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Ancient & Medieval Worlds Series: Early Humans
Origins. Evidence of pre-human types is earlier and earlier, now 3-5 million years ago. Over enormous expanse of time, primates head shape changes, hand structure changes, they emerge from trees, develop useful tools. (3.24.00) = Homo Sapiens. Emerge 200,000 years ago from other species, some extinct, some not. The precariousness of human existence. Adaptability to changes. Human distinctions include abstract thinking, language sophistication. Impact of the opposing thumb. Tool making. Animals and primates use some kinds of tools. Human too making is highly sophisticated. The creation of art. The use of tools in some burial rites (11.20.00) = Race. Race is an imprecise term. Early humans originate in Africa. Melanin darkens the skin, provides protection from the sun's rays. Paler skin color with less melanin for northern people. Population spreads to Europe, Indonesia, and elsewhere. (16.20.00) = Ages of humans. Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) extends to 10,000 years ago, shows little change. Gathering and hunting for food. Discovery of fire 400,000 years ago before homo sapiens. Use f fire for warmth, cooking food (may have been accidental), light, protection to keep animals away. The creating of a spark and then fire by rubbing 2 stones together seems miraculous at the time. The beginning of control of nature. (21.10.00) = Neolithic Age. The creating of artifacts, jewelry, religious objects, burial rites. Clear indications of early humans' concern with death and afterlife. (26.44.00) = Inventions effect on gender. During the Stone Age men hunted, women gathered food and were child bearers. Evidence that women have superior status. They are less mobile, gathering is more important than hunting because it is steady, predictable. The deities worshiped have female forms.. The concept of Mother Earth which renews itself in cycle of seasons. (33.40.00) = Inventing History. Religion. The creating of artifacts, jewelry, religious objects, burial rites. Clear indications of early humans' concern with death nd afterlife. (37.59.00) = Gender. During the Stone Age men hunted, women gathered food and were child bearers. Evidence that women have superior status. They are less mobile, gathering is more important than hunting because it is steady, predictable. The deities worshiped have female forms. The concept of Mother Earth which renews itself in cycle of seasons. (43.53.00) = Creativity. Early sculpture. Cave paintings are somewhat high up, protecting them. The use of paint from vegetable matter, yellows and browns. Themes are animals, humans, hope for future hunt or celebration of a successful hunt, the depiction of extinct animals. A spear aimed at an animal's head indicates knowledge of anatomy. Masks suggest knowledge of math, forms of writing. Neolithic Age (New Stone Age). 10,000 years ago. A human revolution with enormous changes. (46.40.00) = Bronze Age Beginnings of Civilization. The Bronze Age, the age of metals, about 5,000 years ago. Copper and tin are soft but the alloy of the two, bronze, is hard and breaks stone. This discovery is probably accidental. In Egypt 3,000 to 5,000 years ago, the first appearance of settled urban life along the Nile River, a source of water. This pattern is followed in the Yangtze River and other major waterways. The use of strong metal tools to clear swamps. (52.52.00) = Food surplus and division of labor. Earlier all people are involved in food supply. Now more food is produced by fewer people, freeing some for other things, leading to the division of labor. Mining and finding proper ore, smelting to melt away impurities, molding of metal into useful forms. This food surplus allows the possibility of greater travel, contact with other people, trade, and war. Class society begins with the victors of wars, the military leaders, becoming the political leaders, passing on rule to their sons. The defeated become slaves as the spoils of war. (57.09.00) = Replacement of the matriarchal society. Invention of the plow revolutionizes agricultural production, is labor saving. Plows are pulled by work animals controlled by men, changing the society to patriarchal. Goddesses are transformed to gods. (58.24.00) = Class society begins. Economic and political rulers do not do manual labor which is done only by the lower class. Whether or not someone does manual labor is a mark of class distinction between upper and lower class. (1.05.49.00) = Pyramids in Egypt made of 2,300,000 stones each 2-1/2 tons, and all that involves from cutting from a mountain quarry, moving to location including floating along a river and getting into place level upon increasingly high level to a height of 481 feet high, with a margin for error is less than 1 inch. Just as remarkable are elaborate structures underneath as burial sites for pharos with their treasures. (1.13.14.00) = Stonehenge.in southeastern England, 1900-1600 B.C., its complexity, logistics of construction, its choice of location, and possible purpose, possibly a calendar. If so, it will only work at that latitude. These reflect math and science genius of the human brain's power. (1.22.42.00) = Other examples of the brain's genius. Mummification, requiring knowledge of the body. Egyptian brain surgery is practiced, with many survivors evidenced by scar tissue on mummies. The knowledge of pi, the circumference of a circle. Written language. Pictograph images, hieroglyphics, idea graphs of signs representing ideas, cuneiform writing, cutting into stone, letters representing sounds Early writing is record of contributions to religious priesthood, no writing of technology. Iron ore, stronger than bronze, is smelted by the Hittites, later formed into steel. The Phoenician alphabet, the ordering of sounds. The Assyrian aqueduct carries water to lower lands (1.30.06.00) = Decline of Inventions. Inventions are not from advanced civilizations. One reason is the upper class does not want labor saving devices to ease labor of working class which defines the class society. Another reason is the superstitions by priesthood which are threatened by science and the education of the masses. (1.34.30.00) = Complexity of human development. Parallel things going on. Tremendous scientific achievements and at the same time the growth of religious observance, side by side. Sometimes news travels from one civilization to another, other times parallel discoveries independent from each other. Yet technology is only one way to measure human society.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
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Ancient & Medieval Worlds Series: Ancient Greece
