Roots of Democracy Adventure

Hi I'm Gabrielle Riechert and I'm in 5th period world history!

This blog is about what we have learned in our first unit and where we have traveled to.

Yesterday, we started our adventure touring through Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Israel, England and France. We left San Francisco International Airport around 6 a.m, it was an early flight so we were all tired. The flight was long and we arrived around 1 p.m in Greece. I slept pretty much the whole plane ride, while Elise and Danae watched movies next to me. When we arrived in Greece, we got out room assignments. I was paired with Elise! We rushed to our room to shower and get changed into some clothes that were more appropriate for the burning hot weather. The class gathered in the lobby and we left to eat, I had a beef gyro, I was extremley hungry because we hadn't eaten anything pretty much all day, I don't like the food they serve on the planes. After lunch, we had one site to visit for the day which was the Acropolis. The Acropolis is a huge hill in the center of Greece, we were about 20 miles away from it, so we had to get around with a tour bus. The Acropolis has the most important buildings on it, to keem them safe. The Acropolis is so steep and has a smooth hillside so the enemies back in Ancient Greece couldn't get to the top, because it's impossible to climb! In order for us to get to the top, we had to hike up a long, steep, zig-zag walk way. Which i can tell you was exhausting. Once the class arrived at the top we had a few moments to rest and take a break so we could enjoy the view, but not long enough because it was time to continue our tour. First, we made our way to the Parthenon. It was so cool because it's completely made of marble. It held the statue of Athena and was treasury for tribute money. Next we visited the religious schrine for the gods Athena and Poseiden. This place was alegedly the spot where Poseidon stuck his trident in the ground and where Athena created an olive tree. Then we made our way to the Theatre of Dionysus where we camped out. It was the first stone theater ever built! The next morning when we woke up we climbed up to the top of the Areopagus. It was interesting to learn about how democracy started there, but there wasnt much too look at because it was a pile of rocks, but the view of the Acropolis from there was amazing! From there it was time to make our way down to the Agora. The Agora is the center of administrative, commercial, political and social life. Inside the Agora we visited many different places, such as the The Tholos. The Tholos was a big round building. It was the control center of Athenian democracy. After walking around the Agora, visiting old sites for a few hours, we made our way to the Museum of Greek Leaders. The heat was exhausting for the class, so we stopped by a cafe to get something to drink. Then it was time to explore the museum. We learned about Draco who was a huge contribution to democracy, he was the first to write down laws of the Athenian government!We also got to learn about Pericles, who made it possible for all citizens poor or rich to participate in the government. Before we knew it, it was time to go back to the hotel, the class was so tired, so no one stayed up late, as soon as we got back to our hotel everyone was getting ready for bed. The night before didn't help us much with sleep, because we all slept in tents in the old theater. Besides, tomorrow we have a 5 a.m flight to Ancient Rome!

The Agora!

The Parthenon!

Statue of Pericles!

Contribution to Modern Democracy:
-written laws
-concept of "direct democracy"
-creation of federalism
-paid government officials
-three branches of government (legislative, executive, judicial)
-citizens are equal before the law
-Plato: believed a direct democracy was "mob rule"
-Aristotle: "reason" is why people can participate in government"
-representative assembly
-right to vote

