicily, Spain, and Africa
-in the later years Rome would spread from eastern Mediterranean to Britain
-Rome's first involvement was with Greece
-Around 200 B.C. Greek ambassadors came to Rome for help with resisting the king of Macedonia

West Civ Day #27- Talking Text

Today in West Civ we did not do anything except highlight and underline important stuff from our book. We ended up highlighting about four or five pages from the Rome unit. but again it was a kind of boring class today

West Civ Day #26- The Great Group

Today in West Civ we went over the rap from Mr. Schick in yesterdays class. We got through the first verse and that was all but we will take more notes on it later this week. But we have a project coming up and we have a lot of choices to make about what we are going to do. JP, Sung, Arri, and I are going to make a commercial that advertises Rome and I am very excited because it will be hilarious.

West Civ Day #25- The Ruling Romans

Today in West Civ for the first part of class we went over the test and then we learned about the Romans. So we had to take notes and these are mine.

Roman Government-
-First ruled Etruscan kings
-The king would be advised by a council called the Senate
-The king would choose the members of the Senate which were typically patricians or men with fathers
-When the king died the Senate would appoint his successor
-Around 500 B.C. Rome overthrew all people of monarchy and itself
-So the government became the "people's business" in Latin is res publica which makes Republic
-This Republic went under a long development
-There were two sides of the Government- Patricians and Plebeians
-The Plebeians were people who did not belong to a Patrician family
-The Senate was made up of about 300 Patricians
-Consuls were two senators who led the government and military for one-year terms
-In times of emergency consuls could appoint a dictator
-Plebeians first listened and agreed to the Patrician class but as they grew in numbers and wealth they were not treated as a second class
-There biggest complaint was that they lacked legal protection
-By 250 B.C. there was no distinction between the two groups in politics and Government
-These struggles made a complex and diverse Government
-This "mixed" Government was admired in the ancient and modern world
-But in the end leadership of the Republic lied in the Senate
-A client was someone who provided personal services for a patron who was a wealthy person who supports others with money and protection

West Civ Day #24- The Terrific Test

Today in Western Civ we took a test on the Greeks. I thought that I did very well but I know that I got two of the questions wrong so the best I can do is 95%. I wonder what the next topic will be, I hope that it is the Romans.

West Civ Day #23- Great Grading

Today in West Civ all we did was just grade projects and I thought that it was cool. I liked the fact that Mr. Schick would listen to our opinions and what we thought that the project in the front should get. I think that it was very fair because now he can hear what we think we should get because we know how much time and work we put into the project. As for my group we got a 100% which I think is what we should get because we put a lot of work into it. Plus we were the only group who actually filmed real live actions and didn't put together a bunch of pictures.

West Civ Day #22- The Gym Gathering

Today in Western Civ we did not do anythig because Mr. Schick wasn't there. So we had to go to the gym where other classes were to do work. But we didn't have any work assigned so we would review for the test on Friday. So that was all that we did today in Western Civ.

West Civ Day #21- Pointless Part

Today in Western Civ we did not do much as we listened and watched the final two projects of the commercial projects. I thought they were both very good and interesting. But other than that we did not do anything in class today other than review what we have learned so far. So in this blog I ask Mr. Schick if he could send us the quizlet to study from because it looks like a great tool. So today was just another average day.

West Civ Day #20- Cyber Greeks

Today in West Civ we did not have class so we had cyber day and we had to answer thirty questions so here they are:

