Class 1/31, Left Early

I wasn't in class today because I left early.

Class 1/30, Cleisthenes

Today in class we talked about some of the people who served as tyrants in ancient Greece and the people who began to influence the start of democracy.
Notes:

• Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE, his brother was murdered and his rule became harsh, eventually he was expelled from Athens (he was ostracized), in revenge, he began to conspire with the Persians and their king (Darius I) to take over Greece
• With Hippies gone, Isagoras and Cleisthenes (with aristocrats), Isagoras had the support from fellow aristocrats and Sparta, Cleisthenes had the support of the majority if the Athenians 
• Isagoras won and becomes archon eponymous (tyrant), he ostracizes Cleisthenes, Cleisthenes' supporters- and the ordinary Athenian citizens- revolt against Isagoras' tyranny 
• They trap Isagoras on the acropolis for two days- on the third day he fled and was banished 
• 508 BCE was the first time people rose up against their own rulers
• Cleisthenes was a member of the elite, very rich, isolated from the working and middle class people growing up, crafty politician 

Class 1/26, Government in Greece cont.

Notes:

• Aristocrats attended symposiums meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of heaters (courtesans) while discussing politics
• Politics- an exclusive club
• No women (except the "entertainment")
• No middle class
• Certainly, no slaves
• Sometimes even aristocrats were excluded
• Sometimes aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers) and set up an alternative form of government called a tyranny 
• Tyrant- someone who rules outside the framework of the polis (old definition)
• Draco (621 BCE)- all Athenians (rich or poor) are equal under the law, death is the punishment for many crimes, debt slavery was OK (work as a slave to repay debts)
• Solon's reform (594 BCE)- outlaws debt slavery, all Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly, any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers
• Draconian- overly harsh punishment 
• More reforms (around 500 BCE)- allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly, created the Council of Five Hundred (members chosen at random, to counsel the assembly), leading to democracy, only free adult male property owners born in Athens were considered citizens, women, slaves, and foreigners were excluded 

Class 1/25, Governments in Greece

Today in class we started to talk about the different governments in Greece.
Notes:

• By 750 BC, the city-state/polis was the fundamental political unit in ancient Greece
• Polis is made up of a city and surrounding countryside with numerous villages
• Acropolis is where citizens gathered to discuss city government 
• Monarchy- state ruled by a king, rule is hereditary, some rulers claim divine right
• Aristocracy- state ruled by nobility, rule is hereditary and based off family ties, social rank and wealth
• Oligarchy- state ruled by a small group of citizens, rule is based off wealth or ability, ruling group controls military
• Direct Democracy- state is ruled by its citizens, rule is based on citizenship, majority rule decides vote
• Draco took power in 621 BC and developed a legal code based on the idea that all Athenians, rich and poor, were equal under the law
• Draco's code dealt harshly with criminals making death penalty for basically every crime
• Used debt slavery
• Solon came into power in 594 BC and made it so that no citizen could own another, outlawed debt slavery, organized citizens into four social classes according to wealth, lowest class could not be in political office, but could participate in assembly
• Cleisthenes broke up power of nobility
• Tyrant- powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support
• During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece
• Back then, rich people wielded much more influence in society, and held much more governmental power, than the middle class or the poor

Class 1/24, The Odyssey

Today in class Frankie didn't bring in any food. I was disappointed. Anyways we listened to a reading of the translation of the Odyssey by Homer. We also talked about whether or not we believed that Homer was actually a real person. My argument was that maybe he was just extremely talented and he was the Stevie Wonder of literature and since he couldn't see, his memory was just super strong and so was his hearing in place of his eyesight.
Notes:

• Goats
• Feasting
• Traveling by ship
• Strange land
• A giant monster man-mountain
• Wine
• Sharing gifts
• Needed to be diluted 
• Flocks of sheep
• Sacrifice to gods
• Huge boulder blocking cave exit
• Fire
• Hospitality
• Cyclops don't care
• Odysseus is crafty
• He ate two guys
• And two more
• Odysseus: "My name is Nobody"
• Drills a burning mast into the cyclops' eye 
• They escape by clinging to sheep' stomachs
• Trash talk
• Fatal flaw? Pride?

