Ch 19

Europe’s golden age of expansion was in the nineteenth century. Europe became the center of the world’s economy, many people were moving out of Europe and living in new lands, explorers and missionaries were reaching almost everywhere, and much of the world became part of Europe’s colonies. Europeans now had new motives and new means. With the Industrial Revolution fueling them, they felt like they had much to do. They were in demand for raw materials and agricultural products, they had a need for markets to sell their products, European capitalists often invested money abroad, and foreign markets kept workers inside Europe working. As Europe was doing all of this, nationalism was growing on all of them, this then lead to imperialism. Places like Italy and Germany unified, who were always competitive against each other. Colonies were becoming a symbol of “great power” for the Europeans, even if the land did not have much economic value. The developments from the industrial revolution made overseas expansion possible, from steamships to he underwater telegraph, to breech-loading rifles and machine guns, and the discovery of quinine, which prevented Malaria, which then reduced death rated in Europe. Europe was moving fast, and as they were making new discoveries and fighting of disease, and boasting about all they had they began to perceiver people and the world differently. Historically, Europeans had always defined others on a religious basis. But, they were now adopting many foreign techniques and ideas, communicated more freely with high class Africans and Asians. Europeans were growing more arrogant as the days went by. They felt superior because of religion and mixed with everything they already had. They were increasingly despising other cultures. In the eyes of the Europeans African societies had lost status, and a new type of racism formed which was based in terms of modern science. The Europeans were so arrogant that they felt a need to help “weaker races”, they felt responsible to help them, wanting to civilize them. To bring them education, health care, Christianity, good government, etc. They thought that they were helping them “progress” as societies and were making them more “civilized”. Reading this actually makes me kind of annoyed because of how arrogant the Europeans once were. But, I cannot classify all Europeans as being arrogant. Even though a lot of them felt superior, it would be unfair of me to say that all Europeans were, because that would very rude and unjust of me. I’m sure many of them, like those working in missionaries and etc, were not feeling a sense of arrogance.  

Ch17- Revolution

Feminist Beginnings

From the beginning of time women have had it more difficult then men. The rights that women have today had to be fought for, they were not just handed to us like it was for most men. Europe and North America are known for having started the feminist movement, because those were the two places where the movement really developed. Even thought it took years for people to start focusing on the rights of women, at least it was becoming apparent that the treatment towards women was unfair. As the middle class began to grow so did the amount of women who were becoming educated. Also, women began to “step out of the house” more, joining in such things as temperance movements, charities, abolitionism, missionary work, and socialist and pacifist organizations.  Many women liked that women were finally starting to get a say in their own life, they were making choices that affected them outside of the household. Although, on the other hand some women still believed that they were on the earth for one main thing, motherhood. I know that raising children is an important aspect of life, but so is being independent, and having rights. So thanks to many women who suffered and stood up to the oppression they faced, women today have the same rights as men, the way it should have been from the very beginning. As time went on, more and more women joined the forces of the women’s movement, especially those women in the middle class. Feminist movements began to really impact daily lives of many, and causing attention to the realities of the tough life of women. Some women even went to extremes, for example, a women by the name of Emily Davidson, was trampled to death after she threw herself in front of her kings horse during a race in Britain in 1913. It is crazy to think that women actually had to go to these extremes in order to gain some sort of attention. Also, to think of the date 1913, that was only 98 years ago! Wow that’s just amazing, to think that women barely just got out rights. But oh well, at least we have them now, and are just as equal to men. 

Ch 18- The Industrial Revolution

The next sentence might sound like the biggest cliché ever, but it holds a lot of truth. The Industrial Revolution was literally the start of something new. I think that before the Revolution life was generally a lot slower and more relaxed. Once the Industrial Revolution began life began to pick up at pace that people were waiting for. Countries went from Agricultural societies to Industrials one's. Life went from small farming cultures, which were very family oriented, to fast pace factory, city life.  I think the Revolution had its benefits but at the same time it had many drawbacks. For starters, some of the positives that came out of the revolution would be that everyday items became easier to attain. Through inventions like the assembly line, and mass production, Items like cars became more affordable. People also had a better chance at living a more fulfilling life. Rather then spending their days working in the fields, people were able to find jobs in an easier manner, because many jobs were available and needed filling. Through working outside the family farms, people were becoming more independent. With independence come many responsibilities, another clichéd sentence, though nonetheless proven true during the industrial revolution. When people left the confines of their home, they had to find work, a place to live, food, and the basic essentials of life on their own. If something to were to go wrong they did not have their family right by their side in order to help and support them. Other drawbacks were more serious to one’s health. The factories didn’t have health and safety codes at this time, and factory owners did not care about the safety of their workers, since they were easy jobs to fill, and many were willing to take over these jobs. Factory owners did not know the concept of excessive work, some people worked for 10-14 hours. These terrible working conditions were in no way healthy or safe. Reports have even proven that some women would have go through labor in the factories, because they would not want to miss work and lose their jobs. Also, once these children were able to start working, they would. Another very concerning situation to many, young children working in these unsafe conditions is just heartbreaking. Its one thing for adults to go through this, but to think of children having to go through all of these terrible things is just depressing. Luckily, people came to their senses and made health and safety codes, and legal working ages. 

