France and the Enlightenment

France is so different from anywhere else we’ve been! Most of their beliefs in democracy are original and had a big impact in our democracy today. We spent our first day in France at a salon, where a re-enactment of a philosophe discussion took place. The discussion was between John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau, three famous Enlightenment thinkers. All three wrote books about their beliefs. Locke’s book, The Treatises of Government, is based on two major ideas. The first is the right to life, liberty, and property. The second is that people can overthrow or abolish the government if they are being treated poorly. Montesquieu’s book, The Spirit of Laws, is about the idea of separation of powers, which he thought of. Rousseau’s book, The Social Contract, talks about how the government must protect the basic rights of the citizens. I felt like I was part of a real salon!

After that we went back to our hotel because we were still exhausted from England. For the rest of the day we relaxed and I read my travel guide. It explained many things. For example, humanism is a movement that focused on humans’ potential and achievements. I also read about the Scientific Revolution. This was a time period where new ideas were formed and everyone became curious. This led to the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason. After this reading I decided it was time to rest up for my tour the next day.

The next morning we got up early for our river cruise. The cruise took us by four major places in France: the Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Museo d’Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower. The Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic church located in Paris, was our first stop. It took 100 years to build it and I can see why. All the intricate details, from the wood carvings to the huge columns, are so beautiful! My favorite part of the church was all the stain glass windows. They were so beautiful!

The Beautiful Notre Dame

After the Notre Dame it was onto the Louvre, one of the world’s largest, and most visited, museums in the world. It is the home of many famous art pieces including the Mona Lisa. Our tour guide shared with us that it served as a palace until Louis XIV moved to the Palace of Versilles. How cool!

The Louvre was so cool!

Our third stop was another museum, the Museo d’Orsay. Originally a railway station, it now serves as an art museum. It contains the largest collections of impressionists and post-impressionists. Although it is not as popular as the Louvre, it was equally as interesting!

The Museo d'Orsay

        Our last stop on our river cruise, and basically our trip around the world, was the Eiffel Tower. It is the largest building in Paris, being 1063 feet high and weighing 10,100 tons! That’s a lot of weight! It opened March 31st, 1889 and is the most visited monument in the world. What a great end to our fantastic trip! Me and my friends had a blast! I can’t wait to get back and share all about it! If I had to rewrite that contest paper, I could write a whole book! I can’t wait for the contest next year! I wonder what the prize will be... I’ll just dream about it until then.

The majestic Eiffel Tower

France Contributions:

Locke:

• Power comes from the people
• right to life, liberty, and property
• leadership protecting natural rights
• citizens’ right to overthrow or abolish government

Baron:

• separation of powers (three branches)
• natural rights
• citizens participate in government
• government must protect liberty

Rousseau:

• social contract between government and citizens
• government needs to respond to the needs of the people

England

These last three days in England have been stupendous! There are still so many things I want to see, but unfortunately we’ve run out of time. The first day we spent walking through a museum in England. There was a copy of the Magna Carta, along with other information about it. I read all about King William and common law, which talked about trials and rights of a person. I also read about King John, who was forced to sign the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta is a contract between the King and nobles of England guaranteeing and protecting individual rights and liberties. The Magna Carta is especially important because the King had to abide by it too, not just citizens.

        I also leaned about divine right, which is the belief that the king’s power came directly from God. Anyone who questioned the king was said to be questioning God, and that was frowned upon.

        Inside the museum my friends and I watched a re-enactment of the story of King Charles. King Charles caused the English Civil War because he did not follow the provisions of the petition, didn’t allow freedom of religion, and disbanded Parliament altogether. The antiroyalists, who supported Parliament, won the Civil War. They believed in the Petition of Right, which went against the theory of Divine Right. After the Civil War, King Charles had a public trial and was executed. After this, the Habeas Corpus, which gave the right to freedom, was released. King James the second was unliked by England so his daughter Mary and her husband William scared him out of England. They were crowned King and Queen. This event was named the Glorious Revolution.

        The next day we visited Parliament. We learned about the day the Bill of Rights was first presented. Again we sat in at a re-enactment. The English Bill of Rights is very similar to our own Bill of Rights. Some of the similar rights are the right to a fair punishment, the right to bear arms, the right to free speech, and the right to no taxation without representation. King William and Queen Mary were forced to sign the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was a turning point for England because it ended all absolute monarchy and became a model for all other nations.

        We spent our last day touring England on a double decker bus! First we passed by the Windsor Castle. It was so spread out and enormous! Our tour guide Annie told us that it is the most famous castle and is where the royal family lives. She also told us that it was where the most bloody episode of the English Civil War took place because troops seized it and Charles the first was beheaded! 

