3/21/13: What were the five worst pandemics in history?

5. Third Plague Epidemic

4. HIV/AIDS

3. Plague of Justinian

2. Spanish Flu 

1. Black Death

3/14/13: What conflicts have occurred since the end of the Cold War?

The conflicts that have occurred around the world since the end of the Wold War are the Sudan civil war, various rebellions throughout Africa, the revolutions in Egypt, the US wars with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the recent end to the Armistice of the Korean War (so the Korean War is still technically occurring).

3/11/13 Overview of the Cold War:

      The cold war began soon after World War Two with the division of Germany among the allied forces. Eastern Germany was given to Soviet Russia and Western Germany was mainly under American control. From East Germany eastward the Soviet Union began to spread its communist influence on Europe and into Asia. Influenced by the requests of Winston Churchill, America sends aid to East Germany and attempt to stop Soviet advancements through Europe. The Soviets eventually place a blockade on East Germany, which America resolves by sending supplies through various airlifts. As tension continues to rise in Germany, Soviets in West Germany build a wall to separate Germany, known as the Berlin Wall.
     Nuclear missile tensions were also a large part of the Cold War, as towards the late 1940s the Soviets successfully develop their own nuclear weapons in response to the USA's. Cuba eventually undergoes a communist revolution, and forms an alliance with the Soviet Union. Exiles from this revolution are trained by the American CIA to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. This fails, and is known as the Bay of Pigs. Eventually The USSR begins supplying WMDs to Cuba, sparking a 13 day missile crisis which is successfully resolved through a US navy blockade of Cuba.
   Tension was also built in the space race, with Soviets successfully developing a satellite, the had an advantage over America and made the American people very frightened of the possibilities the Soviets now could exploit. America later proposes the idea of a Strategic Defense Initiative, a space system designed to destroy any and all nuclear missiles in space, as to render WMDs useless.
   Furthermore the Cold War was built up over the Korean and Vietnam wars, in which the United States fought to prevent communist takeover of both countries. America fought to stop the spread of communism, and partially succeeded in Korea, where the nation was divided and only a half of the country became communist, though failed and was utterly disgraced in the Vietnam war.
   The Middle East was another front of the Cold War, in which Iranians held American civilians hostage for over a year, and were unable to be rescued by the USA. Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviets against Islamist militants, the militants being supplied by the US.
  Finally the Cold War winds down with the collapse of the Berlin wall, allowing Germany to reunite, and the dissolving of the USSR. As separate republics of the USSR demanded their independence, and communism is overthrown in Russia, the USSR eventually disbands, leaving the United States of America as the victor of the Cold War.

3/11/13: What is the Cold War?

The cold war is, or was, a conflict between two world super powers, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States of America. There was no actual fighting in the Cold War, just a series of threats where the world stood on the brink of nuclear war.

2/18/13: How do you determine what is "significant" in history?

 You determine what is "significant" in history by looking at how an event made an impact on the way the world is today. It is helpful to ask questions such as "What would the world be like if this event wouldn't have happened?" or "How would history have been affected if this event had been altered?" Something that is "significant" can be determined its lasting impacts on the way the world developed (i.e. The Neolithic revolution is significant because it allows large groups of people to live together and civilizations to develop).

2/13/13: Government Test Answers

1. D
2. A
3. A
4. B
5. B
6. D
7. A
8. D
9. B
10. C
11. A
12. A
13. A
14. D
15. A
16. A
17. B
18. C

19. Control of the Media/Use of Propaganda

      Developing a Cult of Personality

      Changing National Laws to give the dictator more power

      Having a single-party government

      Use of Secret Police

20. 

      Article 2 connects to John Locke because he said that all people have natural rights which include life, liberty, and property. The preservation of those rights is what the article claims is the aim of political association.

      Article 11 connects to Voltaire because he supported free speech and the article states that "Free communication of ideas and opinions. is one of the most precious of the rights of man." Granting the right of free speech.

      Article 4 connects to Jean Jacques Rousseau because he philosophized that everyone has natural rights, however some of those rights may have to be forfeited to the government because the rights of society precedes the rights of the individual. 

     Article 16 connects to Baron de Montesquieu because he declared that "Power should be a check to power" and that power should be separated among three branches of government. Article 16 mentions the separation of power and therefore connects to Baron de Montesquieu. 

  

      

2/11/13: Map questions

a. The newest countries in the world are located in sub-saharan Africa. There is a large chunk of semi-new countries in the Eastern Europe to Northern Asia/Russia region. A few not-as-new countries are scattered throughout the world (Between 30 and 40 years old).

b. In the western hemisphere and sub-saharan Africa full presidential republics have either a satisfactory situation or noticeable problems. Towards asia full presidential republics have a difficult or very serious situation. Other countries with vary serious situations are generally single-party republics. Good situations are found within parliamentary constitutional monarchies.

c. One question I have is that of Mexico. It has the same type of government as that of the countries around it but a worse freedom situation. Also the countries with the worst situations are for the most part single party republics. With both media censorship and single party being on the list of things in making a totalitarian government. Something I noticed.

2/7/13: Totalitarianism list from memory

Eliminate rivals

secret police

scapegoat for the nation

rough childhood

military background

control the media

use propaganda

control the schools

use nationalism

use the country's hardship to your advantage

make territorial gains

take away freedom of speech

cult of personality

support of religion
one party state
dynamic speaker

2/5/13: Dictator's being researched

Franco
Hitler
Mussolini

1/25: Are Humans good or bad by nature?

 By nature humans are good. Every person has their own sense of justice and how to make the world a better place. Even those society labels as "evil" believed that they were improving the standard of living. No person is truly evil in their own mind. Every person tries to improve the world in their own way.

1/24/13: Reading Questions

     #1  What type of government does the United States have?  Explain. The United States has a democratic government. This is because every citizen over the age of 18 can vote and has a fair say in who is elected to government positions.

     #2  What type of government did the Romans turn to in times of crisis? The Romans turned to a dictatorship in times of crisis.

     #3  Who were the plebeians? The plebeians were the common people in rome. The non-wealthy land owners and farmers.

     #4  Some people call the US an Oligarchy.   Explain why. Some people call the US an Oligarchy because the laws are all decided by a relatively small group of people, the legislature.

     #5  Read the following excerpt from Acts 25:22-29.   We can infer that one of the laws the Romans had was... We can infer that one law Rome had was that it was illegal to punish (or at least flog) a citizen of rome without trial. We can also infer that this law was not extended to roman citizens. (Trial by jury) 

1/21: What is the purpose of Government?

     The purpose of government is to provide a system of standardization, keep the civilization defended (military), and to prevent the civilization from falling into chaos (anarchy).