Social+Notes

The spanish inquisition
 * 5/15/2012**
 * the spanish had to practice the same religuis beliefs as the ruler in power
 * After the reconquita the roman catholic faith was considered the only true faith in Spain
 * Ferdinand and Isabella used this to the advantage, Isabella in particular believed that the country would be united if everyone was the same religion
 * in 1492 the two roman catholic monarchs reistaed the spanish inquisition
 * the inquisition was botha civil and a religuos court they judge any citizen who was acussed of not following the roman catholic faith if the court found guilty they would aether be sent to a dungeon tutored or be put to death.
 * Eventually all Jews and Muslims were expelled from the country
 * the Spanish inquisition ended in 1834

Desire for exploration

The Spanish
 * 4/2/2012**
 * Spain occupies about 80% of the Iberian Peninsula.
 * The Mediterranean Sea is on the southeast side of spain, the Atlantic ocean is on the west side, and Strait of Gibraltar seperates it from Africa.
 * During the 15ht century the monarchs wanted to increase their wealth by exploring and colonizing new lands.
 * Spain had several large mountain ranges, the Pyrenees is the largest rang and separates Spain from France on the north and northeast.
 * The main rivers of Spain flow west to the Atlantic ocean and south to the Mediterranean sea.
 * The central plateau of Spain called the Meseta Central is almost treeless, the summers are so dry that droughts are frequent.
 * Th area is divided into northern and southern sections by irregular mountain ranges or sierras.
 * The northern coastal plain is very narrow, often no more than 30 kilometers wide, it is often broken up by mountains that descend to the sea and form rocky cliffs.
 * The climate of Spain is generally rainy in the north and moderated by the oceans, the winters are mild and summers are cool.
 * The southern 2/3rds of the country is dry with very little rainfall.
 * Throughout most of its history Spain was made up by individual kingdoms. the mountains and the difficulty in navigating the rivers were often the dividing lines between these separate kingdom.

The Aztecs
 * 4/1/2012**
 * the Geo of Mexico includes deserts, mountains, tropical forest, ranch-land, rich farmland and seacoasts on the east and west
 * it is bordered by the united states to the north the gulf of Mexico to the east, the Caribbean sea, Belize, and Guatemala to the southeast, and the pacific ocean on the west and south.
 * the two largest rivers, the Rio grande and Usamacinta, run through Mexico.
 * Most of Mexico is desert.
 * The harsh Chihuahua desert covers the central and eastern part of Mexico, and the Sonoran desert covers north central Mexico to the pacific ocean.
 * The major mountain ranges are located in the central plateau of mexico, some of the mountain peaks are 3000 meters high. the larg basin, 60 kilometers wide and 80 kilometers long situated between the mountain ranges.
 * Temperatures are almost always springlike in the valley, despite being so far south the altitude moderates the temperature.
 * Southern Mexico has dense forest and tropical climate with lots of rainfall.
 * Tropical beaches line both the pacific ocean and the Caribbean sea.
 * Most of the original societies, including the Aztecs lived in the central basin, the valley of Mexico
 * At that time when he Aztecs lived there the basin had plenty of water from a system of five shallow lakes, the largest one being lake Texcoco.
 * The lakes affected the climate of the lands surrounding them, lake Texcoco was at the lowest elevation in the valley so all drainage flowed into it making it saline (meaning that the soil around the lake was also saline and not suitable for agriculture).
 * The valley of Mexico became the center of the Aztec civilization.