Sunday, June 26, 2011
"Socially, the last had become first."
I was impressed to read that Haiti, then known as Saint Domingue, produced 40% of world's sugar and half of world's coffee. As I read on I was saddened to read that although the previous sounded great, the labor was done by the native people who had become slaves. The numbers are unbelievable, yet true, there were 500,000 slave, 40,000 whites and only 30,000 free people of color, wow!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Chapters 14-16
As I was reading through the "Colombian exchange". I felt sad for the many people that lost their lives because another group of people came to their area. These people didn't have the immunity they needed to over come these new diseases this other group of people brought with them. This exchange brought with it many goods, crops, animals and along with that diseases. The book shares that during that time the most number of people died, that some died because of the diseases and that some died because they were too fragile to get up and look for food. Although not as severe, it made me think about my job as a teacher and how I get sick along with the kiddos. Just recently, there were a couple of kiddos that had a runny nose and a cough. One teacher caught the bug, then another kiddo, then me, then so on it went. Before we could get better, another kiddo got sick with a different strand of the cold and cough. Most of us went through it again, finally a couple of weeks ago a few kiddos got the flu and then again some of us caught it too. For us in that classroom, we caught the various bugs that went around but we were able to make it through because of our immunity, unfortunately for the people in those days, they didn't have that immunity because they had not been exposed to any of these new diseases, animals, and foods.
Going on to the next chapter, it made me see how the rise in trade also set off a rise in production of goods and a changed way of life for people. Since more goods needed to be produced and cultivated then more people were needed to do the work. The response for some was to purchase and abuse people so that they could produce a benefit with their goods. The book shares about the men and women that were taken from Africa and used as slaves. What I was surprised with and a bit unbelieving was that the books shares that some parts of the world weren't as cruel to their slaves. As the book shares about slaves in a couple parts of the world it made it seems as if it weren't that bad as it was in the Americas. Certainly all slavery is bad and that should be the stand it takes, not make it seem one is better than the other.
Through world trade peoples lives changed. Some like I mentioned before, became slaves, others worker more, other less, others became wealthier while others became pore. Communities changed, with the introduction of new items peoples diets changed and so did he way they viewed the world. This time brought something like an explosion. There was lots of movement of people and goods. There were lots of lives lost through the exposure of diseases and through the transport of goods. This time brought lot of change, permanent change from those days till now.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Then there was 11-13
Last year I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and see the pyramids. While I was there our group met up with a tour guide whom shared some information about the area and the people. He shared that his family is native of that area and we were able to meet some of the native people there while also participating in a spiritual ceremony. Having gone through this great experience last year, like I mentioned before, I was interested to read what this book shared about the Aztecs.
Our guide like the book shared that these people produced a lot of goods and then were traded and sold in markets places. The book shares that a Spanish conquistador was impressed by not just the amount of goods but also the variety he saw at the market place. The book goes on to share that he was so impressed by it that he wrote it down. Reading this brought me back to a little town we visited. The town seems small, the streets are narrow, not too many cars, people are mainly walk about town, and it was on the quiet side. At this point we had another tour guide and after taking us around town he finished the tour at the town's market place. Well, it was no longer quiet. The market place was buzzing with people, there was music, food cooking, people talking and each stall had a variety of goods to sell. I actually took a picture of various stalls because their goods were so colorful and their produce looked so fresh. One stall had herbs, another clothing, another tiles, another meats & fish and another yarn and ... the list goes on. We didn't make it through the whole market, it was too big but it was great experience. Reading about the goods they produced and how they had big markets brought me back to my own experience.
Moving along with the reading, I was surprised to read that the Aztecs had slaves and that the people they conquered weren't killed immediately. I some how thought that once they conquered an area and its people that they would kill them since they had such a big population themselves, but according to the reading, these people were instead used. They were used to make goods, certain areas had to produce a certain good and a certain amount. The reading goes to share that these conquered people were also used as sacrifice to their gods. Wow, would hate to of been them. Can you imagine, not only do they make you work hard by making goods for them but at some point, you might be the one chosen to die for their gods.
This was an interesting read. My experience with a tour guide at the pyramids gave it more of a romanticised feel to history of the Aztecs, although he did mention the human sacrifices. The book on the other had gave it more of a gruesome feel to it in regards to sacrifices and the way conquered people were treated.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
HAPTER 5: Eurasian Cultural Traditions, 500 b.c.e.–500 c.e.
· The Legalist Answer -They believed that the answer was in rule and laws that were strictly enforced. -They believed humans were in a way stupid except for the rulers of course. -They promoted farmers and soldiers but the rest of the populations were thought of as useless. · The Confucian Answer -Here the focus was on morals. -Confucius believed that to restore order, they needed to focus on their morals. -To do that was to have a liberal arts education, have rituals and ceremonies, have personal reflection times and be willing to perfect their personal moral character. -Confucianism was accepted and became part of their culture, so much so that it was part of the political and education system along with test taking. · The Daoist Answer They believed that the answer was in aligning yourself to nature. -That there was a set order in nature and if we were to align with it there would be order. -They were not focused on education or materials, instead they only had they needed for everyday survival, their life was simple. -Daoist perspective was thought to be complementing to Confucian, like yin and yang. -You would go to work and be more like the Confusion way and then return home to have a Daoist perspective.