Ch 16

Well, since most people were not doing their blogs on time, we got assigned a distinct section to blog about, and that is the Conversion and Adaption in Spanish America.  As I began reading this section, it kind of depressed me because of the way that Europeans forced Christianity on the Native Americans. Honestly, whether the Native Americans were reluctant to follow Christianity or easily accepted the new culture, I strongly believe that it was not the Europeans choice to make. Forcing a religion on people is just outright wrong, and to think that Europeans thought that they could just convert people in any way is just disgusting. The Native Americans had their own beliefs and faiths before the Americas were discovered. They were living in peace and harmony. Its funny how at first people took their land, like that is not bad enough, next let’s just convert them to Christianity. That is just ridiculous that people can actually do things like this. The idea of blending two religions together makes a lot more sense to me. I mean it is still bad that people did not get to simply keep their own religions. But, at least when you blend two religions together it is sort of a meeting point, which in life seems more like a compromise then being forced to follow a certain religion. One quote in the textbook on page 469 is “ In Mexico as well, an immigrant Christianity was assimilated into patterns of local cultures”. Now reading that made me a lot happier. At least some people had the decency to accept that people had local cultures and beliefs before the arrival of the invaders. I’m sure that this kept the local people much happier as well. Assimilating two cultures and religions gives people the ability to make more choices. 

Slavery- The Atlantic Slave Trade

Numbers, we use them everyday, sometimes a number can have a strong effect on us and at other times a number is simply just a number. But, when you think of a number in terms of slavery, what comes to mind? The number of people captured, sold, beaten, branded, the number of families torn a part, the number of HUMAN LIVES gone forever due to slavery. In a span of about 336 years, from 1500-1866, “the Atlantic Slave Trade took an estimated 12.5 million people from Africa and deposited some 10.7 million of them in the Americas”. Just think about how many people that is. The average football stadium holds about 70,000 people. Imagine every person who was brought as a slave took a seat in a football stadium, they would fill it up about 179 football stadiums. Let that thought simmer in your mind for a while. How does that make you feel? When I think about those numbers, it makes me sick to my stomach. Thinking about all the people, each and every one of those human lives that went through so much pain and suffering. Its just sad to think that other humans can do this to others. Now from the 12.5 that were captured only about 10.7 made the journey over to the American. Which leaves about 1.8 million people. What happened to them? Those 1.8 million died during the transatlantic crossing. People taken from there families and then gone forever. Numbers, we use them everyday, but how much meaning to they have, hopefully in the case of slavery they have some sort of impact on you.

            I used this quote earlier “the Atlantic Slave Trade took an estimated 12.5 million people from Africa and deposited some 10.7 million of them in the Americas”. When you read this sentence does anything odd cross your mind? What about the word deposited. When someone refers to HUMANS as something you deposit, it is such a depressing thought. You deposit money into a bank account; you don’t however use the world deposit to describe people. But I guess the whole idea was about money. Capture innocent lives and sell them, that equals money. Have people work for free, another way to make some easy cash right? The whole idea of slavery is just so sickening, and to imagine that it went on for years, and is STILL going on today, just in different forms, like Human Trafficking is terribly sad :(

Chapter 14

          From reading the introduction to part four, the modern era seems like it will be very interesting to read and learn about because it relates to present day more than the ancient civilizations do. The role that geography played in the development of the western hemisphere was amazing. The oceans that lead to the western hemisphere helped with trade, and lead to further settlement in the Americas. This, however had a negative impact on the Native Americans who were already settled here. Diseases brought over from Europe and Africa lead to a major decline in the native population. Reading of the great dying is very saddening because it hurts to read about how many people had to suffer and die for the world to be where it is today.

            The Columbian Exchange, or the network of communication, migration, trade, and the transfer of plants and animals helped the world diversify in the way people ate, farmed, communicated etc. it opened up windows for the world to experience different types of life. This was always meant to happen; it was just a matter of when. Since resources of transportation were available at this time, the Colombian exchange occurred.

            Reading about all the different Empires was very fascinating because they were all different in the way they had established and presented themselves. Just like settlers brought disease to the Americas the Russians did the same thing, especially to those in Siberia. The Asian Empire was regional and not global, and therefore did not lead to massive epidemics.

            On another note, the slave trade developed from the European Empires. Although, slaves helped on plantations, which therefore helped with the worlds food supply, I wish that it could have been avoided, because thinking about the large amount of people who suffered is poignant.