Multiple Choice:
1.) Mostly fertile land is not a characteristic of Greece (d)
2.) 3/4 of Greece is covered by mountains (b)
3.) The word barbarian originally meant a life based upon farming, warfare, and tribal organization (d)
4.) Massive rough cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs was what defined a megalithic structure (c)
5.) A social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship was what tribe referred to (a)
6.) Tribes were governed by warriors, kings, queens, chieftains, or tribal leaders chosen by warriors or all of these (d)
7.) Greeks were the first European barbarians to make contact with civilization (a)
8.) United States wasn't considered Western Civilization (e)
9.) Ionian Sea was the sea just west of the Greek mainland (d)
10.) Aegean Sea was east of Greece (b)
11.) Grains, vines, and olives were what the Aegean people lives off on (d)
12.) Minoan was the civilization that rose from the island of Crete (b)
13.) Mycenaean's was the civilization that established along the Greeks southern mainland shore (a)
14.) Mycenaean built massive walls to protect themselves from attack (a)
15.) Dark Ages is when population dropped, ships no longer sailed and there were no written records (d)
16.) Phoenicians was the group that joined with Greece as the leading commercial and seafaring nation in the Mediterranean (e)
17.) In historical writing the letter c meant around, about, and circa so all of these (d)
18.) By 600 B.C. the Greeks dotted the coastlines around the Mediterranean Sea known as colonies (a)
19.) Modern day counties were similar to the size of Greek- City States (b)
20.) Oligarchy was when a small number of citizens would rule (c)
21.) Democracy was when a small portion of white male landowners would control the government (a)
22.) Tyranny was when a polis was led by a self-proclaimed dictator (d)
23.) Monarchy was when a polis was ruled by one male and passed down from father to son (b)
24.) Oligarchy was what Sparta used (c)
25.) At the age of seven Spartan males were taken from homes to begin military training (a)
26.) Athens was the wealthiest polis in Greece (a)
27.) Acropolis was the high fortified citadel and religious center of ancient Greece towns (c)
28.) Peloponnesus was the land area where Sparta was located (e)
29.) Triremes were massive fighting ships with three banks of oars (e)
30.) A hoplite was a heavily armed and armored citizen of Greece (b)

Short Answer
1.) This period was known as the Dark Ages and it began around 1150 B.C. and ended around 750 B.C.
2.) One story was the Odyssey and the other was Iliad
3.) The word Mediterranean originally meant middle of the land.
4.) Aristocrats were prominent and long-established Athenian land owners

West Civ Day #19- The Moving Movie

Today in West Civ Mr. Schick was not here once again because he was sick. He gave us a assignment and it was to watch the part two video and fill out the worksheet. I thought that part two was a lot more interesting than part one. I finished the worksheet during class so I will not have to do it for homework this weekend. I love ancient Greece because I think that it is so fascinating and the best topic of the ancient world.

Western Civ Dy #18- The Mottley Movie

Today in Western Civ e continued to watch the video narrated by Liam Neason about the Greeks. We took more notes and wrote down any names if we needed to. But today actually we did not have to write down any names. I hope that the next part of this video will be better than the first part though. But I have been thinking about the commercial a lot lately. We have a bunch of great and brilliant ideas and I wish we would have time to actually work on them in class. I think that our group is going to do very well and will get a great grade on this project.

Western iv Day #17- The Motivating Movie

Today in Western Civ we watched a video from YouTube that was about people, terms, artifacts and more from ancient Greece. I think that this video is going to be fun to watch because I love ancient Greece and I think that it is one of the most fascinating cultures that ever lived. I am very excited for the terms, people, and other things that we learn about and their stories behind them. I hope that we will continue to read, watch, and write about the ancient Greeks over the next couple of weeks.

Western Civ Day #16- Cyber Class

Today in Western Civ we do not have school. Hooray but at the same time we do have school. We have a cyber day where a teacher will post an assignment on their website wherever that may be and then we must complete it for a grade. After we are finished we will turn it in next class or turn it in online. For this class our assignment is for a commercial and we must advertise a city-state of ancient Greece. We must pick between Sparta and Athens. We can work in a group up to three so Ryan and I will be working together to make this commercial about Sparta. I wrote down some ideas on Sparta and things that we could put into the commercial so I am very excited for Friday when we turn it in.

Western Civ Day #15- The Learning Lesson

Today in Western Civ we had a relatively easy day. I went over the notes that I made on Monday again because Mr. Schick wanted to see them. In the end I think that he really liked them and I think the entire class did as well. Once again to anyone reading this blog the notes are on my earlier posts. I do not have the pictures so ask me if you want them and I will email them to you. I am very proud of my notes because I did a lot of work last weekend. I was up late Friday early Saturday and late Sunday making those notes. I love Greek civilization and everything about it. I have known facts about it for years now that is why I volunteered to teach because I knew what it was about. I hope to have this experience again because it was fun.

