Digital Scrapbook Entry #5

                                                     Digital Scrapbook Entry- India 

Jack Shams

12/4/14

Per 4.

Website Links: http://www.ushistory.org/civ/8b.asp

 http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement

Picture Links: http://klorraine17.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/caste-system-3.jpg

http://www.denverlibrary.org/files/selmamarch.jpg

https://images.indiegogo.com/file_attachments/930031/files/20141014094812-alterna_-Community.jpg?1413305292                                                                 

                                                            Caste of Life 

In ancient India the caste system dominated the way of life for everyone. If you were a Brahmin, Kshtriya, or a Vaishya life was good. There was on group of people who were so disrespected they were not even included in the caste system, these people were called the untouchables. The untouchables were treated as people, they had to clean everyone else's waste, people would avoid them at all costs, and others would act like they didn't even exist. Living as an untouchable was barley living but they were forced to live that way for their entire life in hope that they would be reincarnated into a higher caste. In India we see the caste system form such strong social stratification that some people in their community were not even treated as people. Although the caste system created intense stratification between classes it kept the community tightly knit because each group of people felt like they had a job to do and they had some sort of importance to the community. 

In the world today we still have social classes which creates social stratification. People of higher class do not primarily prefer to be spend time with people of a lower class. There are other deciding factors in the way people treat one another and one of the biggest factors is race. In the 1950's America endured one of the largest social breakdowns in history. People of the white race would not even treat people of the black race as humans. They thought they could not drink out of the same water fountain or use the same bathrooms as white citizens. As much as this tore apart the community it also brought it together. People felt like they had an opportunity to change their community for the better which made them come together as one.

The caste system brought the community together just as much as it took it apart. The Civil Rights Movement did the exact same thing in America in the 50's. The untouchables were avoided at all costs and not treated properly or fairly to say the least. African Americans were treated the same way in the 50's. When times are tough for a group of people they will come together to weather the storm together. Communities are built to be brought apart and be able to withstand the separation, this is proven throughout history.        

Silk Road Map

The Silk Road was one of the most used trade routes in the world. Many items were traded using the Silk Road but the Silk Road also helped to spread religion. 

Items of the Silk Road 

-Copper- Iran

-Tin- Iran

-Silk- China 

-Furs- Nothern Europe  

-Paper- China

-Tea- India 

-Glass- Rome

-Ivory- India 

-Ceramics- Rome

-Spices- India  

-Sugar- Rome

Jack S.

12/1/14

Per 4. 

                                Thoughts and Reflections on: Women's rights in China

In ancient China there were many different religions throughout the progression of the country including Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Neo-Confucianism. Each on of these religions had a different view on how women should be treated. In Taoism women are thought to be passive and yielding and men are supposed to be aggressive and active. Women were expected to be house wives, but they still had control over their spiritual life. In Buddhism women were granted some spiritual empowerment also. For example, women could travel on religious pilgrimages to Buddhist temples, retreat to nunneries, give public lectures, and lead temple groups. In these two religions women had much more control over their spiritual lives. In Confucianism women were much lower on the social spectrum and were expected to put everyone els before themselves. They also did not have much control over their spirituality because they were always told what to do and they had to follow. In a reinterpretation of Confucianism called Neo-Confucianism, women were barely treated as humans. They would use foot-binding and a method to make sure women could not leave their terrible life in the Song Dynasty. Fathers would sell unwanted daughters, and would enforce widow chastity. These tactics show that Neo-Confucianism treated women the worst of all the religions in this time period.    

      

Jack S.

11/20/14

Per. 4

The Qin Dynasty 

The Qin Dynasty was the third dynasty in China and started in 221BC and ended in 206BC. The Qin Dynasty was in the South East part of China and this was the best place to live in China at the time. They had the mountains to the West and the Gobi Desert to the North. This protected them from invaders and the fertile in the East was perfect for growing crops. Qin Shi Huangdi, or King Zhen, was the first emperor. King Zheng was the reason the Qin were successful because while he was alive the Qin flourished, but when he died the dynasty began to breakdown and destroy itself. The Qin Dynasty believed that people were stupid and they needed strict laws to lead them. The Qin Dynasty centralized China, built the Great Wall, and named China. The Qin were not around for very long, but when they were they accomplished more than one would think. 

