After the opening vignette, Chapter 20 starts with the second wave of European colonization which spanned from 1750-1900. The second wave was quite different than the first wave because Asia and Africa were the focuses, demographics didn't change much, and the Europeans used different forms of control like through military action. It's disturbing to think about Europeans forcing their "better" culture on these Asian and African entities, but I can't oppose it since I'm living in a time that was directly and indirectly influenced by these colonists. I do think about what was forced upon these peoples, because as I said in my last blog, just because a form of government or lifestyle works for one entity, it doesn't necessarily work another due to culture, history, politics, and location. The best thing people can do when something or someone is forcing themselves on them is rebel like the US or the India who were both against Great Britain.
The second wave of European colonization demonstrated the extreme effects of the Industrial Revolution. Even the way these Europeans conquered these people portrays this because they used new technologies like repeating rifles and machine guns and therefore, they usually won.
Reading about how the colonists' education for different countries were made suitable for "primitive minds". It's sad because these peoples had the same capacity of intelligence as the colonists, but the colonists couldn't recognize that they had different ways of thinking. It's strange because these colonists were adapting to change themselves and yet they were largely incapable of treating other people with the same consideration.
I remember reading about Leopold II when I was younger. I don't think I understood the abuses his constituents forced upon on the Africans and then the complete exploitation of their natural resources like rubber. Maybe my age and being in grade school influenced the type of textbooks we had, and therefore, sparing us kids the gritty details. I believe I forgot that Belgium took over in 1908 to stop the horrible treatment. I believe Belgians were the inventors of the french fry, or pomme frites. The name, "french fry" has nothing to do with France or its origins, but the language the fry is originally in. INTERESTING.
I like how in different cultures, women were highly regarded or at least seen as equals to men. The Europeans had to come in and ruin the female perception! Anything the natives did were barbaric even though it wasn't. It was just different.
It sounds that once the Europeans began to colonize, "race" was constructed along with scientific racism. I tried searching on Google for when the word, "race" started being used, but instead I came upon a Yahoo answer. This person said, "I'm guessing you're in college? PC liberal universities like to think that if they pretend race doesn't exist, that racism will go away. This, in fact, makes racism worse because it forces dishonesty." It's so sad because it is a construct. I want to challenge this person to research in libraries all over the world before the 17th or 18th centuries and try to find race as something concrete and tangeable. In fact, human genetics are nearly 99% the same, so that 1% must be physicality.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Chapter 18: Revolutions of Industrialization, 1750-1914
Whenever I think about the Industrial Revolution, I always think about the bad stuff like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, children being exploited as labor, people losing limbs due to dangerous work, and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The idea of the laboring classes doing the physical work in order for the higher classes to benefit when the poor won't benefit much is difficult for me. That idea is somewhat prevalent today, but more along the lines of the poor being unable to rise in class structure (at least easily) rather than in the Industrial age where kids were put to work and the employees were subject to whatever abuse their employers desired like endless work hours and extremely low wages. I believe it's because I don't know a world outside of a country industrialized and how it is now, so I forget the true importance of the Industrial Revolution. Because of this revolution, the world was been blessed (or not depending on your stance) with beginning technologies of efficient transportation, fast/cheap clothing production and distribution, and the start of modern medicine. Most people correlate the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions with Europe, and therefore, any other continents being lesser and primitive. Those people forget how in their history classes, their instructors do mention how, for example, the Chinese invented paper in 105 AD and print making in 610 AD. However, it is true that Great Britain was one of the most powerful countries in the world after the Renaissance due to exploiting different peoples and natural resources due to colonization.
When I think about the Scientific Revolution, I think of positive things such as logical reasoning, the separation of church and state, and general inventions that have attributed directly to the technology we have today. The Scientific Revolution is a larger turning point than the Industrial Revolution since the Industrial Revolution was born because of the Scientific Revolution.
I believe the idea of socialism is quite nice, but overall it hasn't shown to effect societies positively when put to use. Over the last century, we've seen governments like the USSR implement their own version of socialism that ultimately ended. The key words in that sentence are "own version" because a general form of any government would not automatically work in each country given their politics, cultures, and locations. It's unfortunate that forms of socialist countries like Norway aren't publicized. The Norwegian government seems to be working well with mostly content citizens.
I refuse to give into American Exceptionalism, but the US clearly became the world's leading industrialized power in 1914. I feel that people believe that now, but it's untrue. Other countries, such as China, presently are more wealthy than the US and more technologically advanced.