Western Civ Day #14- The Tough Teacher

Today in Western Civ I taught our class because Mr. Schick was not there. These are the notes that I made so have at it.

-LO3- Citizens and Communities: The Greek City-States

            -Tribal communities of the Dark Ages turned into city-states

            -Greek city-states were small, usually of no more than a town and a few square miles surrounding it

            -Athens and Sparta were each about the same size as a couple of U.S. counties

            -Usually each town or city-state consisted of a couple thousand, while Athens may have reached as many as 250,000

            -Both fortresses and temples were vitally important to the Greek city-states

            -Fiercely competitive communities that often fought

            -Each community would worship a god or goddess (Athens- Athena)

-City-States and Citizens

            -Greek city-states developed at the same time that Assyrians were reaching for power west of Mesopotamia

            -Greece was not controlled by a universal empire, allowing the city-states to fight among themselves

            -Couldn’t afford professional soldiers so they relied on infantry armies from their own males

            -For the males who could afford it, they would equip themselves with bronze helmets and armor, long spears with iron blades and short iron swords

            -Poorer citizens fought as light-armed infantry, annoying the enemy before the stronger part of the army would attack

            -Each city-state was thought to be developed by families or clans descended by a divine or semidivine founder (Athens- King Theseus- Son of Poseidon)

            -Most of citizens claimed to be offspring of common forefathers

            -Status of father determined that of his children

            -There was no reason to fight in an individual state because they were all related somehow

-Monarchy, Oligarchy, Tyranny, Democracy

            -Earliest parts of Greek times communities were ruled by kings

            -Monarchy gave way to new forms of government that gave white males more power

            -These new forms were Oligarchy, Tyranny, and Democracy

            -In Oligarchy a minority of citizens dominated the government

            -Many city-states that were in the middle of land were Oligarchies (Sparta)

            -But in most city-states the people were too large in numbers and active to ignore

            -Triremes were a big part of navies and armies- consisting of majority of males

            -In these large city-states government would run into tyranny

            -But tyranny didn’t last and Democracy would come after

            -Democracy was powered by the majority of white male citizens (Athens)

            -Women would attend community affairs and had little to no power in government

            -When a city-state would sail to find a new colony, the new colony would become a new city-state

            -When a city-state would conquer another it would spread its control but not the citizens

            -In summary city-states would battle in an endless war

-Sparta: The Military Ideal

            -Spartans were descendants of Greeks who conquered the southern mainland

            -They would push west for rich soil

            -Spartan citizens were outnumbered ten to one with noncitizens

            -To hold the helots, Spartans would have to have a government that allowed domination from their own kind

            -Main executive authority were five officials elected annually, and they were usually elder

            -Their way of life dedicated male citizens to the state

            -The males were made as warriors

            -At age of seven boys were taken from their families and would go on an extreme life of physical and military training

            -They were allowed to marry after 20, and bachelors were punished

            -Even married men were required to live in barracks until the age of thirty

            -Women would also have to go into physical drills to become healthy and child-bearing women

            -But they were given more freedom from the state

            -Women were praised if they gave great military ideas

            -After the Spartans were starting to lose battles, Aristotle said that women were useless for war, so trying to protect the Spartans tough life, they tried to seal off their state due to the fact that there best trait, war, was losing out

            -Most Spartans would pay to have their system stay as is

            -With this system, Spartans were the dominant city-state of mainland Greece

-Athens: Freedom and Power

            -According to the Athenians the Spartan way of life was pointless

            -A joke made was the fact that Spartan life would lead to death

            -Athens was not agricultural and landlocked like Sparta but rather carried on prosperous commerce and access to the sea

            -Sparta- army and Athens- navy

            -Sparta- closed and controlled: Athens- open and free

            -But even though Athens was peace and freedom like they were also warlike

            -Over a few centuries Athens was one of the most wealthy and powerful states

            -Citizens, immigrants, and slaves worked together to make weapons, pottery, and articles of silver, lead, and marble

            -These products would be shipped to various places

            -Athenian aristocrats were proud to be excellent humans

            -Their families would marry mostly among themselves

            -The boys were physically fit in anything and at age of 18 assigned to two years of military and civic training

            -They were outstanding in body and mind

            -Even some aristocrat girls would get an education

            -Athens went through many stages of government

            -After democracy was made there were two turning points in life of Athens and Greece

            -First was Persian wars which Athens lead Greece to victory, and then it came to the Golden Age (460 B.C. - 430 B.C.)

