China has many more dynasties after the Han Dynasty. There was the Three Kingdoms system in China. They are the Wei, Shu, and the Wu. Each Kingdom was headed by an Emperor that claimed to be a legitimate succession from the Han Dynasty. This period lasted from 220-280 A.D. In many dynasties, changes, there is a peasant revolt, civil war, and other bad events that come up. Wei conquered the Shu in 263 A.D; there is the overthrow of Wei by the Jin Dynasty in 265 A.D., and the destruction of Wu by Jin (from 280 A.D.). The Three Kingdoms period was one of the bloodiest in Chinese history. The Eastern Han Dynasty had about 50 million people. During the early Western Jin Dynasty, there was a report of only ca. 16 million people. The figures of Jin may be suspect, because of Jin’s census being less complete. During this 3 Kingdoms period, technology advanced significantly. Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang invented the wooden ox. The wooden ox was suggested to be an early form of the wheelbarrow. Liang also improved on the repeating crossbow. Wei mechanical engineer Ma Jun (considered to be the equal of Zhang Heng) made a hydraulic powered mechanical puppet theatre designed for Emperor Ming of Wei, square chain pumps for irrigation of gardens in Luoygang, and the design of the South Pointing Chariot. This chariot is a non-magnetic directional compass operated by differential gears. The Emperor He from the Eastern Han Dynasty experienced depressed and the 3 Kingdoms came about to rule in China. The 3 Kingdoms focused on 3 regional markets and the Grand Canal (this merged the Yangtze River to the Yellow River). Other dynasties came about in Chian like the Jin Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, etc. The Ming Dynasty is one of the most famous Dynasties in China. It lasted from 1368 to 1644. The Ming Dynasty had orderly government and social stability. During the Ming era, China had a large navy and a standing army of about one million troops. The admiral Zheng He in the 15th century made a tributary fleet that traveled all over Asia, India, and even Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. During this time, the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall of China came about (including the creation of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 1400’s). Ming had from 160 to 200 million people. Emperor Hongwu (who ruled from 1368 to 1398) wanted a self sufficient rural community in a rigid system. The Emperor didn’t focus on urban life. In the 1500’s, the Ming traded with Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, etc. in this Columbian Exchange (or trade among the Old World and the New World. It’s like the Old World and the New World exchanged with each other horse, corn or maize, coffee, etc.). Crop failure, natural calamities, epidemics, and the Little Ice Age (harming crops) caused the Ming Dynasty to suffer economic troubles. The Qing Dynasty came about the Ming Dynasty ended.
Ancient Greece has had a long history. Ancient Greece is the first high level modern ancient civilization in Europe. It was founded by the Minoans and ironically they weren’t even from Greece. Religion is a huge part of Greco-Roman culture. There were gods and goddesses. The ancient Greeks view these gods and goddesses as super human and immortal. The Greeks in their mythologies believed that these gods resided in Mt. Olympus in Greece. Ancient Greece had its people claiming that it was a humanistic society, but that wasn’t always the case. The gods in ancient Greek mythology intervened in human affairs throughout time. The 12 Olympian gods and goddesses were ruled by Zeus. Zeus is the god of thunder and the sky. Zeus is shown as physically strong. The Greek god Poseidon is the god of the seas representing life to ancient Greeks since the sea is in constant change. To them it is a life force, since ancient Greek society so relied on the water for food, transportation, trade, colony building, and other endeavors. Athena is of course the goddess of wisdom. This relates to using thinking about topics. It represents the humanistic quality of learning in their Greek religion. Aphrodite is of course the goddess of beauty, passion, and any feelings or emotions. To the Greeks, you must be highly fit, loving, and intelligence to seek perfection in everything you do to participate all of the time in life. This relates to human nature since many humans have that ego to try to be the best (even at the expense of pro-eugenics rhetoric that some ancient Greeks have done).
