#2

One thing that really caught my eye when reading through the first two chapters was how Germany or Germans came to get their name. “Germans” as Caesar called them were Nordic barbarians that settled in the failed sections of the Roman Empire. Caesar borrowed the name from the Gauls, which the term meant “savage people.” He also got the name from the area that they inhabited called Germania, which was the land beyond the Rhine and the Danube rivers. I also thought it was extremely interesting how many different German tribes had traveled to different parts of Europe and set up nations. This also connects a lot with early American history when Americans first colonized they set up their own states that in a sense governed them selves much like the Germans did. Also like the Germans when America was first founded it was founded as a conglomerate of rural farmers. In our readings it stated how Germans were known as farmers and very few lived in urban settings. This is what America was founded on and agriculture still plays a huge part in our economy today. Agriculture was such a huge part of German culture that there was a point in German history were their population was taking off so fast that the supply of food was less than the demand. When this happened the Black Death plague began to run through Europe and therefore knock a large amount of the population down. One of the main things that made a person even more susceptible to the disease was malnourishment. When farmers couldn’t keep up with demand for food; this opened the door for the disease to sweep through. This also stood out to me because of the drought we have endured this summer, and how it is going to affect our economy, food supply, and rural communities. 

I chose this picture because it is an example of how agriculture still plays a big role in Germany. In the picture the farmer is turning the corn he raised and is chopping it into silage. He will then feed this to his livestock. 

This picture is of Martin Luther who was easily one of the most influential persons in German history and religious history. He founded Protestant religion and stood up to a corrupt catholic church that was doing unholy things in his point of view. His morals and beliefs are still followed to this day. 

I used this picture to represent the Black Death plague that swept across Europe. It seemed extremely interesting to me from the reading on how that when farmers couldn't keep up with the demand for food that the Black Death became even more dangerous.