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Early Societal Culture

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Submitted By quinnrich
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There are several factors that contribute to cultures in society. Early cultures were primarily shaped in the same fashion as people are today. Values and beliefs were an essential element to adding uniqueness to a culture. Values may have consisted of ones desire for cleanliness, need for achievement, and alertness to trespassers. Behavior claimed a major part of the characteristics of culture. Behavior determined how we treated our neighbors, our families, and the roles men and women played in a society. In early cultures men were the decision makers, the ones who governed or ruled. Religion played a significant role during early culture as well.

When cultures encountered each other, they were taken aback by their differences. The fact that they may have spoken different languages or revered dissimilar Gods may have been a conflict of interest. Their inability to communicate effectively would have cause a hostile situation, as they would have felt threatened as if their territory was at risk of being invaded.

The main cultural influences on earl civilizations were religion and geography. The geography of a culture determined if they would have the ability to farm the land or if they were close to the sea to they would have the ability to trade resources with other cultures. These resources and ability to create wealth were valuable to the survival of a culture. Greek and Roman culture depended upon the gods to guide them, so religion would be emphasized among the people within the culture.

Revisionist history is definitely something to be considered. I have always believed that everything you read in history books is not always truthful. I believe historian do their best to find the most accurate information about past events but I highly doubt they get it right every time. I do not believe this misinformation is done with ill intentions, as I’m certain all information collected is investigated thoroughly to arrive at the conclusions they reach. If information has been miscommunicated, I believe the people should be notified of the truth. As with the story of Christopher Columbus, there are many stories communicated inaccurately as to deliberately not give credit to an individual or culture of people of an inferior social class such as that of a slave or American Indian. With respect to information indicative of current events, American Indians have never been given credit for their contributions to mankind. The credit that Christopher Columbus was given should be removed from history books and current literature.

References

Bc, About 5000. "Dawn Of Civilization." World History International: World History Essays From Prehistory To The Present. Web. <http://history-world.org/ancient_civilization.htm>.
Sayre, H (2010). Discovering the Humanities; Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Gruen, Erich S. Studies in Greek Culture and Roman Policy. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990.
Ancient Greece and Rome and Their Influence on Modern Western Civilization." TCI TeacherGenius. Web. <http://teachergenius.teachtci.com/ancient-greece-and-rome-and-their-influence-on-modern-western-civilization-2/>.

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