History of the Modern World class notes.pdf

History of the Modern World – Semester 1 – Class notes ☆ imp.: will study the consequence of agriculture 23/08/2024 Prehistoric & Ancient Founda2ons of World History Prehistory - period b4 first appearance of wri Kalahari Bushmen (marginal hunter-gatherers) lived in desert : difficult life condiO...

History of the Modern World – Semester 1 – Class notes ☆ imp.: will study the consequence of agriculture 23/08/2024 Prehistoric & Ancient Founda2ons of World History Prehistory - period b4 first appearance of wri Kalahari Bushmen (marginal hunter-gatherers) lived in desert : difficult life condiOons -> New Guinea (marginal hunter-gatherers): jungle w/ not much edible vegetaOon : difficult life condiOons - Hunter-gatherers lived in small groups (extended fam) and contemporary h-g lived in even smaller groups. (small communiOes) - Way of using resources engender split-ups in groups - InnovaOve tool-makers, well adapted to environn. - v. arOsOc (cave art represenOng religion or animals) - How to obtain their food = v important thing to keep in mind : h-g were foragers (food collectors rather than food producers) -> low pop. density, high mobile (nomadism) -> it’s a lifestyle that only supports a small populaOon - don’t store food over the long term (across seasons) Emergence of agriculture - Agriculture = Farming = the domesOcaOon (control of reproducOon) of plants (and animals, so breeding) for food producOon. è involves planOng, watering, ferOlizing, weeding, culOvaOng è hard work è goal of domesOcaOon and breeding = produce more producOve variants (change characterisOcs) - Agricultural (or Neolithic) Revolu2on è growing pop. density (large communiOes) è permanent se class inequaliOes (between élite and everyone else) : has to do with the control of the food supply (storage of food ) -> surplus (more food for élites). division of labor too. those who control the food supply (élites) and those who produce food supply (non-élites). - Dependence on agriculture = a trap (never went back to our old ways of hunOng) -> gender inequaliOes : women have more children than they used to cause low mobility (sedentarism), women need their children to work (more hands needed) : domesOcaOon of women. status of women declines 2) What’s the evidence of those negaOve consequences ? Health : - malnutriOon (linked to disease) : bone/teeth health, height, mortality -> paleo-pathology Class : - linked to nutriOon Gender : - linked to ferOlity Free Ome vs work : hours of work per day Video - Emergence of agriculture in Middle East è main factor = dramaOc change in climate (ice melts), world becomes cool and dry (drought) and environment (fewer plants?) -> h-g became more difficult è Emergency way to survive bc of this environmental collapse, to see through diff Omes Hunter-gatherers Farmers Not conducive to ferOlity Increased ferOlity rates High demand for labor Equality Social inequaliOes Not a permanent government (just symbolic or Permanent government w/ a clear ruling class temporary) 27/08/2024 The earliest civilisa2ons - Developments in the 4th millennium (~3500 BCE) è BCE = Before the common era. (CE= common era) è in the 4th millennium -> 2nd qualitaOve shin in how humans lived -> explosion (more) of big populaOon centres - civitas (LaOn for ‘city’) - urban socieOes (city, not a village) è increased popula6on density è social complexity – specializa6on of work (agriculture) è growth in populaOon size of se Social hierarchy (depends on the surplus distribuOon) : king+ nobles (elite) commoners clients slaves (POWs : prisoners of wars, criminals) è organized warfare è Royal standard of Ur : 3 social classes -Ur at peace and Ur at war -> all 3 social classes have different roles to do è wri6ng, educaOon, mathemaOcs, astronomy, technology (elites have access to them and develop them) è wri6ng:  -emerged alongside the first ciOes - emerged from the system of accounOng - earliest script : cuneiform (Sumer) origins : storing tokens into the pouches, then imprinOng symbols onto the outside of the clay tablets) -significance of wriOng : communicaOon, more accurate documentaOon, travelling of the info across space and Ome (communicate w/ future generaOons) -> permits the passing down of knowledge across generaOons (by wri beginning of accumulated knowledge 30/08/2024 Ancient Mesopotamia con2nued - Symbol in a phoneOc script represents a sound (phoneOc cuneiform, phoneOc alphabet) è represent ideas è to touch any language - Sumer : original cuneiform tablets, southern part of Mesopotamia. - Spread of civilizaOon : CivilisaOon spread through Sumer’s neighbours taking over Sumer -> adopted sev things from Sumer, including cuneiform script. - Rise