Dark Ages-1,200-800 B.C. . Epic poetry of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey depicting frequent wars and polytheism. Gods are varied and reflect human personalities. Concept of afterlife emphasizes life on earth. (6.31.00) = Archaic Period -800-500 B.C. Series of walled city-state centered in agricultural area. Shared ethnicity, language, and religion but are separate identities, independent of Athens. (10.53.00) = Tyranny. The term is neutral in these times. The seizing of power is favorable or unfavorable depending on which class seizes power in terms of your own class.. (12.41.00) = Athens. . Class oriented. The nobles an inherited class, and the peasants do the labor. Salon's Code of 594 B.C. aims to reduce threat of rebellion by the peasants, but unexpectedly leads to more wars as an unexpected consequence. (17.53.00) = Slavery. Morality of slavery is not questioned. Slavery is basis for ancient Greek economy. Slaves also used as household servants. Slaves make up ¼ of Athens' population of 1 million. (21.12.00) = Ideal democracy, the politics of Athens. The citizens make the laws. Lawmakers are all who show up for the public assembly every 9 days. System also ensures a rapid mix and change of the 500 council members who prepare for the assemblies, and 10 generals permanently chosen. (25.57.00) = Dark side Women, minors, slave, and foreign born cannot be citizens, leaving only about 40,000 of 1,000,000. Most peasants do not have leisure time to participate. Nobles are educated in the all-important persuasive skills of oratory, lacking for peasants, who also are subject to political pressures from the noble on whom they are dependent. (29.20.00) = Sparta, the Nazis of Greece. Sparta sees culture as a threat to their closed society which is based on complete obedience to authority and military ability. Those defeated in war are made slaves, contrary to unwritten Greek law. (35.48.00) = The Peloponnesian War, 441-421 B.C., considered the first world war. Led by Sparta, it drags on, is ruinous, with revolts, fails to unify Greece. (39.37.00) = Macedonia later conquers Greece, one city-state at a time. This does not unify Greece. Greek democracy is possible only in a small city-state, when Athens is conquered, reemerges 2,000 years later in the American Revolution. (41.54.00) = Socrates. Athenian philosophy. Before philosophy, the gods govern. Philosophy considers humans the center of things. They are rational, must know themselves. Socratic method is the give-and-take of questioning. This threatens authority. Socrates is found guilty of treason, chooses suicide over exile. (46.32.00) = Plato. Promotes the basic inequality of humans. He rejects uncertainty, believes that certainty can be created in one's mind and then applied to the physical world, and then applied to the physical world. (48.49.00) = Aristotle. The experimental method. The empirical method of starting with experience in the outside world, and then making conclusions in the mind, the opposite of what Plato was doing. Much of modern science comes out of this approach. (49.55.00) = Other contributions to science. Democritus conceptualized that all matter is made of particles of atoms, the origin of atomic science. Hippocrates fostered systematic observation. Archimedes discovered specific gravity, created military weaponry. Ptolemy's geocentric theory with the earth as the center of the universe, is a unified theory accepted for centuries. Later, Copernicus establishes the heliocentric theory, with the sun as the center (55.40.00) = Limitations. The lack of practical applications. Hero identified steam power but used this study to make toys for his friend's children. There is no concern to reduce the labor of the masses because slaves do that labor. (56.56.00) = The Hellenistic Period. The Macedonian conquest. In 10 years Alexander the Great conquers Greece and eastern territories to create a tremendous empire. He dies at the age of 33. The Hellenistic period combines all the Greek influences before Alexander and those of his empire. Athens is a shining light but there is also a darker side with wars and the institution of slavery. The noble class has leisure for culture.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
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Ancient & Medieval Worlds Series: Ancient Rome
Origins of Rome. The myth of Remus and Romulus versus the historic view. Romans are conquered by the Etruscans. Founding of the Republic in 509 B.C. (3.12.00) = The Class System. The upper class patricians and the lower class plebeians. Rome population increases to 1 million. Patricians take over small land holdings of plebeians to form large estates, forcing plebeians to Rome. (6.12.00) = Politics. The ruling power is the Senate, open only to the patricians. The Senate appoints 2 consuls as magistrates, and a tribune to represent the plebeians. (8.10.00) = Expansion of Roman power. . In the next century Rome conquers Latin tribes north and south, offering the conquered people citizenship in exchange for loyalty to Rome. Series of wars in 200 B.C. against Carthage. . (11.24.00) = The 1st of 3 Punic Wars. This is a war between Rome and Carthage is over Sicily. The adaptability of the Roman military in securing victories, includes Rome rapidly creating a navy for the first time when needed. (13.24.00) = The 2nd Punic War and Hannibal. . Rome and Carthage fight over Spain. The brilliance and daring of Hannibal, the Carthage leader, who fights Rome obsessively after his father is defeated in an earlier conflict. Hannibal is eventually defeated, and later assassinated. The Macedonians are defeated in the 2nd century B.C. giving Rome control over a vast empire. (23.23.00) = The 3rd Punic War. Cato, a Roman demagogue incites war against a greatly diminished Carthage, easily wins, and proceeds to virtually eradicate the entire city. Rome now controls all the Mediterranean world and beyond. (26.59.00) = The dictatorial pattern of the generals. A general becomes popular after a military campaign, demands appointment as the First Consul by the Senate, and who then wields dictatorial power until assassinated by the next newly popular general. This despite Rome being a republic. (32.21.00) = Spartacus. The unique slave revolt of Spartacus in 71 B.C. He frees other slaves, forms a slave army, holds off the roman Legions for 2 years until finally defeated. The crucified survivors line the Apian Way for miles. (37.03.00) = Julius Caesar. A brilliant general and literary figure. His dictatorial rule distinguished by developing positive relations with the plebeians of Rome. Various senators including Cassius and Brutus conspirer against him and he is assassinated on the Ides Of March 44 B.C (39.44.00) = Marc Anthony and Octavian Caesar. Mark Anthony becomes the primary leader after the death of Julius Caesar. Cleopatra