Mankind: The Story of all of Us (Part 6: Survivors)

Beginning in 2012 (nearly 10 years ago), the History Channel has released this 12-episode docu-series about some of the most famous events of the 2 million years of the existence of our species.

This is Part 6 of this 12-part of this wiki page series. This episode talks about "Survivors" where people that survived the devastation of the Plague and not just re-claim their land but also create new inventions and ideas that revolutionize the world for the time.

## Survivors

### Africa's empires

The first part of the episode goes to the heat of the Sahara Desert, and an explorer who would dare to traverse this desolate landscape; Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Battuta is a famous explorer who traveled to areas including the Plague strickened areas in the middle east including Damascus (in Modern Day Syria) where he would write in his journal saying that he witnessed over 1,000 deaths per day from the disease.

This episode talks about his third journey from 1349 to 1354 when he journeyed through west Africa. Braving the dangers of the oppressive heat of the Sahara Desert where it ca get so hot, one can die from heatstroke without the proper precautions such as to have ample supplies of water and shield yourself from the Sun.

Despite the dangerous heat, this heat would also be a protector from the Plague which was devastating Europe and even parts of Africa at the time. Battuta and his men venture to the desert, but what they would soon realize that the heat isn't the only danger.

There were also sandstorms which can kill them without proper protective gear, this can not just fill up human lungs with silica rich soil, but also leave nasty cuts all over their body.

Who came along in Battuta's expedition to west Africa was also a group of people trading in a key preservative; salt. Not just known as an additive to make food (like meat) taste better, salt was also an important preservative which explorers needed to preserve their provisions as it can keep food from spoiling for a time, and stops bacteria from growing.

Eventually, Battuta's party of explorers would reach their destination; the city of Timbuktu, the capital of the Mali Empire; an empire know for his riches of African Gold they even trade it for salt, in this city, a university.

There are thousands of Islamic scrolls and thousands of men would go to the university to study them, almost the first generation of the internet. Battuta would leave Timbuktu, and go on to write one of the last surviving accounts of the city.

### Creating Modern Banking

The episode then goes to Venice where a revolution in banking would begin.

Banking can be traced back to Europe, around 70 years after the devastation of the Plague, Europe tries to get back on its feet. Bankers can either be very rich or reckless as some people are so poor, they could steal from the bankers, but usually get arrested for it. in this same time period, Europe will go through "The Renaissance" with the explosion of new ideas and culture, Europe heads to a rebirth.

### Re-claiming China

###

The Episode then goes to China where a revolution would begin.

The group of Chinese peasants calling themselves the "Red Turbins" led by a man named "Zhu Yuanzhong" are planning a revolution to overthrow the Mongol led "Yuan Dynasty" which ruled China for over a century now. Yuanzhong who was orphaned by the Plague now looks to drive out the Mongols who have taken everything near and dear to the Chinese. Now, a revolution will begin.

Yuanzhong's advantage will be a new and untested weapon, a weapon that will dramatically change warfare; the gun. Powered by gunpowder which the Chinese invented 300 years earlier and using a ball of some kind, they test it and Yuanzhong likes the results. This is where his revolution can begin, they begin by trying to take a castle that is littered by Mongols, though outnumbered, but Yuanzhong's forces (with their new guns) have defeated the Mongols in the castle, and by 1368 Yuanzhong's forces liberated the city of Nanjing and then the city became a new capital of a new Chinese Dynasty called "Ming".

As the Ming Dynasty begins, the also begin a long abandoned project, building the Great Wall of China, now built as a defense net to keep the Mongols out of China.

### A new invention

The Episode then takes a trip to Modern Day Germany as a revolution (in a form if a new invention) will take place.

A wealthy man named Johannes Gutenberg wanted to try out a revolutionary idea, manufacture books. Before then, books were hard to write and because they take a long time to make and finish, though the Chinese would invent woodblock printing several centuries earlier, that too was time consuming. Gutenberg took an ordinary wine press (to turn grapes into wine) and make it into a tool for printing books. By modifying the press so it can print many words on a page and in less time, but also make books faster as well. Gutenberg tried making the Christian Bible (one of the most read books in middle age Europe) to try out his new invention, he ends up making thousands of copies of the bible as well as other books.

### A man inspired and a nation turned

The episode goes to Spain where yet another power is trying to take back their country.

But first, a detour.

Because a man from Genoa lives in Spain; we know him as "Christopher Columbus" he'll be known in history by discovering America.

Okay, not really. Vikings discovered the Americas centuries before Columbus did, even with the Vikings' discovery of America, it wasn't documented. So, it went un-noticed and because of it, there was this belief that only Africa, Europe, and Asia existed as land, and anything west was a huge ocean that proved to be impossible to cross. Columbus was eternally ambitious to prove everybody wrong, and that is quite easy to sail from Europe to Asia, so far he was turned down by the empires of Portugal, Venice, and his native Genoa. But a conflict in Spain would turn his fortune.

The Spanish were fighting a war against the Moors which dominated Spain for nearly a millennia. But the leader of the Spanish forces "Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba" has something new to the battlefield, and this is where the gun comes into play again, this time it is something else, it's called the "Arquebus" a matchlock weapon where it would ignite the power in the priming pan which would transfer into the barrel of the gun, causing it to fire, the weapons were loud going off, and can only shoot at targets at short range. But eventually with Cordoba leading his forces and the weapon would help the Spanish defeat the Moors.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ride into Allure victoriously and de Cordoba would see the surrendering of the Moors, during this time Columbus comes in and see if the imperial couple would find his expedition, and they do, and Columbus sets off on his journey.

That;ll do it for this part. In the next part (click here) is where we talk about the Americas before and after they were discovered by the Europeans. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.