This document discusses the history of travel and exploration. It begins by describing the ancient Greeks as the first great travelers in Europe. It then discusses other early travelers and explorers like Herodotus. It argues that travel and exploration helped drive the development of civilizations by spreading ideas and forcing populations to migrate. It also analyzes how geography and environment impacted the development of agriculture and societies in different parts of the world like Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Finally, it discusses the long history of slavery and how it contradicted the idea of human equality.

1. By: Kasandra Bartels
History 140

2.  This book starts off by explaining the First
World Conqueror, the people of Europe who
began in ancient Greece. The Greeks are
thought of as “extreme travelers.”
 The book goes back further in history with
Cyclopes, who destroyed Odysseus’s army.
These people know of no travel and have
never left their home.
 Travel is said to broaden the horizons of life.
The first person to make this discovery was
Solon, who created the first political society
in European history.

3.  Most of Greek history is centered around
wanderers in search of knowledge. The
‘father of history’ Herodotus, traveled from
Egypt to Libya, then Babylon to the
Phoenician city of Tyre, and ending up in
southern Russia.
 Great adventures, colonization and conquest
such as this required very skilled navigators
with large ships.
 Immanuel Kant believed that human conflict
was nature forcing intelligent men to leave
their homes and travel to a new place.

4.  The “triumph of the west” is the capacity to
transform and army of men into men who are
able to destroy their enemies.
 The Athenian army comes to mind, with a
soldier holding a spear and shield.
 Each man shelters and is sheltered by his
neighbor, they are brothers who work as one.
 The survival of a soldier depends on the
survival of the entire army.

5.  Some main arguments the author highlights
are illustrated in these articles and films:
 He argues that the Eurasian village is not created
our of pure will, that it is only the result of a
chain of developers. Much like the ripple effect.
This happened, so that happened too.
 The first loop in the chain starts with
hunter/gatherer, then moves to agriculture. This
leads to food surpluses. As these societies grow,
classes among the people are made. This is how
empires of civilizations are developed.

6.  Eurasia had an advantage with agriculture,
because of their suitable plants and animals.
 On the downside, Native Americans had
troubles when growing maize, since it must
be planted one by one.
 Sub-Saharan Africans had mostly wild
animals, while Eurasia had larger animals
that were easily taimed.
 As agriculture grew, societies grew. This in
turn resulted in trade.

7.  America had a hard time when developing
agriculture at a given latitude for the use of
other latitudes. An example of this struggle
are the Rocky Mountains.
 Africa also had frustrations with crops
because of their extremely dry climate.
Certain places had an abundance of plants
and animals, while other parts of Africa had
nothing. Plants and animals cannot survive in
certain parts of Africa, and this created a
problem with agriculture.

8.  Chattel slavery is the oldest institution
known in written records, which has been
practiced in several countries over many
thousands of years.
 Many slaves became a part of cannibalism
and ritual sacrifice, sexual exploitation,
torture and even death.
 Slaves were defined as “not one of us” an
alien, so they were often treated as cattle,
stripped naked and sold like livestock.

9.  All kinds of slavery contradicted themselves.
The main root of slavery is inequality. This
refers to the desire to dominate over another
person and train them to please their
owners, acting as a loving pet.
 Slaves were supposed to be submissive and
give satisfaction with respect. They were not
allowed to talk back, and to show perfect
fidelity. They must accept the authority of
their masters, even though the commands
are harsh.