Essay about Early Medieval Barbarians' Sense of Ethnicity

“The History, Development and Future of Ethnic Studies” by Evelyn Hu-DeHart mentions several issues young scholars faced during the time of need for multicultural curriculum in higher education. Young scholars were demanding to uncover the missing facts and accredited sources that American history, culture, and society have left out for centuries. The solution the students concluded in solving this dilemma was to bring attention to the need of ethnic studies programs. With enough support from the student body and willingness of universities, institutions were able to recruit professors and thus create ethnic studies programs. According to Hu-DeHart, by providing ethnic studies programs and departments, the academic field would provide, “…a

Ethnicity and Race are very difficult to define. The two words are so closely related and often times used interchangeably.

Barbarians have been misunderstood for many centuries. Through the course of history, barbarians have been described as: uncivilized human beings in a savage and primitive state of mind. Some aspects of Mongol life can be interpreted as barbaric, but for the majority of their life there is a logical reason for everything they do. For example, between 1206 and 1227 Genghis Khan was able to do what none of histories best conquers were able to do. He expanded his empire 12 million square miles (Genghis Khan). Throughout this expansion he left millions dead, but this was not as cruel and uncommon for his day and age. Also, in doing this he prevented many rebellions. The Mongols gained a ruthless reputation that engrave fear in the hearts of their enemies. The Mongols were an advanced civilization lead by many genius leaders. The Mongols do not deserve the title of barbarians because of their military strategy, complex governing system, and how they expanded trade.

1.The word “barbarian” that we use today was a way of categorizing humans back in the Roman Empire ages.

The Mongols were seen as savage people who were good for nothing but destruction, many referred to them as "barbarians". A condescending

Barbarians was a nickname given by the Romans to the various Germanic tribes, the settled Gauls, and the raiding Huns because of their ferocious way of invading other tribes and empires. Barbarians is a word given to a human who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The barbarians during this ancient time frame, were able to conquer and defeat many empires for many years because of their very strong and inhumane use of brute force to get the job done and strike fear in peoples minds.

In the 13th Century, a group of nomadic people known as the Mongols would rise to power. The Mongols invaded and took over many parts of Asia and Europe. They were well-known for their brutal but brilliant tactics. The Mongols gained the reputation of being classified as “barbarians,” but were they really? According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word “barbarian” is defined as, “a person from an alien land, culture, or group believed to be inferior, uncivilized, or violent.”

Throughout the years, historians have found evidence to show that many ethnic groups were barbaric, like the Germanic tribes: Ostrogoths and Visigoths, or the nomadic tribes: Huns and Mongols. Though the evidence is strong to show the primitive nature of the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Huns, the evidence is ambiguous for the Mongols. From what historians have collected — who they conquered and people they were close to conquering — they believe that Mongols were barbaric; however disagreements can be made, because of the lack of evidence and prejudices we have been raised along-side with. This can be shown in their military, their commerce, their laws, and how they rule their conquered lands.

How do you interpret the word “Barbarian”? The word barbarian was used to describe the ruthless Mongols during the thirteenth century and is meant to be a demeaning term. The Mongols were a small tribe from Central Asia who expanded their territory by war. The Mongols were very barbaric people. They showed barbarian traits by the way they lived, how they fought, and the rules they had.

A barbarian decribes a crude person in a primitive state or someone who lacks education or refinement. During the 13th Century a small Asian tribe known as the Mongols conquered much of the known world linking Western and Easter Eurasia. The Mongols were a nomadic people until they acknowledged the supreme leader Genghis Khan in 1206. Most historians formulate an arguement based on the question “The Mongols: How Barbaric Were the “Barbarians”?” The Mongols were not very barbaric because they had a highly sophisticated military, lived by a code of conduct, and helped improve the lives of those they conquered.

Barbarians simply meant foreigners. By the 1200 “barbarian” was a much more negative term referring to people who lived beyond the reach of civilization, people who were savage, evil. The Mongols were barbaric with the amount of land they conquered, laws, and punishments. The barbarians were barbaric in many different ways.

Bartlett’s idea of race in reference to the medieval period is much closer to that of “ethnicity,” a classification that emphasizes on linguistic, legal, political, and cultural affinities more than biological features as indicators of racial difference. Bartlett’s understanding of the Middle Ages on race and ethnicity are synonymous which all, etymologically, derive from the Latin convention of “gens” and

Based on what I’ve read I don’t believe that there is an honest yes or no answer to the question, “Can these nomads be called barbarians?” According to Salvian, a Christian priest, he says, “.. almost all barbarians, at least those who are of one race and kin, love each other, while the Romans persecute each other.” However, many of these reads go into detail about the nomadic people never sparing the people of which they conquered or went to war with, and killing them all off one by one. As for the change over time; there was one. After the fall of Rome when the nomadic people took over around 476 CE they kept the same Roman customs, but began introducing nomadic ways of life that, over time, turned out to not be barbaric at all. Over the course of many years you will see the Romans perspective of the nomads and their culture began to change over the course of many years, and after the Fall of Rome.

When most people hear the word “Barbarian” they often think about the negative things that barbarians have done instead of the positive things that barbarians have done. It is stated in the section titled “Were the Barbarians a Negative or Positive Factor,”

Our lives are shaped by who we are and what we are and where we come from. What race or ethnic group we belong to determines our life chances in contemporary society. Ethnicity is the cultural background of a group of people who share a belief in common ancestry. According to Max Weber, ethnic groups are formed by colonisation and immigration. Ethnicity is something we all have but in Australia and in many parts of the world, ethnicity is often applied on minority groups to highlight dominant groups of people on the bases of physical appearance, race, origins or culture. Being part of a dominant group provides prestige, power and control over the running of societies. The term ethnic comes from ancient Greek to mean gentile or non