            -This time was when Athens were confident, strong, powerful and most successful in all Greece but it was cut short cause of the Peloponnesian wars

            -This war was between Athens and Sparta in which Athens was defeated and never grew back the same confidence

            -In the Sixth Century B.C. the Persians were the first universal empire to attack Greece

            -They conquered Greece until revolutions were made by the Athenians causing Darius I to conquer mainland Greece

            -Son of Darius, Xerxes, sent two expeditions by land and sea to conquer Greece

            -The first was stopped by Athens at Marathon in 490 B.C.

            -Second was stopped ten years later in Salamis near Athens in which Athenian ships destroyed the Persian ships

            -On land a small Spartan force would hold Xerxes and his army in their suicidal stand at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. but the main portion of Spartan armies would defeat the Persians at Plataea

            -Athens would liberate the Greeks of Anatolia in 445 B.C. forcing Persia to make peace

            -Democracy was their only way to survive and thrive at the same time

            -In Athenian Democracy power would rest in adult male citizens

            -Any decision made was made through the Assembly

            -Meetings were held once a week and less than five thousand would attend

            -Meeting place was first at agora but later at a hill called the Pynx

            -Voting was by show of hands

            -Debates were very spirited and this way of government lead to many governments present today

            -To keep balance the people of the government (Council of five-hundred and one thousand public officials that it supervised) were chosen by lot

            -Ten generals were voted each year to command the armies and navies

            -Cause of the amount of general’s, military takeover of power was a very small chance

            -For a court each trial was made up of a draw of five-hundred men from a list

            -This would guarantee a broad judgment of the crime

            -There were no lawyers and every citizen would argue their own case

            -Women power was the same as most other places

            -If the woman was to leave the house she would be escorted by a close male relative

            -They were protected more though by close male companions

            -They were important when it came to worshipping gods and goddesses

            -The fifty thousand or so resident aliens were a varied group

            -They could be wealthy men to slaves, independent women to owner of stores

            -The hundred thousand group of slaves were also diverse

            -Some could get and education and were likely freed in the owners will

            -While some slaves were treated fairly there were many others who were not

            -Athenian laws concerning aliens, slaves, and women were not a part of democracy

-Greek Words

-Polis- Greek City- State

-Politēs- Citizen

-Dēmos- Common People

-Ephors- Overseers

-Agora- Marketplace

-Stratēgoi- Force Commanders

-Hataerae- Female Companions

-Vocabulary

            -Colony-a new city-state settled in an oversea territory by a group sponsored by a city-state elsewhere

            -Oracle-a priest or a priestess who was believed to give answers that were inspired by a god or goddess to questions from worshipers at a temple

            -Acropolis-the high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town

            -Hoplite-a heavily armed and armored citizen-soldier of ancient Greece

            -Phalanx-a unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching the enemy

            -Monarchy-a state in which supreme power is held by a single, usually heredity ruler

            -Oligarchy-a state in which supreme power is held by a small group

            -Triremes-massive fighting vessels with three banks of oars, used to ram or board enemy ships

            -Tyranny-rule by a self-proclaimed dictator

            -Democracy-a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making

            -Helots-noncitizens forced to work for landholders in the ancient city-state of Sparta

            -Aristocrats-members of prominent and long-established Athenian families

            -Ostracism-banishment for ten years by majority vote of the Athenian Assembly

           

Western Civ Day #13- The Great Greeks

Today in Western Civ class we started our unit on the new civilization of the Greeks. I like the Greeks because of the gods and goddesses and overall I think that they are the most fascinating people of all time. On Monday Mr. Schick will not be at class so he appointed me to teach to the class for about 15 minutes about pages that we read from the text. I am planning to play a game that the entire class can play and if not it will be good review.

