Chapter 12

In this chapter, it talks about the connections that are being made and set up throughout the world. All the civilizations are settled and religions are starting to settle as well. This chapter makes a lot of comparisons like the European Comparisons. Within this chapter, it talks about the Americas and the civilizations that were formed there. These civilizations are pre-pilgrim. It talks about the Aztec and Inca civilizations. It also shows a map of the Americas and the certain kinds of farming the each region offered. Reading about the Aztec and Inca civilizations made me sad. Later on, they were forced out of their land and taken over by the conquistadors. I know how they felt because that is basically what happened to the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Americans came to Hawaii and overthrew Queen Liliuokalani. She was put under house arrest. During this time, she knitted many quilts and wrote songs. One of her famous songs she wrote during that time is Aloha 'oe. Back to the Incas and Aztecs. I feel bad for them because all that hard work that they had done to make their civilization went to waste when the conquistadors came and took everything.

Chapter 9

Chapter nine is about Islam and how it was spread throughout the world. After reading this chapter of Islam, they dont seem so bad anymore. Islam is actually a really peaceful religion. They have their rituals and practices like every other religion. It was really interesting reading about their religion. They have come a long way considering the fact that it all started with Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. Its interesting to know that this one man started a whole religion that got all the way around the world. In some ways, thats the same thing that Jesus did. After reading,  I feel bad for the Islamic people. They really have done nothing wrong. They are just practicing their religion and people from across the world hate them. People blame Islam for 9/11 and other terrorist attacks like the Boston bombing and the recent bombing in Paris. People shouldnt judge them or their religion unless they actually know the Islamic religion and what they stand for, which is peace.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 basically talked about Christianity and the spread of it throughout the world. Christianity has had such a major impact in the world. Of course, it is more prominent more in some parts than others. Take Asia for example. Asia has their own set of beliefs already. So when Christianity came around, not a lot of people were thrilled to convert. A paragraph in the book describes perfectly how people did not react well to Christianity. The book states that,"When expanding Muslim forces took control of Jerusalem in 638 and subsequently constructed the Muslim shrine known as the Dome of the Rock, that precise location  had long ben regarded as sacred. To Jews, it contained the stone on which Abraham prepared to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God, and it was the site of the first two Jewish temples. To Christians, it was a place that Jesus had visited as a youngster to converse with learned teachers and later to drive out the moneychangers. Thus, when the Umayyd caliph Abd al-Malik ordered a new construction on that site, he was appropriating for Islam both Jewish and Christian legacies. But he was also demonstrating the victorious arrival of a new faith and announcing to Christians and Jews that 'the Islamic state was here to stay.'" As time went on, Christianity made its way to the rest of the world like Africa, the Byzantine empire, Russia, and Western Europe. Because of Christianity, lots of beautiful buildings and churches like the Chapel of Notre Dame were built. Despite Christianity forcing its way into the lives of people, I think that it is very important and influential on the world.

Chapter 7

Chapter seven is about the commerce and culture from 500-1500's. In other words, this chapter is all about the different ways that people got around to places. It talks about their trading routes like the Silk Road, Sea Road, and Sand Roads. Depending on where you lived, each road is used very much. The book talks about all the things that go on along these road like the diseases and the certain kinds of goods that would be taken. I think that its very cool how the silk road played a big role in the dispersion of cultures. Its cool that people could travel along the silk road and preach, tell, or share their cultures with other people. Personally, I like to learn about other cultures and practices that are different than mine. It gives me a different outlook on life. As I read on in this chapter, it started to talk about all the different trades and things that each region went through. By looking at the maps, I believe that the best road to take the the Sea road. I think this because there is more water than land. Because of this, there is more places that the Sea Road can reach to and it can deliver more goods.

Chapter 6

In the beginning of this chapter, it talks about the world and the population back then and things like that. In one paragraph, the book reads that,"The world's human population was then distributed very unevenly across the three giant continents, as the snapshot on page 264 indicates. If these estimates are even reasonably accurate, then during the second-wave ear Eurasia was home to more than 80 percent of the worlds people, Africa about 11 percent, and the Americas between 5 and 7 percent." After reading this statement, I wondered why all these people started to move. I also saw that they were moving up Africa to Eurasia and started making the long voyage to the Americas. Despite everyone trying to get out of Africa and being nomadic, there are some people who stayed. I give props to those people who stayed because they did a great job with their civilization. Of course, Im talking about the Egyptian civilization that was built along the Nile river. The Egyptians did a good job in picking that river to settle along and learning more and more about it. The people who did not stay in Egypt and traveled across Africa also found refuge in various places. One of those place is along the Niger River. I like how the little "city states" along the Niger River remained how they were founded. They did not go under Imperialism and did not falter under stronger forces. I really respect that. All of these civilizations like the Nile, Niger, Andes, and the civilizations in the Americas have so much history. All of these civilizations may have similar ideas, but no one idea is the same as another. Thats what I find so interesting.

Chapter 11 Journal

In the beginning of the chapter, the author talks about pastoral societies and Mongol women. When the book describes these women, they sound not at all like the women from all the other societies that we have covered. These Mongol women have a larger part and I feel like they are respected more as a gender than the other tribes. These women were able to ride on horses, serve as political advisers, had a part in the military, and even rode horses. That really surprised me. I also think that it is amazing how the Mongols managed to get so much land and space with the little number of people they had. The book says that "Their thirteenth-century breakout from Mongolia gave rise to the largest land-based empire in all of human history, stretching from the Pacific coast of Asia to Eastern Europe. This empire joined the nomadic peoples of the inner Eurasian steppes with the settled agricultural civilizations of outer Eurasia more extensively and more intimately than ever before." It also states that,"Both the enormous destructiveness of the process and the networks of exchange and communication that i spawned were the work of the Mongols, numbering only about 700,000 people. That is just remarkable to me. All in all, I admire the Mongols. They are smart, ruthless, and close to their families. I admire how they fought and ran through big powerhouse nations like Persia, China, and Russia. That takes A LOT of courage, skill, and intelligence. However, what I like the most is how they incorporated things from the places they conquered into their lives. Take China for example. China made great breakthroughs like taxation and the postal system. Well after the Mongols went through China, they incorporated those things and started to use it themselves. The Mongols are probably one of the smartest civilizations to ever exist.

chapter 3

After reading this chapter, I thought about the U.S.A. I know the author of the book wrote a little about our country in the beginning of the chapter. And that made me actually think about it. The book compared the United States to the Romanian Empire. They also suggested that what if the United States is going to have the same kind of fate? If you think about it, it really could happen. This country is corrupt and all the politicians are only focused on themselves instead of the country. Maybe our country will fall. Anyway, as I read on, the book started to compare these emerging civilizations. The Persians and Greeks were basically rivals. I consider both of those empires to be among the greatest civilizations in the world and definitely the most superior of their time. I also consider the United States as one of the greatest too. But my question is, who is our rival? Could it be Russia? Or maybe China and North Korea? There are too many formidable countries who dont like the United States.