Since our last class discussed briefly the Massachusetts colony, I thought I'd post some pictures I took from my Boston trip last month. I loved Boston and the people there. Everywhere you walk there is some part of American history smacking you in the face. I walked along the Freedom Trail (until it took me to the marketplace and I got distracted by shopping), and I tripped several times on the cobblestone streets (flip flops and stone streets don't mix).

I tend to geek out on early American colonial history, and I only had a short time there so I didn't even come close to seeing all the historical buildings, statues and tours Boston had to offer (friends, Boston beer and the Red Sox had a hand in this). I loved Boston and can't wait to visit again.

Faneuil Hall has been a marketplace and meeting hall since 1742. Samuel Adams, James Otis and others gave speeches here encouraging independence from Britain. It was a well known stop on the Freedom Trail and is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty."

This stature of Samuel Adams is outside Faneuil Hall. He was a statesman, political philosopher, and one of the founding fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped the political culture of the United States.

The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Stanford White, was built in his memory on Beacon and Park streets in Boston in 1897. Robert Gould Shaw was the colonel in command of the all-black 54th Regiment, which entered the American Civil War in 1863. He was killed in a failed attempt to capture Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina.

The Massachusetts State House, also called Massachusetts Statehouse or the “New” State House, is the state capitol and seat of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is located in Boston in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. It was built on land once owned by John Hancock in 1798.

Of course my favorite part of my Boston trip was going to Fenway Park! The park is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium still in use and the oldest venue for a professional sports team in the United States. My tour guide informed my group that the team has put in a petition to Congress to make Fenway Park a historical landmark. In 2011, Fenway will turn 100 years old.

Ch 11

Wow. Chapter 11 contained a lot of information, but extremely interesting information. I will be the first to admit that I am totally confused by how Islam came to be. It has such a rich cultural tradition and history that it was helpful to read about how it came to be.

I admit I have a short attention span, and I do much better with videos (don't we all?) I took a religion class last semester, and watched this PBS documentary that I found insightful, interesting and informative. (You can't go wrong with the 3 I's!)
*I only posted the first 3 parts-the rest can be found on Youtube.

Ch 10

What I found most interesting about the Crusades was the amazing art and architecture that came out of the time. The book did not go into detail about it, so I did a little research on my own and came up with some key points. From the Crusades, two essential art periods came about in Europe.

The Romanesque Period:

Romanesque architecture was a combination of features from Roman and Byzantine structures. The Romanesque churches had thick walls, close set columns and small windows.

In the West, there was a revival of monumental stone sculptures. Romanesque sculpture was commonly carved in relief and it was an integral part of the architecture to the church it belonged to. (Remember the Crusades were a "holy war" to spread Christianity throughout Europe, so some magnificent churches were constructed).

The Gothic Period:

The Gothic period was characterized by religion, philosophy and art. Most representative of the Gothic period was the soaring cathedrals. A typical Gothic cathedral would consist of flying buttresses, stone beams extending from the walls. These beams helped take the weight off the walls, thus the walls could be thinner allowing space for stained-glass windows that were adored with religious images. Narrow pointed stone arches extended from tall pillars allowed higher ceilings to be built, unlike the rounded arches of the Romanesque period.

And in keeping with the theme of blogging, here are a couple of blogs I found about Romanesque and Gothic art. Check em out, it's pretty interesting.

http://www.romanesqueart.net

http://www.arthistoryspot.com/2010/02/gothic-sculpture

Chocolate Anyone?

I found this cool article from the Field Museum in Chicago that gives a brief history of chocolate. Thought it would be interesting to share with everyone! I bet the Mayans and Aztecs never could have predicted that their "sacred brew" favored by royals would become a confection that people of all ages and cultures enjoy.

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/chocolate/history.html

Chapter 5, Part II

Middle East:
In the Middle East, Zoroastrianism and Judaism were founded which later became the basis for Christianity and Islam.

Zoroastrianism:
-Founded in the Persian Empire; it arose to challenge the polytheism of earlier times.
-The Persian prophet, Zarathustra, recast Persian polytheism into one single god. The faith achieved widespread support within Persia and in parts of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia. It was not a missionary religion, so it never spread beyond these areas.
-The arrival of Islam in the Arab empire that brought the final decline of Zoroastrianism.

Judaism:
-The Hebrew tradition, recorded in the Old Testament, tells of the early migration from Mesopotamia to Palestine under the leadership of Abraham.
-Fled to Egypt where they were enslaved and then escaped back to Palestine. Established a small state that split into two parts, Israel and Judah.
-“Yahweh” was a powerful and jealous deity who demanded the exclusive loyalty from the Jews, and in time, the Jews saw him as a covenant and in return, Yahweh considered the Jews the chosen people favoring them in battle, and bringing prosperity and blessing.
-The set of ideas of Judaism sustained a separate Jewish identity in ancient and modern times. This understanding of God provided the foundation of Christianity and Islam.