of Egypt attracts him who joins her in Egypt. In Marc Anthony's absence, Octavian Caesar, Julius Caesar's adopted young son, grows in power. He challenges Anthony and Cleopatra whom he defeats in a war, leading to suicide by both. (43.31.00) = The first Emperor of Rome. Octavian Caesar changes his name to Augustus Caesar, and in 20 B.C. becomes the first Emperor of Rome. The republic is just a façade. The empire is huge, stretching across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Rome conquers England. Augustus breaks it up into provinces. Augustus now calls himself a god in human form within the polytheistic religious belief system, consolidates his power. (48.45.00) = Problem of succession. Augustus rules for a long time, solidifies the empire. There is much palace intrigue. He is succeeded by a number of inept or pathological rulers including Tiberius, Nero, and Caligula, yet the empire holds together as structured by Augustus. (54.32.00) = The peak of the Roman Empire. Late in the 1st century A.D., the 5 good emperors ending with Marcus Aurelius rule Rome over a period of 100 years with an orderly transfer of power. (56.05.00) = Decline of the Roman Empire begins in 180 A.D. Succession problems. North borders are attacked by Germanic tribes called barbarians. Need for increased supply of slaves which are at the heart of the Roman economy. The Empire is divided into East, with Constantinople (Istanbul) as its capital, and West. (1.03.41.00) = Christianity. Emperor Constantine converts to Christianity which becomes the official religion in 225 A.D. The Western Empire, under pressure of Germanic tribes, is conquered in 476 A.D. The Eastern Empire survives as Byzantium until the Turks conquer it in the 1400s A.D. (1.06.52.00) = Factors of the decline. The borders are too large to defend. There is a lack of slaves to do the economic work. Christianity is a factor when emperors represent themselves as gods to be worshipped, rejected by Christians, and are increasingly persecuted. (1.11.10.00) = Final judgment of Rome. Culturally they imitate the grandeur of Ancient Greece, but are not up to the quality of Greek philosophy or literature. Achievements include military tactics and strategy, engineering of roads and other engineering feats. Roman law covers every aspect of society. English Common Law and the Napoleonic Code are derived from it. Rome is an early example of the rise and fall of empire, possibly inevitable. Much is to be learned from it.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Ancient & Medieval Worlds Series: Ancient Israel
Role of the Bible. Concept of a living God. Patriarchal society. History and myth. Promise of Canaan. Covenant as Chosen People. (5.15.00) = Survival factors: role of religious belief. (6.13.00) = Old Testament covers 1,000 years. Aim is to teach God's will. Covenant, laws to fulfill it, interpreted by prophets. The 10 commandments. (11.41.00) = View of God. minimizes magic, interior forces (14.38.00) = Rule of law on view to all, not through priests (15.07.00) = Monotheism uniqueness. Separateness of God and society. People with sense of history, principles understood. (19.38.00) = Practices. separateness, including dietary laws, circumcision. (21.48.00) = Israel as battleground 1st century B.C. (26.02.00) = Religious observance. relationship between separate and assimilation. (28.52.00) = Role of prophets. Book of Daniel. Apocalyptic view. Immortality of the soul vs. live on earth. (32.26.00) = Survival: role of separate, chosen, ethical monotheism.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Ancient & Medieval Worlds Series: Origins of Christianity
Jewish origins. Rise of Christianity without support from the Roman Empire, remarkable growth in first two centuries by persuasion alone. Those Jews not scattered in the Diaspora but remaining in Palestine are more resistant to assimilation. The early Jewish belief that God punishes and rewards in this life. Following the suffering of Jews under Roman power, a growing belief in rewards in a life after death. The Essenes renounce property as meaningless and await judgment day and a messianic intervention to establish God's kingdom on earth. (7.45.00) = Historic Jesus. These emerging beliefs appeal to many and relates to Jesus' message as written in the Gospels at a later period. Jesus is vested in traditional Jewish faith. He teaches the old values in a new style, using stories, like a prophet. His message that the end of the world is at hand appeals to many people who are suffering. Jesus as the living messiah suffering and dying but not ruling as king of the Jews. The Romans consider his preaching to be criminal and condemn him to crucifixion. (11.34.00) = Disciples. His disciples turn their despair after Jesus' death to hope in the belief of Jesus' resurrection as part of a divine plan. Still being Jews they believe their mission is to bring Jesus' message to other Jews, awaiting his return as Christ, the anointed one. This message appeals more to the Diaspora Jews who are less lied to traditional beliefs. (13.56.00) = Role of St. Paul. He is educated, sophisticated, has a vision of Jesus. He sees his mission to preach Jesus' message, becomes the greatest Christian missionary. He cuts ties with Jews, simplifies the personal links connected to God, making his religion more acceptable to the gentile world. (15.58.00) = Christian beliefs. St. Paul preaches that Jesus died not for Israel but for all mankind. People need to believe in the message of the crucifixion but those denying his message are doomed to hell. The second coming of Christ when the righteous are rewarded and the wicked punished. The afterlife is realized in the Christian Church. (20.38.00) = The Christian Church. It is seen as the mystical body of Christ. The creation of organization, rituals, sacrament, and duties. Baptism and communion relate to bathing and feeding, symbolically dying and re-emerging in life, the washing away of previous sins, the partaking of the body and blood of Christ. Church leadership. The Bishop's authority provides the only channel to salvation. Most eminent is the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, with St. Peter being the first one. Peter means rock. (24.29.00) = Early controversies. Rapid growth of early Christianity. Original gospels do not see Jesus as the son of God. Controversy of what is true Christianity. The concept of the Trinity: God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit of the Holy Ghost eventually becomes official doctrine (27.00.00) = The mission of Christianity is to convert the world to Christianity, while Judaism does not proselytize. Christianity spreads mostly in urban centers. Rural areas hold on to the old beliefs. The Roman response is that Christians can exist if they obey