and fall of successor states è Akkad è Babylon - Hammurabi (king) adopted/put in to place a series of laws (Babylon and territories under control of Mesopotamia) : Hammurabi’s Code è enforcing laws = key part of government è importance of the use of wri laws to regulate that è debt bondage (temporary slavery) = someone loses their freedom to pay off a debt -> family members considered equivalent to animal property è state regulates households è priv property is rlly important, sacred even. then=big deal. protecOon of priv property = v imp. è in family, man has extraordinary degree of power -> family members = his property. can decide fate of wife if infidelity (death, etc.) è dowry : a payment of cash or gins from the bride's family to the bridegroom's family upon arranged marriage. è slavery is not transgeneraOonal now (children of slaves = not automaOcally slaves) è marriage is determined by men and not by women è eye for eye, tooth for tooth mindset between man (whatever someone does to u, u do to them) = egalitarian punishment è but if violence between 2 people of diff classes, not-egalitarian punishment, have to pay the value or the half value or a third of a mana of silver (financial penalty) for example. or there’s whipping in some cases. è capital crime = crime deserving the death penalty è if u accuse someone of a capital crime but can’t prove it, ur punishment is death è among nobles -> reciprocity as a punishment è among freemen -> punishment is a financial penalty? è v hierarchal society è social status is recognized by law -> your punishment depends on your social rank and the social status of the person u were violent to è disOncOon between man, freeman, and slaves in the law 6/08/2024 Ancient Persia and Greece: V CONTRASTING Persia: Empire (emperor = single monarch) VS Greece: CollecOon of city-states (more decentralized) Persian Empire - ~3.5 million km squared (1/3 of the size of Canada) : flat area - absolu6st monarchy (Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, Xerxes the Great) : king has the final say and nobody can contest his decisions - king appointed by god -> not quesOon king’s authority cause it would be contesOng god’s authority - elaborate ritual around the king - disrespect to king = deadly - imperial administra6on : Persian imperial satrapies (provinces) (governed by the Satrap, the governor, that governs the day-to-day affairs of the king) - Commerce - standardized coinage -> counterfeiOng is extremely punishable (highest crime of the realm) - Royal Road = physical infrastructure to: 1) facilitate commerce = imperial highway, protected by imperial troops -> commercial goods = secure 2) to facilitate communicaOon through the realm (messengers and horses traversing the highway) - recogni6on of diversity : Persian Empire habited by several differing ethnic and cultural groups from diff places, v. mulOcultural and mulO-ethnical empire -> Persian emperors accommodated and promoted local customs, tradiOons and religion and respected non-Persian tradiOons, policy against assimilaOon, several religions and tradiOons allowed è local customs and religion è local elites : willingness to collaborate and be loyal with local elites è language : Aramaic = the state language (neutral language). Not authorataOve use of the Persian language. - resistance & repression (for the protecOon of the king and the maintain of diversity) Ancient Greece - persistence of city-states (reminds us of Sumer in Mesopotamia) -influence of geography: poliOcal fragmentaOon -> mountains, valleys make it much harder to communicate between the city states and make one centralized state, and to govern too (trouble w/ messengers, for example). -> a lot of li city states went through phases of tyranny (ex. Athens) -some rare city states were - monos archon (meaning : one ruler) -some city states included a mix of several of these types of poliOcal regimes -Ancient Greece : mainly a formal oligarchy (your money or the property/land u have determines the power u have in society) - ciOzen-farmers (private farming, ciOzens owned their lil family farm, and used surplus to get extra money, so NOT a centralized state-led farming system) -ciOzen-soldiers (hoplites) : voluntary male ciOzens in Omes of emergency or war. responsible for purchasing their own weaponry and armor, did their own training. they were infantry soldiers, not cavalry soldiers cause of the geography. -> Except for Sparta, there were no standing armies (soldiers only full Ome job is to be a soldier) - ideals of community and equality -> men were more or less equal 2 most important Greek city-states : 1) Sparta - known for its militarism (most militarized society, veryyy militarized society.) - hard