Well, I need another topic. For African History before 1800, this time.
Basic gist is that I pick a topic relating to the course material (anything having to do with Africa before 1800...so...broad...) and write an 8 page paper on it.
AND it has to be argumentive. Maybe I'm just stupid but how do you argue something like history? It either happened or it didn't! I've been racking my brain with this for about a week now. >.<
Soo...anyone got any ideas?
`Doc fucked around with this message on 10-03-2007 at 11:10 AM.
Generally speaking, an argumentative history paper is one where you take the facts and use them to make a definite point. As an example, I once wrote a paper where I argued that the rise of fascism in Japan in the 1930s was the inevitable result of certain occurrences, beginning with the with Meiji Restoration and moving all the way up to the 1920s.
The nice thing about them, though, is that they can usually go either way. For example, I could have argued in my paper that Japan's fascism was an aberration, a deviation from the norm, and used historical fact to support my assertion. It's all about what you want to do.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
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Bloodsageing:
If you don't mind failing, you could do a paper on the actual facts of the slave trade, and point out that, while Europe and America provided the market, slavery itself was perpetrated on Africans by Africans in that most slaves were captured well inland, bought and sold many times, and then finally traded to the Europeans by coastal powers. The argumentative part being, of course, that a destructive mythos has grown up around the notion that all Africans were innocent victims of the phenomenon.
Well that doesn't help the White Guilt complex so it has NO place in an institute of higher learning!
Colleges love diversity, so long as it's just skin color and not ideas.
The victor in this case being African Americans.
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Check out the big brain on Bloodsage!
If you don't mind failing, you could do a paper on the actual facts of the slave trade, and point out that, while Europe and America provided the market, slavery itself was perpetrated on Africans by Africans in that most slaves were captured well inland, bought and sold many times, and then finally traded to the Europeans by coastal powers. The argumentative part being, of course, that a destructive mythos has grown up around the notion that all Africans were innocent victims of the phenomenon.
This is a fantastic topic for a paper. I wrote a 6000 word essay on this topic and although finding information can be at times daunting, it's really quite fascinating.
I liked that idea Bloodsage, but I think my professor would fail me for it. : / He's from Nigeria and kind of very...um...sensitive I guess would be the word.
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Oreowned had this to say about (_|_):
I liked that idea Bloodsage, but I think my professor would fail me for it. : / He's from Nigeria and kind of very...um...sensitive I guess would be the word.
Racist, is actually the term you're looking for.
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Mr. Gainsborough had this to say about (_|_):
Racist, is actually the term you're looking for.
Snap!
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Oreowned's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
Thanks for the help guys, I'm off to a good start now. =)I liked that idea Bloodsage, but I think my professor would fail me for it. : / He's from Nigeria and kind of very...um...sensitive I guess would be the word.
I suppose you could always talk about the Arab slave trade, which was certainly very active before the 19th Century...though that might be even more offensive to your professor.
But if you still haven't fully decided on something yet, the role of Christianity in Ethiopia is a very interesting topic. I believe Ethiopia was the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion...
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Elvish Crack Piper said:
Except, you know, rome.
I suggest you go pick up some history books.
I'm not even going to bother correcting you.
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Stiddy said:
Constantine I was the first Christian Roman Emperor- but I'm fairly certain both Armenia and Ethiopia were Christian nations previous to this.
Ok, now I can be bothered. 
Catholic Christianity, as opposed to other religious groups, became the official state religion of the Roman empire on February 27, 380 through an edict issued by Emperor Theodosius I in Thessalonica and published in Constantinople.
In 301, Armenia became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its official state religion, while a number of Christian communities have been established in Armenia since 40 AD. There had been various pagan communities before Christianity, but they were converted by an influx of Christian missionaries. Tiridates III (238-314 AD) was the first ruler to officially Christianise his people, his conversion ten years before the Roman Empire granted Christianity official toleration under Galerius, and 36 years before Constantine was baptised.
Ethiopia is the second-oldest Christian state in the world, after Armenia. Saint Frumentius of Tyre is said to have converted the King of Axum, King Ezana during the fourth century AD. Mortious fucked around with this message on 10-07-2007 at 05:40 AM.
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Mortious had this to say about Captain Planet:
Ok, now I can be bothered.Catholic Christianity, as opposed to other religious groups, became the official state religion of the Roman empire on February 27, 380 through an edict issued by Emperor Theodosius I in Thessalonica and published in Constantinople.
In 301, Armenia became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its official state religion, while a number of Christian communities have been established in Armenia since 40 AD. There had been various pagan communities before Christianity, but they were converted by an influx of Christian missionaries. Tiridates III (238-314 AD) was the first ruler to officially Christianise his people, his conversion ten years before the Roman Empire granted Christianity official toleration under Galerius, and 36 years before Constantine was baptised.
Ethiopia is the second-oldest Christian state in the world, after Armenia. Saint Frumentius of Tyre is said to have converted the King of Axum, King Ezana during the fourth century AD.
Thank you, sir 
I've always been pretty unclear about all that- my knowledge of Christian history is sorely lacking...but that certainly clears it all up!
Saying it's the fault of Christianity is the knee-jerk comedy option. The Popes funded a lot of scientific research themselves.
You'd have to subscribe to a pretty serious spin on the actual history of the time to portray the church of the dark ages as a patron of learning - what rare scientific advances they made were never allowed outside the clergy.
There really isn't any way to blame the dark ages on anything but the catholic stranglehold on knowledge. Empires had fallen before Rome and there's always a time of chaos, but the blame for a millennium of active suppression of learning falls squarely on the catholic theocracy of the time.
Don't feel bad, though; the Islamic dark ages continue to this day.
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Maradon! impressed everyone with:
You'd have to subscribe to a pretty serious spin on the actual history of the time to portray the church of the dark ages as a patron of learning - what rare scientific advances they made were never allowed outside the clergy.There really isn't any way to blame the dark ages on anything but the catholic stranglehold on knowledge. Empires had fallen before Rome and there's always a time of chaos, but the blame for a millennium of active suppression of learning falls squarely on the catholic theocracy of the time.
It's fine to say that the Church wasn't quite the bastion of scientific progress- but I doubt more freedom of knowledge would've helped Dark Age Europe to any significant degree.
It's also hard to spread learning outside of the Church when only clergymen can read, and books (especially secular books) are largely nonexistant.
Yes, the Church was no fan of the printing press- but I wouldn't call the 1430s the Dark Ages. If we're talking about the immediate, post-Rome era, I don't think anybody could have quickly reversed the downward spiral. Stiddy fucked around with this message on 10-07-2007 at 05:41 PM.