Greece:
With the ever growing artistic, literary and theatrical traditions of Greece, the significance of Greek thinking lay in the way of asking questions. It placed great emphasis on argument, logic and reasoning without much reference to the gods.

Socrates:
-Athenian philosopher; taught mostly via lecture and questioned the logic of his students; thinking.
-Challenged conventional ideas about wealth and power; critical of Athenian democracy.
-This thinking conflicted with city authorities and was sentenced to death.

Plato:
-Sketched out a design for a good society in The Republic.
-Argued that only highly educated “guardians” led by a “philosopher-king” should rule.

Aristotle:
-Student of Plato; taught Alexander the Great; wrote and commented on everything.
-Emphasis on empirical observation; reflected on ethics and urged a mixed system of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy for government.

Christianity:
The message of early Christianity spread quickly throughout the Roman Empire. Roman rulers used Christianity as glue to hold together a diverse population and a weakening imperial state. Emperor Theodosius enforced a ban against all polytheistic religions and proclaimed Christianity as the official state religion. The Roman Empire, and soon all of Europe became mostly Christian. It also found a home in parts of Africa, Middle East, and Asia.

Chapter 5, Part I

I broke up my Chapter 5 outline into 2 posts so you don't get information overload!

Chapter 5 was about Eurasian Cultural Traditions, mostly talking about great philosophers and thinkers of the time. Religion is a tricky subject; for some, the religious traditions they take part in are sacred and divine. Various tensions and misunderstandings have arisen throughout time between people who partake in different religions.

From about 500 BCE, cultural traditions began to emerge from China, the Middle East, Greece and India. It is these traditions that have successfully carried over, albeit in different forms into the 21st century. The chapter does a good job of breaking down the religions/philosophers of the time. Here is my outline of the chapter (bear with me!)

China:

As one of the First Civilizations, China had a tradition of state building. After centuries of disrupt (approx 403-221 BCE) Chinese thinkers began to consider how order could be restored and from this, classical Chinese cultural traditions emerged.

Confucianism:

-Confucius spent his adult life seeking a political position in which he could put his ideas into action.

-The Confucian answer to a warring China was moral examples of superiors to restore social harmony. Human society consisted of unequal relationships: father is superior to son, husband to wife, older brother to younger brother and ruler to subject. If the superior party in the relationships behaved with sincerity and concern for others, the inferior party would be motivated to respond with deference and obedience and harmony would prevail.

-He emphasized education as the key to moral betterment.

-His ideas left a deep imprint on Chinese culture.

-Confucianism became the central element of the educational system; it also placed a great deal on history.
-Confucianism marked Chinese elite culture by its secular, or nonreligious, character. It did not deny the reality of gods and spirits.

Daoism:
-Laozi, a 6^th century archivist and thinker.
-Daoist thinking ran counter to Confucianism; ridiculed Confucianism efforts as artificial and useless
-Central concept of Daoist thinking is dao the notion that refers to the way of nature. The dao moves around and around, but does not on this account suffer. All life comes from it. It wraps everything with its love as in a garmet and yet it claims no honor for it does not demand to be lord.
-Daoism invited people to withdraw from the world of political and social activism and to disengage in public life so important to Confucius and to align themselves with the way of nature. It meant living simply, and simple communities with limited government and abandoning education and active efforts of self improvement.
-Chinese elite saw Daoism as a compliment to Confucianism; this outlook was facilitated by the ancient Chinese concept of yin and yang which expressed a belief in the unity of opposites.

India:
Indian elite culture embraced the divine and all things spiritual. The Indian religious tradition, Hinduism, differed from other world religions. It had no historical founder, and it grew from many centuries.
-Hinduism was never a single tradition-it was given its name from outsiders who wanted to keep the various Indian cultural patterns into a recognizable system.
-Hinduism has a vast diversity of gods, spirits, beliefs, practices, rituals and philosophies.
-The sacred texts write of many rituals and sacrifices one needed to perform in order to acquire power and wealth.

Buddhism:
-Emerged around the same time as Hinduism.
-Founded by Siddhartha, a prince from a small north Indian state, he left his wealth in search of “enlightenment”.
-A small growing community came to see him as Buddha, the Enlightened One, based on his travels and teachings.
-The Buddha’s teachings reflected the Hindu traditions, most notably, Karma and rebirth.
-The teachings also challenged Hindu thinking, rejecting rituals and sacrifices.
-Buddhism spread across India and beyond, a distinct different religion from Hinduism.