week 5

Questions of the week!!
1.       How did the North American and Siberian fur trades differ from each other? What did they have in common?
Let’s start off with how the North American fur trades became a global trade. North America was now facing the expansion of the European growth.  From the Dutch to the British traders, they were all seeking to find areas that they can start looking for fur and deerskins. Ideally the Europeans were not very much into the commercial trappings or hunting for these commodities. The Europeans learned a technique where they waited for the Indians, the Native Americans, to bring over these items to their “coastal settlements or to a trading post in the interior of North America.”  The European merchants were trading guns, blankets, metal tools, rum, brandy, and any other items they had for the fur and deerskin. The need for deerskin was rising with the need of fur because it was used in the leather industry. The Europeans did see the Native Americans as cheap labor force. Native Americans were not paid in silver, but were paid in material items. However, the Siberian fur trade gave Russia a new outlook in the commerce trading. As North America’s supply of fur was depleting, Russia had abundant animals that had fur. It became their “soft gold” which was highly wanted between merchants.  China and Europe had their hands in Russia with private merchants who were buying the fur with gold and silver. As the Russian expansion grew across the Siberia, the Russians decided to impose taxes on males who were between the ages of eighteen to fifty years old. The tax was payable in furs.  The Siberian fur trade was bringing in revenue for the Russians who were dominating as a Russian Empire. On the other hand, what the North American and Siberian fur trade had in common was the consequences of these fur trades. European merchants and traders brought in disease to these foreign lands which started to kill off small populations. The Europeans brought over small pox and influenza to the Huron in North America.  Both sides had their indigenous people very dependent on foreign goods such as alcohol.  Either way the fur trade business did bring in different cultures and goods to foreign lands, but also brought in diseases that the indigenous people were not immune to.

2. What roles did Europeans and Africans play in the unfolding of the Atlantic slave trade?Europeans and Africans at the time shared one common goal which was to make profits through human exchange or purchasing of slaves. The Europeans did not have to go through warfare to capture Africans and make them slaves to be purchased. African elites, merchants, and political elites were all involved with operating a large Atlantic Slave Trade on the coastal side, West Africa. All the Europeans had to do was wait at the coastal lines on their ships or their settlements for the Africans to come and sell off humans as slaves to them.  African authorities were pretty much dealt as an equal to the Europeans and also had the full control over the slave enterprise.  High ranking Africans would take over small societies that had no protection and used what was capture as items to be sold. Africans played such a huge role on entering the slave trade because they were not afraid to sell their own people for foreign goods such as “tobacco, cowrie shells, beads, and Indian textiles.” The greed made neighboring kin ship societies fight each other for domination and control. While doing so, the Europeans had the upper hand in it all. They did not have to do the hard work, but needed to entice these African elites with goods.  Slowly West Africa was becoming the area of high slave trade. Personally just reading this material makes me think of human trafficking. Even till this day, humans are still being sold as sex slaves around the world. The greed of wealth is always on top of mind regardless of the consequences. The Europeans knew what they were doing with the African Elites with all their goods. There are small fables that are talking about how Europeans were so greedy that they would trick African Elites or Captains to their ships for drinks. Once the Africans were drunk, the Europeans would sink their canoes before robbing them and capturing the slaves. This just portrays on how Europeans have thought about how they will use their power in an alluring way. Plus most Africans who were slaves would rather die then leave their native lands which did happen from jumping off ships.    

Week 4

1. How did the rise of Islam change the lives of women?- Chapter 11

                Reading the question itself makes people mad because women lost their own right as an individual. As Islam grew as a religion so did its practice on how women should be treated in public and at home. Let’s start where the Quran states “Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them.” Pretty much says hey since I have the money and if you’re a women I will posses you and I’ll be the authority. It slowly gets worse by how women started to lose their value. The Quran continues with adding on more restricitions on how women were not able to have more than one husband, must pray behind their husbands at mosques then moved to praying at home only, women of the upper class had to use another method to get around as a sign of separation between man and women, women started veiling themselves at home and in public, and it started to become extremely hard for the lower class women who didn’t have the luxury to have a servant to do the chores. These women in particular had to be shameful and leave the house for work or going shopping. It has gotten extreme on how it started at the religion, but it became a way of life for the Middle East to treat women as if they have no rights or soul. Marriage was seen as a contract between man and women, where men had the total upper hand in everything. Men were seen as the authority, divorce is done through men, have a four wife limit, and the Quran seem to put them on an upper pedestal. The one subject that seems to irk people is the “honor killing” where male relatives are given the right to kill women in their family or have a female circumcision done if the women violated a sexual taboo, but its okay for men to have four wives. I get that in the Islam religion that women are seen in a different life more of a sacred one where women should be covered up and seen not as a sexual object. However eliminating rights and making women seem like their seductress is not fair as well. It’s outrageous to me that women in this society are okay with living like this and how their everyday life depends on the authority of a man. It pains me to know that even still today honor killings are happening in the Middle East and there is no protection for women. Perhaps for those who come from wealthy families, but the women who are less fortunate would have to live a life of pain and suffering. In my opinion, the rise of Islam was a huge negative impact to women.