        People of the Qin Dynasty I am your leader King Zheng. We are the most dominant society in the world. This is because we follow our one main moral, people are incompetent and need my strict laws too lead them. Education will not be tolerated in the Qin Dynasty. That means no school, no books, and no teachers. I am here to continue to move our dynasty forward so we can solidify our place in history and continue our reputation as the most dominant dynasty to ever rise. 

I will not stand for people disobeying the laws that we must follow to be successful. This is one of the ways I am going to unify China, I have put a strict new law system in place that will make sure one follows these rules or you will be punished. We do not need school filling our minds with crazy ideas we just need to know I main morals and laws and follow them. As a dynasty we do not question our laws we just follow them and they will lead us to nothing but wealth, happiness, and wisdom.  

China Map

The Mountians on the west and the Gobi desert in the north gives China lots of protection from invaders. In the East there was fertile soil so population flourished there.

Religion/Philosophy and Main Beliefs                                                                                       11/17/14

Buddhism- Buddha is the means the enlightened one and the followers of Buddhism worship him. Buddha believed in the living in the moment and the Four Noble Truths. Buddha tries to achieve Nirvana which means that you are freed of human suffering, hatred, ignorance. The philosophies of Buddhism are prayer, teaching, meditation, and argumentation.

Confucianism- Confucius is the man that started Confucianism and he was mostly a teacher. Confucius believed in Universal Law which means that even if people were of different class they treated and respected each other equally. Confucius strongly believed in have a wise ruler lead his people with compassion and forethought. Confucius also believed that people should focus on their every day morals instead of the afterlife like some religions do.

Han Fei-Tzu- Han Fei-Tzu believed in Taoism which was a much political way to rule population. Han Fei-Tzu believed in law, method, legitimacy, power, and government. This was a much more totalitarian belief system which controlled its followers more than any of the other beliefs we've seen. Human nature was believed evil so the government tried to control people as much as possible.

Lao-Tzu- Lao-Tzu believed in Legalism which was the worship of nature, reduction of person desire, and never ending search of self purity. The followers of Lao-Tzu believed in seeking equilibrium in their life which includes the philosophy of balancing the hot force and the cold in their life to create equilibrium. 

1.) The difference between a religion and a philosophy is that in a religion there is a set God or gods that are worshiped and in a philosophy it is less about worshiping and more of following guidelines or beliefs to live a better life.   

2.) All of these beliefs are similar in the way that they all are ways of leading people, but some are more religious and others are more like philosophies. Buddhism and Legalism have both religious aspects and philosophy aspects because they both worship a higher power, but they also have strong everyday beliefs. Taoism and Confucianism are both much less religious and more like philosophies because they don't worship higher powers and are much more focused on how to treat people properly.    

Digital Scrapbook Entry #3: Egypt

Digital Scrapbook Entry: Egypt 

Link: http://www.wtc.com/about/freedom-tower

        http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/the-egyptian-pyramids

Jack S.

11/18/14

Per. 4

Pyramid Power

The pyramids are a wonder to our entire world for a few very obvious reasons, but there is a bigger reason that lies a little bit deeper beneath the surface. The pyramids were a huge project when they were being built and people worked voluntarily on them because it made them feel like part of the community and they felt like they were contributing to their country. This type of want to help your community for a greater cause is quite scarce in today's world. There are very few things that's could happen to pull a country together and make them feel like a family that is responsible for one another but a terrorist on your country's biggest city has the power to do that

The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was the worst terrorist attack in American history. It cost over 3 trillion dollars to repair the damages from 9/11. About 3 thousand people lost their lives in 9/11 as well. To honor the people that died and helped rescue others New York is spending 4 billion dollars to build a new tower called the Freedom Tower. Construction started in April of 2006 and finished in November or 2014. There is over 3 million square feet of floor space in this building and it is the tallest building in the westerner hemisphere, so it is quite big. Taking into consideration all of the damage that had to be cleaned up for this to be built, 8 years is quite fast for such a huge project to be completed.

During the construction of the Freedom Tower people worked countless hours and donated millions of dollars in support of the construction all for the similar reasons that the Egyptians worked on the pyramids, people want to contribute to the community and a major project that has a large meaning makes people want to contribute even more. The Pyramids and the Freedom Tower both have similar meanings and served similar purposes, they were built to remember people who have died and they both brought communities together.