laws of the Empire, otherwise they are persecuted. Some Roman emperors persecuted more than others. (29.35.oo) = Successes of Christianity. Christianity is very involved in people's lives, is less abstract. There is a sense of a personal God. It has universal appeal to the commoners as well as the rich and philosophers, with its high moral standards. It is simple, direct faith, an eternal faith transcending the natural world. It is more satisfying than the old Roman gods which diminish as the Roman Empire fades. (34.35.00) = Growth. By the 4th century, Christians number 5 million out of a population of 60 million in the fading Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine converts to Christianity in the early 4th century A.D., makes it the official religion of the Roman Empire. Motivation is seeing Christianity as the wave of the future, enhancing his power. He sets official doctrine about what is expected and what is not, with heretics dealt with harshly. (37.07.00) = Evolution. These doctrines are not permanent since all religions evolve. Christianity grows, alters, changes over the centuries. Its success of early converts is impressive.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Ancient & Medieval Worlds Series: Medieval World
Origins of feudalism. Medieval European world covers about 1,000 years, 500-1,600 A.D. after the fall of the Roman Empire. Feudalism is the political structure of the nobility, about 5% of the population. Germanic tribes conquer the weakened Western Roman Empire. Warrior leaders evolve into kings or emperors, claiming wealth in terms of land. (3.50.00) = Feudalism. The nobility keep the lion's share of land, subdivide the rest to loyal followers, vassals, who are awarded land grants of fiefs. There are sub-vassals, dukes, barons, viscounts, under them. At the top of this pyramidal structure is the lord. Each has a set of obligations to his superior. The basis is military protection from marauding tribes. Obligations are economic ( a % of crops), military service, and social (attending celebrations and meetings). (9.01.00) = Chivalry. A sense of honor becomes the form of treatment of women by noblemen. This is not beneficial to women who are put on a pedestal as decorative with no serious potential. A larger sense of honor to one's superior binding people even applied in the brutality of the one-on-one warfare of the time. (13.27.00) = A profound backwardness. Cities become reduced to 1% of original size, all but disappearing. Roads are in disrepair, economy is confined to local areas. Trade and communication reduced. Barter replaces coinage. A thriving world backtracks. The population stagnates. (17.10.00) = Manorialism is now the economic structure. The manor house is the central building, then a church, then huts of serfs in concentric circles enclosing arable land and meadow land, with forests at the outer ring which are off limits. (20.00.00) = Serfs have the right to work strips of land owned by the lord. They are obliged to give 1/3 of crops to the lord, 1/10 to the church, and have other work obligations including tending to the lord's lands. In return, serfs had protection. The knights are the lowest level of lords, do the fighting. Serfs live in great misery. They live in straw huts with 1 room to sleep in and the rest of the hut for all else including sheltering animals in cold weather. There is no chimney to draw out smoke. Diet is mainly ale and bread, lacking in protein and vitamins. Health is precarious. They depend on folk medicine not doctors or hospitals. Amputations are done without anesthesia, usually resulting in death. Life expectancy is in the 30s. (21.04.00) = The nobles. are somewhat better off. They live in castles built for defense not comfort. They believe bathing is wrong, use perfume to mask body odors. Their diet is limited although they eat game and have wine. (23.02.00) = Pleasures in life. The harvest is celebrated by a feast by the serfs. They celebrate events at all opportunities. Sex is casual. There are formal rules but informal ways around them for survival. The manorial system lasts for a century. (25.44.00) = The Church. The Catholic Church is the dominant institution. It wields the power of excommunication. It also has economic and political influences. With its dominance comes corruption. It is a source of psychological comfort in the form of the mass, sermons, and music. There is the promise of the afterlife. It offers a sense of congregation, including socialization on Sundays. There is the beauty of the heaven. (29.14.00) = Monastic orders. The search for simplicity, order. Simplicity in the face of the worldly Church. The holding places of ancient manuscripts. Franciscans' concern for the poor. (32.29.00) = Negatives. Those not accepting established doctrine are branded heretics to be punished in the most inhumane and ghastly manners. Demand for conformity, control of thought process. Only a small part of the population is educated, the rest are overwhelmingly illiterate. Some Church brilliance is the exception. Church hostility to mass learning as a potential threat to conformity. (35.08.00) = The Crusades. Ostensibly to liberate the Holy Land, it is an opportunity to rob, rape, murder, and grab land from heathens. Many die from exposure and starvation. The Crusades introduces the end of the Middle Ages. It helps open contact and revive trade, marking the beginning of the modern age. (46.21.02) = The Black Death. 1347-1349 A.D. The bubonic plague spreads through Europe by means of fleas and rats, with a virtual 100% death rate. Whole communities are annihilated. Cause is not understood at that time. It kills 5 million or 1/3 of Europe's population, leaving a sense of doomsday and despair. Food supplies are neglected. Population craziness. Flagellants whip themselves as sinner in God. (45.54.00) = The Jews are blamed by the Flagellants, become ghettoized on manor land. They can't own land, are used by princes. Pogroms are organized attacks on the ghetto. Jews are accused of Christ killing, kidnapping children for rituals. The Jews' desire for separateness and the ghetto as security. The Pope urges against blaming the Jews for the plague since they are dying as well as everyone else.. (50.26.00) = Aftermath of the Plague. The labor force is now scarce resulting in a demand for higher pay. The towns and trade revive. Guilds provide a system of improving work status. Now workers must find jobs or starve since they are not provided for by the manor. (53.44.00) = The lords. Although they are conservative, resistant to change, but after the loss of population escaping to towns, a small minority begin to rethink their relations with serfs. They rent land at fixed rates to former serfs who are now peasants, beginning a more modern way of life. (55.36.00) = Decline of the medieval world. The Plague and the Crusades are influences for change. The beginning of capitalism and the profit motive. Marco Polo travels to China. Cultural changes influence the future Italian Renaissance. Ideas of democracy and education are revived. Beginning of the modern world. The Protestant split of the church in the early 1500s. The ancient and medieval worlds brings the beginning of the modern world.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Minorities in America Series: African-Americans: Civil Rights Period
