Age of Exploration

In the time of the age of exploration, many European countries helped contribute to the great discoveries made.  The ones who contributed the most were Spain and Portugal, but also England, France, the Netherlands, and Italy.  These countries sent out ships for many reasons.  One was that they wanted to find sea routes to Asia.  Many cultural and scientific advancements took place there.  Another reason was that they wanted to know more about the world, they also wanted fame, glory, and bragging rights.  The last reason is that they wanted to spread Christianity all around the world.
New discoveries greatly impacted European nations at that time.  All of the countries wanted to discover things before other countries.  That created rivalry and jealousy.  For example, Spain and England go into a war over already claimed land and stealing from ports.  Exploration also brought back goods and precious things.  A more money based economy was formed and merchants could raise the price on certain items due to the rarity of it at that time.  if i was living at that time I would love to buy the new items brought back from explores and take advantage of the strong money based economy.
i think that the most important explorers were Hernan Cortes, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan.  Cortes explored Mexico and learned about the Aztecs, which is very important.  Columbus discovered America which is obviously a very important discovery.  Magellan discovered that Earth was round and was first to sail all the way around the Earth which was very important because it changes the whole idea of what people thought before.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and How Life in Western Europe was Transformed

There were many different aspects that contributed to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Rome flourished for a long time, but eventually began to fall. There is not only one answer to why Rome fell, but many different things that played different parts in the fall of the great empire. One very big thing that contributed to the fall was the economy, specifically taxes. The taxes rose so much that even the wealthy families were struggling to pay them. If the rich families were having problems paying, that meant that the poor families were having even more problems paying. Some of the poorer families who failed to pay the taxes had to be permanent inmates of the prison. The emperor saw that the economy was failing and tried to fix it by making prices stable. The merchants began to price things unfairly. They would make a very small item cost a ridiculously high price. The emperor tried to help again by setting a maximum price, but the merchants ignored the new rule. The emperor couldn’t find a solution to the failing economy. Another theory of the decline and fall was Christianity. More and more people were converting to the religion of Christianity. Once Constantine converted to Christianity, the people of the empire were even more focused on Christianity and even less focused on things such as the improving the military and inventing new things. They put all of their money into the church, and the church didn’t even help during Rome’s downfall. This caused the empire to not move forward which helped its decline and eventual fall. Disease was another contributing factor of the decline. Diseases were being spread rapidly and they did not have very many effective ways to treat them. The military was also failing and without a strong military to protect them, Rome could be taken over more easily. They could not expand their empire or protect themselves from their enemies.

The life in Western Europe changes dramatically. It was very chaotic and the people there had a hard time adjusting. Cities were invaded, there were small tribes succeeding on their own instead of banding together, and there was the new idea of Christianity which although didn’t make life worse, it made it different. Religious figures became nearly as important as political figures. That is why Rome fell and how life in Western Europe dramatically changed.

A Doctor

Muslim doctors contributed a lot to the world.  Some of those are their many hospitals, medical care systems, ambulances, remedies, and discoveries about surgery and infections.  In Bagdad there were at lease 5 hospitals.  The government paid for everyones medical care.  They also made sure the doctors had teaching centers and the patients were separated.  The remedies they found would help many doctors and the information they learned about amputation and the treatment of bacteria infections would help doctors in the future.

A Merchant

A merchant used many things to help with their navigation.  They had to travel a lot, so they would use them frequently.  They would use the tools that scientists provided for them.  For example, accurate maps, atlases and books of maps.  They would have to use these things a lot because they cannot make money without traveling and they can't travel without these tools.  They did have a long term impact because we used the Muslim knowledge of these things to improve on them and create modern maps, atlases, ect.  Without that, we would be very far behind.

The Historical Relationship Between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity

One historical relationship that is a similarity between them is that they all had to fight to get people to accept their religion and to get more people to follow their religion.  They also all believe in one god, the same god actually.  One difference is their different views on that god.  Another difference is how they all had different starters of the religions.  Muhammad started Islam, Abraham started Judaism, and Jesus started Christianity.  Those are the relationships between those three religions.

Significance of the Qur'an

The Qur'an was ver significant.  It was significant because it was the holy book of Islam, which makes it very sacred to that religion.  Another reason it was significant was that it has all of the messages to Muhammad from God, exactly as Muhammad told his followers it was.  That provides accurate information of what Muhammad told his followers which is very important.

The Life and Teachings of Muhammad

Life:
Muhammad had a very difficult life.  He was part of the Hashim clan.  His father died before he was born, and the clan was poor.  When he was a baby, his mom sent him to live with a nomad family in the desert.  While he was there, he learned about Arab traditions including, being kind to strangers, helping orphans, widows, ect.  When he was 5 or 6, he went back to live with his mom.  Soon after he came home, she died.  Abd al-Muttalib, Muhammad's grandfather, took care of him.  When he died, Muhammad was left to be raised by his uncle, Abu-Talib.  After going on a trading trip with his uncle when he was 12, he grew to be a famous trader, for he was very honest.  He married Khadijah when he was 25 , after managing caravans for her.  They had several children.  He also enjoyed praying in the mountains and one day he met the angel Gabriel.  Gabriel gave him a message from God, and continued  for the next 22 years.  He started off by only telling his family members, but after a while a small group of Muslims formed.

Teachings:
Some of his teachings were:
-People must worship 1 God
-All believers in God were equal
-The rich should share their wealth
-Take care of orphans and poor people
-Improve status of women