Sunday, September 28, 2014

The Medici and Machiavelli

  The essential question that we had to answer for this lesson was how did wealth in Florence lead to new art and ideas during the Renaissance? During this lesson we went through a bunch of activities including looking at a map and answering questions to analyzing an article and answering questions on that. We learned a lot about patronage and many more things.
   A prince would rather be loved by his subjects instead of being feared. If a prince was feared people would do anything for him but then turn on him at any moment. If a prince were to be loved, the people would also do everything for him but not betray him or anything. Men/people respond better to someone they fear because they know that if they don't respond or obey that person there will be consequences. Being feared is not the same as being hated. Being feared is basically a person fearing someone for the way they act or behave towards other people while being hated is a persons choice on whether they wan to dislike someone or not.
   I disagree with Machiavelli's ideas about leadership. Leaders should be able to rule anyway they want and it doesn't matter if they are loved or feared. they have put that upon themselves and it is their job to fix it whether they do it by force or try to change themselves. I don't think that leaders today should use his philosophy. Leaders today have enough common sense to do what is right and wrong.



http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/prince-excerp.asp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FFDJK8jmms&feature=youtu.be

The Black Death

   During this lesson we learned about the Black Death and where it began and how it spread around to other places. We looked at different excerpts from that time and we analyzed them to see if they could be true or not. We had to see what the best sources would be good to figure out the truth about the Black Death.
   The Florentine Chronicle is a source made by Marchionne di Coppo di Stefano Bonaiuti. He wrote it in the late 1370s and early 1380s. Marchionne was born in Florence in 1336 into a wealthy ruling-class family, probably of bankers and lived there most of his life. He was a historian, statesman, politician, businessman and diplomat from Florence, Italy. This document has reasons why it could be believable and why it could not be believable. First off it says that he was born in 1336 in Florence and that is the time when the Black Death was around, this makes it believable. On the other hand it also says that he wrote it 25 years after it happened and at the time he was only two years old when it was going on, this makes it non believable.
   The Decameron is a source made by Boccaccio who was an Italian author, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and important Renaissance humanist. He was born in Florence or in a village near Certaldo where his family was from. This document also has reasons on why it is believable and why it is not. During the time he was alive and witnessed the Black Death, this makes it believable is some way. But on the other hand he was not in Florence at the time of the Black Death and it is fictional. This makes it non believable.
  Out of these two sources I would say that the Florentine Chronicle is more believable. Although Marchionne was 2 years he still was alive and around at the time when it happened. Family members that survived could have told him stories about what happened during the time. Plus he could have seen things and remembered them from when he was younger. It could be very possible.
  

Welcome to History

    Bonjour! My name is Makayla Griffin and I am a freshman in high school. This is the very start of my blog so it might not be that great. This year I will be posting about different things and topics that we learn about in History class. I hope that you can find my work somewhat interesting and educational.
    Over the years that I have been in school I have had many teachers. Most of them I like while some of them I didn't like them as much. I have noticed many qualities in different teachers that make them stand out more than other teachers. Many teacher keep in touch to help students learn things easier. A quality or trait like this is what makes teachers great. One teacher from my past had many qualities that made her a great teacher. She was kind and helped me when I needed help the most on school work. She helped me understand things easier then what it actually seemed like. This year I suggest to keep doing what we have been so far.
   I do agree with John Green that with our education we can grow up to make the world a better place to be and fill it with our ideas and inventions that can help make changes in this world.  This year I have many goals and hope that I wish to succeed with. I plan to keep up with school work and homework where as last year I struggled with that a bit. I also plan to stick with the singing group that I am in as well as the other clubs that I am doing. I hope to make many stable friendships with new people as well. In order to reach these goals I will have to keep up with work and make new friends.