Aspects of World Civilization Problems and Sources in History, Volume 1

by Rogers, Perry M., Ph.D.

• ISBN13: 9780130808288
• ISBN10: 0130808288
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2019-07-12
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This two-volume compilation of primary sources in world civilization is based around eight major themes to provide direction and cohesion to the text. Designed to involve students with important historical questions and controversies, the text promotes thoughtful comparisons between world societies that are linked to common problems, events or themes within the same time period and across chronological divisions. Broad in scope, the text incorporates a wide variety of political, social, economic, religious, intellectual and scientific issues, and is designed to help students consider historical questions and concerns.

Table of Contents

VOLUME I The Ancient World through the Early Modern Era
Part I The Foundations of Civilization	1	(84)
The Earliest Civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China	3	(26)
The Spiritual and Philosophical Bases of Early World Civilizations	29	(56)
Part II The Ancient World (500 B.C.E.-500 C.E.)	85	(102)
The Glory of Greece	87	(45)
The Roman Peace and the Dimensions of Empire	132	(37)
TimeLink China's First Empire: The Qin and Han Dynasties (22i B.C.E. 225 C.E.)	169	(18)
Part III The Consolidation of Civilization (500-1450)	187	(122)
Medieval Civilization in the West: The Sword of Faith	189	(49)
TimeLink Mysteries of the Maya	238	(16)
Imperial China and the Mongol Empire (589-1368)	254	(28)
``Samurai!'': The Development of Classical and Medieval Japan (600-1467)	282	(27)
Part IV Transitions to the Modern World (1450-1650)	309	(2)
The Age of the Renaissance and Reformation	311	(41)
East and West: The Interaction of New Worlds	352	(47)
TimeLink The Great Islamic Empires	399
HISTORICAL INTERSECTIONS
Nigeria, Africa The Mother Goddess	34	(67)
France: 1994 Fiftieth Anniversary of D-Day: ``When They We re Young, These Men Saved the World''	101	(56)
President Bill Clinton
Germany: 1938 ``I Got You at Last, You Little German Girl!'' Anti Jewish Propaganda	157	(16)
Ernst Hiemer
Rome: 14 B.C.E. Res Gestae The Accomplishments of Augustus Augustus	173	(38)
The United States: 1900 ``The Hand of God'': American Imperialism in the Philippines	211	(35)
Albert J. Beveridge
Troy: 1873 The Excavation of Troy	246	(75)
Heinrich Schliemann
France: 1876 The Realities of Power	321	(20)
Napoleon Bonaparte
France: 1806 ``The Imperial Catechism	341	(28)
Napoleon Bonaparte
East Africa: 1893 ``A Natural Inclination to Submit to a Higher Authority''	369
Sir Frederick Dealtry Lugard
VOLUME II The Early Modern Era Through the Contemporary World
Part I Foundations of the Modern World (1600-1850)	1	(130)
``A Wealth of Riches, A Sea of Sorrows'': The Linking of Transatlantic Economies	3	(30)
Enlightenment and Revolution: ``Man Is Born Free and Everywhere He Is In Chains!''	33	(53)
TimeLink The Varieties of Freedom: Revolution in Latin America	86	(23)
``A World to Win!'': The Industrial Revolution	109	(22)
Part II The Age of Imperialism (1840-1900)	131	(60)
``Mark Them With Your Dead'': The Scramble for Global Empire	133	(37)
TimeLink Japan and China: The Rising Sun and The Falling Star	170	(21)
Part III The Age of Anxiety (1900-1945)	191	(90)
Democracy and Dictatorship: The Western World in Crisis (1914-1939)	193	(48)
``The Abyss Also Looks into You'': War and Holocaust	241	(40)
Part IV New Departures and the Emerging World of the Twenty-First Century (1945-2000)	281	(2)
The Era of the Superpowers: Confrontation and the Dynamics of Change	283	(35)
TimeLink ``Cry Freedom!'': Indepedence Movements in India, Africa, and the Middle East	318	(49)
The Chinese Revolution	367
HISTORICAL INTERSECTIONS
Florence: 1512 ``How a Prince Should Keep His Word''	74	(4)
Niccolo Mahchiavelli
Switzerland: 1541: The Genevan Catechism	78	(27)
John Calvin
Argentina: 1951 ``Yes, I Am Fanatically Peronista''	105	(38)
Eva Peron
France: 1095: The Spirit of the Crusades: ``It Is the Will of God!''	143	(15)
Pope Urban II
Montana: 1876: ``Custer's Last Stand'' Two Moons	158	(65)
Madrid: 1940: The Fascist Image of Francisco Franco	223	(37)
China: 1937: The Rape of Nanjing	260	(10)
Athens: 430 B.C.E. ``Freedom Depends on Being Courageous'': The Funeral Oration of Pericles Thucydides	270	(70)
Alabama: 1963: Letter from Birmingham Jail	340	(57)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Beijing: 1966: ``The False Doctrine of Non-Violence'': Support for the American Negro	397
Guo Moruo

