Monday, May 27, 2013
Fidel Castro Biography
The link to the biography: https://docs.google.com/a/bps121.org/document/d/1Xk8lkXy-S_mJNBfcQbtUdNubd5j1hOVRMltrzY8Ybj4/edit
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
World War II: resolved and unresolved
Yes, the conclusion of war did address the causes of the war
Causes:
-Japan left the League of Nations and invaded China
-Mussolini leads Italy to invade Ethiopia
-Hitler leaves League of Nations after Germany recieves harsh terms with Treaty of Versailles
Resolved or not?
Resolved :
Japanese emperor Hirohito surrendered after the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and after Russia declared war on Japan. Therefore, the Japanese expansion becomes halted and Japan becomes subject to the terms of the allies.
Germany's surrender after British and US forces bombed German cities and Hitler's suicide brings an end to Hitler's regime. The Allies divide up Germany into east and west Germany and take possessions. However, the split of the Soviet Union in the east and other allies in the west brings rise to problems.
Unresolved:
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia is not discussed later in the chapter and the book leaves you hanging on what happened. The brutal overkill of Ethiopians brought anger to non-revisionist states, but apparently they did nothing about it.
The division of Germany into east and west creates the "iron curtain", an ideological separation between communist Soviet Union in the east and the other European powers in the west. This could lead to future conflicts between the two sides.
The two new leading powers of the world, the United States and the Soviet Union both develop seperate ideologies. The United States turns to democracy while the Soviet Union turns to communism. This separation of ideas and the competitive nature that would develop from being the leading powers would eventually lead to the division of the former allies and to the start of the Cold War.
Causes:
-Japan left the League of Nations and invaded China
-Mussolini leads Italy to invade Ethiopia
-Hitler leaves League of Nations after Germany recieves harsh terms with Treaty of Versailles
Resolved or not?
Resolved :
Japanese emperor Hirohito surrendered after the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and after Russia declared war on Japan. Therefore, the Japanese expansion becomes halted and Japan becomes subject to the terms of the allies.
Germany's surrender after British and US forces bombed German cities and Hitler's suicide brings an end to Hitler's regime. The Allies divide up Germany into east and west Germany and take possessions. However, the split of the Soviet Union in the east and other allies in the west brings rise to problems.
Unresolved:
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia is not discussed later in the chapter and the book leaves you hanging on what happened. The brutal overkill of Ethiopians brought anger to non-revisionist states, but apparently they did nothing about it.
The division of Germany into east and west creates the "iron curtain", an ideological separation between communist Soviet Union in the east and the other European powers in the west. This could lead to future conflicts between the two sides.
The two new leading powers of the world, the United States and the Soviet Union both develop seperate ideologies. The United States turns to democracy while the Soviet Union turns to communism. This separation of ideas and the competitive nature that would develop from being the leading powers would eventually lead to the division of the former allies and to the start of the Cold War.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
World War I: change and continuity
A change in the world between pre-World War I and post-World War 1 is that Europe developed new boundaries and thus, new countries. A continuity between these two time periods is that Africa remained predominantly British colonies.
Change:
- Austria-Hungary empire before; Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia after
- Romania's boundary expands northern border after WWI into previous Austria-Hungary region
- Russia's western border turns into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland
Continuity:
- colony of Sudan before and after World War I belongs to Britain
- colony of Egypt stays with Britain before and after war
Change:
- Austria-Hungary empire before; Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia after
- Romania's boundary expands northern border after WWI into previous Austria-Hungary region
- Russia's western border turns into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland
Continuity:
- colony of Sudan before and after World War I belongs to Britain
- colony of Egypt stays with Britain before and after war
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Islamic and East Asian empires
The Islamic empires are similar to Tokugawa Japan and Ming/Qing China in that both discouraged innovation. They were both similar in these aspects, because both lands had rulers who feared that innovation would lead to change and destablization of the empire. In China and Japan, this fear was more politically oriented than the Islamic empires, who feared more about the weakening of Islam, which was the base of the empires they founded. They were different in that the Columbian exchange affected the Islamic empires much less than they did the Japanese and Chinese empires. This was because the Islamic empires were already capable of cultivating all their land, while the Chinese and the Japanese were only able to cultivate a very little portion of their land, as little as 11% before the arrival of American food crops. The American food crops would give the Chinese and the Japanese much more land to cultivate, while it really would not make that much of a diffence in the Islamic empires, where all the land was already cultivatable, so China and Japan would see a much more steady increase in population.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Why different empires are placed together
The Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals are placed together, because of their location. The three empires were located geographically near each other, so putting them together can show the various interactions that the three empires have with each other, which would be ineffective if they were placed into three separate chapters. This is a shift in the text organization, because usually different empires are given their own chapters, or at least one of the three or four main sections in a chapter. For the future, this indicates that chapters will try to cramp more information together, because as we enter the modern world, it will get increasingly complex and there will be much more detail to cover in each chapter.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Fabian Fucan's rejection of Christianity
