Marisa+GM

Welcome to my page! Hope you're enjoying AP World History.

Have a great day, and enjoy my loud laughing and sarcastic comments in class.

=School of Athens:=

The individual that I found most interesting was Hypatia of Alexandria, who appears near Pythagoras and other Greek figures in the School of Athens painting. Her close up is seen here:



Hypatia was responsible for various commentaries on mathematical works of other mathematicians and astronomers, using her knowledge to make more sense of them and breaking them down for students. Without her preservation and interpretation of these works, we might have lost them, and those who weren't accustomed to the bombardment of intellect in Greece, like the Europeans during the Renaissance who hadn't observed Greek and Roman works before, would most likely find her explanations of complicated math very helpful for the educating of those who sought after learning during their time.

However, one person who would have been right at home alongside Hypatia in Raphael's painting would have been her father, Theon. Since Plato and Aristotle are shown in the very same painting, walking side by side as teacher and pupil, so it should be with Hypatia and Theon. Raphael clearly believed that Hypatia was enough of an educated, accomplished person to be worthy enough to be in such a painting with other masters of knowledge, and so Theon, her mentor and inspiration to accomplish everything she did, should be credited in this iconic tribute to education as well, having his own commentaries and having been the director the Alexandrian Museum, which was a hub of learning and was known for its science and literature during the 300s. Good suggestion! -SW

=Unit 1 - Primary Source=

__**Greek Pottery **__



Greek pottery, since it has survived longer than any of the Greek art that we have managed to recover, gives us a significant look at what the Greeks did and thought of everyday life, and, indeed, is what archeologists mostly study to learn about Greeks and the chronology of Greece. ‍It also showed what Greeks considered to be beautiful, and much of this pottery was traded throughout different empires and spread Hellenistic values, or was a point of comparison for other civilizations‍.

Pottery was meant for everyday use. Various vases held wine, water, olive oil, and perfume. Some were also used for grave markers. While the shape of a Greek vase was determined by its purpose, pottery was made the same way. Clay was easily available through Greece, the finest being attic clay because of its high iron content. Pottery was made on a potter’s wheel and was usually made in separate horizontal sections, and was then fired at temperatures of 960 degrees Celsius. The decoration of the pottery depended on what was popular at the time; the first distinctive style appearing around 1000 BCE.

There are four styles of Greek pottery: proto-geometric, geometric, black-figure, and red-figure. Black-figure pottery is one of the most recognizable Greek pottery designs. This type of pottery bears iconic representations of figures from Greek mythology. The mainly black figures are more intricate, with facial features, hair, muscles, clothing, and weaponry depicted in reds and yellows, which were added using a sharp instrument. However, it is the postures of the figures which make black-figure pottery the “zenith of Greek vase painting.” The finest figures are given grace and poise and often depicted in the moments before actual movement or resting after exertion. Zeus, Achilles, Athena and other gods and mythological figures adorn the pots from this period.

These everyday objects, unlike other survivors of the time period, al low us to feel a little closer to the ordinary people of the ancient world, and see how they lived from day to day.

Do you know why they would use pottery for grave markers? Was the some kind of belief of why they would do this? Also, it is interesting that we know so much about them, even if it is just from their pottery. -HG

Hannah: Some pottery was used to hold ashes, and was a grave marker, and pottery was also used in rituals such as marriages and funerals. Its purpose in funerals was to anoint the bodies of unmarried individuals, and would be left in tombs with the deceased. A lot of these vases depicted images of every day life for Greeks, and so historians could then find out what life was like for the Greeks. So indeed, their pottery helped us out a lot! ~ Marisa G.M.

__**Sources: **__

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[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_of_ancient_Greece#Hellenistic_Period]

=Unit 2 - Primary Source=

**__Song Dynasty Paper Currency__**

Paper money was a by-product of Chinese block printing. The production of paper currency was started during the Tang Dynasty, but was not perfected and institutionalized as government policy until the Song Dynasty. The use of paper money started because of the economic boom and huge development of commerce in China, thanks to the Silk Road and the abundance in the trading of goods, so much that the weight of an object’s worth in gold (which was usually carried on a cord) was too heavy for merchants to carry, which opened the need for paper money, which was lighter.

The start of paper money, at least in China, started around the Tang Dynasty. The Tang was founded by Chinese who were not exclusively of Chinese heritage, and so were more tolerant of outside influences, opening up the Silk Road and letting in trade. By the time the Song Dynasty took over, it was likely that leaders would be reluctant to close down the amount of money that was coming into China, and had to develop paper currency to deal with the increased amount of trade.