Class 1/22, Absent

Today I was at home sick so I wasn't in class.

Class 1/19, More Greece

Today in class we continued to talk about Greece.
Notes:

• Greece is a mountainous peninsula, covers 3/4 of Greece
• They had may skilled sailors and shipbuilders, also farmers, metalworkers, weavers and potters
• They had poor/limited natural resources so they needed to trade
• It was difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of this terrain
• They developed small, independent communities (city-states)
• Relative to our size and location-
• North Carolina- 53,318 square miles
• Greece- 50,949 square miles
• Pennsylvania- 46,056 square miles
• Although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsula only about 20% is arable (suitable for farming)
• Greek diet consists of grapes, grains, olives, and fish
• Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization 
• Back then, temperatures usually ranged from mid 40s in the winter to low 80s in the summer- although it could get hot in the summer, it was pretty nice year-round
• Mycenaeans- their influence began around 2000 BCE
• Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge on Peloponnesus, protected by a 20-foot thick wall
• Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1100 BCE, controlled trade in the region 
• 1400 BCE- Mycenaeans invaded and absorbed Minoan culture (writing system, language, art, politics, literature)

Class 1/18, Greece

Today in class we continued looking at Greece and its geography and topography.
Notes:

• Sea shaped Greek civilization
• Seaways connected Greece with other societies 
• Sea travel and trade were important 
• Rugged mountains cover about 3/4 of Greece
• Mountains divided land into regions, this created independent communities
• Hard to travel across land 
• Little fertile land and fresh water, hard to use irrigation
• Varied climate, moderate temperatures
• People who settled on the Greek mainland during 2000 B.C. are known as the Mycenaeans
• Mycenae (leading city) was located in Southern Greece
• The city was built to withstand attacks 
• Ruled other surrounding villages and farms, also cities such as Tiryns and Athens 
• Kings of Mycenaean dominated Greece from about 1600 to 110 B.C.
• Through trade or war Mycenaeans came in contact with the Minoans sometime after 1500 B.C.
• Both civilizations saw the value of seaborne trade
• Minoans influenced the Mycenaeans 
• Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Peloponnesus, Athens, Sparta, Crete, Asia Minor, Macedonia
• Greece could not afford to be an isolated civilization due to its geography and inability to grow crops 

Class 1/16, First Day of Western Civ

Today we had our very first class of the new semester and we started to read about Greece. We also  welcomed two new members to our class. Anna and Jillian are now apart of our class. There was also quite a debate as to why certain people got only so many point for class participation. Also there was some discrepancy because some people who got high grades said that they didn't even deserve them and other people did. 

Notes:

• The roots of Greek culture are based on interaction of the Mycenaean, Minoan, and Dorian cultures
• Ancient Greece was not a unite country
• Overall geography- mountainous peninsula, Mediterranean Sea is off the coast, ancient Greece included about 2,000 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Sea, the region's physical geography directly shaped Greek traditions and customs
• The world's great civilizations are all located on water (usually)
• Mesopotamia/Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
• Egypt/ Nile River
• India/ Indus River
• China/ Huang He River
• Greece is surrounded by the Adriatic, Aegean, and Ionian Seas
• Mediterranean- middle of the Earth

Class 1/12, Test

Today we took our test on World Leaders and their countries. Human Geo is coming to an end sadly. It is quite sad. The test was easy. I think I did pretty good. I am pretty excited for the semester to end and for the long weekend. I really enjoyed this class but it is okay because most of the people are staying the same in the class. I am going to insert my favorite moment from this class.  Mr. Schick's birthday party.