Today was our first day in Rome. We arrived around 11.am. For breakfast we had fruit, eggs, bread and cheese. The class was tired from our early morning flight, but we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Our first stop was The Palatine Hill. Palatine Hill is where Romulus was believed to live, Emperor Augustus and wife Livia and other emperors such as Tiberius and Caligula. After a few hours up on Palatine Hill, we walked down to the Forum which was the center of political, commercial and judicial life. In the Forum we stopped at a Roman restaurant. The kind of foods that were served were fruit, eggs, vegetables, meat or fish, salad, and cheese. It was simple but delicious! After lunch we headed towards the Senate House which was called the Curia. We learned that the Romans were the one’s who introduced the 3 branches of government, Executive Branch, Judicial Branch and Legistlative Branch modern democracy. The Executive Branch has two consuls which each serve 1 year terms who are elected and each had power to veto each other’s ideas, the branch also has control over the army. The Judicial Branch had Praetors who oversaw the entire legal system, the Praetors were elected officials and were heads of the Roman court system. Then there was the Legislative Branch which consisted of the senate and two assemblies. who voted on laws The senate usually had wealthy citizens as the members and all the other citizens were members of the assemblies. The idea of the three branches is supposed to balance out the power. Then we visited the Basilica Julia which was the courthouse. The courthouse had 180 judges who examined the cases. During each trial there would be 45 judges and the trials were opened to the public as a form of entertainment, sometimes citizens would even be payed by lawyers to come to the trial and support their client. Every citizen had a right to a lawyer. The class even attended a mock trial! Which was really cool, because we got to see how the court cases used to work. We also got to see the Twelve Tables which were tablets that the Romans engraved there laws into. Eventually all the were written as the Justinian Code which included the 12 tablets and onward. After learning everything we did today we got a quick bite to eat and then went back to the hotel. We arrived and got surprised by the class chaperones because they had set up a movie screen in the garden outside our hotel, so we could all watch a movie together, we saw Despicable Me! Now, we are getting ready for bed because tomorrow morning we have a flight to our next stop, Israel to learn about the Judeo-Christian religion.

Palatine Hill!

The Curia!(Senate House)

Contributions to Democracy:
- 3 branches, executive, judicial, legislative
-checks and balances
-written laws
-senate and assemblies
-right to a lawyer
-republic/ representative/ indirect democracy
-rule by law
-Justinian code influenced American bill of rights
-veto power

Today we arrived in Israel and we visited FOUR different places because we're only spending one day in Israel. We started already at 8:a.m this morning, so we would have enough time to visit everything. We had so much to see so instead of stopping to get lunch somewhere, we just packed sandwiches. Our first stop of the day was our virtual tour of Solom's Temple. We visited a theater in the center of Israel where they guided us around the temple and taught us a little bit about it. Solomon's Temple was beautiful, it was very tall with several stories, the color was tan-ish or white, with orange borders and ornate windows, in front were columns and gold earns, also there was a statue of oxen and a huge sacrifice platform. We learned that there are no remains of it because the Babylonians destroyed it so they rebuilt it again and then the Romans destroyed, which is sad because it would've been interesting to visit. After about a half an hour in the theater we visited the Western Wall also known as the Wailing Wall. The Western Wall was originally part of the second temple, and in 70 A.D it was destroyed by the Romans. The Western Wall is the holiest Jewish site in the world. We found a bunch near the Wailing Wall, where me, Elise and Danae sat down to eat our sandwiches. We didn't have much time before we had to pile into a bus to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Here we learned that this church is important to Christians because it's where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. As we walked into the church we were fascinated by the lavish, detailed and ornate decor inside. There was a lot of gold and it was very intricate. After we spent awhile walking around the church and on the Via Dolorosa where Jesus walked to meet his crusifiction we visited the Museum of Judeo- Christian Traditions. While we were there, as partners we had to fill out a worksheet. My partner was Elise. At the museum we learned many different things about their traditions. WE learned alot about individual worth. The Hebrews view of individual worth was that each person has dignity by being a child of God, it's important because it gives equality to all. By the time we were done with our day, it was already 6 o'clock. The chaperones decided we should all go back to the hotel and relax, me and Elise watched The Little Mermaid and now were getting ready for bed because tomorrow night we have a 8 a.m flight to England!

Virtual Tour of Solomon's Temple!

Western Wall!

Church of Holy Sepulcher!

