Democracy

     In Western Civilization, we got back our pop-quizzes and took some more notes about democracy and Cleisthenes.

Notes: A New Form of Government

- What Cleisthenes did was a huge step forward- getting "regular folks" involved in governing. But this first democracy had its limits.

- Citizens could participate - but only one-fifth of Athenians were citizens (free adult male property owners born in Athens)

- After several years, Athens practiced a direct democracy

This Was What Direct Democracy Looks Like

- It's where the state (or in this state, the city-state) is ruled by its citizens
- Rule is based on citizenship
- Majority rule decides vote
- In the agora, citizens argued, made speeches, then voted with white stones (yes) / black stones (no)
- It was first practiced in Athens under Cleisthenes by around 500 BCE

Cleisthenes, Hippias, Isagoras

Eventually leading to.... Cleisthenes

more reforms (around 500 BCE)

- Allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly
- Created the Council of Five Hundred (members were chosen randomly)
- But.... only free adult male property owners born in Athens were considered citizens
- No women, slaves, "foreigners"

Rewind to... clash of the tyrants!

- Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE
- His brother was murdered, and his rule became harsh
- Eventually he was expelled from Athens (this is called being ostracized)
- In revenge, he began working with the Persians

Next in line...

- With Hippias gone, Isagoras and Cleisthenes (both were aristocrats) engaged in a power struggle
- Isagoras had support from some fellow aristocrats, plus from Sparta
- Cleisthenes had support of the majority of Athenians

Isagoras wins! (but not for long)

- Isagoras becomes archon eponymous (tyrant)
- He ostracizes Cleisthenes
- Cleisthenes' supporters - and the ordinary Athenian citizens! - revolt against Isagoras' tyranny
- They trap Isagoras on the acropolis for two days - on the third day he fled and was banished
- 508 BCE!!

Cleisthenes and Democracy

- Cleisthenes: definitely a member of the elite
- Very rich
- Insulated from the "hoi polloi"
- But... a crafty politician
- Saw the value of tapping into the talents, intelligence, and energies of the non-aristocrats (the middle class citizens)

Aristocrats

Notes:

- Aristocrats: members of the ruling class
- They attended symposiums, meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics

Politics: an exclusive club

- no women (except the "entertainment")
- no middle class
- certainly, no slaves
- what do you do if you're on the outside

Tyrants seize control

- sometimes aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers), and set up an alternative form gov't called a tyranny
- tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polis
- modern meaning of tyrant: an abusive or oppressive ruler
- Greek meaning of tyrant: someone who simply seized power (usually with hoplite help)

Rules, Codes, and Laws:

Draco (621 BCE)
- All Athenians ( rich and poor) are equal under the law
- But death is the punishment for many crimes
- Debt slavery is OK (work as a slave to repay debts)

Solon's reforms (594 BCE)
- outlaws debt slavery
- all Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly
- any citizens can press charges against wrongdoers

Warring City-States

Notes:

- Polis: city-state; made up of a city and some surrounding countryside which included numerous villages

- At the agora, or marketplace, or on a fortified hilltop called an acropolis, citizens gathered to discuss city government

Greek Political Structures 

- Many different forms of government 

- In some, a single person, called a King, ruled in a government called a monarchy 

- Others adopted aristocracy, a government ruled by a small group of noble, landowning families 

- Wealthy merchants and artisans would form an oligarchy which is a government ruled by a few powerful people

Tyrants Seize Power

- Tyrant: a powerful individual who gained control of a city-state's government by appealing to the poor for support

Athens Builds a Limited Democracy 

- Democracy: rule by the people

Building Democracy 

- A nobleman named Draco took power in early 600's B.C. 

- He developed a legal code based on the idea that all Athenians, rich and poor, were equal under the law 

- He made death the punishment for practically every crime

- Another ruler, solon, came to power in 594 B.C. and stated that no citizen should own another citizen

Homer

Did Homer actually exist?

- The "Homeric question" - Homer may have been a mythical creation himself
- A blind wandering minstrel; a heroic figure
- Lliad and Odyssey may be the culmination of many generations of storytelling....
- Or.... Homer actually existed and he was just that awesome

The Odyssey Chapter 9

- goats, feasting
- traveling by ship
- strange land
- A Giant Monster Man-Mountain!
- wine
- sharing gifts
- needed to be diluted
- flocks of sheep
- sacrifice to gods
- huge boulder blocking cave exit
- fire
- hospitality
- cyclops don't care
- odysseus is crafty
- HE JUST ATE 2 DUDES!! And 2 more!!
- his club is as big as a ship's mast
- Odysseus: "My name is Nobody"
- drills a burning mast into the cyclop's eye!!
- escape! by clinging to sheep's bellies
- trash talk
- a fatal flow? pride?