The Etruscans were a non Indo-European people, who were pre-Roman. They influenced the Roman civilization in many ways. When you look at ancient images of the Etruscans, many have light, olive, and some have dark skin complexion. That’s interesting to say the least. They possessed great artwork from fine gold jewelry to the bronze statues. They laid the foundation for the city of Rome. The Etruscans had their own alphabet and writing system to. The origin of the Etruscans isn’t totally known. They have had relationship with the Sea Peoples form the time of Ramses III (1200-1166 B.C.). The Etruscans referred to themselves as Rasenna, but to the Romans and Greeks they were Etrusci, Tusci, Tyrrheni, or Tyrseni. The modern Etruscans increased their civilization great around in Italy in ca. 800 B.C. Recent studies from across the world claim that the Etruscans are related to people from Anatolia (or the Turkey peninsula) and the Near East. To the modern Italians they are still Etrusci and the name of the Etruscan Sea is still the Tyrrhenian, after perhaps 3,000 years. The Etruscans called themselves Rasenna. The Etruscan arch design has influenced the Roman civilization too. The Etruscans were warlike and fought with each other. Yet, they formed 12 major cities near the sea. They made a complex, advanced civilization. The Etruscans had a somewhat equality with males and females since the men were busy in warfare in many cases. They had the 2 classes of the aristocrats or the rich landowners and the non-aristocrats. Ancient civilizations have had classes like priests, merchants, nobles, workers, peasants, etc. The Etruscans worshipped Nature. The ancestors of the Romans were the Indo-European tribes of the Latins, Sabines, etc. Some of them invaded and took over the territory of the Etruscans. The Etruscans had land improvement in the form of hydrology and hydraulics to build land drainage activities. Even parts of the city of ancient Rome were developed on the foundation of the Etruscan civilization. The Etruscans have had huge influence in ancient Rome until the Romans sacked Veii in 396 B.C.
The Flat Tax has been exposed by numerous folks indeed. The flat tax is loved by many conservatives and even some libertarians. It’s supported by Rick Perry, Herman Cain (as popularized with his 999 plan), former House majority leader Dick Armey, etc. Armey is the chairman of the Freedom Works group. It’s the Tea Party funded Koch Brothers supported group. Perry and Cantor yell against the stimulus, but use money from the stimulus to fund their projects in a form of hypocrisy. The flat tax raises taxes on the poor and lowers them on the rich. The non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimates that Cain's plan (the only one out there so far) would lower the after-tax incomes of poor households (incomes below $30,000) by 16 to 20 percent, while increasing the incomes of wealthier households (incomes above $200,000) by 5 to 22 percent, on average. Under Cain's plan, fully 95 percent of households with more than $1 million in income would get an average tax cut of $487,300. And capital gains (a major source of income for the very rich) would be tax free. Usually, the flat tax plans lead into the rich benefiting. The current tax code is slightly progressive since the rich pay a slightly higher rate. Yet, the poor pay a larger share of their incomes in payroll taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. Flat taxes don’t eliminate popular deductions. A flat tax means a professional whose making, say, $380,000 a year pays the same income-tax rate as a plutocrat pulling in $2 billion or $20 billion. Our current flat tax at the top is treating the nation's professional class exactly the same as it treats super-rich plutocrats. The top 1 percent is now raking in over 20 percent of the nation's total income and owns over 35 percent of the nation's wealth. Simple fairness requires three things: More tax brackets at the top, higher rates in each bracket, and the treatment of all sources of income (capital gains included) exactly the same. Also, people on minimum wage in many cases can’t afford many basic necessities of life (I’m not even talking about health insurance).
Virginia’s history is part of American history. To be a Virginian in many ways is like being a historian. The reason is that every inch of Virginia from the cities, the rural areas, the mountains, the suburbs, and the exurbs are filled with fascinating, exciting history. The original inhabitants of Virginia have been Native Americans. The Tidewater region has been filled with Native American tribes for thousands of years. There has been the prehistoric habitation in the Pocahontas Island back in ca. 6,500 B.C. By the end of the 1500’s, 3 major groups of Native Americans lived in Virginia. They were based on language families. The largest group is of course the Algonquian tribes. The Algonquian peoples lived all over the Mid Atlantic and Northeast regions of North America. They numbered in over 10,000 people. The Iroquoian and the Siouan lived in the interior of Virginia as well. The famous Powhatan was in the Algonquian tribes like the Chesepian, Chickahominy, Doeg, Nottoway (I’ve been to the Nottoway area in real life. I have relatives that live out there in that area near Southampton County, Virginia), Rappahannock, etc. Of course, the Jamestown settlement came via English settlers in 1607. It was the first permanent English settlement of people in the North American continent. By that time, the Algonquian tribes ruled most of Virginia east of the fall line. The fall line is the boundary between the Piedmont and Tidewater Virginian regions. It’s found in Richmond, VA and that is why Richmond has those large hills at certain places that I’ve seen in real life.
By Timothy
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