· South Asian Religion: From Ritual Sacrifice to Philosophical Speculation -Hinduism had no original founder but instead grew along with the Indian civilization. -Commonality came through the sacred texts called the Vedas which were passed on through story telling and then around 600 BCE they were written in Sanskrit. - The writings give us glimpses of their civilization. - Another set of text is the Upanishads; these were from around 800 and 400 BCE which tried to bring meaning to sacrifices described in the Vedas. - Upanishads shared the idea of Brahman, the World Soul, and the ultimate reality. - It also shared about atman (individual human soul), moksha (liberation), and samsara (reincarnation). · The Buddhist Challenge -Founder was Siddhartha Gautama but those that followed him called him Buddha (Enlightened one). -He taught that suffering came when people went after their wants and desires but that through a simple life, a moral life and with meditation you could have enlightenment thus no longer have pain. -Buddhism was a simpler version of Hinduism. -After some intervention, women were allowed to join nun order -Women found some form of freedom. -Modern form of Buddhism was formed and was called Mahayana. · Hinduism as a Religion of Duty and Devotion -Buddhism died out a bit and was intertwined into a broader Hindu tradition. -Hinduism provided a path to liberation by following your assigned cast duties. -Mahabharata and Ramayana, poems, came about as a newer Hinduism.
· Zoroastrianism - Came about from the Persian prophet, Zarathustra around the 6th or 7th Century. -They moved from many Gods to one God who ruled. - Ahura Mazda was source of light and goodness if you aligned yourself with Ahura Mazda you would forever live in paradise but if you had instead aligned yourself with evil, Lie, you would then suffer for eternity. - Teachings focused on their free will. -this was never a missionary religion and therefore died out but traces of it can be seen in other religions. · Judaism - From the Middle East, the Hebrews and can be found in the Old Testament. -Their God is Yahweh who asks for complete loyalty, whom you can communicate with, who is more holy than what he created. -Is involved in social justice, brings the people out of the land of slavery, they keep their culture, then they return to their homeland. -Understanding of this God builds a foundation for both Christianity and Islam.
· The Greek Way of Knowing -Way of asking questions. -between 300-600 BCE -Seeking virtue and wisdom, they seek to find an explanation on how and why the world is the way it is without a religion. -Some people from that time are Socrates (philosopher), Plato (ethics & government), Hippocrates (human body), and Aristotle (student of Plato and · The Greek Legacy -Christian theology used terms from Greek philosophical concepts. -Greek texts were preserved -Children attended the school that Plato founded. -Greek works were translated in various languages and therefore influenced them.
· The Lives of the Founders -Gautama was born in luxury and Jesus was from lower-class family. -They were both spiritual seekers, challenged values, focused on the importance of love & compassion, and asked for individuals to change. -They were different in that Jesus believed in 1 deity, performed miracles, he taught for about 3 years, he challenged authority and was crucified as a criminal. -Buddha on the other hand had no miracles, he had public life more than 40years, and he died of natural causes at 80 years. · Establishing New Religions -Neither Jesus nor Buddha meant to start a new religion but it happened. -They both thought themselves to be regular humans but their followers made then gods. -Christianity spread with Saint Paul around10-65 CE. -Since the early message of Christianity was full inclusion it attracted many people to the religion and it spread. -The caring way of each other was another thing that attracted people to the religion. -Growth and spread of the religion usually happened after a miracle of sorts. -Christianity became the official state religion which then made it possible for the spread of the religion and for Europe to be mostly Christian. -Christianity adopted some of the ways of the religion there like including saints and accepting the winter solstice as Jesus birth date. · Creating Institutions -With Christianity, a hierarchical structure was developed in which the bishop of Rome/pope was the leader and then the patriarchs, bishops and priests followed behind. -Women who once were part of the house church ceremonies were now being excluded and thus Christianity became a male dominated religion. -Difference in doctrine and interpretation of teachings brought with it division with both the Buddhist and Christian religion. -The emerging Buddhist religion shifted a bit and it didn’t have such a firm right or wrong idea. -The Buddhist didn’t establish an overall hierarchial structure
Questions 1. What are some differences and similarities between Jesus and Buddha? Similarities They were both spiritual seekers, challenged values, focused on the importance of love & compassion, and asked for individual/personal change.
Differences Gautama was born in luxury and Jesus was from lower-class family. They were different in that Jesus believed in 1 deity, performed miracles, he taught for about 3 years, he challenged authority and was crucified as a criminal. Buddha on the other hand had no miracles, he had public life more than 40years, and he died of natural causes at 80 years
3 .What is thought to be the Greeks’ way of knowing and does it include a particular religion? The focus for them is more about the way you ask the question more than on what the answer will be. They were seeking virtue and wisdom; they seek to find an explanation on how and why the world is the way it is without a religion
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