Trojan War

The Trojan War (fact or fiction)

- Greeks have fought in many wars over time
- Trojan War: fought in 12th or 13th century BCE
- Part of Greek mythology: until the 19th century most historians thought it was fictional because gods and goddesses got involved
- The goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera were given the "apple of discord"
- Paris judged Aphrodite as "the fairest"
- Aphrodite made Helen (who was married) fall in love with Paris, who took her back to Italy
- sure.... except a war was really fought in Troy! so...

Meanwhile, "sea people" & Dorians

around 1200 BCE the mysterious "sea people" began to invade Mycenae, and burnt palace after palace so, the Dorians moved into this war-torn region, dominating from 1150-750 BCE

- Dorians were far less advanced
- the trade-based economy collapsed
- writing disappeared for 400 years
- talk about a culture in decline...except...
 
Enter Homer the bard (storyteller)

Greek oral tradition- stories passed on by word of mouth
Homer lived at the end of these "Greek Dark Ages"
he composed stories (epics) of the Trojan War c. 750-700 BCE

- The lliad: probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans (the Trojan War)
- The Odyssey: Odysseus attempts to return home after the Trojan War, being thwarted by the angry god of the sea, Poseidon

The Odyssey was 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter

Geography

Even More Geography

- Although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsula, only about 20% is arable (suitable for farming)
- Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, olives, and fish
- Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
- Back then, temperatures usually ranged from mid 40s in the winter to low 80s in the summer- although it could get hot in the summer, it was pretty nice year-round

Some early peoples- first Mycenaeans

- their influence began around 2000 BCE
- Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge on Peloponnesus, protected by a 20-foot thick wall
- Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1100 BCE
- controlled trade in the region
- 1400 BCE: Mycenaeans invaded Crete
- Minoan Culture (writing systems, art, language, politics, literature, religion)

Greek Culture Declines under the Dorians

- Homer: a blind man who was the greatest storyteller
- Epics: narrative poems
- Dorian: Greek-speaking people migrated into mainland Greece after the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization

Greece Notes

Classical Greece Notes continued 

The Land

- Instead of a single government, the Greeks developed small, independent communities within each little valley and its surrounding mountains

- Much of the land itself was stony, and only a small part of it was arable, or suitable for farming

- A desire for more living space, grassland for raising livestock, and adequate farmland may have been factors that motivated the Greeks to seek new sites for colonies

The Climate

- Greece has a varied climate with temperature averaging 48 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer

Mycenaean Civilization Develops

- Mycenaean: an Indo-European person who settled on the Greek mainland around 2000 B.C.

(Ancient) Greece is the Word continued

- Travel by ships
- Note the significance of Greece's location
- Describe Greece's topography
- Look at Greece's surroundings
- How would all of this affect their culture?

A Closer Look

- sea-baring people
- Be able to identify: Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Peloponnesus, Athens, Sparta, Crete, Asia Minor, Macedonia

Geography / Its Significance

- Greece is a mountainous peninsula mountains cover three-quarters of Greece
- This combination shaped Greece's culture
- Approximately 2000 islands in the Ionian and Aegean Sea
- They had many skilled sailors and shipbuilders
- Also farmers, metalworkers, weavers, potters
- They had poor / limited natural resources, so they needed to trade
- It was difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain (city-states did not like each other)

Location / Size

- North Carolina: 53,818
- Greece: 50,949 sq mi
- Pennsylvania: 46,056
(small in size, huge in influence)

First Day of Western Civilization

Classical Greek Notes

- Cultures of the Mountains and the Sea
- Geography shapes Greek Life

The Sea

- The sea shaped Greek civilization just as rivers shaped the ancient civilizations of Egypt, the Fertile Crescent, India, and China
- The Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the neighboring Black Sea were important transportation routes for the Greek people
- Sea travel and trade were also important because Greece lacked natural resources, such as timber, precious metals, and usable farmland

The Land

- Rugged mountains covered about three-fourths of ancient Greece
- Mountains divided the land into a number of different regions

(Ancient) Greece is the Word

- The world's great civilizations all located on water (usually rivers)
- Great civilization / key river: Mesopotamia / Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Egypt / Nile River, India / Indus River, China / Huang He River
- Know these: Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Aegean Sea
Mediterranean Sea = middle of land (earth)

Last Human Geography Test

         Today in class we had our last human geography test. It was pretty easy in the beginning but I think I got a few wrong on the back because some of them I just guessed on. I am ready to start a new semester with only two new classmates but the rest the same. Michael and Ashley are leaving and two other people are joining our class but nothing can separate the human geography dream class. Our class was fun and full of laughs and food. Since most of the same people will be here next semester, I am not really sad about human geography being over. It was a fun but stressful first semester and I hope the second one will be stress free.   