Birth of Modern Civil Rights Movement. NAACP changes society through law, but is not relevant to everyday black people's needs. Decade of the 50s: 1954 Supreme Court ruling overturns “separate but equal” education law of Brown versus Topeka Board of Education. This is fiercely resisted by the South. Issue of law versus law enforcement. President Eisenhower reluctantly enforces school integration. Rosa Parks, bus integration hero. Emmitt Till's murder shocks the nation, gives impetus to civil rights movement. The role of the churches. The risk of everyday people encountering and resisting discrimination. (7.35.00) = Martin Luther King, Jr. A Baptist minister. Advocates passive resistance to unjust laws. Experiences jail terms, threats. Robert Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General, is sympathetic to King, but J.Edgar Hoover regards King as public enemy # 1 (5.58.00) = Freedom Summer, 1964. Black and white civil rights workers go south and register blacks to vote. Two whites, Goodman & Schwerner, and one black, Chaney, are found tortured and murdered, arousing the nation's conscience. The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act are enacted in 1960s by Lyndon Johnson, a Southerner. Failure is due to the Vietnam War which diverts social funding. Riots in cities, seen as caused by thwarting of rising expectations. (15.25.00) = Resistance to Segregation. March on Washington led by Martin Luther King, with JFK not in favor but he welcomes it when it seems inevitable. Lyndon Johnson's legislation. Black Panther Party's message is opposite of King's: return violence with violence. State violence always greater than any from organizations. Some blacks turn to Islam. Nation of Islam. believes all whites are evil, attracts members. Promotes purity of body, aids abstention from alcohol and drugs. Malcolm X. His early life as a petty gangster, converts to Islam while in prison, becomes member of Nation of Islam. Advocates violence for violence. Toward the end of his life he modifies his racial views, addresses social and economic issues. He is assassinated. (29.39.00) = Backlash. The gap between rich and poor widens. Sentencing procedures with mandatory long prison terms for small time drug offenses penalize black disproportionately. College involvement lessens. The present lacks the optimism seen in the 1960s. Apathy, fatalism often exists. Yet some gains remain. De facto segregation skirts desegregation law, increasing segregated society. Yet the absolute Jim Crow laws lessened. Gains are not permanent; there can be reversions. A way to keep people down is to deny them their history. Rediscovering the past is a strengthening, helps to understand the present, and reflects future possibilities.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
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Topics in American History Series: Immigration
"Early Immigration. Immigrants' perspective: Each group considers itself legitimate, subsequent ones not so. Native Americans' role. Migration from South America to the U.S. Southwest. Colonial Era English Colonies start in early 1600s. The Puritan's Perfect Protestant Community in Massachusetts Bay Colony. They look down on newcomers as ""not saved,"" establishing class from a religious point of view. Ethnic types of farms of the European immigrants. Scottish-Irish settle in Southern colonies. Originally poor, some rise, become the Master Class, import slaves, create fictitious origins for themselves. (6.43.00) = Indentured servants. can work out of it, become full-fledged citizens in the frontier, with no stigma. Forced immigration of millions of slaves. (This is discussed in Minorities In America Series) (8.34.00) = Old Immigration. 1840s -1850s immigration is mainly from North and Western Europe -- England, Germany and Scandinavia -- for economic opportunity, to escape political persecution, and adventure. The land-starved peasantry find abundant land at the expense of the Native Americans. (11.26.00) = Absence of political tensions. Overwhelmingly Protestant immigrants coming to a Protestant country. It is not a problem being a minority. Immigrants bring craft trades and businesses, such as the German brew-masters. (13.41.00) = The exception of the Irish. They immigrate to escape famine caused by potato blight, become railroad builders and coal miners, low paying and dangerous work. They are Catholics in a Protestant country, are met with enormous hostility. 18.05.00) = Irish clash with Blacks in New York over working class jobs which free blacks have established as their right. The Draft Riots in the middle of the Civil War. (20.51.00) = Irish classes. The Lace Curtain Irish and the Shanty Irish. The Irish often return to visit their old country, unlike other immigrant groups. (23.00.25) = The New Immigrants: .Post-Civil War: 1880s-1920s. The beginning of industrialization. They come to escape political and religious persecution, desire for land, and economic improvement. They are from south and eastern Europe, including Catholics, Jews, and Eastern Orthodox. They are welcomed for the cheap labor but despised for their differences in religion, language, culture, and dress. (26.48.00) = Immigrants land at port cities. tend to remain, not to go west for farming land but gravitate to ethnic communities having political ward bosses who help with housing and factory jobs, and in turn expected loyal voters. (35.35.00) = The 2nd generation. become super-American, resent the old ways of their parents. The recent rediscovery of old world ties. (37.14.00) = Each ethnic group finds its unique way out of poverty. (41.27.00) = Immigration quota laws. . Starting in 1924 business judges the economy has sufficient labor force. The quota laws are drastic but selectively restrictive. The role of anti-immigrant feeling in the Sacco-Vanzetti case. (48.54.00) = Depression of the 1930s. has great impact on Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and the coming Holocaust. Mexico and Canada is more open to Jews, but not the U.S. (49.32.00) = Chinese immigrants are recruited for dangerous work on railroad building in the West, are treated as virtual slaves, face racism and exclusionary laws. (51.27.00) = Japanese immigration