Currency is a measure of economic energy. Think about it. If you’re dealing in silver and gold, how do you double the value of a coin? You have to double its size. You have to have more gold or more silver. It multiplies the weight rapidly. Think now about currency. Think about a dollar bill. How do you add more value? You add zeroes at the end of the one. This means you can increase the value of a bill without adding weight, which meant that exchange over distances was easier and lighter. The creation of paper money makes trade easier as well. Exchange rates complicates things for us today, but back then, it helped simplify the comparison of a chicken to a pound of grain.

Also, because the creation of paper money made exchange easier, it led to a greater exchange, or more trade. Currency of those times signified great economic energy and was useful among a wide variety of peoples, which overall would increase the amount of ideas and knowledge that were floating around among those that traded, along with their paper. Great PS. Well done. -SW


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=Unit 3 - Primary Source= **__The Codex Mendoza__** ====The //Codex Mendoza// is an Aztec codex, or a book written about pre-colonial times. It was created about twenty years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico so that it could be seen by Emperor Charles V. Inside is written the history of Aztec rulers and their conquests, the tribute paid by those under Aztec rule, and a description of Aztec daily life. The book is written using Aztec pictograms, with Spanish explanations and commentary.====

//Codex Mendoza// was written on European paper, 71 pages of it, and was divided into three sections:





 * 1) ====A history of the Aztec people from 1325 through 1521 – the founding of Tenochtitlan up to the Spanish conquest.====
 * 2) ====A list of the towns conquered by the Triple Alliance and the tributes paid by each.====
 * 3) ====Pictorial descriptions of Aztec daily life.====

====The //Codex Mendoza// was one of the earliest primary documents overseen by Spanish authorities reporting the situation in Mexico to Spain. Though Spaniards could have helped produce the //Codex// to simply understand the natives that they had conquered, it is more likely that the //Codex// was used to support the belief that Aztecs and other people of the Americas were savages, and Spain therefore had the right and the favor to conquer and “civilize” them, by means most uncivil. Spaniards would have only used the //Codex// to tighten their control in the Americas, and possibly used their commentary to justify “civilizing the savages.” This brings to mind the common concept put forth by many historians that the winner gets to write the story. Therefore, it is possible that the //Codex// was a one-sided view that influenced opinions of natives, and could have potentially led to their harsh treatment by their “civilizers.”====

**Sources:**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Mendoza

http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/05/14/codex-mendoza-1542/

http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/mexcodex/aztec.htm

http://treasures.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/Codex-Mendoza

=Unit 4 - Primary Source=

**Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789**

The //Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen// (in French, //Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen,// 1789) is one of the basic charters of human liberty and of the French Revolution, and is pivotal in the history of human rights.

The //Declaration// consisted of 17 articles and was adopted between August 20 and August 26, 1789, by the National Assembly. It served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791, and also played a role in the Constitution of 1793 and the Constitution of 1795. The //Declaration// reads as follows:



“**Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789**

Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789

The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:

Articles: 1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good. 2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. 3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation. 4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law. 5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law. 6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents. 7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense. 8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense. 9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law. 10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law. 11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law. 12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be intrusted. 13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means. 14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes. 15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration. 16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all. 17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.”

//The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen// defines the individual and collective “natural” rights of citizens as universal, meaning that they are valid at all times and in all places. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by law, and was inspired in part by the American Revolution and Thomas Jefferson, as well as the ideals of the Enlightenment. The //Declaration// was the core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a key impact on the progress of liberty and democracy in Europe and the world, and would eventually impact and influence the Haitian Revolution, various revolutions in South America, and even revolutions in this century, as well as one day applying to citizens who had to speak loudly for their rights, including women, slaves, and other minorities and colonial subjects during the 18th and 19th centuries, making it one of the most important, well-known, and catalytic documents in the world up until the promulgation of //The Universal Declaration of Human Rights// released by the United Nations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen
Most interesting, indeed. So why is this important to YOU, Emanye? Why did you specifically choose this as apposed to, say, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen? Do tell. -ED

Well, Emma, I find that this particular document is, of course, not the first of its kind, and was also influenced by other revolutions, but it was essential for the nature of a revolution needed in a place such as France, and, being such, I found it more important that even the Rights of Woman, becaus without the Rights of Man, the Rights of Woman could not have been thought of. Now, do not confuse me as a betrayer of my own sex. I find that though the Rights of Woman was, in its own right, important, it was not as recognized in the world, something not uncommon to this time period. I do believe it was a crucial step in recognizing women as equals, however, there comes an unfortunate time where some social changes must be put off for more imperative ones. At this time in history, women's rights simply weren't on the forefront of the mind of a country who were so far from having many basic liberties. I understand the need for sacrifice and patience, and so I instead decide to look at The Rights of Man not as sexist, but progress for everyone, in its due time. ~MGM