When I think about the Scientific Revolution, I think of positive things such as logical reasoning, the separation of church and state, and general inventions that have attributed directly to the technology we have today. The Scientific Revolution is a larger turning point than the Industrial Revolution since the Industrial Revolution was born because of the Scientific Revolution.
I believe the idea of socialism is quite nice, but overall it hasn't shown to effect societies positively when put to use. Over the last century, we've seen governments like the USSR implement their own version of socialism that ultimately ended. The key words in that sentence are "own version" because a general form of any government would not automatically work in each country given their politics, cultures, and locations. It's unfortunate that forms of socialist countries like Norway aren't publicized. The Norwegian government seems to be working well with mostly content citizens.
I refuse to give into American Exceptionalism, but the US clearly became the world's leading industrialized power in 1914. I feel that people believe that now, but it's untrue. Other countries, such as China, presently are more wealthy than the US and more technologically advanced.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Manifesto of the Communist Party
This publication was originally written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The first chapter is titled, "Bourgeois and Proletarians". Both terms indicate socio-economic classes. The bourgeois was the wealthy middle class. The proletarians were lower class or the working class.
The authors report that there are rising tensions between the two classes. They criticize the bourgeois for valuing money over family after experiencing a large influx of funds. Reading this, it feels like the authors are trying to make more of a comment about human social behavior in the sense that humans are fundamentally selfish and will take all that is given to them. Also, the majority of the paragraphs begin with, "The Bourgeoisie.." and goes onto criticizing them. They criticize the bourgeoisie for exploiting the proletarians through capitalism. Perhaps the capitalism that Marx and Engels is different than the US capitalism I'm thinking of. Perhaps their view would be different if government helped regulate private business (laws on human rights and such).
The authors report that there are rising tensions between the two classes. They criticize the bourgeois for valuing money over family after experiencing a large influx of funds. Reading this, it feels like the authors are trying to make more of a comment about human social behavior in the sense that humans are fundamentally selfish and will take all that is given to them. Also, the majority of the paragraphs begin with, "The Bourgeoisie.." and goes onto criticizing them. They criticize the bourgeoisie for exploiting the proletarians through capitalism. Perhaps the capitalism that Marx and Engels is different than the US capitalism I'm thinking of. Perhaps their view would be different if government helped regulate private business (laws on human rights and such).
Sweet Nexus: Sugar and the Origins of the Modern World"
Although the necessity of commodities are unchanged, the way we use them is different. Before, people used to value their things more because they weren't as readily available now. In an age of capitalism and extreme consumerism, almost everything is incredibly accessible and in large amounts. Sugar is so readily available that many people are fat; before, sugar was more accessible to richer people, so fatness was a sign of being well fed and wealthy.
Sugar was connected to slavery until the 1800s because of the Haitian Revolution (which influenced neighboring islands/countries) and the revolutions of the Americas.
I believe that many people haven't tasted sugar cane by itself today. Processed sugar is common in everyday foods, but not the plant. Vietnamese have what's called, "nuoc mia". It's a cold beverage squeezed from sugar canes. They have the sugar compressor (?) viewable in the nuoc mia shops so you can watch the employees push the sugar canes into the machines. I think about 4 or more sugarcanes are used to make a 16oz beverage. The shops serve nuoc mia as is, or with different fruits infused. I personally enjoy strawberry nuoc mia and I think I'll get some later this week! People need to understand that the sugarcane crop is different than processed sugar. Although both are sweet, each is broken down differently in human bodies.
Sugar was connected to slavery until the 1800s because of the Haitian Revolution (which influenced neighboring islands/countries) and the revolutions of the Americas.
I believe that many people haven't tasted sugar cane by itself today. Processed sugar is common in everyday foods, but not the plant. Vietnamese have what's called, "nuoc mia". It's a cold beverage squeezed from sugar canes. They have the sugar compressor (?) viewable in the nuoc mia shops so you can watch the employees push the sugar canes into the machines. I think about 4 or more sugarcanes are used to make a 16oz beverage. The shops serve nuoc mia as is, or with different fruits infused. I personally enjoy strawberry nuoc mia and I think I'll get some later this week! People need to understand that the sugarcane crop is different than processed sugar. Although both are sweet, each is broken down differently in human bodies.
Chapter 17
Since I'm catching up on my blog entries, I'll write my reaction to the whole Chapter of our assigned readings.
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The revolutions of North America, Europe, Haiti, and Latin America shared common ideas, grew from the Enlightenment, and the need of popular sovereignty (except in Haiti).
