A new form of government

• what cleisthenes did was a huge step froward getting "regular folks" involved in governing
• but this first democracy had its limits
• citizens could participate- but only 1/5 of Athenians were citizens
• after several years, athens practiced direct democracy
• republic has people vote on who to put in power
• democracy has people vote on specific issues/topics
• what a direct democracy looks like:
• it is where the state is ruled by its citizens
• rule is based on citizenship
• majority rules votes
• in the agora, citizens argued, made speeches, then voted yes with white stones, and no with black stones
• it was first practiced in Athens under Cleisthenes by around 508 BCE

rule over Athens

• hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527-510 BCE 
• his brother was murdered, and so his rule became harsh
• eventually he was expelled from athens, ostracized 
• in revenge, he began working with the Persian King Darius 1, helping them invade marathon
• with Hippian gone, isagoras and Cleisthenes (both aristocrats) faught for power
• Isagoras had support from some fellow aristocrats plus from Sparta
• Cleisthenes had support from the average people in Athens
• isagoras won and becomes archon eponymous (tyrant)
• he ostracizes Cleisthenes, his only opponent
• cleisthenes' supporters- and  the ordinary athenian citizens- revolt against Isagoras' tyranny in 508 BCE!!!!!!
• this was the first time in history ever that any group of people even had thought about overthrowing the government.... THIS HAD NEVER BEEN THOUGHT OF LET ALONE EVEN DONE UNTIL NOW
• they trap Isagoras on the acropolis for two days, on the third day he fled and was banished
• Cleisthenes in power- he was definately a member of the elite 
• very rich
• insulated from the "hoi polloi"
• but... a crafty  polotician
• saw the value of tapping into the talents, intelligence, and energies of the non-aristocrats
•  too bad he didnt realize the value of women
• 
  

Schick powerpoint notes

• aristocrats attended symposiums
• symposiums: meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine, poetry,performances by dancers and acrobats, and discussed politics
• nobody in history had ever given their people power up until this point
• no women in politics, except maybe as a wife or "entertainment"
• no middle class allowed in symposiums and certainly, no slaves
• sometimes even aristocrats (who didnt have the right connections and fell out of favor) were excluded
• aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites
• hoplites: well armed soldiers
• tyrant was someone who seized power from the people in charge or set up their own shadow government
• Draco (621 BCE)
• all Athenians, rich and poor, are equal under the law
• but death is the punishment for many cromes
• debt slavery is ok ( work as slave to repay debts)

• Solon's reforms (594 BCE)
• outlaws debt slavery
• all athenian citizens can speak at the assembly
• any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers
• draconian:man overly harsh punishment for something 
• Cleisthenes' reforms (500 BCE)
• allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly
• created the counsel of 500
• still no women, slaves, or "foreigners"

Warring City States

rule and order in Greek city states:

• polis= city state
• made up of a city and its surrounding countryside which includes numerous villages
• agora= a marketplace
• acropolis= fortified hill top where citizens gathered to discuss city government
•  monarchy= a government ruled by a single person called a king
• aristocracy= a government ruled by a small group of noble, landowning families
• oligarchy= a government ruled by a small group of powerful people through military takeover
• aristocrats were normally families of military officers, merchants, and artisans
•  repeated clashes occurred between rulers and common people
• tyrants= powerful leaders who seized control of the government with the support of commoners
• common def of tyrants is way different...
• in ancient greece tyrants were looked upon as leaders who would work for the interests of ordinary people, created job opportunities 

Athens builds a limited democracy:

• democracy=rule by the people
• citizens participated directly in political decision making
• Draco's idea was that all athenians rich and poor, were equal under the law
• Debt slavery= debtors worked as slaves to repay their debts
•  Solon stated that no citizen should own another citizen, he outlawed slavery
• all citizens could participate in the athenian assembly
• Cleisthenes broke up the power of nobility
• he allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate and passage
• counsel of 500 chosen out of random citizens
•  only free adult male property owners born in athens were considered citizens
• women, slaves, and foreigners had few rights and weren't considered
• only sons of wealthy families were educated
• they received training even in logic and public speaking 
• when boys got older, they entered military school
• women were taught at home by mothers about managing household and how to be a good wife and mother
• only few women learned to read and write