Fabian Fucan attacks Christianity for religious, cultural, historical, political, and social reasons. He rejected Christianity for the religious reason that it is exclusive. He becomes angry that Christian missionaries are trying to destroy the Law of Buddha and the Ways of the Gods. This also translates into his political reason to reject Christianity. He feared that by removing the native deities and their ways, the Christians would also destroy the strength of the Japanese emperors, who depended on the divine authority that they inherited from the native gods in order to rule. He rejects Christianity for the cultural reasons that it led to the ignorance of the traditional Confucianism and Buddhism, which he regrets leaving, and that Christians tried to replace them with their own culture. He rejected Christianity for the historical reason that over the course of history, Christian Europeans have taken over the countries of Luzon and Nova Hispania, and that they will do the same in China if they stay there longer. He rejects Christianity for the social reason that it is not socially stable. He is repulsed by how Christians are not afraid of punishment, and will promote their faith, even while risking their own lives. This fearlessness would endanger the social system, since the emperors use punishments as motivation for people to behave well.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Why Qianlong is being such a little...
The point of view of Qianlong is condescending. The reason for this point of view is because he was taught to believe that he is the "son of heaven". This leads him to believe that he is the most supreme being on the earth, so he feels that he does not have to be nice to any other monarch and that he does not need to be dependent on anyone else to run his empire.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Is history valuable?
History is not valuable, because it encourages us to imitate the ways of the past in our modern lives. This is a bad thing, because we as humans have continually developed as time has gone by. If we try to imitate the past, we will be taking a step back from progression. An example of this is Lance's prediction on the Ming and Qing dynasties' durations. He was wrong that they would only last a short time, while it infact lasted very long, lasting up to 270 years. Even though the dynasty endured a long time, the reason for their endurance was their cutting off connections with the outside world. If modern America tried to imitate this way of government, it would be a disaster, since we depend on global exchange and communication to be productive. For example, we depend on the import of foreign scientists from all over the world to advance scientific research, such as a cure to AIDS. Without these external resources, our productivity would be much slowed down. This is why history is not valuable in the modern world.
Ming and Qing economy results
The economy of Ming and Qing China are almost exactly the opposite of what I predicted them to be. Instead of promoting new technological innovations, the new dynasties forbid innovation in technology, because of the fear that it will bring change and destablize the state. There are also no new methods of transportation. The Ming and Qing dynasty continued to use ships as well as the silk roads.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Ming and Qing economy predictions
I predict that the economy of the Ming and Qing dynasty will continue to prosper economically, as all the other dynasties before them have done. Their preceeding dynasties' economies involved new technologies, such as iron in the Zhou dynasty or paper in the Song dynasty. Similarly, the Ming and Qing economies will prosper from the trade and exchange of new technologies that will arise in their respective periods. Also, the Ming and Qing dynasties might also have new methods of transportation, most likely ships, alike to the silk roads that arose in earlier times.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Ch. 21-26 Review Jeopardy
The link:
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/ap-world-chapters-21-26-review
Gilad Oved, Lawrence Yu, Nick Merlino, Dan Conley, Lynn Samson
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/ap-world-chapters-21-26-review
Gilad Oved, Lawrence Yu, Nick Merlino, Dan Conley, Lynn Samson
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Graph questions
The first graph shows how the population of Africa steadily increased from 1500 to 1800. The second graph shows how the slaves exported out of Africa also increased from 1500 to 1700. The third graph shows all the destinations the slaves were taken to in the western hemisphere, with the Caribbean importing the most. On a DBQ, I would write about how the population of Africa increased while the slave trade also increased at the same time. I would also write about how how most of the slaves were taken to Brazil and the Carribean, both colonies that ran sugar plantations and had a limited population of natives to work those lands, resulting in the high need of African slaves to do the intense labor required for sugar production. I find it surprising and rather contradictory that the population of Africa rises steadily while the slave trade took increasing numbers of Africans from Africa. This does help my understanding of the textbook's contents, since the textbook discusses the same general information as is presented in these graphs, and the graphs reinforce that information with visual and numerical data.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Reasons for differences in the change of Politics and Economies in Spanish and Portuguese Colonies
Political
The reason for the difference between political changes in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies was that they colonized completely different lands. Spanish conquerors were able to conquer the natives and organize a labor force to build their American empire, which the Portuguese weren't able to do. Instead, they had to bring in African slaves, which led them to compete with other Europeans, since Europeans also needed supplies of slaves.
