western civilization Essay

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Hist E-101/06
Mid-Term Exam

03/11/2013

A) The Agriculture Revolution was substantial to the development of Western Civilization. The greatest changes occurred during the Neolithic Revolution. Civilians began establishing in one general area to farm and herd animals, rather than migrating from land to land. The culture was changing and evolving in more of a group and city rather than a “hunter-gather”. Therefore, the development of civilizations grew because the people remained in that general area to harvest and maintain their food and crops. The advancement of a settlement into a city didn’t come overnight, the process took several thousand years and along the way, they encountered several challenges. The rapid increase in population and the spread of contagious diseases was a major challenge, but eventually the increased fertility and birthrates out-weighted those limiting factors. By the end of the Neolithic age, and as a result of humans learning how to domesticate plants and animals, early civilizations were able to flourish in an area known as the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent was a land with a fertile soil and important rivers stretching in an arc from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates. This agriculture revolution gave birth to a collection of independent city-states known as Mesopotamia. E) Slavery was an important factor in the ancient Greek society. There was a countless amount of slaves throughout Greece for thousands of years. History says there may have been more slaves than free people. Its hard to imagine how hard the slaves worked, not only were they domestic servants, but also factor workers, shopkeepers, mineworkers, farm workers, ship crewmembers and companions to their owner. Slaves weren’t just local civilians, majority were foreigners who had been captured in wars or by pirates who seized their boats as well as their cargo. The Greeks were stubborn people, they had no respect for other countries, and they thought it was only natural for these “inferior” people to be enslaved. Slaves were looked on as tools, just like a factory machine or a chainsaw in today’s world. They were treated under such poor conditions that thousands of slaves died from exhaustion and work accidents. For example, slaves were sent to mines and farms, which was such a dangerous and degrading job that most of them didn’t make it to long. Once enslaved you were given very few rights, for instance, they were outlawed from participating in any religious activities and generally people who were slaves were to be enslaved for life. In addition to slaves being treated under terrible conditions, they did make numerous contributions to society. B) Throughout the ancient world, writing emerged in many different cultures. Written records are key factors that allows historians today understand what life was really like in the ancient civilization period. One certain individual didn’t create writing, however, the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia are given credit for inventing the earliest style of writing. They started drawing pictures of goods on clay tablets, which became known as “cuneiform” writing. The ancient Egyptians also began to invent their own form of writing around the same period as the Sumerians. The writing was called “hieroglyphics”, similar to “cuneiform” writing; it used symbols to express one’s thoughts or ideas. The creation of writing was substantial in the revolution of information. For example, the creation of writing allowed news and ideas to be carried to distant places without having to count on a messenger’s memory. Like all inventions in today’s world, writing emerged because there was a need for it. For example, wireless cell phones were invented for an individual to receive and deliver information quicker; it has become a necessity in today’s society. Therefor without written records, the past and the present
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