Emily+P

Hello!

=Primary Source Unit 5: Universal Declaration of Human Rights=



This document was adopted on December 16, 1949, by the United Nations. It was written directly due to the atrocities committed during World War II, and its primary aim was to prevent those such violations of human rights from ever happening again. It consists of 30 articles, with each one outlining a basic right that every person is born with simply by being born human, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, sex, or any other differentiating factor. Eleanor Roosevelt was a main driving force behind the UDHR being accepted by the UN. Roosevelt, along with eight other powerful people of the time from eight separate countries, spent three years compiling the document. When it was first drafted and ratified in the UN, the United States abstained from signing it, even though Eleanor Roosevelt had been one of the drafters. However, we have since then adopted it.

Here in Boise, at the Anne Frank Memorial, is one of the only places in the entire world where the entire Declaration is on public display. This goes to show that even though Idaho is fairly distant from what one thinks of when the phrase "atrocities of World War II", the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is something that is not, should not, and will not be forgotten or ignored. It was the first piece international pieces of law that explicitly outlined 'human rights'. The rights that we are entitled simply because we were born human are extremely important, and the UDHR put those down on paper. The fact that Boise, Idaho seems worlds away from the Nazi concentration camps, goes to show that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is exactly that- a document that applies everywhere, always. The UDHR put down on paper what people had been saying for centuries, as well as raising awareness about human rights violations, and as Gandhi put, "make injustice visible". The UDHR aims to do just that, and even more, by making human rights violations a thing of the past.

Sources: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/hr_law.shtml http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/drafters.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights http://gemstatewriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/the-power-of-one-book-the-idaho-anne-frank-human-rights-memorial/ http://idaho-humanrights.org/memorial/ http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2012/05/25/teens-celebrate-human-rights

=Primary Source Unit 4: //The// //Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen// by Olympe de Gouges= This document was written by a woman named Marie Gouze and wrote by the name of Olympe de Gouges, a playwright and French activist, in 1791, and was based off of the document //The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen// (adopted in 1789 by the National Assembly), and specifically detailed women's rights and the shortcomings of the French Revolution when it came to sex equality. The French Revolution failed to give much recognition to women's rights in general, which gave de Gouges the inspiration to right this specific document. She criticizes the authors of the original //Declaration// for forgetting the women, who did play a substantial role in the Revolution, specifically The March on Versailles and The Women's Petition to the National Assembly. She had other radical views for the time as well, such as not condoning the societal treatment of women as disposable objects, as well as attaching a draft of a marriage certificate that detailed shared property to her //Declaration.// Ultimately, her ideas were too unsettling for French society, and she was killed via the guillotine in 1793 under the charges of being counterrevolutionary and for being an "unnatural woman."

This document and remarkable woman goes to show that even though documents that were thought of as great liberators, not just the //Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen// but the US's //Declaration of Independence// as well, often omitted rights to great percentages of the population, such as women and blacks. On the other hand, it also goes to show that even if it is not mentioned as much, women played a part in world history just as the men did. Sometimes it just took a bond statement for people to take notice, even if nothing changed for the time period. //The Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen// showed that freedom and rights weren't just a given for everyone, even after a revolution in the name of liberty was deemed successful.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizen http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/293/ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1791degouge1.asp

Hey Emily! This is a very interesting topic! Gouges was indeed a very courageous woman. I wonder if any women at the time of the announcement of her death sentence were as courageous as her, and tried to stop the execution? Also, the term "unnatural woman" is a bit interesting, I wonder what they meant by that?- DK

=Primary Source Unit 3: __In Defense of the Indians__ by Bartholomew de las Casas=

A Catholic Dominican friar, as well as a Spanish historian and social reformer, Bartholomew de las Casas was one of the loudest voices against the enslavement of the native people in South America by the Spaniards. He strongly believed that the indigenous people were not meant to be enslaved, contrary to most other view points on this topic at the time, arguing that they were human just like the Europeans and had the capacity to learn if properly taught. He was eventually given the title "Protector of the Indians" and spoke on matters pertaining to the Spanish treatment of the indigenous peoples in the courts of Spain. He authored some reforms, but they took quite some time to get going, and most Spaniards running the encomiendas in the New World didn't exactly agree with de las Casas principles.

Though this piece of literature did not dramatically alter the mindset of the time, __In Defense of the Indians__ shows us students of history today that not everyone in this time of exploration and trade endorsed the inhuman treatment towards the South American natives. It encourages me to know that not only did de las Casas disagree with what was happening, he also did not stand idly by and do nothing about the practices. The times may have been against him, but he pushed forward anyways for what he believed in, a lesson that is still applicable today.