"Many Americans thought they were creating a new world order." The root of American exceptionalism! I think in this situation, it's rightfully deserved. I didn't know that the U.S. Constitution directly came from the Enlightenment. Actually, I think I knew but I didn't remember until now.
I haven't studied the French Revolution so much, so whenever I think about it, I always picture the movie Marie Antoinette, which starred Kristen Dunst. I hated that movie, but the visuals were stunning. The Palace of Versailles is amazing (at least from pictures).. no wonder why the government was going bankrupt. I know they also spent the state's money on soldiers in America and colonial efforts. The monarch raised taxes to help the deficit, but the people violently revolted. I wonder if the French government thought about the French Revolution when trying to figure out today's economic troubles. .
THe Haitian Revolution was successful; the only slave revolt successful in history. I didn't know that the purchase of the Louisiana territory directly correlates with this revolution. Originally, it was $15 million dollars, but with today's inflation, the Louisiana Purchase was worth $233 million. Although $233 million is an incredible amount of money, it sounds like a normal day on the finance page in a newspaper nowadays. I think the latest business merger I can think of is Office Max and Office Depot. Office Depot bought Office Max for $1 billion within the last few weeks.
Since Latin American societies were torn by class, race, and regional divisions, I could see why a revolution would begin. This revolution was longer than the American one since its people were different. The independent leaders were on the side of the natives.
"Echoes of Revolution" refer to events that happened because of the revolutions like smaller European revolutions, abolition of slavery, slave rebellions in the West Indies, resistance to abolition of slavery, nationalism, and feminism.
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The revolutions of North America, Europe, Haiti, and Latin America shared common ideas, grew from the Enlightenment, and the need of popular sovereignty (except in Haiti).
"Many Americans thought they were creating a new world order." The root of American exceptionalism! I think in this situation, it's rightfully deserved. I didn't know that the U.S. Constitution directly came from the Enlightenment. Actually, I think I knew but I didn't remember until now.
I haven't studied the French Revolution so much, so whenever I think about it, I always picture the movie Marie Antoinette, which starred Kristen Dunst. I hated that movie, but the visuals were stunning. The Palace of Versailles is amazing (at least from pictures).. no wonder why the government was going bankrupt. I know they also spent the state's money on soldiers in America and colonial efforts. The monarch raised taxes to help the deficit, but the people violently revolted. I wonder if the French government thought about the French Revolution when trying to figure out today's economic troubles. .
THe Haitian Revolution was successful; the only slave revolt successful in history. I didn't know that the purchase of the Louisiana territory directly correlates with this revolution. Originally, it was $15 million dollars, but with today's inflation, the Louisiana Purchase was worth $233 million. Although $233 million is an incredible amount of money, it sounds like a normal day on the finance page in a newspaper nowadays. I think the latest business merger I can think of is Office Max and Office Depot. Office Depot bought Office Max for $1 billion within the last few weeks.
Since Latin American societies were torn by class, race, and regional divisions, I could see why a revolution would begin. This revolution was longer than the American one since its people were different. The independent leaders were on the side of the natives.
"Echoes of Revolution" refer to events that happened because of the revolutions like smaller European revolutions, abolition of slavery, slave rebellions in the West Indies, resistance to abolition of slavery, nationalism, and feminism.
Chapter 16
Since I'm catching up on my blog entries, I'll write my reaction to the whole Chapter of our assigned readings.
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Egypt was the first country converted to Christianity. Because of the entire region becoming Islamic, Egypt did eventually also. Therefore by the 1500, Christianity was mostly in Europe and fighting Islamic forces. The Protestant reformation began in 1517 with Martin Luther's 95 Theses. He also questioned the clergy's authority. I find it funny that I'm writing this entry late because I'm rereading about the Catholic authority and the pope made his last public appearance as pope yesterday! I believe the Catholic clergy is somewhat still corrupt (as all large institutions can be), but a lot less corrupt than in the days of Martin Luther. Because of Luther's ideas, the large religious schism touched upon other things that weren't religious like social, economical, and political tensions. Being Catholic seems to have been the lives of these people.
It's interesting how the book points out that Protestantism "ended veneration of Mary and other female saints" so that Jesus could be the one and dominant male figure. There is so much evidence about religion that men have used to their own advantage to gain more power. I continually learn more and more! Not only did Christians do it, Muslims too! In both cases, women were more equal to men in the beginning of the religions but as time passed and the religion became more powerful, women had less power.
Because religion had so much precedence in European lives, it makes sense that the schism caused many more revolutions and wars like the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years' War. The Reformation helped to encourage citizens to think past religion and more with a secular point of view.