living condiOons for Spartan solders (ex. disgusOng diet) - army always ready for war, to fight (always on call): all ciOzens were in the army (ciOzen class) - Sparta was very onen at war - helots = ppl that had to work on Spartan farms, slave-like labor, non-free (helot class) - Spartans had no problem enslaving Greek ppl - rarely, there was state-directed infanOcide: murder of male infants if not fit physically for the military (if sick, unhealthy or weak) è demographically, there were more women than men in Sparta - separaOon of men and women - poliOcal system = v complex, combinaOon of oligarchy and democracy. è Council of Elders: selecOon based on property), made main decision. elected members were there for life. Dominant insOtuOon. Rich old males. è Assembly of male ciOzens: elected the members of the Council  è Kings 2) Athens, the ‘home of democracy’ - Demokra2a: è mass parOcipaOon in poliOcal life è direct democracy: - Assembly open to all male ciOzens, regardless of each member’s financial situaOon. Assembly voted on the laws of Athens and foreign policy (Athens to the world). Not a representa2ve democracy. -accepts or rejects laws proposed by smaller Council -elects most government officials (others selected by lot) - There were strict ostracisms in Athens (exile). Three types of ppl ostracized = unpopular gov’t officials, people who were disrupOve or scandalous (arOsts) or businessmen (corrupt). - tables to write on - limits of Athenian democracy: the majority was excluded and not allowed to parOcipate -women -slaves -foreigners 10/09/2024 Clash between Persia and Greeks The 2 civilisa2ons : Polar opposites : Persia – unified large empire, governed by an absolute monarch, tolerance and protecOon to foreign tradiOon and culture and everyone needed, in return, to support and be loyal to local customs Greeks – collecOon of city states, including democracy, some oligarchy, some tyranny. Rich Greek culture, ex. great philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle The clash Greco-Persian Wars (499-449 BCE) - between the Persian empire and some Greek city states - Causes : è expansion of the Persian empire in Ionia è Persian rule in Ionia (expansion) -> Greek revolt è Greeks were far less tolerant of Persian rule. Persian rule = loss of Greek independence è Persian invasions of Greece è Greek city states revolt in order to regain their independence, ask for Athens’ support è Persians crushed the revolts by sending a large naval force and declared war on Athens è The ba inflamed liver (specific shape) meant Mars was telling them to go to war. Political sucess Military Wealth glory/leadership accumulation -The more u demonstrated ur military leadership -> more likely to be elected as consul (poliOcal success)-> need to prove urself. Loot to be able to loot as a consul. -To be consul, u need a good military record and good wealth. -electoral corrupOon was accepted : ppl offered money to get votes in return (to ‘buy votes’, bribery to be elected consul) -so, consuls have in the past have needed to show interest in going to war -use of any excuse to go to war -> allies, ciOzens, assimilaOon : - Romans were brutal in war but lenient toward the ppl they defeated. Romans offered alliance or ciOzenship to their defeated enemies. Alliance meant those ppl had to pay some money to Rome.  è consequences of conquest : the insOtuOons of the republican system crumbled -> republican system crumbled. Romans not v good at imperial administraOng. When romans took over a province, romans relied on the army. When territory expanded, army expanded -> it became hard to control the army bc military commanders contested cause they wanted to be in a posiOon of power (ex. Julius Ceasar). -civil war : Rome v unstable state, no exterior expansion, just internal fighOng -end of republican gov’t -The Roman Empire -> founded by Augustus (roman emperor) -> de facto absoluOst monarchy -> emersion of ChrisOanity Studying for test : Reading reading lecture guide notes questions 17/09/2024 Religion in the ancient world - origins of religion (Hunter Gatherers) è prehistoric animism (the belief that objects, places and creatures, animals, weather pa presence of Hellinised Jews è Roman rule : roman rule was tolerant of diversity/other tradiOons, sauf if you rebelled è There are apocalypOc cults (that believed that God sent a sort of Messiah down to destroy the roman Empire) and armed rebels/zealots (that go against the roman rule, from Galilee). - “Jesus” of Nazareth è name : Jesus -> Iesous -> Yeshu (Josh) -> Yeshua (Joshua) è last name : Kristo (means Messiah) è a threat to the Romans (always watching him and feel that their kingdom is menaced by him) è dates : o Jesus