Purpose (Slide Deck)

You’ve been introduced to a variety of empires the past couple of weeks. In this activity, you’ll analyze various characteristics that made each of these empires a success. By doing so, you’ll begin to understand the ways in which certain empires were successful as well as the qualities that might have led to their failure. In addition, you’ll be able to use these skills to analyze modern governments and possibilities for future collapses.

Practices: Comparison, causation, claim testing

In this activity, you’ll have to compare different empires and decide which elements of each empire were the best, and in doing so will get to create your own Frankenstein-type empire. In addition, you’ll have to use causation skills to decide if the combination of elements you’ve chosen will lead to the empire declining or falling. Finally, claim testing will be required as you determine how to create the best type of empire using evidence and logic.

Process

Background articles about eighteenth-century empires.

Now, you’ll take what you’ve learned, categorize that information, and then use it to create a new, Frankenstein-style empire using the best or most successful qualities from each of the categories you’ve assessed.

  • You will use the Empire Building Chart Below (Word: Empires Chart [there is a version of this on Slack if you have trouble downloading]) and each of the articles listed above.
  • Then, you’ll review the article set to pull out information about each empire: political structure, economic systems, military strength, social hierarchy, and main weakness and fill information in the Empire Building Chart Below for each empire (Word: Empires Chart)

EMPIRE

 OTTOMAN MUGHAL MING & QING

RUSSIAN
Political Structure
Economic System
Military Strength
Social Hierarchy
Main Weakness
  • Next, you’ll work to decide which elements to include in your new, Frankenstein-style empire.
    • Your goal is to create the best, most successful, or most indestructible empire, but you can only use the “best” parts of the historical empires for at least three of the categories.
    • Your will now have at least one weakness. The trick is to pick the weakness or weaknesses you can most easily defend.
    • You will have to justify your selections with evidence from the articles you read earlier or lecture.
  • Now, use Slack to create your #Frankenstein empire. Your Frankenstein post should include:
    • your chart;
    • an image that represents your empire;
    • a name to represent your newly created empire;
    • provide descriptions for each of the categories in paragraph form that explain your choices for why these selections make the “best” empire as well as am explanation as to why your chose your weakness.
      • You will have to justify your selections with evidence from the articles you read earlier or lecture.