Board game ideas for U.S. history class?
There's a lot of basic "reach-the-end-first" games that could be done to the theme of, say, the Oregon Trail (which is a board game in and of itself) or Lewis & Clark's expedition to the Pacific. There's combat games like Risk that could be modified to work for the civil war or revolutionary war. You could have a monopoly style game based on, say, the California Gold rush-- or something similar where players uncover mines at random trying to strike it rich with gold, spending money (aka gold) as they do. Or perhaps something similar based on the railroad boom, similar to the theme of Railroad Tycoon. If you're feeling a bit ... darker ... you could always try and base a game off of the cold war (try to beat the Russians), or the Great Depression (try to be the last player left standing as your co-players start losing jobs, food, etc). DaveE
How to create a board game based on World War ll?
Object of the game: capture Hitler. The playing pieces: tanks and airplanes in the fashion of Russian, American, English. German, Italian and Japanese models. The board: Along the lines of "Life," or "Sorry" or "Monopoly" -- spaces to achieve by a roll of the dice. Hitler is pictured at the center. Players must advance along a route and be the first to land on the Hitler spot. Some of the spaces are neutral and benign (perhaps you want to give them the names of cities in neutral countries such as Switzerland and Sweden). Other spaces are marked with pitfalls, such as "Your general is captured; go back ten spaces." Others are marked with victories, such as, "Your reinforcements catch up; you and all your country's allies advance ten spaces." Perhaps people draw cards at such spots, rather than have all this written in one tiny space. Base the pitfalls and victories on actual events during WWII. Yes, if the Axis powers reach Hitler first, history is changed...fascinating idea, eh? ; )
Why does the Middle East always seem to be at war and in riots?
For many reasons:There is a struggle for economic dominance in the region. Since there so many natural resources are abundant in the region, Middle Eastern countries are very competitive and try to be influential among their neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia and Iran. One is Sunni, the other Shi’a. Ever since Egypt has been in an economic crisis, Saudi Arabians become the regional power. Iran on the other hand, has been trying to challenge the status quo and exert its own influence.The Sunni/Shi’a divide has been diverging more and more as time goes on. As above mentioned, there is a struggle for power between Sunni and Shi’a leaders. In some Middle Eastern countries, such as Syria and Iraq, there is a significantly large (or even majority) Sunni population, though the government is controlled by Shi’a officials and politicians. This creates an imbalance between the interests of the population and the government. In Syria, this is one of the many factors of the rebellion against Assad.Since it’s creation in 1948, Israel has been a disruption of Middle Eastern order in that several Arab states has consistently teamed up and attacked the Jewish State. For the past several decades, some countries, such as Egypt, have tried to become more friendly Israel and promote peace in the region. This has only led to greater conflict between the Arab states, increasing the divide on the intensity of opposition against Israel.Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire after WW1, the land of the Levant and parts of Arabia had been divided by the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916. France claimed present-day Syria and Lebanon, as well parts of Turkey and Iraq, whereas Britain claimed the rest of Iraq, and parts of present-day Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Palestine was administered internationally, overlooked by the League of Nations. This carving up of non-homogeneous people fragmented tribes and nationalities among artificial borders, leading to many conflicts lasting to this day.All of these reasons have contributed to the fracturing and fighting of the Middle East, though the current situations are extremely complex and are a challenge to modern foreign policy.Hope this helps!
What are a few similarities between angels and demons?
I'm writing a diamante poem (childish yet effective), and I need a few ideas that compare angels and demons. I have come up with that they both have wings and both are religious symbols, but I could use a few more. Any ideas?
They say that religion was the main cause of wars throughout history, is that true?
As history has shown, the purpose of religion is to galvanize the philosophy and ideology of the culture it’s born in. In the case of the Abrahamic religions, religion is ideology and philosophy combined with the supernatural in order to create a homogenous society.Is religion the main cause of war? Unless the religion specifically tells its followers to go to war, then No.The main causes of war is greed, biological needs like living space and resources, and/or failed diplomacy to resolve growing hostilities/tensions.As history has shown, Religion CAN play a factor in growing hostilities/tensions but, by extension, that would mean the tensions were between the different cultures/ideologies.Judaism embodies the history and Middle Eastern culture of the original Hebrew Jews, Christianity is a liberal form of Judaism, Islam is a doubled down form of Judaism with extras.Does it make sense to say all the wars between Rome and others were because of religion?Does it make sense to say the wars of conquest by the Mongols were because of religion? The European Empires? China’s expansion? Japanese Empire? Expansion of the United States? Conquests of North and South America? Alexander the Great’s wars of conquest? The Numerous Persian Empires and their conquests? The Russian Empire’s expansions? The African empires?It’s up to you if you think religion is the main cause of wars but, speaking as a Deist, religion is a tool. How you use it is what matters.If there are cases where religion has been used to fan the flames of war, then there are definitely cases where religion has doused the flames of war; I don’t know any of these cases because they don’t interest me because my hobby is reading about wars ;)
Will religious pluralism ruin the United States?
This country was founded on religious pluralism. The First Amendment of the Constitution prohibits the government from establishing a "national" religion and, by extension, from promoting one religion over the other. As people immigrate to this country, they might maintain the faiths of their homelands, but eventually they or their descendants become Americanized culturally. As the variety of viewpoints increases, so does the variety and quality of ideas, and that will help the country to continue to prosper. Ask yourself: Would we be better off if the government prohibited all religions except Christianity? And if the government endorsed Christianity, which variety should it select? Catholicism? Protestantism? And if the government selected Protestantism, which denomination should it choose? Also, most of the debate about immigration to the U.S. these days is focused on Latin America, especially Mexico. The vast majority of Mexicans are Christian Catholics. The best approach, I believe, is to live your life as best you can -- and let others live theirs according to their own choosing. The main rule is the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If everyone followed that, there'd be no more war.