2. How did the Mongol rule China? In what ways were the Mongols changed by China? Chapter 12

                Mongols in the south part of China wanted to be “less violent and more accommodating to the local population." The Mongols secure the landowners with their estate in order to receive their support or to be neutral during the takeover. The idea of accommodating and unifying China, gave the Mongols the right to the Mandate of Heaven even if they were foreign rulers. The Mongols were very accommodating especially where they took in the practice of the “Chinese administrative practices, the taxation techniques, the postal system, and the Mongols gave themselves a Chinese dynasty name, the Yuan, which means great beginnings.”  Although they were accommodating, the Mongols were still hash and treated the Chinese like slaves. In China, Mongols had their own set of rules where there was no intermarriage, Chinese scholars were not allowed to learn the Mongol scripts, they disregarded the Chinese examination practice, used foreigners to serve as official, and the Mongol had laws that just discriminate against the Chinese. Women during the Yuan dynasty also stop the practice of the feet binding and acted more freely with men at official meetings. Women  did not have the standard where they should be reserve and act like a delicate flower in the Confucius practice.  As time continued, the Mongols were very respectful to merchants who did majority of the trades. Reading about how Mongols had an upper hand a certain point makes me happy a bit because they were always seen as a barbaric clan, but the Mongols are interesting on how they did everything in reverse to the Chinese. When the Mongols rule in China it was different because they heavily rely on foreigners to act on as the law officers and seen them in a greater light.  Merchants had a better title and not seen as people at the bottom of the hierarchy list. In reverse, I do believe China did change the Mongols into more educated people in the concept of being a better ruler and creating a dynasty that had meaning of change.

Response 3

What made silk such a highly desired commodity across Eurasia?

                Silk became the symbol of the Eurasian exchange system, currency, and wealth. For instance in China and the Byzantine Empire, silk was considered a “symbol of high status.” However, the government took the upper hand prohibited all elite personals from wearing silk which made silk a high profiling item. Silk also played a huge role in the Buddhism and Christianity. The Chinese Buddhist monks would take large piles of silk into the Indian monasteries as gifts in exchange to seek religious text and relics. The Christianity world also used the silk in wall art and alter coverings as a sign of “high prestigious sign of devotion and piety. It can pretty much be summed up that silk was seen as an item of high status and in high demand to the elite world. It became a high desired commodity due to it can separate those of high honors to the regular commoners. Silk was in high demand that farmers in China started to stop their farming of crops and focuses more on producing silk. 

What was the impact of disease along the Silk Roads?

Following the riches of silk, came the many deaths during the trades. Diseases that came to view were smallpox, measles, and the bubonic plaque that attached itself to the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty. By having all of these diseases appearing it made both empires weak and their political collapse. In exchange this brought the strengthen of the Christianity in Europe and Buddhism in China, which both religions offered consideration in the moment of massive suffering, This gave followers hope and faith that they will all get through this period of death and sickness. The Silk Road became the center of exchanging diseases from different travelers, traders, and merchants. This impacted the Silk Road because when these trades go back to their home country they have brought a disease with them that will cause an epidemic which caused a weakened defensive line. For instance the Byzantine Empire was "losing 10,000 people per day during a forty day period." This made the Byzantine weak by numbers and unable to conquer other areas such as Italy.

In what ways did China participate in the world of Eurasian  commerce and exchange, and with what outcome ?

..working on it..trying to figure how to put all in though.