=Class Starter=

“Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.” “Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.” ~Hypatia of Alexandria Hypatia (355 CE – March 415 CE, Alexandria) was an Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. She is the earliest female mathematician of whose life and work reasonably detailed knowledge exists.
 * __Hypatia of Alexandria__**

Hypatia was the daughter of Theon, who was a mathematician and astronomer as well as the last accounted member and director of the Alexandrian Museum. The Alexandrian Museum was an ancient center of classical learning at Alexandria in Egypt. It was a research institute that was noted for its scientific and literary scholarship, and was built near the royal palace around 280 BCE. Hypatia’s father was primarily known for his preservation of the //Elements,// which was a mathematical and geometric treatise (systematically written discourse, which is longer than an essay), but he also wrote extensively, commenting (which was a copy of a classical work that incorporated explanatory notes) on works such as //Almagest// and //Handy Tables.//
 * __Early Life and the Alexandrian Museum__**

Hypatia continued her father’s work, which was made up of a vigorous effort to preserve the Greek mathematical and astronomical heritage in extremely difficult times (365 BCE Crete earthquake). She is credited with commentaries on various works of geometry and number theory, which include: These works have not survived to present time. In Hypatia’s time, she was the world’s leading mathematician and astronomer, and the only woman who could claim that title. She was a popular teacher and lecturer on philosophical topics of variation. She was a Neoplatonist philosopher, which led her to embrace a life of dedicated virginity. Neoplatonism was a Greek philosophy that derives its ultimate inspiration from Plato. Various kinds of Platonism had in common a strong concern for the quality of human life. Neoplatonism was seen as “pagan” at the time of bitter religious conflict between Christians, Jews, and pagans.
 * __Hypatia’s Life and Works__**
 * Commentary on //Arithmetica// by Diophantus
 * Commentary on //The// //Conics of Apollonius of Perga//
 * Commentary on //Almagest// by Ptolemy
 * Commentary on Theon’s commentary of //Elements// by Euclid
 * Wrote text //The Astronomical Canon// (this is possibly a revised version (with more recent and more difficult issues in ancient astronomy) of her father’s commentary on //Almagest.//)

In 415, Hypatia was the victim of a brutal murder at the hands of a gang of Christian zealots after the accession of Cyril to the bishopric of Alexandria. The affair made Hypatia a powerful feminist symbol and the figure of intellectual endeavor in the face of ignorance and prejudice. Her intellectual accomplishments alone were enough to ensure the respect of her name. However, the manner of her death added to her fame and made a martyr of her.
 * __Death of Hypatia__**

Hypatia’s mark on the world was best summarized by an observation written about her by Socrates Scholasticus, who summarized her life in the following: “**There was a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia**, daughter of the philosopher Theon, **who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time.** **Having succeeded to the school of Plato and Plotinus, she explained the principles of philosophy to her auditors, many of whom came from a distance to receive her instructions. On account of the self-possession and ease of manner, which she had acquired in consequence of the cultivation of her mind, she not infrequently appeared in public in presence of the magistrates. Neither did she feel abashed in coming to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her extraordinary dignity and virtue admired her the more**. Yet even she fell a victim to the political jealousy which at that time prevailed. For as she had frequent interviews with Orestes, it was calumniously reported among the Christian populace, that it was she who prevented Orestes from being reconciled to the bishop. Some of them therefore, hurried away by a fierce and bigoted zeal, whose ringleader was a reader named Peter, waylaid her returning home, and dragging her from her carriage, they took her to the church called Caesareum, where they completely stripped her, and then murdered her with tiles [oyster shells]. After tearing her body in pieces, they took her mangled limbs to a place called Cinaron, and there burnt them. This affair brought not the least opprobrium, not only upon Cyril, but also upon the whole Alexandrian church. And surely nothing can be farther from the spirit of Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of that sort. This happened in the month of March during Lent, in the fourth year of Cyril's episcopate, under the tenth consulate of Honorius, and the sixth of Theodosius [AD 415].” ~ Ecclesiastical History, Socrates Scholasticus
 * __Hypatia’s Impact__**


 * __Random Facts:__**
 * Supposedly the wife of Isidore of Alexandria, which is an anachronism since he was born after her death
 * One of her students fell in love with her, and once he professed this love, she shamed him with her menstrual rags


 * __Related Images__ **










 * __Video__**

Hypatia of Alexandria (Agora) - []


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