Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Civilizations

This debate style reader is designed to introduce students to controversies in world civilizations from ancient times to the present. The readings, which represent the arguments of leading historians and commentators on world history, reflect a variety of viewpoints, and are presented in pro/con format.

PART 1. The Ancient World

ISSUE 1. Did Homo Sapiens Originate in Africa?

YES: Christopher Stringer and Robin McKie, from African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity

NO: Milford Wolpoff and Rachel Caspari, from Race and Human Evolution

Science researcher Christopher Stringer and science writer Robin McKie state that modern humans first developed in Africa and then spread to other parts of the world. Paleoanthropologists Milford Wolpoff and Rachel Caspari counter that modern humans developed simultaneously in different parts of the world.

ISSUE 2. Was Egyptian Civilization African?

YES: Clinton Crawford, from Recasting Ancient Egypt in the African Context: Toward a Model Curriculum Using Art and Language

NO: Kathryn A. Bard, from "Ancient Egyptians and the Issue of Race," in Mary R. Lefkowitz and Guy MacLean Rogers, eds., Black Athena Revisited

Clinton Crawford, an assistant professor who specializes in African arts and languages as communications systems, asserts that evidence from the fields of anthropology, history, linguistics, and archaeology prove that the ancient Egyptians and the culture they produced were of black African origin. Assistant professor of archaeology Kathryn A. Bard argues that although black African sources contributed to the history and culture of ancient Egypt, the country's people and culture were basically multicultural in origin.

ISSUE 3. Does Alexander the Great Merit His Exalted Historical Reputation?

YES: N. G. L. Hammond, from The Genius of Alexander the Great

NO: E. E. Rice, from Alexander the Great

Professor emeritus of Greek N. G. L. Hammond states that research has proven that Alexander the Great is deserving of his esteemed historical reputation. Senior research fellow and lecturer E. E. Rice maintains that, other than his conquests, Alexander the Great left few tangible legacies to merit his exalted historical reputation.

ISSUE 4. Did Christianity Liberate Women?

YES: Karen Jo Torjesen, from When Women Were Priests

NO: Karen Armstrong, from The Gospel According to Woman: Christianity's Creation of the Sex War in the West

Professor of religion and associate of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Karen Jo Torjesen, presents evidence of women deacons, priests, prophets, and bishops during the first millennium of Christianity--all roles that suggest both equality and liberation for women. Professor of religious studies Karen Armstrong finds in the early Christian Church examples of hostility toward women and fear of their sexual power which she contends led to the exclusion of women from full participation in a male-dominated church.

PART 2. The Medieval World

ISSUE 5. Did Same-Sex Unions Exist in Medieval Europe?

YES: John Boswell, from Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe

NO: Philip Lyndon Reynolds, from "Same-Sex Unions: What Boswell Didn't Find," The Christian Century

Yale University history professor John Boswell states that same-sex unions, which date back to pagan times, existed in medieval Europe until they were gradually done away with by the Christian Church. Reviewer Philip Lyndon Reynolds, while admitting that "brotherhood" ceremonies took place in medieval Europe, asserts that these ceremonies did not have the same authority as sacred unions and therefore cannot be equated with marriage rites.

ISSUE 6. Does the Modern University Have Its Roots in the Islamic World?

YES: Mehdi Nakosteen, from History of Islamic Origins of Western Education a.d. 800-1350

NO: Charles Homer Haskins, from The Rise of Universities

Professor of history and philosophy of education Mehdi Nakosteen traces the roots of the modern university to the golden age of Islamic culture (750-1150 c.e.). He maintains that Muslim scholars assimilated the best of classical scholarship and developed the experimental method and the university system, which they passed on to the West before declining. The late historian Charles Homer Haskins (1870-1937) traces the university of the twentieth century to its predecessors in Paris and Bologna, where, he argues, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the first universities in the world sprang up.

ISSUE 7. Were Environmental Factors Responsible for the Mayan Collapse?

YES: Richard E. W. Adams, from Prehistoric Mesoamerica, rev. ed.