was born in the year 4 BCE ( prob not the 25th December). Died by crucifixion ~30 yrs later. o members of the church created a calendar started at year 0 (got the date wrong). We sOll use that calendar today. è family background : lower-class, working-class, Jesus prob had mulOple siblings (large family). è primary sources ? (primary source = document produced during the period that we are studying (so here, around the Ome of the life of Jesus) o the Gospels (Gospel means = account of the life of Jesus) : Mark (~60 CE), Ma not problemaOc. o “Kingdom of Heaven” – service to others as a way of life : forgiving everyone, compassion, helping others, love and kindness in order to change ppl’s mentality 20/06/2024 - Jesus was a Jewish preacher. most of his followers were also Jewish. - he claimed to be a prophet, the ‘Messiah’, but he’s not claiming to be the apocalypOc Messiah - he didn’t claim to be divine (a god) - he claims he’s not interested in poliOcal revoluOon (against the Romans) A new religion - most imp figure here = Paul of Tarsus (St.Paul). (original name = Saul) è was the 1st person to put into wriOng the Kyrios Iesous Christos (Lord Jesus Christ) è never met Jesus in person and knew nothing abt him. at first was criOcal of the Jesus mvt then converted himself aner he had a vision where he saw Jesus, then he preached Jesus’ message è well educated, from a urban area -> makes it easier to promote this message è preached this religion as a universal religion (could convert anyone, regardless of their religion) o this new religion is open to everyone, jews and non-jews. Jesus is a divine saviour to everyone (shows w/ his crucifixion) o Jesus is even more special than the Messiah bc he sacrifices himself as god -> Paul was the 1st ChrisOan missionary : missionary travels -> founding of ChrisOan communiOes - hellinised jews means Greek-speaking jews, so Jewish by religion but speak Greek - Expansion and evoluOon (The Geographic spread of ChrisOanity) è expansion in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Western and Eastern Europe (Middle-East) and Asia -why? it had a lot to do w/ the roman empire è ChrisOanity is explicitly a missionary religion (unlike most religions in the Ancient World) o goes out of its way to convert members o appeal (open) to non-elites and women o in this early period of ChrisOanity, according to Saul, social class and gender and ethnicity didn’t ma ChrisOanity was universal and open to all, unlike Greek culture and tradiOonal Judaism that were quite patriarchal è role of Greek culture and state support o in urban centres, there were large Greek populaOons. in rural areas, it was the opposite.  o some rulers adopted ChrisOanity as their state religion (the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Armenia, the Kingdom of Axum) -> meant that their subjects (populaOon) adopted that religion o Roman reacOons to ChrisOanity (by Roman Emperors): persecuOon (during Jesus’ life) , then toleraOon as ChrisOanity became more popular, then adopOng ChrisOanity as their state religion § Emperors ConstanOne & Theodosius § ConstanOne founded ConstanOnople (new capital for the empire) § ConstanOne became a patron of ChrisOanity (helped fund construcOon of churches -> contributed to the Church becoming v wealthy), then eventually converted to ChrisOanity (1st emperor to do so) § Theodosius made ChrisOanity into the official state religion of the Roman Empire (in law) è hierarchical organizaOon § clergy & laity: clear disOncOon between religious officials and the laity (the followers) § clerical hierarchy (priests, bishops, patriarchs) bishops are religious authoriOes. some develop an even higher level of rel authority -> they become patriarchs. the patriarchs govern over the bishops and coordinate their acOviOes 5 major ChrisOan ciOes had patriarchs for each city: Alexandria in Egypt (founded by Alexander the Great), Jerusalem, AnOoch (Turkey), ConstanOnople, Rome. o hierarchy : Priests Bishops Patriarch (one Priests for each city?) Bishops Priests § the patriarch of Rome considered himself ‘papa’ -> became the Pope -> had supreme leadership § the ChrisOan Church imitated the administraOve structure of the Roman Empire for its own administraOve structure (ex. diocese (regions)) è debates & divisions o over the nature of Jesus & God (fundamental disOncOon between his 2 natures) § several theological debates and views § the view that prevailed in the roman Empire was se army collapsed -> Roman empire was vicOm to barbarian invasions o emergence of 2 rival churches : The Western/Roman/LaOn Church and the Eastern/Orthodox /Greek Church (in the Byzan6ne Empire cause expansion of the empire to Greece) o the VaOcan = headquarters