The conversion of Spanish America resinates still today since most of Mexico to South America are largely Catholic. Religion has really stuck with colonized lands. Although Christianity reached China, the religion didn't stick as well because it wasn't combined with Chinese culture well and Europeans didn't imperialize China until later.
Wahhabism is a strange word to translate over to English. I want Dr. Ferdowsi to say the founder's name, "Abd al-Wahhab" so I know what it's supposed to sound like. Wahhabism's main goals were "to restore absolute monotheism, end veneration of saints", "to restore absolute monotheism, end veneration of saints", and "to restore strict adherence to the sharia (Islamic law)."
Confucian ideology still resinates in Chinese culture today even though the Qing dynasty ended 101 years ago. I see the difference between Confucian ideology and American ideology because American ideology is very individualistic, whereas Confucian isn't. Confucius was a traditionalist and he saw the family unit as the unit to honor the most. I believe it's wonderful to value family, but at the same time, each person is an individual. I like to see the middle ground to combine both ideologies.
"The Scientific Revolution was an intellectual and cultural transformation that occurred between the mid-sixteenth century and the early eighteenth century."
I think the term "Scientific Revolution" is synonymous with "modernization". Science has helped people understand concepts with hard evidence; it's a way of thinking we still have today. It challenged religious institutions, social/political systems, and inequality among people.
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Egypt was the first country converted to Christianity. Because of the entire region becoming Islamic, Egypt did eventually also. Therefore by the 1500, Christianity was mostly in Europe and fighting Islamic forces. The Protestant reformation began in 1517 with Martin Luther's 95 Theses. He also questioned the clergy's authority. I find it funny that I'm writing this entry late because I'm rereading about the Catholic authority and the pope made his last public appearance as pope yesterday! I believe the Catholic clergy is somewhat still corrupt (as all large institutions can be), but a lot less corrupt than in the days of Martin Luther. Because of Luther's ideas, the large religious schism touched upon other things that weren't religious like social, economical, and political tensions. Being Catholic seems to have been the lives of these people.
It's interesting how the book points out that Protestantism "ended veneration of Mary and other female saints" so that Jesus could be the one and dominant male figure. There is so much evidence about religion that men have used to their own advantage to gain more power. I continually learn more and more! Not only did Christians do it, Muslims too! In both cases, women were more equal to men in the beginning of the religions but as time passed and the religion became more powerful, women had less power.
Because religion had so much precedence in European lives, it makes sense that the schism caused many more revolutions and wars like the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years' War. The Reformation helped to encourage citizens to think past religion and more with a secular point of view.
The conversion of Spanish America resinates still today since most of Mexico to South America are largely Catholic. Religion has really stuck with colonized lands. Although Christianity reached China, the religion didn't stick as well because it wasn't combined with Chinese culture well and Europeans didn't imperialize China until later.
Wahhabism is a strange word to translate over to English. I want Dr. Ferdowsi to say the founder's name, "Abd al-Wahhab" so I know what it's supposed to sound like. Wahhabism's main goals were "to restore absolute monotheism, end veneration of saints", "to restore absolute monotheism, end veneration of saints", and "to restore strict adherence to the sharia (Islamic law)."
Confucian ideology still resinates in Chinese culture today even though the Qing dynasty ended 101 years ago. I see the difference between Confucian ideology and American ideology because American ideology is very individualistic, whereas Confucian isn't. Confucius was a traditionalist and he saw the family unit as the unit to honor the most. I believe it's wonderful to value family, but at the same time, each person is an individual. I like to see the middle ground to combine both ideologies.
"The Scientific Revolution was an intellectual and cultural transformation that occurred between the mid-sixteenth century and the early eighteenth century."
I think the term "Scientific Revolution" is synonymous with "modernization". Science has helped people understand concepts with hard evidence; it's a way of thinking we still have today. It challenged religious institutions, social/political systems, and inequality among people.
Chapter 15
Since I'm catching up on my blog entries, I'll write my reaction to the whole Chapter of our assigned readings.
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During this period, the world seems to be coming of age... like a "teenager" if you will: slave trade; globalization (commerce and imperialism). Going into "adulthood!" I mean, if you consider the time now adulthood.
Dr. Ferdowsi talked about how the Middle East was the "center" of the world and it became a very diverse place exposed to many cultures from Europe and Asia. Since his viewpoint understands more of the Middle Eastern cultures, this reading is probably more Eurocentric than his.