Chapters 4, 5, 6

     Going through the readings I found that the status of women have changed from an equal to non-existence. By non existence, women were now seen as not an equal and seen as a child producer. From China to Roman, women started to form this reputation as someone who tends to the house, be obedient to men regardless of their age, child producers, and lastly become a slave through war.  Regardless of a woman’s status or how wealthy her family is, she will never be an equal. I find that quite amazing how it all changed from Paleolithic to the Eurasian era. Women were once praised as a gather or decision maker, but now seen as an object. For instance, Confucianism practiced more of the patriarchal approach. Confucius believed that life comes in opposites meaning men and women. They saw it as the form of the yang and yin. Yang defined as “masculine, strength, rationality which adds up to heaven like.”  On the other hand, yang was defined as “feminine, weakness, emotional, and more down to earth.” This gave the perspective that men should be seen more as a figure at home or in the public which carried the weight of superiority and the women seen as delicate creatures who should be domestic. There are “three obediences” that Confucianism highly believed that women should live by which are “women is subordinated to father, then husband, then son.”  This pretty much narrows it down on how life was life for women.  It’s sad to say that this quote has never changed throughout history.              
      Besides hearing the negative, some women did gain some political authority which caused hostility from male officials in China.   During the Tang Dynasty, elite women were now considered capable of handling legal and business affairs.  These women were even given credit to ride horses like men did which was a huge step. Women were starting to pave a road in China especially when the first female emperor took control. Emperor Wu took her reign and started too pushed for the improvement of women and their status. By just having a female ruler in China at the time was defying all laws since it went against Confucius. Emperor Wu received a lot push back and criticisms for her trying to push women to the front.  If female writer Ban Zhao was able to speak, I wonder if she would agree to have a female ruler or would it be bad taste to have one. One would think that Ban Zhao would disagree because her theory is that women should always be submissive to a male authority figure. Emperor Wu defies all of that since she is the main authority figure and the one controlling an empire. It’s a bit a peculiar that a well educate woman like Ban Zhao would be okay with being submissive and allowing her husband to have concubines on the side.  I would think that since Ban Zhao is so educated she would have fought for the status of women during the Han dynasty and demand her right as a woman.  Apparently that was not case because Ban Zhao was a firm believer in obedience to the authority male in any nature.

Response week 1

Hey Everyone,
I know its late, but I wanted to really write a good blog!

                When I was reading the first three chapters of the textbook, I felt really overwhelm with all of the information that was provided. The subject that stood out was how women were treated as individuals and as an equal, especially how women were deeply needed not for their domestic housework chores or to bear children. Women were seen with a status of hunting, making tools, and deciding who gets what part of a hunted animal. I believe that Strayer was trying to convey that women were dominant figures and men were not always the leader of the pack. In one particular group, the Sans lived a very harmonious life on how men and women were treated equally. One example is the sex life on how if husband and wife were not satisfied; they are allowed to seek loves that could satisfy them sexually. While women have the option to divorce there husband if she feels the marriage is not fulfilling for her. It’s interesting to see that back in the Paleolithic days women were not bashed for trying to leave her husband, but nowadays it’s very taboo to do so. In the Vietnamese culture it’s a huge slap to the girl’s family if she seeks a divorce or even thinks about that option. I can only imagine that back when civilization was just beginning women really had the respect and upper hand on deciding her fate in life.  It’s funny to see how present days have changed on how the world still perceives women as a delicate flower who should be a home maker. It makes me feel that we are moving backwards instead of moving forward.

                On a different note as I read into the Agriculture, I started to notice the change from an era without a main leader or commander into societies with chiefs. These chiefdoms were being created to give these leaders power and privileges which started to back up the idea of equals. However instead of using their power to will over their people, the chiefs would win followers by using their personality, charm, and gifts. This enables those to build a strong group of followers and a tight society. Chiefdoms were generally popular within the Pacific islands where the Polynesian people colonized. The Chiefs were seen as a great person who could mediate conflicts within the society, prepare for war, conduct rituals, and being able to keep up with the economic life. These leaders are chosen and respected due to their linage.  I find that it’s pretty much to life today! Hence how our President is trying to resolve issues between the democrats and the republicans, stop hate crimes while trying to prevent war within our own people, and also trying to rebuild our economy. I would say that’s pretty close. I feel that it’s important to have a leader that is greatly respected and liked as an individual. If we didn’t like our leader then who would we trust on guiding us to a better future.

                Reading through the book I tried to reflect my thoughts and compare it to present day.