Chapter 2: First Civilizations

After reading Chapter 2, one section really caught my attention. In the section Hierarchies of Class, the book explained the start of slavery. Back then, it was normal and not frowned upon for people to own other people for labor. As history went on, slavery played a major part of civilizations. It was interesting to learn about the start of slavery and how the thought process changed over time concerning the idea and practice of owning slaves. Furthermore, inequality concerning class was always considered normal during the First Civilizations. After learning about the inequalities associated with the First Civilizations, it shows how much history is still repeating itself with some governments, especially the U.S., are still struggling with inequality. Gender was another interesting topic during the First Civilizations. It was not surprising to learn how the First Civilizations favored patriarchal societies. Men were allowed to have multiple wives and sometimes exchange women. Women were meant to be in the home and submit themselves to their husbands without question. Even though history changed its mindset concerning patriarchal societies, there are still judgments placed on women based on the old ideas of the First Civilizations.