Chapter 3 - Origins of Western Society

Image source: http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/ur%20of%20the%20chaldees/ur_article.htm

“Western Society” or Easier understood “Western Culture” is based on customs, ethics, religion, economic systems, and of course the big one, governmental systems. In terms of location, the west refers to catholic and protestant Europe and North America. Like all grand cultures throughout the world, western culture evolved throughout time only later settling in North America.

The first civilization of Mesopotamia and Egypt rose and fell giving rise to the Greek Empire. When the Greek empire fell to the Persian Empire the world ushered in a new era. The fall of Persian Empire gave rise to the Roman Empire, who gave us one of our founding political systems. When the Roman Empire fell this lead the Middle Ages, so aptly name because it fell in between the Roman Empire and what we know as the modern civilization. Each fall and rise, though tragic, gave rise to new ideas and new developments that were the foundations of what we know as “western culture”

Western Society is nothing more than the bastard child of many cultures blended into one. Many people today relate the world’s modernization to the very success and failure of those origins. So it is not a long stretch to say that if we did not have the ideas of “western society” set forth by earlier civilization, we would not have a present day world.

 I choose this chapter because we can only know where we are going if we know where we came from. History and social aspects that steered nations in the direction they took are fascinating. It also teaches us not the make the same mistakes that our past has already done, though we tend to do that. I like to believe that I would not be here today if it wasn't for my ancestors who developed agriculture, cities, and politics. The above video "From Darkness into the Light - the Great Leap from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance" (2010) is a great video that shows how the rebirth of old ideas help shape a new era in history. These rebirthed ideas are what shaped and guided the ideologies of "Western Society".

The history of the world is the record of a man in quest of his daily bread and butter.  ~Hendrik Wilhelm van Loon, The Story of MankindHistory of Western civilizationHistory Western SocietyWestern Civilization


Western Culture  - This site is a very detailed history of Western Culture.

Western Civilization - This site is perfect for your everyday history major, who loves to dig deep into every aspect of the origins of western society.