Western Civ Day #12- The Extra Egypt

Today in Western Civ we played a game that I thought was pointless for class. We didn't learn anything and the game was frustrating. We will lose points over a game that was very hard and nearly impossible to beat which is unfair to me,

Western Civ Day #11- The Great Greeks

Today in Western Civ we took a test for the first part of class and the next part is what I am posting about. We are to take notes about the next section in our book- the Greeks. So here are my notes for the first part of the chapter.

-first barbaric people

-2000 B.C. they began to migrate to Greece

-they came with ideas, art forms, and types of government

-cause of their great fighting methods they defeated the Persians

-LO is about the European barbarians

-first people of Greece were thought of as suppliers

-megalithic is Greek word for large boulder

-Stonehenge were the most famous of all megalithic structures

-when a leading warrior died his horses, chariot, bronze swords or daggers, and his gold and silver drinking cups went with hi  to the grave

-next to the warrior the wife would lie

-women went to war with men to bring them food, bind wounds, force them back into battle, and in some rare cases join the battle

-main business of life was farming

-lived in villages

-groups of villages formed tribes

-tribe would meet to discuss their business and celebrate festivals

-loose alliances under warrior kings

-they would eventually spread to the islands of Greece

-the barbarians were sometimes the conquerors

-they would adapt the way of civilization one-by-one

-first European barbarians to make contact with civilization were the Greeks

The Greeks lived by their strength and courage which is how they lived

Formed tribes

Tribes were headed by powerful heredity chieftains

This is how Europe came to be populated by speakers Indo-European languages

No cities no records and no government

They were barbarians from Greek barbarns non- Greek

Adopted the way of life of those that they encountered

Distinctive civilization the Greeks developed is the first that became western

 

Western Civ Day #10- The Controlling Cyber Day

Today in Western Civ we did not have class again do to the snow but we did have another Cyber day, today Mr. Schick asked us to answer two short answers so here they are.

A.) Name and describe three technological innovations or inventions of the ancient Egyptians.

One technological advance of ancient Egypt was the making of the sailboat. Now farmers could send ships with goods up river and then get the boats back without having to leave their home. They also invented the plow so that man did not have to crop and plant by hand but use an animal and a tool to do so. The final invention was the making of coinage, so that way things could be bought and not traded making life easier.


B.) Describe three important features of the Egyptian pyramids.

One important feature was that it housed all of the pharaohs and there gold, possessions, and animals that they wanted. They were made of marble and perfectly smooth so it looked like something made from another world. Finally it was so smooth that there were no cracks in-between blocks that a small blade could not even fit through.

Western Civ Day #9- They Cyber Class

Today in Western Civ we are not supposed to have class but yet we are having a Cyber Day so Mr. Schick said we had to write the essay questions on the test so here they are:

A.) Describe the social hierarchy of the ancient Egyptians.

The social Hierarchy is in different levels of where the people are like a pyramid. At the bottom were slaves, then farmers, then artisans, then merchants, then scribes, then soldiers, then government officials, and finally pharaohs. At the bottom of the pyramid were slaves and servants and they were teh majority of population in the enire social hierarchy. The slaves were not treated as poorly as the American slaves and they were actually treated quite fairly. They were not free but they did not get beaten or anything as drastic as that. The slaves and servants duties were to help the wealthy with household and childraising. The next class was the farmers and this group advanced very heavily. They created tools and technology to help them grow crops and such. This group made strives that were far beyond anything anyoen ever imagined at the time. The farmers grew wheat, barley, lentil, and onions. They also figured how to deal with the flood of the Nile every July. Instead of the water against them they used the water for their own benefit. Plus the rich soil used in October was also very beneficial. The next class were teh artisans and they had a much more simpler and not as challenging job. The artisans were pretty much sculptors of ancien Egypt. They would carve statues and reliefs that showed military battles and scenes from the afterlife. This group of people did not have a very hard job and rather it was quite easy but yet they still got payed. The next social class was the merchants. This group was yet another group of people that would strive and make major advances in what they did. Merchants used money/ barter system for the first time and they traded items or goods in order to recieve more of these items or goods that they did not have. Merchants also invented the coin system for the first time and they were the first people to invent coins in order to trade for goods.

