Don't forget to say Rabbit Rabbit, or do whatever folk charm you have for good luck at the start of the month!
The readings for the weekend are from Chapter 20, which is all about Europe, so we don't need to read it all.
Look over pages 510-513, paying attention to the relationship between the Pope and Kings
Read pages 522-529, which is about the evolution of Christianity in Europe.
All of this is leading us up to the Crusades... [insert ominous music soundtrack here]
And, speaking of ominous music, there is a quiz on Chapter 19 on Monday. It will follow the same format as prior quizzes: there will be 4 sets of terms, your task is to explain the meaning of the terms and then how they are connected to each other.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Homework for January 30--Africa
For tonight, read page 496-504 (finish the chapter). For those of you who were not in class, we drew freehand maps of Africa in class. The map in the textbook on page 489 is very incomplete and has some errors. Use that as your basis for your map and then add in what it doesn't show, and correct its mistake!
We will have a quiz on chapter 19 on Monday of next week, format to be announced tomorrow.
We will have a quiz on chapter 19 on Monday of next week, format to be announced tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Griot homework, January 28
We won't be meeting tomorrow due to the Poetry Out Loud finals (good luck Praveen and Mike!)
For tonight, on your blog, post whether or not you would like to be learning history in the style of the Griots of Africa, and explain why you would or would not.
Then read pages 483-496 in the textbook. Yes, it is a lot of pages, but then again, you could spread it over two nights...
and as requested, the link to today's memory presentation is here.
For tonight, on your blog, post whether or not you would like to be learning history in the style of the Griots of Africa, and explain why you would or would not.
Then read pages 483-496 in the textbook. Yes, it is a lot of pages, but then again, you could spread it over two nights...
and as requested, the link to today's memory presentation is here.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Homework for January 27--Get Meta
Tonight for homework do two things:
1) Reflect: Gather the data from your essay performance in the first term. Use the spreadsheet template linked up here. Go to "File" and "Make A Copy" for yourself. Then fill it out using your past essays and the mid-term essay & outline; give yourself a '1' or an 'x' or a 'y' or whatever you like for each scoring category you got points for on the essay score guide for each essay. Once you've filled it out, look over the spreadsheet. On your blog, share a link to your spreadsheet and write about any pattern you see, or what the data reveals as far as what you need to work on going forward.
2) In class, we talked about what history is and how to visualize what has happened up until now in the world's history. In a separate blog post, write: What is the ideal shape you would use to consider the progress of history to this point? You can show it, or you can describe it, whichever you like.
1) Reflect: Gather the data from your essay performance in the first term. Use the spreadsheet template linked up here. Go to "File" and "Make A Copy" for yourself. Then fill it out using your past essays and the mid-term essay & outline; give yourself a '1' or an 'x' or a 'y' or whatever you like for each scoring category you got points for on the essay score guide for each essay. Once you've filled it out, look over the spreadsheet. On your blog, share a link to your spreadsheet and write about any pattern you see, or what the data reveals as far as what you need to work on going forward.
2) In class, we talked about what history is and how to visualize what has happened up until now in the world's history. In a separate blog post, write: What is the ideal shape you would use to consider the progress of history to this point? You can show it, or you can describe it, whichever you like.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Mongol Trial Verdict
The Mongols were charged with the following crimes:
Genocide
Terrorism
Kidnapping
Most straightforward first: The Mongols are guilty of kidnapping. The testimony of Guillaume Boucher and Mr. and Mrs. Li were un-refuted by the defense. Both Mr. Boucher and Mrs. Li were taken from their places of residence against their wills and held against their will. Attempts to paint this as being prisoners of war fell flat, as neither was a combatant, which is a critical part of being taken prisoner in a time of war. Additionally, Berte did testify that kidnapping was a part of internal Mongol tradition during her lifetime.
