Cassie Barham 6/11/2016 09:48:30 This is what I came up with as an answer to a rhetorical question Strayer poses in the section European Comparisons: Maritime Voyaging: Why did the Europeans continue a process (the overseas voyages) that the Chinese had deliberately abandoned? --Europe didn't possess the unified authority with the political power to
decisively end the voyages --Much of Europe's elite was interested in overseas expansion --The Chinese, seeing their culture as elite and completely independent, had an attitude of superiority that discouraged the seeking of things from others. While the European also saw their culture as unique, it was largely in regards to their religious tradition, and expansion served as a tool to combat the threat of the penetration of Islam. Ashton Haq 7/11/2016 22:53:30 Also: - Chinese withdrawal
from the Indian Ocean facilitated European entry, since it cleared the way for the Portuguese to access the area more easily Sofia Puccio 6/11/2016 20:27:29 I attempted to answer margin question 4 (How would you define the achievements of Ming dynasty China?), which I interpreted
as listing out some notable achievements mentioned in the chapter, but I'm not sure if that's correct, so tell me what you think Amy Vaughan and Eliza Pillsbury 7/11/2016 19:48:18 MQ1: Comparison: In what ways did the gathering and hunting people of Australia differ from those of the northwest coast of North America? AUSTRALIA: NORTH AMERICA: Amy Vaughan 7/11/2016 19:53:33 (for North America, we got rid of "Agriculture spread through European settlers," so ignore that.) Bingham 8/11/2016 09:08:39 This is really a great study result. Think about it, it gives you a nice neat list to learn. The next step is to add visualization (images that might represent the bulleted item), and try to ascribe some meaning to the item (this is called semantic encoding). For example, for economic specialization, you might imagine a group of poorly dressed people arranged around a campfire, but each is doing something different like making a bow, sewing clothes, taking care of a child, and so on. To ascribe meaning you might think about how chores are divided up at your home, maybe your sister does dishes, you have to vacuum, mom takes care of the car, etc. These techniques are much more effective than reading over the same notes again and again. Yasmeen Gaber 7/11/2016 20:10:36 MQ5: What political and cultural differences stand out in the histories of fifteenth-century China and Western Europe? What similarities are apparent? -Differences I feel like I'm missing something... Eliza Pillsbury and Amy Vaughan 7/11/2016 21:06:41 I agree with your differences, though it may seem like there are too few. However, we took our list of similarities from Strayer's initial statement in "European Comparisons: State Building and Cultural Renewal". Strayer mentions demographic recovery, political consolidation, cultural renewal, and overseas expansion. Would you agree? Yasmeen Gaber 7/11/2016 21:13:19 I definitely agree! I think I included that in there with a more vague category, but the specificity is definitely important! Amy Vaughan and Eliza Pillsbury 7/11/2016 20:19:20 MQ2: Change: What kinds of changes were transforming the societies of the West African Igbo and the North American Iroquois as the fifteenth century unfolded? (14 points that we found) IGBO (5 points) IROQUOIS (8 points) Eventually, both were forcibly incorporated into powerful empires Amy Vaughan and Eliza Pillsbury 7/11/2016 20:37:24 MQ3: Significance: What role did Central Asian and West African pastoralists play in their respective regions? CENTRAL ASIA: WEST AFRICA: Eliza Pillsbury and Amy Vaughan 7/11/2016 20:53:15 This pretty much matches our answer! We decided to organize it in terms of 1) Recovery from Mongol rule and Black death This structure seems complicated but it might help us remember some of the important details. What do you think? Eliza Pillsbury 7/11/2016 21:00:56 Whoops, this is supposed to be a reply to Sofia's answer for MQ4. Ashton Haq 7/11/2016 22:42:17 MQ6: In what ways did European maritime voyaging in the fifteenth century differ from that of China? What accounts for these differences? - Size of fleets: European explorers captained 3-4 ships with less than 200 sailors while Zheng He had hundreds of ships and thousands of crew members. And I think Cassie talked about the second part of this question above! Bingham 8/11/2016 09:43:18 I like this BPQ. In what ways did European maritime voyaging in the fifteenth century differ from that of China? What accounts for these differences?
Chinese exploration was undertaken by an enormous fleet composed of several hundred large ships, while European explorations were undertaken by expeditions made up of a handful of small ships. In terms of why China's explorations were so different from their European counterparts, the fragmentation of political authority in Europe, unlike
China's unified empire, ensured that once begun, rivalry alone would drive Europeans to the ends of the earth. Amy and Eliza 8/11/2016 18:22:41 Continuations (500-1000 CE): New/Surprising (1400-1500 CE): PLEASE leave suggestion! This is all we came up with so far. BTW, this is BPQ4: Looking Back: What would surprise a knowledgeable observer from 500 or 1000 C.E., were he or she to make a global tour in the fifteenth century? What features of that earlier world might still be recognizable? (compare/contrast world of 500-1000 C.E. to that of 1400 C.E.) Amy and Eliza 9/11/2016 19:46:23 BPQ1: Assume for the moment that the Chinese had not ended their maritime voyages in 1433. How might the subsequent development of world history have been different? What value is there in asking this kind of “what if” or counterfactual question? Alternative History: Counterfactual questions like this one are useful in that they make you consider the contingencies (two events that have to happen in order for the next event to occur) of world history that wouldn’t have lined up had a certain event gone a different way. They also require prior knowledge of a subject’s tendencies to be able to predict realistic alternatives to such contingencies. A question from Amy: I remember in class we talked about how China was not really interested in colonization in distant lands so much as they were just curious about them. Would this have meant that the Chinese most likely wouldn't have impacted the natives (culturally, economically, politically) as much as the Europeans did? I mean, this question is all about speculation so I suppose anything is possible... Bingham 9/11/2016 21:41:52 Nicely thorough answer guys. Amy, I think it's safe to speculate that Chinese influence would pale in comparison to the catastrophe of European intrusion. Sure, some American societies might well have seen a benefit to the adoption of Chinese culture and learning, but it would have been unlikely that it would have been imposed by the Chinese - just wasn't their style. Amy and Eliza 9/11/2016 22:29:34 BPQ3: What common patterns might you notice across the world of the fifteenth century? And what variations in the historical trajectories of various regions can you identify? Population growth: It's really late, but I figured maybe someone in the morning could comment? Are we on the right track with this question, or is this too specific to certain regions? Leave a Reply. | BinghamWelcome class of 2019. Some years students collaborate in this space effectively, some years not so much. One thing I know, collaboration significantly enhances learning. If you want access to my thoughts, this is the collaboration space to use. Most people propose an answer to margin questions, big picture question, or anything else related to managing Strayer. Other people can then comment leading to a stronger answer. I'll keep an eye on these pages, and pop in when I think you need me. Archives April 2017 Categories All
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