Economic
The reason for the difference between economic changes in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies was that in Spain, the profit came mostly from mining silver. This silver contributed to European economy as well, since Spanish kings took 1/5 of it. Therefore, they did not compete with other European states, but rather supported them with silver. Meanwhile, the Portuguese derived money from sugar production, which is a hard business with little profit. The European states also produce sugar, so the Portuguese, already with their little profit, had a reason to compete with the European states to increase their revenue.
The reason for the difference between political changes in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies was that they colonized completely different lands. Spanish conquerors were able to conquer the natives and organize a labor force to build their American empire, which the Portuguese weren't able to do. Instead, they had to bring in African slaves, which led them to compete with other Europeans, since Europeans also needed supplies of slaves.
Economic
The reason for the difference between economic changes in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies was that in Spain, the profit came mostly from mining silver. This silver contributed to European economy as well, since Spanish kings took 1/5 of it. Therefore, they did not compete with other European states, but rather supported them with silver. Meanwhile, the Portuguese derived money from sugar production, which is a hard business with little profit. The European states also produce sugar, so the Portuguese, already with their little profit, had a reason to compete with the European states to increase their revenue.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Voicethread review
Okay. This app sucks. Every time I use it, it crashes. It doesn't give me an option to search by usernames or emails, which would be really useful considering that I have to use this for my history class project. Also, it doesn't even show all the results when you search for a voicethread. Overall, this app is pretty bad and whoever made it should just quit making apps. Cuz it's bad.
Rating: 1 star
Rating: 1 star
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
pgs. 594-595 Blog Questions
1) Why is there a myth about Christopher Columbus, and why do we have a holiday for him?
In my opinion, the myths about Columbus exist to portray him as a hero. The myth that he had little resources and poorly constructed ships make him look more capable, since he was able to discover "America" with only the bare minimum. If instead, they told the truth about him, that he had lots of resources and well built ships, then he would be seen as less of a hero, since he had all those resources to help him out in his journey. We created a holiday for him and celebrate the false fact that he discovered America, because the discovery of America is one of the most important events in our history, and it is the reason why we are all here today. We as a society needed some central figure to look up to for such an important event, and since the people who actually discovered America were probably insignificant, we chose Columbus, because he is well known and he got somewhat "close" to finding America.
2) Reflect on the contents of the essay. What will be new/change about the path of history in this coming era? What do you think will continue/stay the same?
The biggest change that will come with this era is the integration of the eastern and western hemisphere to create a singular global connection. In this new era, trade will be truly global, since all parts of the world come together in one global economy, unlike the previous era of trade, in which the eastern and western hemisphere only conducted trade within their own hemispheres and rarely ever did commerce with each other. Another big change is the increase in slave trade. Although slave trade existed in previous eras, it boomed in the early modern era. Massive numbers of slaves were traded across the eastern, as well as the western hemispheres, where they suffered cruel and inhumane conditions. Other than these two major changes, most everything else remains the same. There is still the spread of agriculture, manufactured products, culture, and technology, as there was in the previous era. Religions like Christianity and Islam, as well as technologies like printing and gunpowder reached areas throughout the globe. Trade routes still existed and prospered even more than in previous eras.
In my opinion, the myths about Columbus exist to portray him as a hero. The myth that he had little resources and poorly constructed ships make him look more capable, since he was able to discover "America" with only the bare minimum. If instead, they told the truth about him, that he had lots of resources and well built ships, then he would be seen as less of a hero, since he had all those resources to help him out in his journey. We created a holiday for him and celebrate the false fact that he discovered America, because the discovery of America is one of the most important events in our history, and it is the reason why we are all here today. We as a society needed some central figure to look up to for such an important event, and since the people who actually discovered America were probably insignificant, we chose Columbus, because he is well known and he got somewhat "close" to finding America.
2) Reflect on the contents of the essay. What will be new/change about the path of history in this coming era? What do you think will continue/stay the same?