NO: George L. Cowgill, from "Teotihuacan, Internal Militaristic Competition, and the Fall of the Classic Maya," in Norman Hammond and Gordon R. Willey, eds., Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Professor of anthropology Richard E. W. Adams argues that although military factors played a role in the Mayan demise, a combination of internal factors was more responsible for that result. Professor of anthropology George L. Cowgill contends that although there is no single explanation for the Mayan collapse, military expansion played a more important role than scholars originally thought.

ISSUE 8. Were the Crusades Motivated Primarily by Religious Factors?

YES: Hans Eberhard Mayer, from The Crusades, 2d ed., trans. John Gillingham

NO: Ronald C. Finucane, from Soldiers of the Faith: Crusaders and Moslems at War

German historian Hans Eberhard Mayer states that although there were other factors important to the development of the Crusades, the strongest motivation was a religious one. British historian Ronald C. Finucane counters that although the religious influence on the Crusades was significant, political, social, economic, and military factors in medieval Europe also played a role in their origin, development, and outcome.

PART 3. The Premodern World

ISSUE 9. Did Women and Men Benefit Equally from the Renaissance?

YES: Mary R. Beard, from Woman as Force in History: A Study in Traditions and Realities

NO: Joan Kelly-Gadol, from "Did Women Have a Renaissance?" in Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz, and Susan Stuard, eds., Becoming Visible: Women in European History, 2d ed.

Historian Mary R. Beard contends that during the Renaissance, Italian women of the higher classes turned to the study of Greek and Roman literature and committed themselves alongside men to developing well-rounded personalities. Historian Joan Kelly-Gadol argues that women enjoyed greater advantages during the Middle Ages and experienced a relative loss of position and power during the Renaissance.

ISSUE 10. Were Christopher Columbus's New World Discoveries a Positive Force in the Development of World History?

YES: Felipe Fernández-Armesto, from Columbus

NO: Kirkpatrick Sale, from The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy

Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto states that although Columbus was far from perfect, the overall results of his work merit consideration as one who helped to shape the modern world. Writer Kirkpatrick Sale sees Columbus as a product of a sick, dispirited Europe and concludes that the selfish nature and results of his voyages prevented Europe from using the New World discoveries as an opportunity for the continent's salvation.

ISSUE 11. Were the Witch-Hunts in Premodern Europe Misogynistic?

YES: Anne Llewellyn Barstow, from Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts

NO: Robin Briggs, from Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft

History professor Anne Llewellyn Barstow asserts that the European witch-hunt movement made women its primary victims and was used as an attempt to control their lives and behavior. History professor Robin Briggs states that although women were the European witch-hunts' main victims, gender was not the only determining factor in this sociocultural movement.

ISSUE 12. Did the West Define the Modern World?

YES: William H. McNeill, from The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community

NO: Steven Feierman, from "African Histories and the Dissolution of World History," in Robert H. Bates, V. Y. Mudimbe, and Jean O'Barr, eds., Africa and the Disciplines: The Contributions of Research in Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities

Professor of history William H. McNeill states that in 1500, western Europe began to extend its influence to other parts of the world, bringing about a revolution in world relationships in which the West was the principal benefactor. History professor Steven Feierman argues that because historians have viewed modern history in a unidirectional (European) manner, the contributions of non-European civilizations to world history have gone either undiscovered or unreported.

PART 4. The Modern World

ISSUE 13. Did the Industrial Revolution Lead to a Sexual Revolution?

YES: Edward Shorter, from "Female Emancipation, Birth Control, and Fertility in European History," The American Historical Review

NO: Louise A. Tilly, Joan W. Scott, and Miriam Cohen, from "Women's Work and European Fertility Patterns," Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Historian Edward Shorter argues that employment opportunities outside the home that opened up with industrialization l ed to a rise in the illegitimacy rate, which he attributes to the sexual emancipation of unmarried, working-class women. Historians Louise A. Tilly, Joan W. Scott, and Miriam Cohen counter that unmarried women worked to meet an economic ne...