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Government in Athens         Pericles was the leader of Athens for thirty years.  He was not a monarch or despot. The people of Athens elected him year after year.  He declared that Athens was a democracy.  In Athens, power was “in the hands of many rather than the few.”  Pericles was correct about saying that Athens was a democracy at that time.  Compared to other ancient governments, Athens was democratic, but it does not seem that way today.  When he spoke of government by the people, he should have said government by the citizens.       Citizens had more rights in Greeks cities than any of the others.  They could do almost anything they wanted to do.  They could own property, take part in politics and the law.  Most of the men in Greece were citizens, but women, slaves, and foreigners could not be.

n Sparta only rich men were citizens. Citizenship was like a family.  It depended on birth.  Only children of citizens could be citizens themselves.  Children that lived in Athens all of their lives were not citizens if their parents came from other places.  Athens seems undemocratic to us because women had no voice in government.       Slaves were normally captured prisoners of wars.  They were sold to people and whoever bought them owned them.  Some slaves lived good lives with their owners.  Others lived in terrible conditions or toiled in mines until death.  Unlike slaves in America, slaves in Greece got paid and if they saved their money they might be able to buy their own freedom. 

The Vikings were more than just bloodthirsty raiders

The Norse (or Northmen) were farmers, traders, craftsmen, and musicians, as well as, feared warriors.

For almost 400 years the Norse spread across most of Europe and were the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil

Types of Government After the Revolutionary War, the founding fathers got together to discuss what type of government they wanted to establish. They considered four types: monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy, democracy. Well, you probably already know which one they picked, but, for the sake of argument, pretend you don't. We know they didn't choose a monarchy, but what is a monarchy anyway? A monarchy is a form of government in which hereditary rulers (people who share the same bloodline) better known as kings and queens, wield absolute power over everybody. Absolute power? That means that the kings and queens can pretty much do whatever they want. Well, since the founders knew the monarchy thing didn't really fly in the original American colonies, they decided against a monarchy. They also considered oligarchy. An oligarchy consists of a body of individuals possessing high levels of wealth, social or military status, or achievement. These elite guys and gals pretty much rule everything and everyone. There was also aristocracy to consider. Aristocracy is rule by a privileged few. As nice as monarchies, oligarchies, and aristocracies may sound (at least to those lucky enough to be in power!), one of the reasons the colonists fought for independence in the first place was to free themselves from government structures that left little or no popular consent to the people. So, the founding fathers set up a democracy. A democracy is a form of government in which the people hold the power to rule themselves. But it's not quite as simple as that. In fact, there are two main types of democracy: direct democracy and indirect democracy. In a direct democracy, all the people get together and have an equal say in the laws they create. In an indirect democracy (also known as a representative democracy), people vote for representatives who work on their behalf to create laws. Once chosen, these representatives then vote within a government structure, making and passing laws. This is a two-step version of democracy. The founding fathers chose… an indirect democracy! After all, they figured that at some point in time, America would become a really, really big nation. And if that happened, there'd be no way they could possibly get everyone together to vote on every single thing.

New weapons technology prompted new defensive technologies, for example the introduction of cross-bows led quickly to the adoption of plate armour rather than chain mail.

Siege Towers Battering Rams Cats and Weasels Chemical, Biological and Psychological Warfare Mining: undermining castle walls

Siege Towers

The Medieval Era, often called The Middle Ages or the Dark Ages, began just before 500 A.D. following a great loss of power throughout Europe by the Roman Emperor. The Middle Ages span roughly 1,000 years, ending around 1450 A.D. (Medieval actually means "Middle"!) In The Middle Ages people were busy: Building great Cathedrals as there was a huge rise in Christianity Building Great castles for local nobility Clearing large tracts of land by peasants and slaves for their Lords and Kings New towns and villages were popping up all over Europe

esulting in the foundation of many of today's modern European countries.

For safety and for defense, people formed small communities around a central Lord or Master. Most lived on a Manor, which consisted of the Castle, the Church, the Village, and the surrounding Farm Land. These Manors were isolated, with only occasional visits from peddlers or pilgrims on their way to the Crusades or soldiers from other fiefdoms (kingdoms).