The biggest change that will come with this era is the integration of the eastern and western hemisphere to create a singular global connection. In this new era, trade will be truly global, since all parts of the world come together in one global economy, unlike the previous era of trade, in which the eastern and western hemisphere only conducted trade within their own hemispheres and rarely ever did commerce with each other. Another big change is the increase in slave trade. Although slave trade existed in previous eras, it boomed in the early modern era. Massive numbers of slaves were traded across the eastern, as well as the western hemispheres, where they suffered cruel and inhumane conditions. Other than these two major changes, most everything else remains the same. There is still the spread of agriculture, manufactured products, culture, and technology, as there was in the previous era. Religions like Christianity and Islam, as well as technologies like printing and gunpowder reached areas throughout the globe. Trade routes still existed and prospered even more than in previous eras.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Map questions
I don't think that Ibn and Marco are typical of their time period, because they traveled across the entire eastern hemisphere by themselves. At that time, individuals did not often make such long trips on their own. For example, merchants used roads and sea lanes to conduct trade with each other in stages, as opposed to doing it all by themselves. I think they are much more typical of this time period, because today individuals often do make voyages by themselves over very long distances. This is because of rising technology, such as cars and planes, which are much more effective methods of transportation than was available in the times of Ibn and Marco. With new technologies such as these, Ibn and Marco would fit perfectly into the modern time period.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Crusades Project Bibliography
- Trueman, Chris. "The First Crusade." History Learning Site. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, 16 Jun 2012. Web. 11 Jan 2013.
- Knox, Ellis. "The First Crusade." The ORB: On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies. Ellis L. Knox, 28 Aug 2003. Web. 11 Jan 2013.
- . "The Third Crusade (1189-92)." English Monarchs. www.englishmonarchs.co.uk, 22 Dec 2012. Web. 11 Jan 2013.
- . "The Third Crusade." http://www.middle-ages.org.uk. www.middle-ages.org.uk, 17 Oct 2012. Web. 11 Jan 2013.
- Lawson, Rich. "Richard and Saladin: Warriors of the Third Crusade." Shadowed Realm: Medieval History Resources. Rich Lawson, 11 Jan 2013. Web. 11 Jan 2013.
- . "The Crusade of Frederick II." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 11 Jan 2013. Web. 11 Jan 2013.
- . "Frederick II." Catholic Online: Inform-Inspire-Ignite. Catholic Online, LLC, 11 Jan 2013. Web. 11 Jan 2013.
Comments: Harsh and Dylan
Harsh: Harsh, thank you for the comment! Creative idea using xtranormal...it looks great!
Dylan: Hey Dylan, thank you for your comment! I checked out your blog and it looks awesome! I really like the way you brought historic and modern times together with a blog from the middle ages.
Dylan: Hey Dylan, thank you for your comment! I checked out your blog and it looks awesome! I really like the way you brought historic and modern times together with a blog from the middle ages.
The Crusades Project: Day 3
Today, I have all my information and I am ready to finish up the project.
For my project, I've decided to do neither the rage comic nor the script, because I found a much better idea.
I'm going to write a script first and then animate it with Alice 2.2, the drag and drop programming language I'm using in my Computer Science class. It can have multiple characters in many environments, so it is a much better alternative to xtranormal.com. I'm going to have the final project be in video form by taking a video capture of the animation using some kind of screen recording software like "Jing", recommended to me by Timothy Sunnerburg.
For my project, I've decided to do neither the rage comic nor the script, because I found a much better idea.
I'm going to write a script first and then animate it with Alice 2.2, the drag and drop programming language I'm using in my Computer Science class. It can have multiple characters in many environments, so it is a much better alternative to xtranormal.com. I'm going to have the final project be in video form by taking a video capture of the animation using some kind of screen recording software like "Jing", recommended to me by Timothy Sunnerburg.
My comment on Amit's blog
Hey Amit! I am doing the same three crusades
Here's a link that helped me out a lot for the third crusade:
http://www.shadowedrealm.com/medieval-articles/exclusive/richard_saladin_warriors_third_crusade
Here's a link that helped me out a lot for the third crusade:
http://www.shadowedrealm.com/medieval-articles/exclusive/richard_saladin_warriors_third_crusade
My commment on Lawrence's blog
I think you can find some good info on the First crusade on this website
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/first_crusade.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/first_crusade.htm
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Crusades Project: Day 2
Today, I began researching my info for the project. I'm planning on finding all my info today, and then on working on the final project in class tomorrow.
I've also decided to make a lot of changes. I researched the Second Crusade and found very limited information dealing with Muslims. So instead, I'm doing the Third Crusade.
I also tried researching on Sweet Search, and although it provides reputable sources, I think it really limits all the good information. So now, I'm planning on changing to Bing and Google search.
