Periods 2 & 6 World History for Tuesday, August 30

Today we had notes on democracy.  It was a very important lesson because democracy will be the central theme that we'll build on for the rest of the school year.  We talked about democracy's roots in Greece and Rome.  Be sure to copy the notes from a friend. Below is a very short clip from my trip to Rome in 2010 and our visit to the Colosseum.

Libya: the Fight for Democracy

Here's a short, two-minute video of what's going on in Libya.

Period 8 World History Thursday September 17

1. Notes:  Enlightenment & Revolution (copy from classmate)
2. Video:  Declaration of Independence, read by celebrities.  See video here.
3. Introduction to Louis XIV and France.  Copy notes from classmate
4. Democracy/Autocracy & 6 Thinkers Review Sheet.  Test is Monday.

Here's a link to the great Palace of Versailles interactive website we used in class.  It's in French, but you won't really need to read anything.  Click on any of the red dots to look around.

The Declaration of Independence...by CELEBRITIES!

We've been talking about the Declaration of Independence (DOI) in both U.S. History and World History.  We've talked about how Thomas Jefferson was influenced by thinkers from the Enlightenment period.  There is a good video of the reading of the DOI by some of today's best known actors and actresses (including Mel Gibson, Morgan Freeman, and Renee Zellweger) and I'm going to post it here.

Take note of how John Locke's idea of the social contract is evident in the DOI and his idea that if a government breaks their end of the contract (i.e. fails to protect the people's rights) the people have the right to rebel.  Much of the DOI (and as a result, the video)  is a list of King George's abuses.  Because of that, Jefferson says, we declare ourselves to be free and independent.

Period 8 World History Friday, September 11

1. Worksheets:  Democratic Developments in England (use the section starting on page 12 in the book to find the answer) and The Judeo Christian Tradition (starting on page 18).  Only did part "A" on both sheets. Turned in both sheets at the end of the period.