Excerpts

The Roman orator Cicero once remarked that "History is the witness of the times, the torch of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity." In spite of these noble words, historians have often labored under the burden of justifying the value of studying events that are over and done. Humankind is practical, more concerned with its present and future than with its past. And yet the study of history provides us with unique opportunities for human self-knowledge. It teaches us what we have done and therefore helps define what we are. On a less abstract level, the study of history enables us to judge present circumstance by drawing on the laboratory of the past. Those who have lived and died, through their recorded attitudes, actions and ideas, have left a legacy of experience.One of the best ways to travel through time and space and perceive the very "humanness" that lies at the root of history is through the study of primary sources. These are the documents, coins, letters, inscriptions and monuments of past ages. The task of historians is to evaluate this evidence with a critical eye and then construct a narrative that is consistent with the "facts" as they have established them. Such interpretations are inherently subjective and are therefore open to dispute. History is thus filled with controversy as historians argue their way toward the "truth." The only way to work toward an understanding of the past is through personal examination of the primary sources.Yet, for the beginning student, this poses some difficulties. Such inquiry casts the student adrift from the security of accepting the "truth" as revealed in a textbook. In fact, history is too often presented in a deceptively objective manner; one learns "facts and dates" in an effort to obtain the "right answers" for multiple-choice tests. But the student who has wrestled with primary sources and has experienced voices from the past on a more intimate level accepts the responsibility of evaluation and judgment. He or she understands that history does not easily lend itself to "right answers," but demands reflection on the problems that have confronted past societies and are at play even in our contemporary world. Cicero was right in viewing history as the "life of memory." But human memory is fragile and the records of the past can be destroyed or distorted. Without the past, people have nothing with which to judge what they are told in the present. Truth then becomes the preserve of the ruler or government, no longer relative, but absolute. The study of history, and primary sources in particular, goes far in making people aware of the continuity of humankind and the progress of civilization.Aspects of World Civilizationoffers the student an opportunity to evaluate the primary sources of the past and to do so in a structured and organized format. The documents provided are diverse in nature and include state papers, secret dispatches, letters, diary accounts, poems, newspaper articles, papal encyclicals, and propaganda flyers. Occasionally, the assessments of modern historians are included to lend perspective. All give testimony to human endeavor in world societies. Yet, this two-volume book has been conceived as more than a simple compilation of primary sources. The subtitle of the work,Problems and Sources in History,gives true indication of the nature of its premise. It is meant to provide the student with thoughtful and engaging material, that is focused around individual units that encompass time periods, specific events, and historical questions. Students learn from the past most effectively when posed with problems that have meaning for their own lives. In evaluating the material fromAspects of World Civilization,the student will discover that issues are not nearly as simple as they may appear at first glance. Historical sources often contradict each other and truth then depends on logic an