to the West for farming and small business, also experience racial hostility. In the Progressive Era of the 1900s a San Francisco school district attempts segregation. President Theodore Roosevelt, a strong racist, respects Japan's growing power, intercedes. (53.34.00) = The World War II internment of Japanese-Americans is upheld by the Supreme Court. It is known at the time by the government decision makers that the Japanese-Americans who are interned are no threat (57.07.00) = Post-war politics of immigration. New waves of immigration from all over the world seeking economic improvement. We restrict persecuted people from dictatorships we support. Those fleeing dictatorships we oppose are welcome. This is especially apparent for Latin America. Vietnamese are welcomed after the Communist victory. (59.11.00) = Today's Issues. Economic. Cheap labor. The rebirth of sweat shops. Legal and illegal immigrants are exploited. They are not subject to minimum wage law, other laws. The Administration supports immigration to earn business support (1.01.48.00) = Public attitude that immigrants exploit benefits. They are mainly motivated to escape poverty by hard work and to support family back home, and may return back there later. California studies show there is some merit to the argument that they are filling jobs others do not want. (1.05.53.00) = Economics in native countries. The gender role of Mexican women in Texas changes away from patriarchal dominance. U.S. influence in Mexico by business relocations. U.S. agricultural subsidies undercut native agriculture, destroying Mexican farmers, forcing them to immigrate. U.S. labor is concerned with lowering of the wage scale. (1.12.14.00) = Xenophobia. Hatred of foreigners is part of U.S. history. (1.14.26.00) = U.S. as safe harbor for suffering people in other countries, a humane attitude of welcome. "
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Islam & the Arab World Series: (1 lecture)
Mohammad, 570 to 632 A.D. Born in Mecca. Marries at age of 24 a wealthy window, becomes a prosperous merchant. Decides to live a contemplative life at age 40. He experiences a vision in a cave, commanding him to preach, and does so for the next 20 years. The Koran is made up of Mohammad's preaching or revelations. Mohammad denounces selfishness and materialism, angering the ruling tribes. (3.02.00) = The Nature of Islam the only God. Islam consciously follows in the footsteps of Judaism and Christianity, with Mohammad as the last in the line of Jewish and Christian prophets. The Koran deals with all aspects of life. Islam also connects with local traditions. (6.24.00) = Mohammad as the messenger of Allah, the only God. (10.06.00) = 5 Pillars of Faith. The foundation of Islam. 1. The profession of faith that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah. 2. Performing of ritual prayers at prescribed times, facing Mecca. 3. The giving of alms, the concern for the poor. The rich saw this as subversive, revolutionary, causing Mohammed to be threatened, resulting in his fleeing to the safety of Medina. 4 Fasting and abstinence from sexual activity during daytime of each day of the month of Ramadan. 5. At least a one-time pilgrimage to Mecca. (13.03.00) = Splits in Islam. Sunnis claim to be the orthodox rational teachings of Islam. Shiites do not emphasize pilgrimage to Mecca, are more emotional , reject those who do not agree with them, foster the goal of martyrdom. Sufis believe in purification of faith, vows of poverty and other aspects of Christianity. Bitter disputes between Sunnis and Shiites, possibly based on birth status more than differences in religious philosophy, similar to other monotheistic religions. An on-going debate between reason and religious faith. (15.57.00) = Other aspects of Islam. Jihad - holy war. There is violent warfare, but in the Koran it is an inward conflict or turmoil to be resolved. Proselytizing The seeking of converts by persuasion or by force. This is in common with Christianity, but not Judaism. Religious leaders in Islam but not formal priests, similar to Judaism Jihad - holy war. Proselytizing Religious leaders in Islam but not formal priests, (18.51.00) = The Arab Empire. The geographic scope of the Empire which lasts for 700 years from 700-1400 A.D. Originating in Arabia extending westward across North Africa and partially Sub-Sahara black Africa, and Eastward to the Iberian Peninsula to Spain and Portugal, and rule the Middle East. It dominates the Mediterranean Sea world. Christian Europe is blocked off from the rest of the world, becoming backward, isolated, and poor. (21.58.00) = Noble achievements. Significant contributions in literature (stories now in Western literature including Sinbad the Sailor),chemistry (filtration), physics, astronomy (mapped the heavens), mathematics (algebra, trigonometry, geometry, our numbering system are Arabic numerals), medicine and medical care, hospitals, unknown mostly in Europe. (26.48.00) = Avicenna. A political leader, physician, and philosopher. First to note the difference between small pox and measles. First to use of alcohol as disinfectant, and many more firsts. Also continued and helped preserve the Aristotelian experimental method. He and others kept alive the great ideas of the ancient Greeks. Music: creation of music notation, invention of the modern flute and guitar. (0.28.00) = Religious toleration. Spain under the Arabs is the Golden Age of Jewish history, free to worship as they wish. Maimonides is advisor to the caliph of the time. This contrasts to harsh persecution of Jews when Spain comes under Christian rule in 1492. Christian Europe brutally hostile to other faiths, especially Jews. (32.16.00) = Decline of the Arab Empire. Weakening and breakup, conquest by others. The eastern empire conquered by the Turks in the 1400s. Constant pressure by Christian Europe to drive the Arabs out of the Iberian Peninsula, becoming more successful as the Arab Empire weakens, and in 1492 the last of the Muslim and the Jews are driven out of Spain. It can be argued that Spain has been in decline ever since. (34.56.00) = Islam the religion thrives although the Arab Empire collapses. Its spread is remarkable. The Turks that conquered Eastern Islam convert to Islam. Islam's great sweep includes Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other parts of the world as well. In today's world, Islam has had a significant impact on African-Americans. One element for this could be the history of blacks in Christian U.S, and the legacy of slavery. (42.29.00) = Women in Islam. Subservient status of women, at times severe. Historically this is also true in Judaism and Christianity. The purely religious explanation is it is God's will. A more historic perspective is that these religions had come out of time when women are considered subordinate, and this continued as tradition (43.53.00) = Future of Islam. Divisions will continue, feeding enmity and fanaticism, also true of Western religions as well. Religious beliefs cannot be separated from the political realities of the time. Islam is a faith to be taken seriously in terms of its origins, beliefs, originality, and its appeal
