Clearly, it's a short week for us. Our focus for these two days will be on the way in which China and Japan emerge, or are forced to emerge, from periods of relative isolation. Today it will be China, and tomorrow's focus will be on Japan. We'll do two more lessons on America's economic imperialism and the Mexican Revolution next week. That's it for our first quarter. I'll have Unit #6 Exam information available tomorrow.
Homework for tomorrow - Tuesday, October 14th
China and the World - Introduction
We'll spend a few minutes together here at the top to make sure you have at least a basic understanding of some of the key events from China's history in the 19th century. Remember that they had largely chosen a path of isolation once the Age of European Exploration began.
At a minimum, you should be familiar with:
- Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911)
- Opium War (1839)
- Treaty of Nanjing (1842)
- Hong Kong
- extraterritorial rights
- Taiping Rebellion (1850 - 1864)
- Hong Xioquan
- Open Door Policy
- Boxer Rebellion (1900)
- Dowager Empress Cixi
19th Century China - Learning by Doing
Here's your chance to decide which way you want to go about learning some more about events from 19th century China. You have three choices that are described below. Because I believe they have varying degrees of difficulty and complexity, I am making them worth different numbers of points.Â
It works like this. The assignment is worth 10 points. Here are the values for the different options.
- China Crossword - 8 points for solid work that meets all expectations. You CAN receive up to 10 points for work that goes beyond the basic expectations. That is done at my discretion.
- Opium War: Primary Sources - 9Â points for solid work that meets all expectations. You CAN receive up to 11 points for work that goes beyond the basic expectations. That is done at my discretion.
- Make-your-own-China-DBQ - 10Â points for solid work that meets all expectations. You CAN receive up to 12 points for work that goes beyond the basic expectations. That is done at my discretion.
In all of these cases, you can work in a group of up to 3 people if you would like. I need all of these assignments turned in by the end of Tuesday to get full credit. Since I won't necessarily know who is working with whom, I need all names of group members to be on the completed assignment.
Here are the particulars for the given assignments:
China - Crossword:
Use any of the readily available crossword puzzle makers from the Internet. (Note: You do this at your own risk. I make no allowances for complaints like, "The website didn't work," or "We couldn't figure out how to print it.")
You need at least 15 clues and answers drawing from the material in Chapter 28, Section 1 and related topics. I should get both a "blank" puzzle with clues and a completed copy of the clues from you.
Opium War: Primary Sources:
This is just what it sounds like. You'll get a copy of documents from both the British and the Chinese related to the Opium War. You are responsible for submitting answers to the six "Questions" (pp. 290 - 291), as well as to at least one of the "For Further Discussion" questions (p. 291).
Make Your Own DBQ:Â
This is your chance to create your own document based question on sources related to 19th century China. You can do either a general look at the period or a more specific focus on a particular period or event or person.
Here are the required elements:
- There needs to be a "question." (It's the "big picture" under which the documents all fit, or it is the essay topic from the ones we've looked at in class.)
- There should be a paragraph of relevant historical background information.
- You need to provide excerpts from at least five relevant documents. Documents can include quotations, excerpts, maps, photographs, letters, laws and perhaps more. (Each should have a question to be answered, as do the ones we've used in class.)
- All documents must be identified by author, title and date as necessary.
- The DBQ should be reasonably free of spelling and grammar errors.Â
You're free to use any appropriate sources, but here are two suggested places to do some looking...
- China's Disaster: 1840 - 1949Â - a portion of Paul Halsall's vast collection of on-line primary sources
- Asia for Educators - This site from Columbia University has a lot of information in various places around the site. (Check China - 1750 to 1914 as a start.)
Continue your reading in Chapter 28 with Section 2, "Modernization in Japan." (pp. 810 - 813) The quiz format will be back to multiple choice.
Your Current Events #2 are due on Monday, October 20th. Â (Template)
Your China: Learning by Doing assignments are due by the end of Tuesday.
