Writing - Social Studies

The time period between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1300 more commonly known as the Middle Ages, marked a time of great conflict, most of which was of an internal nature. Valuable time that could have been used discovering methods of improving the economy was otherwise spent defending their land from invaders hailing from foreign lands. This triggered the establishment of the feudal system, a structure of government that catered to the rich and turned a blind eye to the poor. Thus the title of this piece, for a regime that caters to the minority and ignores the majority is not interminable.

As noted earlier, the Europeans suffered many an incursion by native peoples, which included Viking warriors, as well as the Franks, a Germanic tribe. Fiercer attacks seemed inevitable for the Europeans so they devised a defense system in the form of a government. This system, otherwise known as feudalism, had four main classes.

• The head of the Catholic church, usually a pope, who was wealthy and yielded power over kings and who usually owned a manor of his own
• The head of these "classes" was an eminent person, usually of noble background and also known as a lord
• Under the lord fell lesser lords, in which the property of the noble was divided between these lords in exchange for favors and civil service;
• Farther down the poverty and stature line fell serfs, who were peasants of the land that farmed and cultivated the earth with the duty of producing a portion of their crops to their lord

The Roman Catholic Church held so much power that was able to spark a series of violent attacks to retake Jerusalem, a city seized by Turkey. This chain of events was called the Crusades. The Crusaders own seizure of precious goods from Asia helped bring about a change in the European economy.
Another quality I admire about Curtis Jackson is he didn't change his identity. After all his success he still promotes the street life and the essence of drug money. He puts more emphasis on his opinion that crime does pay, although it may not always be worth it. In my eyes he is Americas worst nightmare. For the individuals who consistently work hard to achieve their profession the legal way, most likely rather see his success fail.

The economic reform occurred in a variety of forms: new innovations in farming that in turn increased food production, resulting in a huge swell in the population. Cities in Europe flourished and trade rapidly increased which introduced a new division of people who came to be known as the middle class, consisting of merchants, traders and artists.

Serfs no longer remained bound to the manor, for soon they learned they were capable of creating a greater income that generated profit, by working and living along trade routes. The rise in the economy spawned the high authority of monarchs, who eventually clashed with nobles and was the figurative pin in the balloon that popped everything off, so to speak.

In my opinion, a system like may seem practical, but at the same time it is not morally reprehensible. In this system, people were classified as to what they had, as opposed to who they were. Anyone who was a peasant was stripped of their freedom and made to think of their world of just the manor they resided on. The wealthy were religious, corrupt, or a mixture of both, and looking down upon anyone of the lower class, which is very ignorant. In many ways our government holds an invisible cloak over our eyes, a form of feudalism disguised as democracy, which can be a very jaded concept.

Point in question: when a lot of people are unhappy about something, it probably won't last. The serfs and lesser lords grossly outnumbered the wealthy, noble class. The rich were the ones who retained the most authority, yet the numbers game was not considered in terms of a carefully executed uprising. Perhaps if a revolt had taken place a soar in the economy would have occurred at an earlier date. According to the laws of karma, everything happens for a reason. Quite possibly, the latter may have been a contributing factor to the dissolution of feudalism.



back to Student Writing page | Read the next essay