History Reflections

I really like exploring the world of Islam. I took a course on Islam to cover one of my religion requirements and I was really happy I did. Seeing how Islam challenged Christendom and how it was adopted by African cultures, eventually making it the world's second most practiced religion. And it's great to see that it is not only in Arab lands. I really like how the Qu'ran demands social justice, which reflects the importance of social justice in today's world. This all led to the creation of the Arab empire which led to a spread of the Arabic language and brought a new civilization of Islam. Strayer discusses the women and men in early Islam. I like how he consciously wrote women before men in that subtitle! I've caught on to his feminist ways. I understand that the place of women and men in Islam has always been controversial, where both were to be equal to Allah, but there were regulations and limitations set for women. Basically, anything is easily given or g...

The last World History class I attempted covered the Chinese empire and the Silk Roads early on. I will admit that it was much harder to comprehend and engage with the text, but Strayer had me engaged!  Looking at trade and how important it was, it is amazing to see the supply and demand that existed for things as simple as spices to crucial things like products for medicinal use. It is interesting to realize that trade was not only for goods, but religious ideas, technology, and sadly, disease. So the good, the bad and the ugly. Looking back at silk and how it became such a hot commodity, it was also a conduit for culture, which I appreciate. Sea roads also became a way to trade, being cheaper to send things through sea than land due to more room on ships. Monsoons made the traveling by sea possible, with the alternating wind currents allowing people to develop specifically technology when building ships. Sand roads eventually became possible for long-distance trade of gold, sal...

The writers of this text have made it an easy read for students like myself who are not very fond of history as a subject. I am very excited about this! Chapter 1 begins with a look at the Hadza people and their way of life, which was hunting, collecting berries and honey, and would migrate as animals would migrate. It is amazing to read that this was the way of life for more than 95% of the time humans have been on this planet. And it's is true, I do not ever recall learning about the Paleolithic or Neolithic eras in great detail during high school. We usually did start with the early civilization of Egypt and China. They go unnoticed. The map of time on pg. 13 looks as far back as 250,000 years ago where Homo sapiens roamed in Africa. Scientists are more than positive that this is where culture developed. After, migration led to the Middle East, Europe and Asia where archeologists found that these early humans may have developed technologies for hunting. about 15,000 years af...

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