Europe was recovering from the Black Plague and its societies were rising. Since the continent was well again, Europe was able to pursue whatever it wanted. The motivation for the Europeans trading with the Asians were spices? I could understand that since food would be so tasteless without it. Meat I'm guessing these societies were less meat based than we are now and had more vegetable consumption. I'm not sure if eating meat versus eating vegetables have any difference in seasoning (I don't eat meat). Even life without paprika would be so difficult for me. Okay, I definitely can understand the European's desire for spices.
In Indian Ocean commerce, the Portuguese were pirates? I imagine them like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland... except those pirates were Spanish and English (I think). I want to go to Disneyland instead of writing this journal. Disneyland is the best. Sorry. Anyway, the Portugese created a "trading post empire" which means their goal was to control commerce instead of people or territories. They used force to control their empire instead of money. At its height, the Portugese trading post empire controlled half of Europe's commerce of spices. Their decline was in the 1600s.
I love learning about Filipino history. I'm half, but I don't really know much about my heritage. My grandfather's mother was Spanish so that makes me like 1/8 Spanish. My Filipino side is very Americanized so we don't celebrate any Filipino traditions outside of the religious, Catholic ones. That's the part of the culture I know well and it's from the Spanish! Also, my mother's maiden name is Reyes. Clear Spanish indicators. Although, how the Spanish "modernized" the native Filipinos is disheartening to hear. I suppose it's slightly easier to imagine the Spanish taking over the Philippines since I know my ancestors suffered that fate.
So there was the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company. Either of them could've tried thinking of more creative names; the way they're named now makes them sound affiliated. Maybe that's just my 21st century thinking since we have corporations/chain companies and they probably didn't back then.
"Between the mid-fifteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, the Atlantic slave trade took an estimated 11 million people from Africa to the Americas." The image I have in my mind is a large city, like Hong Kong, with that same population as the number of estimated slaves brought from Africa to the Americas. That's an ENORMOUS amount of people to be in one place unwillingly. The success of the business between the Europeans and the Africans turned out to be highly detrimental to African societies.
I like the phrase, "transregional linkages".
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During this period, the world seems to be coming of age... like a "teenager" if you will: slave trade; globalization (commerce and imperialism). Going into "adulthood!" I mean, if you consider the time now adulthood.
Dr. Ferdowsi talked about how the Middle East was the "center" of the world and it became a very diverse place exposed to many cultures from Europe and Asia. Since his viewpoint understands more of the Middle Eastern cultures, this reading is probably more Eurocentric than his.
Europe was recovering from the Black Plague and its societies were rising. Since the continent was well again, Europe was able to pursue whatever it wanted. The motivation for the Europeans trading with the Asians were spices? I could understand that since food would be so tasteless without it. Meat I'm guessing these societies were less meat based than we are now and had more vegetable consumption. I'm not sure if eating meat versus eating vegetables have any difference in seasoning (I don't eat meat). Even life without paprika would be so difficult for me. Okay, I definitely can understand the European's desire for spices.
In Indian Ocean commerce, the Portuguese were pirates? I imagine them like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland... except those pirates were Spanish and English (I think). I want to go to Disneyland instead of writing this journal. Disneyland is the best. Sorry. Anyway, the Portugese created a "trading post empire" which means their goal was to control commerce instead of people or territories. They used force to control their empire instead of money. At its height, the Portugese trading post empire controlled half of Europe's commerce of spices. Their decline was in the 1600s.
I love learning about Filipino history. I'm half, but I don't really know much about my heritage. My grandfather's mother was Spanish so that makes me like 1/8 Spanish. My Filipino side is very Americanized so we don't celebrate any Filipino traditions outside of the religious, Catholic ones. That's the part of the culture I know well and it's from the Spanish! Also, my mother's maiden name is Reyes. Clear Spanish indicators. Although, how the Spanish "modernized" the native Filipinos is disheartening to hear. I suppose it's slightly easier to imagine the Spanish taking over the Philippines since I know my ancestors suffered that fate.
So there was the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company. Either of them could've tried thinking of more creative names; the way they're named now makes them sound affiliated. Maybe that's just my 21st century thinking since we have corporations/chain companies and they probably didn't back then.
"Between the mid-fifteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, the Atlantic slave trade took an estimated 11 million people from Africa to the Americas." The image I have in my mind is a large city, like Hong Kong, with that same population as the number of estimated slaves brought from Africa to the Americas. That's an ENORMOUS amount of people to be in one place unwillingly. The success of the business between the Europeans and the Africans turned out to be highly detrimental to African societies.
I like the phrase, "transregional linkages".
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