China s government became more centralized with the introduction of bronze metallurgy.

Bronze came into china with the indo-Europeans from south west Asia at the beginning of the Shang dynasty. Since bronze was both expensive and non-prevalent, the Shang easily took advantage of the monopolization of bronze. By controlling bronze, the Shang was able to centralize government under their power by using bronze s superiority as a weapon over china s subjects. Due to the inferior weapons, such as sticks and stones, China s people had no choice but to follow the role of the Shang. This gave the Shang an ominous image over the people because their weapons could not compete with their leader s weapons.

Fatima Casden Period 5 Paragraphs Solon s reform led Athens to a direct democracy by outlawing debt slavery, freeing all debts, and allowing wealthy enough subjects to vote. Before solon s reform many slaves were deeply in debt and discontent with the distinct division between the wealthy and the poor. In order to participate in government you were required to be a male citizen of Athens that owned land. Since in-debt slaves were not citizens and could not afford land, they could not vote. When solon outlawed debt slavery and freed all debts he created the opportunity for slaves to become wealthy enough to buy their own land and become a citizen. By allowing slaves to become citizens, Athens becomes more of a direct democracy because there are more land owning citizens that can make decisions I their government. Solon also allowed people that were wealthy enough to vote whether or not they were citizens of Athens. By letting non-citizens vote, solon s reform leads to a direct democracy by letting more people participate in government.

Darius built a vast empire with good strategy and efficient technology. As a general in the Persia, Darius was able to use his own experience as a leader to conquer over territories. If he had any other profession it s obvious that he most likely would not have been able to expand his territory so successfully. He needed the right minds with the right tactics in order to build his empire. Darius s military mainly used iron to overtake foreigners. This metal was both cheaper and stronger than the next leading metal known as bronze. Iron allowed Darius to easily take over foreign territories because of its superiority over bronze, sticks, and stones. Instead of forcing his empire under one belief, Darius allowed his culturally varied subjects to keep their own customs and forms of government. This made the people more accepting of Darius because it left them comfortable with him in power and less likely to revolt. Since there were no revolts, Darius could use his military for expanding his empire instead of maintaining it by putting down revolts. Darius also had roads and a postal service known as the Royal Persian Roads. These roads allowed easy access to the different provinces in the region. A postal service with rest stops and stables were also created. These roads and the postal service made it easier for Darius to keep in touch with his local leaders. Local leaders could apply these services and quickly make Darius aware of a problems such as rebellions, in hopes that Darius could easily put it down without letting things get out of hand. So with rebellions quickly handled, Darius could easily get back to expanding his empire.