VISHNUGOPALAN CHAKKINGAL, NICK ENGLAND, KENTO MASOUKA

MS.LAFEAR
US HISTORY-PERIOD 4&6
23 DECEMBER 2015

HOW DID WE PICK OUR PROJECT?

We picked our project for this years NHD by looking at the possible projects. We had many ideas such as
space exploration and trekking. Then we picked the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a good project because
this project has a lot to do with exploration and encounter. There was a lot of exchanging of ideas, food,
and even cultures. These are the many reasons in which we thought of our project.

HOW DID WE CONDUCT RESEARCH?

We conducted our research by picking different sources on the internet and the library. We looked at a lot
of sources, then we finalized with 5 newly edited websites. We couldnt find any primary sources in the
library because it was sooo back then. But we did find some sources in the internet from Marco Polo.

HOW DID WE PICK OUR PROJECT CATEGORY?

We picked a website because it suits all of our comfortability. We can edit it online, and edit at the same
time. The website is more of a professional way of the project. We can put in a lot of things in the website
such as videos and pictures. We can add the information with ease and code it. This is why we picked it.

How it relates to NHD?

The silk road is was a route where many people traded and found new cultures. Religions like Islam,
Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism were spread using this route. Many new discoveries, ideas, food,
culture, and even clothing were spread using the silk road. One of the most known explorers was Marco
Polo. Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the
height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along
what later became known as the Silk Road. Upon reaching China, Marco Polo entered the court of
powerful Mongol ruler Khubilai Khan, who dispatched him on trips to help administer the realm. Marco
Polo remained abroad for 24 years. Though not the first European to explore Chinahis father and uncle,
among others, had already been therehe became famous for his travels thanks to a popular book he coauthored while languishing in a Genoese prison.(More info in the next slide). The silk road usage started
to decline by the 9th century.In the early 10th century, following the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the trade on
the Silk Road saw a deathblow. The trade on the road declined quickly till the period when the conquests
of the Mongols seen an era of frequent and extended contacts between East and West.