Despite the fall of Rome the Byzantine empire continued to stay strong because Justinian established a code of laws called Justinian's Code.
<span>Politically, the Abbasid's inherited the "dream" of the Umayyads and the bulk of the territory involved. They stood as the ascendant power of Islam and became the powerhouse of the Middle East. Culturally, the consistent struggle was for progress in the face of an "old vs new" ethnic supremacy argument between Arabs and Iranians or other non-Arab peoples. The riches of the spice trade and that of contact with China provided for a solid economic base to support the "Golden Age" the Abbasids created. Unfortunately, constant fracturing and incursion led to their demise by the beginnings of the Renaissance.</span>
It had two impacts in the US.
-we no longer have acid rain and pollution decreased
-contributed to the deep splits between conservatives and liberals.
"Renaissance literature is characterized by a tendency toward humanist, or nonreligious, topics. The period as a whole marked a dramatic shift away from strict adherence to Church doctrines, and much of the literature of the era, such as Shakespeare's "Hamlet," depicts secular philosophical struggles with topics such as individuality, death and morality."
I got the information from Reference. com