World Leaders Continued

Syria / Bashar al-Assad

• 
  
• Went to medical school and started as a doctor in the army
• When his brother Bassel died, Bashar was recalled to Syria to take over Bassel's role as heir apparent
• He ordered mass crackdowns and military sieges on Arab Spring protesters, leading to the Syrian Civil War
• During the war, an inquiry by the United Nations human rights chief found evidence to implicate Assad in war crimes and crimes against humanity 

Canada / Justin Trudeau 

• Born on Christmas Day
• He defended Canadian federalism at a student event 
• His brother was killed in an avalanche during a ski trip
• Trudeau fought against a proposed $100-million zinc mine 

Israel / President Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu 

• (Binyamin Netanyahu) His brother was killed int he course of the Entebbe Operation
• "Bibi" Netanyahu returned to Israel and started to advocate international cooperation in fighting terrorism 

United States / President Donald J. Trump

• At 70 years old, he was the oldest person ever to assume the presidency 
• businessman, billionaire, author, reality television star, politician 
• Forbes Magazine lists him as the 248th wealthiest man in the world

Kenya / Uhuru Kenyatta 

• He is the son of Kenya's first president
• He was re-elected for a second term in the August 2017 general elections winning 54% of the popular vote
• His election was successfully challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya 

South Korea / President Moon Jae-in

• He was a former student activist, human rights lawyer, and chief presidential secretary to then-President Roh Moo-hyun 
• Moon was the legal counsel to Roh
• The investigation led to Roh's retirement, and (possibly) his suicide
• Moon won Korea's 2017 presidential election, following the Impeachment of Park Geun-hye

North Korea (DPRK) / Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un 

• His brother, Kim Jong-nam was killed in Malaysia in 2017 by suspected North Korean agents
• Kim Jong-un has also put to death members of the Jang's family, to completely destroy all traces of Jang's existence through "extensive executions" of his family

World Leaders

Mexico / Enrique Pena Nieto

• Personal problems have not stopped his career
• He fathered two children with his affairs
• May have killed his wife 
• Married a soap opera star

China / Xi Jinping

• Son of one of the Communist Party's founding fathers
• Married a folk singer, Peng Lijuan 
• He sent his daughter to America to study at Harvard

India / Narendra Modi 

• Was in an arranged marriage but rejected it when he graduated from high school
• He was a "keen debater" in high school 
• He was always an independent thinker
• Has worked his way up from the low class of society 

Russia / Vladimir Putin

• He graduated from Leningrad State University with a law degree in 1975
• Began his career in the KGB as an intelligence officer
• Held that position until 1990 and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel 
• The KGB was the main security agency for the Soviet Union 

Germany / Angela Merkel 

• Graduated with a degree in physics and physical chemistry; earned a PhD in quantum chemistry 
• Has been Chancellor since November 2005
• Merkel is #1 on the 2016 FORBES list of Most Powerful Women in The World and has been for 11 of the past 13 years

United Kingdom / Theresa May (and the Queen)

• She took over for David Cameron when he resigned
• Cameron wanted to stay in the EU and ended up retiring 
• She has been Queen for over 65 years and counting 

France / Emmanuel Macron

• Has no previous experience in an elected national government position
• He was an investment banker before entering politics
• Elected at 39, he is the youngest President in the history of France
• He is married to a woman 24 years older than him
• His wife was his high school teacher 

Japan / Shinzo Abe (and Emperor)

• Abe's father and his grandfather were politicians 
• He married the daughter of the Prime Minister
• The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and the traditional head of state of Japan
• According to the 1947 constitution, he is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people"

Italy / Sergio Mattarella

• His father was an anti-fascist who helped found the Christian Democracy party, which dominated the Italian political scene for almost fifty years 
• Has been the world leader of Italy for almost three years

Syria / Bashar al-Assad

Project

In class today we worked on a project that is due tomorrow.

Back to School

Notes from class:

Political Geography
(plus some world leaders)

How is the world organized?

- country: a identifiable land area
- nation: a population with a common culture
- state (capital S): a population under a single government; can be synonymous with "country"

Nation (good definition): a group of people with a shared identity think of it as a culture group
Nation (bad definitions): a group of people, larger than a single tribe community, which may share a common language, institutions, religion, and/or historical experience

Institution: a significant practice, relationship or organization in a society or culture

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 an organized economy which regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money
- has the power of social engineering, such as engineering