The Great Wall Research Paper

Out of all the defensive structures conceived over the ages, none have stood the test of time like the wall. It is easily one of the oldest, if not the oldest type of fortification built by man and is still in use today. As use of gunpowder weapons increased, the effectiveness of a massive, stone wall began to steadily decline. However, during the middle ages, people all over the world utilized walls as a highly effective way of keeping your enemy right where you wanted him, on the outside of one's castle, city, or empire. If asked to give an example of the longest and biggest wall ever built, none could argue against The Great Wall of China being the champion of walls. But is size really the only indicator of a wall's effectiveness, or is it possible that China's Great Wall was really not so great at all? To give an idea of just how long
the Great Wall is, if all its bricks were taken apart and laid in a ring around the equator, it would create a wall 5 feet high and 3 feet wide stretching all the way around the globe.
While actual estimates vary depending on how the measurements are done, the Great Wall is said to be anywhere from 2,400 km (about 1,500 mi) long to 6,400 km (4,000 mi), or longer. The average size of the wall is 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) wide at the base sloping to 5.8 meters (19 feet) wide at the top and an average height of 8 meters (26 feet). Even though this colossal structure is referred to as simply, "The Great Wall", it is actually a network of wall joined together. The Great Wall first began to take its shape during the warring states period when states of Qi, Yen, and Zhao all build earthen ramparts along their frontiers. The next step in the creation of the wall came in the Qin dynasty when many parts of the earlier walls were unified in an attempt to keep the nomadic tribes of the north out of China. The Great Wall as we see it today was
mostly constructed during the Ming dynasty, when again, northern nomadic tribes forced the emperor to order the strengthening of the wall and new sections added to it. In order for a structure as large as the Great Wall to be built, the Chinese government utilized millions of forced laborers and soldiers to complete to project. Working conditions at the Great Wall sites were horrible and because of this, many of the laborers died while working on the wall. Some of the remains were buried within the wall, bringing rise to the name, the longest cemetery on Earth. Building materials for the wall varied depending on what was available at the location. Some sections are composed of local stone or bricks with crushed rock or earth filling the middle, while other sections are composed of adobe or tampered earth between timbers. The main purpose of the wall was not to stop a large invasion force, which could easily penetrate the weaker sections of the wall, but to keep out marauding bands of Mongols. With the wall there, it was still possible for the Mongol bandits to get inside, as they could scale the wall very easily. However, they could not penetrate the wall on horses, nor could they bring stolen goods back over the wall very easily. This was a major deterrent to anyone think about raiding one of the Chinese border cities. So in one sense, the wall served its purpose very well, but at huge costs to the Chinese governments. In today's world, the cost of the construction of the Great Wall is estimated at $360 billion dollars, not to mentions all of the laborers who worked and died working on the Great Wall. Is it possible that the security of the border towns could have been achieved in a more efficient way, no one will ever know. Regardless, the Great Wall is one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the world and is a testament to the supremacy of the wall as the longest lasting defensive structure ever conceived.