Sparta Builds a military state

•  sparta is located in the southern part of greece in Peloponnesus
•  sparta built a military state

Odyssey book 9 notes

• goats
• feasting
• personfifies red dawm
• travelling by ship
• strange land
• a giant monster man-mountain
• wine***
• sharing gifts
• wine needed to e diluted by 20 cups of water
• flocks of sheep
• sacrafice to gods
• huge boulders blocking cave exit
• fire
• hospitality
• cyclops dont care
• Odysseus is crafty, he escapes danger using his witts
• young dawn with her rose red fingers
• cyclops ate 4 people, gruesome meals
• splashes their brains everywhere
• the clyclops' club is as big as a ship's mast
• ate 2 more men!!
• gives clyclops wine, trickery
• very strong wine, tries to get clyclops drunk
• Odysseus: "My name is nobody"
• drills a burning mast into the clyclop's eye 
• red geyser of blood came out of his eye
• escaped by clinging to sheeps bellies
• trash talking to Polythemus
• fatal flaw? pride?
• prophecy

Homer who?... Simpson?

No, not Homer Simpson. Great show, but sorry you will not be hearing about Homer Simpson on this post...
Notes:

• Ancient greeks were a very active people, invented olympics
• Mycenae was on an island protected by a 20 foot thick wall. they were also really good at building ships
• 1400 BCE Mycenaens invaded crete and absorbed Minoan culture
•  people now used to think the Trojan war was fictional because of the involvement of greek mythology, but archaeologists found that there actually was a war in the city of Troy
• around 1200 BCE the mysterious "sea people" began to invade Mycenae, and burnt palace after palace
• "sea people" are unidentified 
• dorians were less advanced than the people they invaded, very isolated/ not interested in contact with other places
• dorians didnt write things down, writing disappeared as they remained in control for 400 years
• this time period is referred to as the dark ages in Greece
• Greek oral tradition- stories passed on by word of mouth
• Homer lived at the end of these "Greek Dark Ages"
• homer composed stories of the Trojan war
• Composed Iliad and Oddysey
• The Odyssey is 12,110 lines long
• homer was blind
• he was a hugely influencial person in greek history

munchkin day

Today in class, we continued taking notes on Mr. Schick’s wonderful powerpoint. Also, today was my turn on the schedule to bring food into class, so I brought everyone munchkins. Sadly, I had to leave my favorite class early for a track meet. Anyways, below are the notes I got to take before I left class:

·       Although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the Peninsula, only about 20% is arable

·       Arable means that it can be easily farmed on, flat enough to be plowed and stuff

·       Greek diet consisted of grapes, grains, and olives

·       This Lack of resources most likely is one of the reasons that drove the Greeks to colonize other places

·       Back then in ancient Greece time, temperatures usually ranged from the mid 40s in the winter to the low 80s in the summer- although it was possible to become pretty hot in the summers, it was normally nice weather year-round

Continued notes on ancient greece

• Greece is a mountainous peninsula
• relatively central location, accessible to many ports on the Mediterranean sea
• in a good position for trade
• greeks were seafaring people
• TO KNOW:
• Aegean Sea
• Ionic Sea
• Adriatic Sea
• Peloponnesus
• Athens
• Sparta
• Crete
• Asia Minor/ Turkey
• Macedonia
• mountains cover about 3 quarters of greece
• approximately 2,000 islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas
• had many skilled sailors and ship builders also farmers, metal workers, weavers, and potters
• Greece had poor/ limited natural resources, so they needed to trade
• used the coastlines of places to make ports to trade with other places
• IMPORTANT: It was really hard to unite Ancient Greeks because of the terrain. They developed small, independent communities (city-states), that is who they were loyal to.
• it was almost like the greeks were more proud of being a part of their state than being a partof greece
• its kind of like how in the confederate america, the southern people were more loyal to their states than to the country as a whole.
• Sparta had a stronger land army than athens
• Athens had a stronger Navy than Sparta

Greece is the Word

Cultures of the Mountains and Sea Notes:

• democracy in which citizens exercised power
• Greeks created sculptures of gods and goddesses
• they did not live on land, they like to say that they live around the sea
• sea was important for transportation because Greece lacked natural resources such as timber, precious metals, and usable farmland
• mountains divided the land into different regions and groups of people
• these groups had their own governments with different political and cultural views
• it was hard to travel over these mountain barricades
• historians believe the infertile land of Ancient Greece led the Greeks to seek new sites for colonies
• mycenaens and minoan civilizations
• Myceneans fought a war against Troy and hid soldiers in a wooden horse to capture the city of Troy

Notes on powerpoint:

• the world's great civilizations settled by rivers/ water source
• Mesopotamia/ tigris and euphrates river
• India/ Indus river
• China/ Huang He river
• Egypt/ Nile river 
• Adrianic Sea
• Ionian sea
• Greece is a peninsula
• Mediterranean = " middle of earth"

world leaders

Today in class we just finished up notes on the slide that we started yesterday.

Syria:

·       The government is actually an authorial regime

·       Assad has all of the authority throughout the whole country whatever he says goes

·       Ruthless, heartless dictator

·       He has been in power for 17 years, longest running leader at the moment

·       He bombs his own people for protesting ways of the government

·       Denies his people of their human rights

·       Brutally committing war crimes against humanity against his own people

Canada:

·       Prime minister born on Christmas day

·       He defended Canadian federalism while in high school

·       brother died in avalanche, so he started a campaign for winter sports safety

·       he was setting up programs and defending people when he was young and not in office

·       his country wants and welcomes Syrian refugees to make their homes in Canada

Israel:

·       prime minister netanyahu

·       country is a prime target in the middle east cause it is surrounded by muslim countries that do not want their presence

·       his main goal is to provide safety and security for the nation

United States:

·       Trump is a business man, billionaire, author, tv star, and politician

·       Oldest to start presidency in America

·       Worked and took over father’s real estate and construction firm

·       248 wealthiest man in the world

Kenya:

·       Son of the first president

·       Shady elected for 2^nd term

·       fairly young country

South Korea:

·       aka. Republic of Korea

·       technically North and South Korea are still 1 country, though they are completely different

·       parents were refugees from North Korea

North Korea:

·       aka. Democratic people’s republic of Korea, DPRK

·       virtually no body can run against kim jong-un

·       “hermit nation”

·       Government controls everything ex: radio, internet, news ect.

world leaders notes

Mexico:

• enrique pena nieto
• known as "Teflon candidate" meaning his personal problems haven't affected his career
• has low approval ratings

China:

• has political history in family
• married one of the most famous and most beautiful  woman in China
• sent his daughter to Harvard to get her education 

India:

• independent thinker since he was young
• First lower class(OBC) to be in the position
• had to work himself up from nothing
• been in office for a long time 

Russia:

• he is ruthless and ambitious
• heartless if you will
• will do anything fro mother russia

Germany:

• she is considered one of the smartest world leaders
• raw intelligence
• 3rd powerful world leader
• been in office for 12 years 

England:

• Queen isnt really a head of government, she is there because the people love her

France:

• he is married to his high school teacher who is  24 years older than him
• youngest president of france at 39 years old
• was an investment banker before he became president

 Japan:

• political family and wife
• emperor is the head of the imperial family, family is important to japanese people
•  emperor has no powers related to the government

Italy:

• sergio mattarella 
• his father helped found a political party against the gov that lasted 50 years
• his brother was killed by the mafia

continued notes and new project

today in class we finished taking notes from the slideshow in class yesterday, and then we began working on our new project. :)

My birthday class

Political Geography:
How is the world organized?

• country- an identifiable land area (can point it out on a map)
• nation- a population with a common culture
• state- a population under a single government, can also be a country

a nation= 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/organization in a society or culture
institutions of america ex: watching sports,  fast food, going to school/education...

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 organized economy which regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money
• has the power of social engineering such as education

 Also, today in class we had a discussion on how religious practices have changed throughout the years in America. For example, almost everything in the US used to close on Sunday to recognize the day of rest in the Christian religion. It seems that now we tend to forget that Sunday is a holy day and we are not supposed to do much of anything.