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Modern European History Series: Making Modern Europe
Transition Period. Rise of Capitalism. Population Changes. The role of the devastation of the bubonic plague in the movement from rural manors to towns and rise of guilds. After the stagnant medieval era, the beginnings of a new economic and social system as the pursuit of profit by business means (3.57.00) = The Renaissance. Marco Polo travels to China. Rebirth of past cultures. The Arab Empire. Scientific revolution. New view of the universe. Shift to secular humanism; non-religious, not anti-religious. (9.47.00) = Age of Exploration. Reaping rewards from other countries, especially gold, and Christopher Columbus as a turning point in world history. Role of the printing press in the rapid growth of exploration. Ambivalent attitudes toward nature. Native populations devastated. (16.27.00) = Protestant Reformation. Christianity splits into Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in the early 500s. Luther. Calvin. The concept of religion and economic individualism as an extension of capitalism (21.33.00) = Rise of the Nation-State. In France, divine-right monarchy, Louis XIV, is the epitome in 18th century. (23.48,00) = The Enlightenment. People now seen as logical who can achieve happiness through science and education. Standards for ethical behavior. Influences later French Revolution. (28.09.00) = The Decline of the Monarchy. English Revolution of 1740s. Cromwell. Growing away from absolute monarchs. American Revolution of 1776. The shot heard around the world. It's possible to defeat a large power. French Revolution of 1789. Overthrow of monarchy. Napoleonic war brings modern age to others. (42.57.00) = The Industrial Revolution Modern Industrial Capitalism. . England begins the factory system, 1780-1830. The impact of the Closure Act forcing millions of peasants to seek work in the cities. The minimizing of costs results in enormous misery. The planned slums, child labor. The impact of the canal system and the railroads. England becomes the most powerful country in the world. Rise of the new force of nationalism, patriotism, and the self-image of superiority. (48.29.00) = Rise of the Nationalism. Early 1800s. Love of country, striving for indigenous unity, but also sense of superiority leading to extremism. (49.46.00) = The New Modern Age. In the 19th century. music, art, literature, and poetry show change from the set forms of the conservative period to romantic forms, expressing feelings. Labor saving inventions and advances in science and medicine advance the belief in intellectual and material progress. The division of social and economic thinkers who advocate no interference with trade, with others who press for a more egalitarian society with distribution based on need not profit. Marx's view of capitalism. (53.03.06) = Industrial Capitalism. The division of social and economic thinkers who advocate no interference with trade, with others who press for a more egalitarian society with distribution based on need not profit (59.33.00) = Imperialism and Clash of Interests. Last ¼ of the 19th century. Need for control of foreign territory for raw materials and markets. England in India to milk resources as quickly as possible. Image of bringing modernity but actually creating backwardness. African countries are divided up. European countries establish spheres of influence in China. (1.06.10.00) = Seeds of Modern War. European countries, including Italy and Germany, undergo unification. The rise of German industrialization and competition for limited resources in the 19th century for industrial capitalism needs (1.09.54.00) = On a Collision Course. . Much progress in modernization in the 19th century but still mostly rural, but changing. On a collision course ending in the horror of WWI. Alliances are formed by England, France, and Russia, although a backward country, based on fears of Germany. Opposed by an alliance between Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary. An arms buildup. Competition for colonies. On a collision course. (1.17.12.00) = WWI, 1914-1918. Germany plans to knock out France quickly and then take on Russia later. England declares war on Germany. Prolonged trench warfare. Pattern of attacking troops massacred by machine gun fire. Four years of slaughter until armistice in November, 1918.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Modern European History Series: Imperialism, Revolution, & World War
Impact of World War I. Impact of WWI. The World Will Never Be The Same. Outlook before is progress, onward and upward. After -- where are all the good leaders? --dead. Art and literature become abstract, music harsh. Freud's conceives the concept of the death wish. (2.44.00) = New U.S. World Role. U.S. enters the First World War partly for freedom of seas but also economic motives and Wilson's personality. U.S. emerges as the most powerful economy. (6.53.00) = The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. Most of Wilson's 14 points are ignored. England and France want revenge. Although a strong supporter of the League of Nations, Wilson is mainly to blame for its rejection by the Senate. U.S. ambitions for world domination and the conflicting strategies by various American leaders. The Treaty of Versailles is both too lenient and too harsh on Germany and is a factor in the rise of Nazism. (23.54.00) = Russian Revolution's Profound Effect on the World. The Least Likely Revolution. Why conditions are the least favorable for revolution. Why the revolution of 1905 fails but the one in 1917 succeeds by a twist of fate by which a small minority gains power. How the Czar's image, Russia's participation in the first world war, the Czarina's role in the government, and the cult figure of Rasputin, all figure in this unlikely outcome. The contrasting views of the role of capitalism by Marx and by Lenin (39.14.00) = Two 1917 Revolutions.The Czar is forced to abdicate in early 1917. The bourgeois take power, led by Karensky who continues the disastrous war against Germany, leading to the second revolution in October 1917 by the Bolsheviks led by Lenin. (45.23.00) = The Threat to Capitalism. Russia fights a brutal civil war from 1918 to 1921 against 5 invading armies from all directions. How Trotsky, without military background, incredibly, defeats all of them one at a time. (48.18.00) = Bolsheviks rule over a