In our modern world there are few human practices that inspire such profound outrage as the practice of one human being enslaving another. This is, however, a very modern sentiment. The institution of slavery probably predates civilization itself. Slavery was an accepted institution and central to the economies of most major world civilization. Slaves were were often war captives, both captured warriors and the women and children of conquered populations. The offspring of these enslaved people provided a vast slave work force. The victors in battle might enslave the losers rather than kill them. Slavery in many early civilizations is poorly understood. Slavery in ancient Egypt is a poorly understood topic. We have done some work on Egyptian social classes, but destinguishing slaves from other groups with limited freedom is a challenging task that scholars have found very difficult. The same is true for the many civilizations of Mesopotamia. Slavery in both Greece and Rome are much better understood and were major components of the work force. Slaves in Greece and Rome were drawn from widly differing peoples and there was no association with race. Slaves might be blond, blue eyed Anglo-Saxons from Britania or blacks from Sahara as well as evry other racial type. Slavery in Rome had no racial basis. This appears to have been the general pattern in the ancient world. Even those of Italian stock were enslaved. It was thus impossible to tell from one's features if they were a slave. This complicated control. The Senate debated establishing a destinctive dress for slaves. In the end, the Senate decided against a slave attire, partly because they decided it was dangerous because it would show the slaves just how numerous they were. As in the Americn South, slavery was justified on the basis of the natural inferiority of certain individuals.

  Slavery, or involuntary subjection to another or others, existed in every ancient civilization, such as Sumer, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, parts of the Roman Empire, and so on. People were enslaved for various reasons, including slave raiding, sale of insolvent debtors and capture in war; slaves commonly were recognized as property, assets that could be bought and sold. In the Chinese empire (c. 211 BCE - 1912 CE), slavery existed throughout all dynasties, although numerous aspects of slavery did not remain the same. The word "slave" itself changed many times, nubi () in the Han period, yinke () in Jin, booi aha () under Manchu rule, and so on. The function and position of slaves in Chinese economy shifted several times as well.             This paper will briefly describe the initiation of slavery before Imperial China, and proceed to analyze several aspects about slavery in each dynasty of the Chinese Empire; I will discuss the changing definition of a slave, how slaves became slaves, abolition of slavery and ways to gain freedom, and the degree of dependence or power slaves held in society. The paper is organized in chronological order, but details of slavery in several dynasties existing before Ming and Qing can be scarce due to the lack of attention slaves received prior to Manchu rule.

A recent revision in the handbook at the University of North Carolina is typical:"Each team must identify at least one coach or administrator who is responsible for having access to and regularly monitoring the content of team members’ social networking sites and postings,” it reads. "The athletics department also reserves the right to have other staff members monitor athletes’ posts."

“Maybe it's OK if you live in a totalitarian regime, but we still have a Constitution to protect us. It's not a far leap from reading people's Facebook posts to reading their email. ... As a society, where are we going to draw the line?"

A landmark 1969 Supreme Court decisions known as Tinker vs. the Des Moines School District said school officials couldn't prevent students from wearing armbands protesting the Vietnam War as long as they weren't inciting violence.

Mind Your Manors   In the days of decentralized government, a fief was like its own mini country that produced pretty much everything that was needed from food to weapons to tools. At the heart of a lord's fief was the manor-large estates. The manor was where the lord's family, servants, and his knights lived. At first they began as large houses, but over the years became full castles as walls, towers, and moats were added for protection. Manors were always in the country and surrounded by farmland and woods. Some of the wealthier lords even had more than one manor.   A manor was the center of the community. Not only did it serve as a place for peasants to run to in times of war, but was the political center as well. When he wasn't out fighting for his Lord, the lord of a fief would act as a judge in settling disputes. He also appointed officials who would collect taxes and rent from the peasants and townspeople. Large manors had their own churches complete with their own clergy, as well as a marketplace where locals could buy and sell goods. At any time one time, hundreds of people from priests, knights, squires, entertainers, merchants, peasants, and visiting nobles would head to the manor.   For the Lady of the manor her day was spent overseeing servants & caring for the children. When her husband was away (or killed in battle) the Lady of the manor assumed the same roles her husband did, appointing officials and acting as judge. In the early Middle Ages a woman owning property was not all that uncommon.

Living in a castle might sound romantic but it's not all that it was cracked up to be. Medieval manors were built of wood and stone and built on a large scale. Glass was rare and extremely expensive so windows often were either left open or covered with cloth during the winter. The only means of heating a manor was the fireplace. Each major room had its own. The Great Room, which as its name implies was the center of manor life.  The Great Room was heated and lit by an enormous fireplace, big enough to stand in. The Great Room was where all of the eating, drinking, debating, politicking, and merry making and other business was conducted. Speaking of doing business, how did medieval people use the bathroom? All manor houses had privies either outside or inside the castle. The ones inside were nothing more than a seat that emptied directly into the moat. ​ To modern observers manors would have been filthy places. Fleas were common and the smell of hundreds of unwashed people (who often only bathed once a week) would have pervaded. Rats and mice also would have been running around as food was thrown directly on the floor during meal times. At night the servants swept the floor and rushes (dried river reeds) would be spread on the floor and all minor visitors and knights would bed down. The manor was often dark, cold, and smoky. To liven things up a bit, tapestries would be commissioned to decorate the walls.