For my presentation, I decided to leave behind xtranormal.com, since the free version is very limited and I've experienced a bunch of technical difficulties with it, like the speech part of the animation. So now, I have two options, the script or the rage comic. I'm most likely gonna do the rage comic, because it's funny and more entertaining than a script.
I've also decided to make a lot of changes. I researched the Second Crusade and found very limited information dealing with Muslims. So instead, I'm doing the Third Crusade.
I also tried researching on Sweet Search, and although it provides reputable sources, I think it really limits all the good information. So now, I'm planning on changing to Bing and Google search.
For my presentation, I decided to leave behind xtranormal.com, since the free version is very limited and I've experienced a bunch of technical difficulties with it, like the speech part of the animation. So now, I have two options, the script or the rage comic. I'm most likely gonna do the rage comic, because it's funny and more entertaining than a script.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The Crusades Project: Day 1
Today, I started brainstorming ideas for my Crusades project. I think I'll be doing the First Crusade (not the People's Crusade), the Second Crusade, and the Peace Crusade. I chose these three crusades, because I think they're the ones that had the most impact on the Muslims, which is kind of a big deal, since I'll be writing this from the perspective of the Muslims. I also feel that these three crusades are diverse, since the first one is about bloody massacre, the second about Muslim victory under Saladin, and the peace crusade about negotiations and peace.
I am not too sure about how to do this project, but I have come up with a couple of possibilities...
- A script, similar to what we did in the Philosophers go to Starbucks thing
- Then i checked out animated skits online and found www.xtranormal.com
- A rage comic (or maybe a regular one?)
I am planning on finding all my info online, because it is very convenient and accessible. I tried out a couple of search engines:
- Yahoo
- Bing
- Sweet Search
Google, Yahoo, and Bing seem to return identical results. There are some that are good, and some that are bad. Then there's just Wikipedia...
I had most success with Sweet Search, because it filtered out the untrustworthy sites and the useless ones. It returned all credible sources (.gov, .edu, etc), but I think it also might have weeded out some perfectly good sources. But overall, I think I'll use Sweet Search the most, and I will check out the other ones to see if there's any good stuff.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Africa map questions
Why did the textbook's mapmakers choose to represent Africa in the way they did, and what was the impact of this choice on your understanding of Africa; and then what is the impact of the additions we made in class on that understanding of Africa?
I think that the mapmakers chose to represent Africa so simply, because, in all the other chapters, the maps are of individual regions or kingdoms. This is the map of the entire continent of Africa, which included many kingdoms and city-states. They would have much more space to add details on the maps of individual regions, while, if they tried to do the same with this map, it would be cluttered and hard to understand.
This style of mapping did not have much impact on my understanding of Africa, because the text in the book fills me in on all the information that the map is missing. Also, I don't really check out maps that often, so it doesn't make much of a difference.
Some of the additions we made in class helped, such as Africa's exports and contribution to the outside world. But for the most part, the map just became cluttered and messy after we added to it. I could barely read it. And we would get the same information by reading the text book anyway. So, the new map just made me confused and I don't think I would use it to study.
I think that the mapmakers chose to represent Africa so simply, because, in all the other chapters, the maps are of individual regions or kingdoms. This is the map of the entire continent of Africa, which included many kingdoms and city-states. They would have much more space to add details on the maps of individual regions, while, if they tried to do the same with this map, it would be cluttered and hard to understand.
This style of mapping did not have much impact on my understanding of Africa, because the text in the book fills me in on all the information that the map is missing. Also, I don't really check out maps that often, so it doesn't make much of a difference.
Some of the additions we made in class helped, such as Africa's exports and contribution to the outside world. But for the most part, the map just became cluttered and messy after we added to it. I could barely read it. And we would get the same information by reading the text book anyway. So, the new map just made me confused and I don't think I would use it to study.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
How I want my story told
I would rather have my story told as a song than as a bunch of facts, like you would find in a textbook. If my story is told as plain facts, no one would read it voluntarily in the first place. A perfect example of that is our school textbooks. No one would voluntarily take time out of their day to read facts about some dead guy. Second, even if they did actually read my story voluntarily, it would not stick to their minds. When I read the textbook, I only retain the information until my test is over. Then I would forget all the information, because it is of no use to me. However, if my story was told as a song, rather than as plain facts, people might actually be interested in reading it, or singing it, because it would have music along with it. And music is very catchy, because it is not monotonous like plain facts, so it would also stick to their minds and they would remember it for a longer amount of time.
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