Next we arrived at the Buckingham Palace. It is the residence of the British monarchy and a MAJOR tourist attraction. Annie explained how it is a rallying point for national rejoices and crisis.

The Buckingham Palace

We moved onto St. James Palace. I learned that it was the residence of the monarch until 1698, and now serves as the administrative centre of monarchy. I found it a little bit strange that Mary the first died there so they buried her heart and bowels there. Creepy, right?

By the time we reached Westminister Palace, the sun was beginning to set. I absolutely loved the way it lit up! I wish I could have gone inside of it to see where the Parliament goes everyday. Annie announced that there are 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases, and three miles of corridors! Those members of Parliament must be in good shape!

 The Westminster Palace at night!

       Our last stop on the tour was the Tower of London. It is the oldest building used by the government today! It was extremely tall, with four posts topped off with domes. Annie shared with us that this has served as a fortress, prison, palace, place of execution and torture, armory, treasury, the Royal Mint, public records office, and observatory, and crown jewels at one time or another! The people of England obviously had a hard time choosing what they wanted this building to be!

The Tower of London

The Tower of London was the perfect thing to finish off our stay in England. I can’t wait to find out what France has in store for us!

England contributions:

• limited power of authority
• Magna Carta
• common law (rule by law)
• Parliament
• checks and balances
• Habeas Corpus

Israel

I’ve spent the last few days traveling throughout Israel. I’ve learned so many new things, I feel like my brain is about to explode! While reading through the travel guide, trying to decide where to visit first, I started reading the history of the Hebrews. I learned that the Jews moved to Canaan because a leader named Abraham said that God commanded him to take the Jews there. Solomon, who was the king after the time of Abraham, built a temple for the Jews to worship and perform sacrifices in. After reading about this, my friends and I decided to go there first.

Solomon’s temple was destroyed twice, first by the Babylonians and then by the Romans. However, one wall is still remaining from it. It is called the Western wall, or wailing wall by tourists. Once part of the temple, it now serves as a place for people to send their prayers. To take part in the tradition, each of my friends and I wrote our own ‘prayer’ and stuffed them into little crevices in the wall. There were so many notes with prayers written on them and stuffed in the wall, it was hard to fit ours in! However, it was an amazing experience to be part of.

The Wailing Wall

Next we walked along the Via Dolorosa. The Via Dolorosa is said to be the path that Jesus Christ took on his way to his crucifixion. The pathway was very smooth, due to all the people who have walked it. It takes you through colorful Arab markets full of spicy colors and vivid colors. I thought this was a little ironic due to the reason this pathway is famous, but we enjoyed it very much.

A sign on the walk of the Via Dolorosa

We started off the second day with a museum about Judeo-Christian traditions. This museum was very educational and I learned so much about the beliefs of the Jews and Christians. Jews believe that every human being is created in God’s image and everyone has a divine spark that can’t be taken away. They also were given moral freedom, so everyone is responsible for their actions. I also learned how the spreading of these ideas spread throughout the world.

Our last stop in Israel was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is said to be built on top of the spot Jesus Christ was crucified and buried. It is very intricate and fancy, with gold finishing and a cross on top. Although this is a Christian church, the owners of it are actually Muslim! How ironic, right? I thought this funny fact was an excellent end to my stay in Israel. Next stop, England!

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Judeo-Christian Tradition contributions:

• Everyone is created equal
• Each individual person has worth (individual worth)
• Every person has responsibility to oppose injustice and oppression

Ancient Rome

Today we visited Rome, our second stop in our world travel. The weather was very nice, perfect for the tours we took! We split our stay in Rome into two days. The first day we wet to Palatine Hill, the place where Rome was first founded. There we read the story of Romulus and Remus. They were brothers who competed with each other for the power of Rome. This story showed how important competition, strength, and power were in Ancient Rome. I also learned about patricians, wealthy landowners who held most of the power, and plebeians, farm owners, merchants and artisans who had the right to vote, but not much else. It was very interesting to learn about how a republic like Ancient Rome worked compared to the direct democracy of Ancient Greece.

As we continued walking through Palatine Hill, I loved seeing all the huts, although they were in ruins. I also enjoyed the large and extravagant Palace of Domitian with the huge stadium in it. I learned about all the people who lived there, like Augustus Caesar and his wife, Tiberius, and Caligula. Then our tour group got to the Forum. All the large, old buildings lined the Via Sacre, the original road! We also saw the Colosseum where athletic competitions like gladiator fights were held. I really loved the Arch of Constatine, the Temple of Vestal Virgins, and the Temple of Antoninous and Faustina. These temples, used to honor important gods, were beautiful, with intricate details! We spent much time here taking pictures and learning all these new facts.