The next class up were the scribes, and this field of people were probably the mkst advanced of all people. The scribes were the first people to write down records of history, stories, and poems of anything they had. Scribes were the first people to write their own language and taht was a huge advance into the Western world. Plus they wrote down things for anatomy and medical treatments that was way ahead of their time. The third class from the top was the soldiers and their job was the simplest and that was to protect Egypt. When it came to war and protection the Egyptians were far ahead of anyone at their time. The Egpytians were the first people to use wooden weapons with bronze tips. Plus they used bows and arrows and invented chariots making travel and battle easier. The Egytians had one of the most respected armies int eh world at this time. The next class was the highest people class besides the pharoah and that was the government class, but they also had another name. The other name was the white kilt class. This group of people were called this because they would always wear a bright and white robe depicting them from everyone else. This group was made up of priests, physicians, egineers and more people with good paying jobs. The final class was the Pharaoh class and easliy the most important of them all. The pharaoh was a religous and political leader but also considered to be a part god. It has been said that the Pharaoh could talk to the gods and ask the gods. But when natural disasters happened to the city then the pharaoh would be kicked out or even killed. The pharaoh was the most important person of the hierarchy but also the most pressured as well.

 

B.) Discuss the importance of the Nile River in the lives of Egyptians.

The Nile River was very important to the Egytpians and they pratically lived on it. The Egytian life was centered around the Nile River. The city of Egypt was on both sides of the Nile and the Nile River ran right through the city. The water of the Nile was used for many things. In July the river would flood and then the crops and everything else was destroyed so the Egyptians came up with a technology to control the Nile river. They would put pipes or passage ways to control the Nile into certain areas of the fields and water the plants without harming them. The Nile was irragated and used to water the crops. Then after the flood was gone the soil was rich and easily planted crops so the rich soil was cause of the Nile. Plus the Egyptians would use the Nile to drink from because there was no other water supply close. They would bath in order to stay clean and not get sick. Plus the people of Egypt would transport things across the Nile. The river flew south to north so people in the south could flow goods up on a small boat to people in the north. But then the boat wouldn't be able to get back with the traded goods. So they invented sail boats to flow back down with the wind against the current. Because of the Nile sailboats were invented. Then at the area where the Nile empties out is called the Delta. This is where much of the rich and fertile silt is located, so then people could plant lots of crops and many more things to help. So because of the Nile not only did Egyptians live but they thrived and advanced with technological breakthroughs and things that had never been seen before in the world.

Western Civ Day #8- The Mystery Movies

Today in Western Civ we did not do anything really except watch videos about the Egyptians. The test has been postponed to the next class whenever that may be. So we will test again but the question is when will he hold it. I think that I am very prepared for this test and I think that I will be ready for all of the questions that are on his test. I know all the material and I know how to study it and once again I think that I can nail it.

Western Civ Day #7- The Crazy Couple

Today in Western Civ we did not get much done in the way of work and getting prepared for the test tomorrow. It was mostly because of two people in the class. I will not mention their names other than the fact that it was a boy and a girl. I think that the boy started it but the girl blew out of proportion. It was so much drama and I hope that they have to sit next to each other for the rest of the year. they are really annoying to me when they argue and I hate it. Anyone who is in my Western Civ class knows exactly who I am talking about. But after all of that we finally settled down and got to some work. Mr. Schick gave us a power point to look at and write notes on. It was all information that we already learned. Like I said earlier today was a normal class and repeated after yesterday once it settled down.