The second charge is less clear, however, in the end, the court finds the Mongols not guilty of Terrorism. Though Friar John gave compelling testimony to the effect that he did not observe terroristic behavior, nor did he fear for his life while remaining among the Mongols, he did deliver a letter from Guyuk Khan to Pope Innocent IV that was clearly an attempt to instill fear in the Pope (to which he testified) and alter his behavior, which he did. The Mongols made extensive use of psychological warfare tactics because it was part of an on-going conflict, regardless of provocation, their allowing people to live in order to minimize future conflict can't be viewed as purely terrorism, but rather can be seen as a tactic or a strategy. Witnesses for the prosecution were unable to convince the court that the Mongols were other than better strategists, who practiced a superior style of warfare with better armaments and technology. Yes they were crude, yes they were inventive, yes they verged on barbaric at times, but they weren't proven to be terrorists as the definition articulates.
The third charge is clear, and that is that the Mongols are not guilty of genocide. The prosecution was unable to successfully prove that Mongol attacks were motivated by common traits or characteristics beyond the fact that they were human beings who were not Mongols. Mongol leaders testified to leaving people alive, as did some of the witnesses for the prosecution which makes it difficult to prove that the Mongols sought to exterminate all people who shared a common trait. Lastly, the argument of residence as a common trait was unsuccessfully introduced to the court. Merely because the class shares a location does not fall under the definition of a trait, which is implicit of characteristics such as ethnicity. For instance, to successfully point to the fact that because all of the class resides in Burlington, and thus an attempt to exterminate all of the class is genocide would necessitate proving a connection much deeper than the arguments advanced by the prosecution. Finally, the Mongol habit of offering surrender before attack also makes genocide a difficult case to prove. If the Mongols were intent upon killing all residents of Baghdad because of their Baghdad-ian-ism, they probably wouldn't have made that offer at the outset, as that implies that Hulagu was willing to live and let live.
Genocide
Terrorism
Kidnapping
Most straightforward first: The Mongols are guilty of kidnapping. The testimony of Guillaume Boucher and Mr. and Mrs. Li were un-refuted by the defense. Both Mr. Boucher and Mrs. Li were taken from their places of residence against their wills and held against their will. Attempts to paint this as being prisoners of war fell flat, as neither was a combatant, which is a critical part of being taken prisoner in a time of war. Additionally, Berte did testify that kidnapping was a part of internal Mongol tradition during her lifetime.
The second charge is less clear, however, in the end, the court finds the Mongols not guilty of Terrorism. Though Friar John gave compelling testimony to the effect that he did not observe terroristic behavior, nor did he fear for his life while remaining among the Mongols, he did deliver a letter from Guyuk Khan to Pope Innocent IV that was clearly an attempt to instill fear in the Pope (to which he testified) and alter his behavior, which he did. The Mongols made extensive use of psychological warfare tactics because it was part of an on-going conflict, regardless of provocation, their allowing people to live in order to minimize future conflict can't be viewed as purely terrorism, but rather can be seen as a tactic or a strategy. Witnesses for the prosecution were unable to convince the court that the Mongols were other than better strategists, who practiced a superior style of warfare with better armaments and technology. Yes they were crude, yes they were inventive, yes they verged on barbaric at times, but they weren't proven to be terrorists as the definition articulates.
The third charge is clear, and that is that the Mongols are not guilty of genocide. The prosecution was unable to successfully prove that Mongol attacks were motivated by common traits or characteristics beyond the fact that they were human beings who were not Mongols. Mongol leaders testified to leaving people alive, as did some of the witnesses for the prosecution which makes it difficult to prove that the Mongols sought to exterminate all people who shared a common trait. Lastly, the argument of residence as a common trait was unsuccessfully introduced to the court. Merely because the class shares a location does not fall under the definition of a trait, which is implicit of characteristics such as ethnicity. For instance, to successfully point to the fact that because all of the class resides in Burlington, and thus an attempt to exterminate all of the class is genocide would necessitate proving a connection much deeper than the arguments advanced by the prosecution. Finally, the Mongol habit of offering surrender before attack also makes genocide a difficult case to prove. If the Mongols were intent upon killing all residents of Baghdad because of their Baghdad-ian-ism, they probably wouldn't have made that offer at the outset, as that implies that Hulagu was willing to live and let live.
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