I really appreciate your view on de las Casas. I was wondering if you knew how Spaniards both in Spain and in the New World treated the friar after he shared his views, since you stated that they didn't necessarily agree or change their treatment of the natives. It seems to me that it would give history students an even better sense of how humane or "savage" Spaniards really were, if they treated de las Casas differently (and by drastic measures) when he expressed his beliefs. In a way, it might show the progression (or lack thereof) of how people in power deal with dissenters. Any information on that would be great. Thanks! ~ Marisa Gonzalez-Mabbutt

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='School of Athens' Character: Diogenes= Diogenes of Sinope, while an intellectual person, was one of Greece's more eccentric philosophers. He was not a fan of complying with societal norms, and was quite the minimalist. Often known to sleep in a ceramic jar in a public place, he also sometimes urinated on people that insulted him. Additionally, when Alexander the Great complimented him by saying, " If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes," Diogenes simply replied, "If I were not Diogenes, I should also wish to be Diogenes." Diogenes was is also known as the father of Cynicism. He is unlike most other philosophers I've ever heard of. One of the best quotes in WH. -SW

He connects to the Renaissance simply due to the fact that he was a Greek philosopher, and the Renaissance was influenced hugely by the revival of Greek texts. On another level, Diogenes connects because he was going against the grain of what was considered normal by society, and the Renaissance was pretty much all of Europe turning society around. Though Homer was not a part of Plato's actual school of philosophy in Athens, he was still an influential intellectual of the Greek era, which means that his works could have been revived during the Renaissance era.

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=Primary Source Unit 2: Maya Calender=

The Maya calender was a system that the Maya people of Mesoamerica used to keep track and measure time. The use of this particular system reaches back to at least fifth century BCE, and was mostly discontinued when the Maya themselves disappeared, sometime between 700 and 800 CE.

The Maya calender was actually a set of four specific calenders ran in a series of complicated mathematical cycles. These separate calenders, which were the Tzolk'in calender, the Haab Calender, the Calender Round, and the Long Count calender, each measured different things, and were sometimes combined, as the Tzolk'in and Haab Calenders together created the Calender Round. The Tzolk'in Calender runs on a 260-day cycle, the Haab 360-day cycle while including 5 'nameless days', the Calender Round uses an 18,890-day (about 52 years) cycle, and one round of the Long Count calender lasts 5,125.36 days. All of these calenders are used simultaneously.

All of these calenders were based on some sort of astronomical rotation, such as solar or lunar. Not only did these complicated exhibitions demonstrate the Maya's extensive knowledge and understanding of astrology, but also their advanced mathematics. Their calenders are far beyond our modern Gregorian system, even if ours is easier to understand.

Sources: [] [] = = [] = = = Primary Source Unit 1: Rosetta Stone =



The Rosetta Stone, carved in 196 BCE, was the key to deciphering the code that was the Ancient Egyptian written language- hieroglyphs. It has the same message written on it in two different languages and three different ways- in Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic scripts and in Greek. Prior to the stone's discovery and decoding, no one had been able to understand the Egyptian hieroglyphs since the late 400s CE. The stone was discovered 1799, buy French soldiers in the midst of building a fort in Egypt, in a small village called Rosetta. However, it wasn't until 23 years of study later, in 1822, that the code was cracked by a Frenchman, Jean-Franç ois Champollion.

The writing on the Stone itself proclaims the divine right to rule of King Ptolemy V, whose family had Greek ancestors. The Stone was carved by four priest, who chronicled the great things that Ptolemy had done for Egypt in the past nine years of his reign at the time. Though not alone in what it had carved into it (other models were found later, such as the Decree of Canopus), the Rosetta Stone was essential to unlocking the key to Ancient Egypt.

The words themselves carved into the Stone are not particularly profound, ‍what is more profound is what historians were able to do with the writing‍. Before the finding of the Rosetta Stone, Ancient Egyptian culture, life, death, and everyday rituals were a mystery to the world. The decoding of the writing allowed us to discover the meanings of the hieroglyphs carved into tombs and read previously untold stories. The Rosetta Stone drastically differed our view of not only Ancient Egypt, but of the Ancient world as well.

The Rosetta Stone is missing a piece of it, a slab that most likely broke off before the Stone was ever moved from a temple at Sais to Rosetta. That remaining piece has never been found.

Hey Emily! The Rosetta Stone is a huge advancement in our knowledge of the Ancient World. Why was it not discovered earlier than that? Was Rosetta not occupied much? Do we know why it was written in three different ways? -Laura McKellar

Good information! Are there any languages that derive themselves form the "demotic scripts"? Why was it written in three different ways? - Vanessa Wong

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 * Spartacus **



Spartacus was an ethnically Thracian gladiator who lived from 109 BCE to 71 BCE. He was an auxiliary for the Roman army who deserted, was outlawed, captured, and sold into slavery, ending up at the Capua gladiator school owned by Lentulus Batiatus. About 73 BCE, Spartacus escaped with about 80 other gladiators from the school. After their escape, which consisted of stealing cutlery from a cook's hope and a wagon of weapons, the group camped on Mount Vesuvius.This group eventually grew into a band of roughly 100,000 mostly enslaved men, women, and children. Spartacus was chosen as one of the three leaders, alongside Crixus and Oenomaus, two Gallic gladiators. This group of people started the Third Servile War, which was really the only war to threaten Rome's hold on Italy that lasted from 73 BCE to 71 BCE. Crassus was the praetor sent after the rebelling slaves by the Senate and eventually defeated them near the mouth of the Siler River in southern Italy. It is believed that Spartacus died during this battle, but his body was never found.



The story of Spartacus has been adapted in film many times including the 1960 move // Spartacus //, directed by Stanley Kubrick, and a TV series called // Spartacus: War of the Damned // which ran from 2010 to 2013 with a total of 3 seasons.



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