This chapter was really interesting to me because it was really cool to read about all the trade. The most fascinating thing to me was seeing how each terrain produced something different. Each terrain really took advantage of the resources that were available to them. Trade was very important because different regions could have access to things that they usually wouldn't. It also had a huge impact on the regions economic systems, and it started things like taxes. In china Silk was like gold and it was usually made in homes by women. People who usually grew food gave that up and started producing paper, porcelain, and iron tools. This really created an opportunity for people that might have never been able to change the way they lived. It made some people very rich. Africa had gold, iron goods, and slaves. Arabia: myth, and perfumes. India had grain, ivory, and cotton, stones, spices. China had silk, porcelain, and tea.All of these roads linked the world and changed the way societies functioned but I think was for the better.
In this reading we saw how the 2nd wave civilizations changed their social systems. With the agriculture booms and people starting to make more than others. Also with forms of government starting to rise of course there is going to be divisions between all of the people. In India there was a very interesting structure. Basically there was a caste system with five levels priests, warriors, merchants, peasants, and the untouchables. A normal person would think that yeah if you happened to be born into a peasant family that is unfortunate but with hard work you might one day be able to become a merchant. However that was not the case whatever you were born into you were for the rest of your life. The only way to move up was to die that way and basically if you were a peasant you had to be a great peasant your whole life. To me this seems outrageous but to the people of the time they really believed it and they followed through with it. I could not live in a society like this. If you wer...
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