wasteland. Buildings in ruin from war with Germany and civil war, millions of peasants killed, agriculture destroyed, and an influenza pandemic. Lenin had hoped that communism would spring up elsewhere in more advanced countries and then help out Russia. Revolutions did not occur successfully. In 1921 Lenin realizes he is alone in transforming Russia. Russian Revolution's Profound Effect on the World (continued). Russia's economic directions. The New Economic Policy from 1921 until 1928 for gradual industrialization is part socialist, part capitalist. The drastic changes for rapid industrialization when Stalin takes power after Lenin's death in 1924. This effort, while brutal, is effective and helps Russia to survive the Nazi onslaught. (12.53.00) = A Beacon of Light. Stalin's crimes are overlooked as the Russian Revolution becomes a beacon of light to distressed people around the world. Yet it is the wrong role model to other countries with different conditions. (26.03.00) = Prelude to World War II. Rise of Fascism. In Italy and Germany, ultra-nationalism, extremism, supported by lower middle class which identifies own achievement with the nation's. Powerful racism based on pseudo-science. Concept of the all-powerful leader. Extreme and violent capitalism. (39.13.00) = Anti-Semitism. An ancient European phenomenon used by Hitler. The Jew as scapegoat. Holocaust requires great organization and support. Slave camps. Death camps. The "Banality of Evil," by Hannah Arendt. (57.28.00) = Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. This is the moral opportunity to stop fascism. The world mindset remembering the horrors of World War I plus pro-fascist sentiments plus real politik leads to the start of World War.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Modern European History Series: Rise of Fascism
Rise of Fascism. Extreme Capitalism: Bitter Aftermath of World War I. . In Italy and Germany, an ultra-nationalism emerges, with a sense of superiority to other nations. The nature of totalitarianism and the all-powerful leader. Hitler takes power in Germany legally in 1932. Why fascism, an extreme and violent capitalism, finds support in the insecurities of contrasting segments of society emerges and continues throughout WWII. (11.11.00) = Why the U.S. and England Do Not Turn Fascist. Although significant pro-fascist elements exist in both countries, communist and socialist parties are not mass parties and, therefore, are not threatening (12.12.00) = Anti-Semitism. Exploitation of ancient European Anti-Semitism. The Jew as scapegoat. Incremental marginalizing and isolation. The ""final solution."" Homosexuals, gypsies, and mental defectives are also targeted for extinction. The Holocaust requires great organization and support, often with the complicity of occupied countries. The pseudo-science of aryanism. Unimaginable medical experiments on humans. Violence and death are the ultimate results of fascism.. (28.36.00) = France, although a victor, has not recovered from 4 years of war. The Socialists come to power whose minister is Leon Blum, a Jew. Reflecting French anti-Semitism, many French say, “Better Hitler than Blum.” (44.00.00) = England. In the face of growth of the labor unions and major strikes, the upper class share the anti-Semitism associated with the Nazi party. (45.49.00) = Prelude to War. The new republic elected in Spain, is resisted by the military and the church, and leads to civil war from 1936 to 1939. A moral opportunity to stop fascism is lost. Germany supports the fascist side; the U.S. and England remain neutral, partly explained by the world memories of the horrors of World War I. (55.48.00) = Appeasement based on the fear of war and desire to avoid it actually helps precipitate it. Hitler brilliantly manipulates the West's fears of Russia and other concerns to his advantage. The motivations behind the August 1939 Non-Aggression Pact between the two bitter enemies, Germany and Russia, which is a stunning shock Rise of Fascism (continued). World War II starts. Germany moves against Poland September 1, 1939 and most of the continent falls under the German blitzkrieg in the spring of 1940. England stands alone, London endures an air blitz, but there is no invasion. June, 1941 an all-out Nazi invasion of Russia pushes deep inside the country weakened by Stalin's earlier purge of his best generals. Churchill, a staunch anti-communist, supports Russia as a practicality. Japan joins the Axis powers and America is at war after the December 7th, 1941 attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. (9.30.00) = The Second Front.. Russia is fighting 80% of the German army. Why Russia's calls for a second front to relieve its desperate situation, in 1942 and again in 1943 are refused by Churchill. Why Allied invasions of North Africa and Italy do not shorten the war. (14.21.00) = The Turning Point. The Russian victory at Stalingrad is a turning point in the Allied view that winning the war is now possible, and the Normandy invasion is launched on June 6, 1944. Why Nazi planes and vehicles are found grounded. The last crisis of the Battle of the Bulge in 1944-45 and the final push to end the war in Europe in May 1945 (19.12.00) = Russia invades Manchuria. Russia's justification to declare war on Japan and invade Manchuria 2 days prior to the U.S. dropping of the atom bomb on Japan. Another strategic reason for the U.S. using the bomb against Japan not related to ending the war with Japan. (25.15.00) = Origins of the Cold War. Russia's Post-War Relations With the U.S. . Stalin appears to choose the middle position of insisting on friendly borders for itself, not the soft position of needing U.S. help after the war, and not the hard position of no cooperation with the U.S. because world communism must go forward. This view is supported by what it does with Manchuria after it strips it of its industry, and its guidance to well-organized communist parties in Greece, Italy, and France, and its guidance to the Chinese Communists during its civil war fight. Russia's resistance to the possibility of fascist factions gaining control in a free election in Poland is consistent with its insisting on friendly borders (36.38.00) = The Post-War U.S. Relations With Russia. The U.S. fears falling back to a depression with the end of a war economy. The fear of war with Russia maintains a war economy. Senator McCarthy and the ""red scare"" with the resulting mass hysteria starts with the Truman Administration. Later, Republicans blame Democrats for losing China, Russia getting the atom bomb, and the Korean War. The Cold War has a significant impact on recovery in Europe and the post-war direction of its countries.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
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