First, the Mongols. These nomadic herdsmen were able to conquer an empire that included other empires - they defeated and conquered China, Persia, Russia, Central Asia, and parts of Europe and northern India. And they did all this in under 100 years. Think about that - the Roman Empire was only 1/3 of the size of the Mongol Empire and the Romans took 700 years to conquer their land. So how did the Mongols do it? They had technology, but it wasn't as advanced as other places. However, they were amazing at using their technology - the composite bow. They also were amazing horseback riders, and this came in handy for a variety of reasons - they could advance and retreat faster than their enemy, and they could avoid being shot more easily. They also used a lot of psychological warfare - scaring the hell out of their enemy to intimidate them.
And when the Mongols succeeded, they actually helped people trade! They provided security on trade routes and merchants felt safer than ever in history. Why would they protect trade? Because the Mongols were able to get rich by taxing these trade routes.
But there is a dark side to all this trade. It made it very easy for diseases to spread. This was nothing new in history - the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, and Persian Empire had all experiences diseases spreading due to increased trade, but the Mongols suffered more than these empires, because the disease was the Bubonic Plague. It killed so many people that this time period became known as the Black Death. I love learning about this because the lesson here is that people need to be careful with germs, bacteria, and viruses, or else a horrible epidemic can kill millions of people.
So your task today is to find websites and videos that will help students learn the Regents facts about the Mongols and the Black Death. When you have found a video and a website, start a GoogleDoc AND SHARE IT WITH FEINBERG to draft your comment where you explain how the website and video will help students to learn the facts and vocabulary about the Mongols and the Black Death from the multiple choice questions. The last part of your comment should be about how the Mongols and the Black Death relates to TWO of these 5 essential questions for learning history:
1.How can geography help or hinder the development of a specific society?
2.How/why do governments change society in social, political, economic ways?
3.How do social, political, or economic ideas impact society?
4.How does trade limit or develop a society?
5.How does technology impact societies in both positive and negative ways?
Feinberg will be giving you comments and feedback as you draft your comment, that way he can make sure you're being as detailed in your analysis as you can.