The Coliseum in Rome

 The next we went back to the Forum, but spent all day touring the Curia and Basilica Julia. The Curia, or the senate house, is where the senate and the two assemblies met. The senate, mad up of the wealthy citizens, and the assemblies, made up of the not-as-wealthy, voted on laws and elected officials. It was pretty similar to what we, as Americans, do now. The Basilica Julia, or the courthouse, contained multiple columns and arches, although not much is left. This is where the executive and judicial branches met. Trials were also held here. Each trial had 45 judges and were open to the public, often as entertainment. The courthouse was split into four courts by screens hung to separate it all. I could just imagine myself being questioned on trial by 45 judges. That would have been so intimidating!

 The floor of the Curia!

The Basilica Julia

 After our day at the senate and courthouse we headed to our hotel room to rest before we leave for our next destination, Israel!

Ancient Rome Contributions:

• written laws
• three branches of government
• natural rights
• senate
• checks and balances
• court system
• Republic 
• Justinian code

Cover Page

My Trip Around The World!!!

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

By: Taylor Barker, period 2

St. James Palace in London, England

Ancient Greece

Today three of my best friends and I landed in Greece, the first of five places we get to travel to! Two months ago I entered a writing contest. I had to write a paper about a place I wanted to travel to. The winner got to take a trip to a surprise destination. I won first place and got to invite three people, so here we are! I am so excited to visit all the tourist destinations! However, we are missing school for this trip so as part of my World History homework, I have to write about the governments of the places I visit. My friends and I get to choose any place we want to visit in Greece, Rome, Israel, England, and France! Today we started in Greece. 

Our first stop was the Acropolis, a huge, ancient city on a hill centered in Athens. Our tour guide, Constantine, told us all about the history of it. I learned that Pericles built it. It has five main parts to it: the Areopagus, the Parthenon, the Erectheon, the Theater of Dionysus, and the Agora. The Areopagus is where democracy began. It is all in ruins, so I can only imagine what it looked like when all of it still stood. However the remains still have an elegant look to them. The Parthenon has eight columns on each end, 17 columns on each side and is large enough to make you feel the size of an ant. It is white, with detailed carvings all around the outside. It was a temple built to worship Athena and Poseidon. The Erectheon is another beautiful temple. It was statues that act as columns to hold it up and is a very graceful building. The Theater of Dionysus is giant and open. Constantine shared that it can seat 17,000 people! It is cut down into the mountain and climbs to the top. I wish I could have seen a performance there! 

These are the ruins of the Acropolis

The last part we visited was the Agora. The Agora was down the hill from the Acropolis, but still considered part of it. It was the place to go have conversations about the government, shop at the market, or trade. Greek philosophers like Plato, Sokrates, and Aristotle gathered here to share their beliefs. The Agora contained three major buildings where things took place. The first we saw was the Tholos. Constantine told us that it served as headquarters of the executive community. It was round, with six interior columns, and a diamond shaped roof. The next building the tour guide took us to the Bouleuterion. This served as a meeting place of the senate. It was rectangular, with columns on every side of it, and a triangular roof. I would have loved to see it in its days. The last building we visited in the Agora was the House of Simon the Cobbler. Before we got there, we saw some boundary stones, which helped people know where to go back in the day. They stated the requirements to be able to visit the Agora. It was cool to learn some of their rules! Constantine told us that the House of Simon the Cobbler is believed to be one of Sokrates’ informal classrooms.

This is a map of what the Agora was said to look like

The next we spent learning all about the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle in a museum. Our new tour guide, Anastasia, first taught us all about Plato. He wrote a book called The Republic. He believed that an ideal society was one which each member understood and performed his or her proper role. He thought that education was necessary for a successful leader. He believed that philosopher-kings should rule because they were the smartest.

Next Anastasia taught us of Aristotle’s beliefs. He too wrote a book that was called Politics. He didn’t like democracy because people might fail to recognize their different strengths and weaknesses. He thought that Kings should rule, with help from philosophers. These teachings were our last thing in Greece. After that we went back to the hotel to rest up for Rome!

This is a painting of Plato(left) and Aristotle(right)

Ancient Greece Contributions:

• citizens get to vote
• exercise reason
• education is essential
• no hereditary power
• rule by consent of the governed
• three branches of government
• federalism
• written laws (constitution)
• citizens can put forth laws
• Direct democracy