Contributions to Modern Democracy:
-equality
-duty of individual to fight injustice and oppression (right to overthrow corrupt government)
-individual worth
^influenced Declaration of Independence^

The plane flight from Israel to England was exhausting, but we still had alot to look forward too. We arrived in England in the middle of the night, so we all went to bed but the next morning we woke up, we were all re energized. First we went to breakfast and had crumpets, crumpets r an English breakfast bread that have little holes that will soak up the jelly. They are delicious. Then we went on our way to our first site.Our first stop was Windsor Castle. The Windsor Castle is the principal home of the Royal Family, it's 20 miles west of London. It is the oldest and largest working castle. The castle is beautiful, long,rectangular, lush, large wall. Then we took a bus to the Buckingham Palace which was the official residence for monarch. The palace is multiple stories and more modern. Afterwards, we decided to get lunch in an old hotel. I sat with Danae, Elise and Molly. We didn't have much time to eat before we had to move on to the Tower of London which holds the crown jewels. The tower has four main towers, it's tan, square shape and used for many things. After that site, we all went to dinner and got ice cream. Then we went back to the hotel to watch movies. The next morning we continued our tour through England. We visited St. James Palace which is more modern has a big clock, tall and there are guards in front. We didn't spend much time there, before we moved onto Westminster Palace which is long and fancy. After all the time castles we had visited, it was time to move onto the Museum of England where we learned many things, such as divine right. Divine Right is that the king's power comes from God, the subjects aren't allowed to rule. We also learned about King Charles who led the civil war and about the Glorious Revolution which is a big deal for modern democracy. The Glorious Revolution changed the government to a limited monarchy. After we left the museum we all went out to dinner and then went back to the hotel and fell asleep, it was a really long day. The next morning we visited a theater to watch a Parliament Session. While watching the Parliament Session we learned huge factors of the Bill of Rights, such as the right to bear arms, fair punishment, freedom of speech and so on. William and Mary were forced to sign the Bill of Rights.After the Parliament Session the actors held a goodbye dinner for us since late that night we were leaving for our last spot, France! The food was delicious and we ate so much. Right now we are at the hotel packing our bags, because we leave in 30 minutes for the airport, its 11 p.m and I'm exhausted, but im excited for France!

Crumpets!

Windsor Castle!

Buckingham Palace!

Contributions to Democracy:
-rule by law
-bill of rights(England) influenced American Bill of Rights
-magna carta influenced American Bill of Rights
-habeas corpus
-right to a jury trial

The last 2 days have been wonderful in Paris. Yesterday morning we took a river cruise to get to our hotel and set our things down, then we got back on the boat to our first adventure in the city, visiting Notre Dame! As we approached the large church, we could already see how large, beautiful ad ornate it was. When we got inside, a tour guide walked us around and explained to us how the church took 200 years to build, and how it's the main location of religious historical events. Notre Dame was the place Napoleon was crowned Emperor. We got on the River Cruise and got off down the street from The Louvre but we had to walk a few blocks. The Louvre was huge, and we learned that it used to be used at the Royal Palace and it is the most visited museum. Inside we were able to see the Mona Lisa! The class got pretty bored there so we got back on our River Cruise and got off at Museo d'Orsay. Museo d'Orsay was originally a railway and was built in the late 1800s, it had the largest collection of impressionists there! After walking around the museum we went to the top floor, where they have a little cafe, and we sat down to eat. It was cute up there but they had simple things like breads and yogurt. Next stop was the part everyone was waiting for, the Eiffel Tower! In order to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower, we had to wait for hours in a line, it was freezing and dark by the time we got to the top, but the view was beautiful. You could see all of Paris, the rivers, the streets, the buildings, it was perfect! Once we got the hotel we all crashed. The next morning we got up and had breakfast with actors who acted as old Philosophers , John Locke, Baron de Montesquie, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. We watched as they talked about politics. After that wonderful breakfast it was time to fly back home, the flight home was long and stressful, the class couldn't wait to see their families. Once we got to the airport I saw my parents standing there and I rushed in there arms, it was so exciting to see them again!

Contributions to Democracy:
John Locke
-government's power comes from the people
-natural rights, life, liberty, property
-government's job to protect rights
-if government does not protect rights, people can overthrow the government
Baron de Montesquie
-separation of powers/ 3 branches of government
-emphasized liberty as most important natural right
Jean Jacques Rousseau
-social contract agreement between people and their government, example: American constitution

View of Eiffel Tower from River Cruise!

View of Paris from the Eiffel Tower!

Notre Dame!

Musée d'Orsay from the inside!

Paris at night!

(pictures taken when I was in Paris)