Class 1/10, World Leaders Finished

Today in class we finished the powerpoint on the world leaders in detail.
Notes:

• Shinzo Abe- Abe's father and his grandfather were politicians, he married the daughter of the Prime Minister, the Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and the traditional head of state of Japan, the Emperor is the symbol of the state of Japan, the Emperor is the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people 
• Sergio Mattarella- his father was was an anti-fascist who helped found the Christian Democracy party, which dominated the Italian political scene for almost fifty years, has been a leader for almost three years 
• Bashar al-Assad- basically a dictator, went to med school and was a doctor for the army, brother died in a car crash so he became the heir apparent, he seceded his father, he order mass crackdowns and military sieges on Arab Spring protesters leading to the Syrian War, using war crimes and crimes against humanity to stop the revolution against him 
• Justin Trudeau- father was Prime Minister, he defended Canadian federalism and has been an activist since a young age, brother died on ski trip, one of the youngest world leaders and prime ministers ever 
• Binyamin Netanyahu- he lived in the U.S. when he was a child twice, his brother was killed in the Entebbe Operation in July 1976, he returned to Israel and began to advocate for international cooperation to prevent terrorism, he believes that Israel has it's right to list and he wants to protect the Jews
• Donald Trump- at 70 years old, oldest person to assume presidency, businessman, billionaire, author, reality TV star, politician, Forbes magazine's 248th wealthiest man
• Uhuru Kenyatta- son of the first president of Kenya, the first election he was in was corrupt so there was another election which he won, riots broke out 
• Moon Jae-in- his parents were refugees of North Korea, he was a student activist, human rights lawyer, and chief presidential secretary, there has been corruption in the presidency, he was elected in 2017
• Kim Jong-un- "national self-reliance", single party state, Supreme Leader, had his brother killed, kills anyone who threatens his authority and kills their family too 

Class 1/8, World Leaders in Detail

Today in class Mr. Schick showed us his presentation which had the fifteen countries leaders we did our presentations on but he had a more detailed explanation of their background. Also I'm kind of mad that I don't know my exam grade yet.
Notes:

• Enrique Pena Nieto- there are rumors that he had his, he had extramarital affairs where he had two kids in the affairs, he's called the Teflon Candidate because trouble doesn't stick to him, he has a 28% approval rating 
• Xi Jinping- his dad is Xi Zhongxun who was the leader of China before him, legacy or dynasty (like the Bush's)
• Narendra Modi- independent thinker, first OBC, had to work himself up from nothing, OBC is the lowest class in India's society 
• Vladmir Putin- graduated with a degree in law, began his career in the KGB as an intelligence officer, retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he was the ruthless and ambitious 
• Angela Merkel- graduated with a degree in physics and physical chemistry, has a PhD in quantum chemistry, super intelligent, most powerful women in the world, third most powerful person in the world 
• Theresa May- member of the Conservative Party, she took over for David Cameron when he resigned after the Brexit vote, she wanted the UK to leave the EU
• Queen Elizabeth- has been queen for 65 years and counting 
• Emmanuel Macron- had no prior experience in a government position before his presidency, married to his high school teacher who is 24 years older than him, claims that they're relationship started when he turned 18 

Class 1/3, Political Geography Project

Today we spent class working on our project.

Class 1/2, Start of Political Geography

Today in class it was FREEZING. I am not sure it was legal to have sit in that classroom for an hour with the temperature being as low as it was. It was absurd. Moving on, we started a new unit called "Political Geography".
Notes:

• How is the world organized?- 
• Country- an identifiable land area (look at a map)
• Nation- a population (group of people) with a common culture 
• State- (with a capital "S") a population under a single government; can be synonyms with "country" 
• Nation continued-  a group of people with a shared identity, think of it as a culture group
• Definiton of a nation that isn't universally true- nations are groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which may share a common language, institutions, religion, and/or historical experience 
• Institution- a significant practice, relationship, or organization in a society or culture
• An independent state... -
• has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries
• has people who live there on an ongoing basis 
• has economic activity and an organized economy which regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money
• has the power of social engineering, such as education