Western Civ Day #6- The Exciting Egyptians

Today in Western Civ we went over more information for the test that we will have on Wednesday. but today we talked about a new civilization and they were the Egyptians. We already started a part on the Egyptians but today at first we reviewed and then we continued the unit. Mr. Schick had a power point that was already made and then as he narrated we took notes on what he said and what was on the screen. So overall I thought that today was a normal average class but nothing special but there was one thing that stood out above the rest. We watched a short video clip on how the Egyptians would mummify the pharaohs. I thought the way that they did that was fascinating but not only that but the long process they had to go through was insane. It is incredible to think that thousands of years ago those people knew all these facts about the body and how to mummify it. With hardly any technology it begins to ask a major question.

Western Civ Day #5- Learning Lesson

Today in Western Civ we just summarized everything that we have done so far and now fro this blog we are just taking notes. We have to blog about notes from the lesson objective 3 which is about Egypt. So here are the notes:
-people of the Nile moved toward civilization
-political and sectional conflicts did not affect a civilization
-Egyptian traditions are still around today
-Egypt stretches from lower Nile river fro central Africa to the Mediterranean
-cycle of labor depended on the flooding of the Nile
-took belief of pharaoh and god-to-human relationship a lot farther than the Mesopotamians
-pharaoh had lots of responsibility
-every pharaoh was identified as three ruling deities
-deities took form of animals as well
-they devised the hieroglyphs
-they had new technology
-best technology was the building of the pyramids
-pyramid urge faded as time passed on
-painters and sculptors did their work in the pyramid
-dynasty's were eventually taken down
-Egypt was spilt
-native pharaohs still ruled the north
-with the new kingdom Egypt was open to invade
-Africa, Mesopotamia, and Europe invaders would defeat Egypt
-Libyan and Nubian rulers were influenced by Egyptian ways and continued Egypt

Western Civ Day #4- The Horrible Half Day

Today in Western Civ we had a very short class because it was only 28 minutes long and I thought that it was a waste of time to come to school. But this class is what I have been told what this blog shall be about. I think that this class is a lot of fun and I love to come in this class every day. But not only do we have fun in this class but we learn a lot as well. It is very hard to learn while have fun in a class but in this class it is possible so I like it. But my favorite part of this class is that it is so relaxed which makes it my favorite class in this school. We do power points, tests, quizzes, and notes so this entire class is my favorite.

Western Civ Day #3- Hammurabi's Honor

Today in Western Civ we went over the codes of Hammurabi and I thought that the class today was actually not very fun. I thought this because we just looked at blogs and talked. But at the same time we went over a lot and we actually learned a lot about the codes so I thought that it was a very fun class. But the main point of this blog is the notes on pages 6-11 notes. So here they are.

- prehistory is period before recorded documents
-civilization is a very recent development
-earliest humanlike species were found in east Africa cause of fossils
-Europe and Asia tribes made way across land bridge
-8 eras of early civilizations
-hunters and gathers started off
-men hunted
-women gathered and took care of young children
-two stone ages
-tool making allowed more crops to harvest
-first agricultural villages were found in southwest Asia
-first cities were Mesopotamia
-stayed on same latitude so that the climate, landscape, and anything else were the same
-polytheism is belief in gods and goddesses
-agricultural revolution was the start of tool making

Western Civ Day #2- Mesopotamia Manual

Today in Western Civ class we went over the next part of the power point that we started today and I thought that today was a lot more fun than yesterday. But the best part was probably when I got to read the summary at the beginning of class. It was my favorite because I got to call Mr. Schick Bob so it was the best. But then we went over a man named Hammurabi so in this blog I have to name three laws that was in his code. He was the first man to come up with a set of laws so I think that was pretty cool but here are three laws:

1.)If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.
2.) If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
3.) If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.
http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm

Western Civ Day #1- The Interesting Introduction

Today in Western Civ we did an introduction to the course and I thought that it was very similar to the last unit of Human Geo. It was about people who were hunters and gatherers and how they would not be very successful and that the first civilization was Mesopotamia. Then we went over a power point that was made by the company that made the book so we had to take a lot of notes. We had to take a lot of notes because Mr. Schick could not put the power point on his blog because it was not his. Overall it was a very similar unit to the one we did at the end of last semester and I hope that it is because then this entire course will be very easy and I will like that. So I hope that the rest of the course for Western Civ 1 will be exactly or very close to the unit that we are doing now.