Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Chapter 21 pg. 1035-1068 + Chapter 21 Documents

Chapter 21:


In 1917, there was a rise of Communism in Russia. Within a year, Communists were able to not only come into power, but also take complete control over all power. Communism was welcomed, greeted, and encouraged by many people throughout Russia, China, Cuba, and Vietnam. This was due to the liberation and freedom it promised to provide for things like inequality and exploitation. Little did these people know communism was about to do the complete opposite. It was not till the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that communism had totally diminished.

Communism is discussed in this chapter and the reader is shown the effects it has had on the world. It helped build and set up socialism, which occurred under the rule of Joseph Stalin in the 1920-1930s. Stalin, in sink with China, redistributed their countries land.
 Communism also gave efforts to not only liberating but also mobilizing women. This initiation occurred from the top which is the main reason it was so successful.


Chapter 21 Documents:

Stalin on Stalinism

It was very interesting to hear how Stalin grew up with an abusive father. This fact does not surprise me at all and it truly explains a lot. No matter how horrible of a childhood Stalin had, and no matter how hurt he was by how his father treated him, he still grew up to be like his dad. This goes without saying, a very high percentage of people usually become what their parents are. I would imagine Hitler's life was similar to this.
The fact that he wanted to kill all the kulaks also was very interesting to me. Why did he want to get rid of the rich peasants so quickly? Why not take out the poorer ones first? I think it was because the more money one has, the more in control they are. Therefore, since Stalin wanted to be in total control, he wanted to wipe out the money first.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Chapter 19 pg 931-957 + Chapter 19 Documents

Chapter 19:

China took an aggressive approach to industrializing their country but unlike other countries, they did not take well to the economical change that occurred. However, they still maintained their formal independence. In the sense, China was different than the other colonization's because they were able to keep their independence unlike other colonization's. Additionally, China was able to produce a great amount of crops and food which allowed their population to grow a lot, a 300 million population growth to be exact. However, since there was no major food industry however, China had to revert to other methods of growing food. Which was small farms but that was not enough to feed the whole population. Therefore, China suffered many deaths to starvation.


The two main events that occurred and had a major impact were the Opium War and the Taiping Uprising. The Opium War started from a request to British for an open trade. It opened up five different ports so that the Chinese could trade with Europeans. Once this happened it opened up the door so that Europeans could by land in China. Additionally, the Taiping Uprising changed the way the culture viewed women. This was a very important event because women did not have a lot of power in Chinese. They were no longer forced to have their feet bound and they could fight in battles. Additionally, they were also not looked upon as badly as they were before.

Chapter 19 Documents:

The document I really like was Document 19 because it shows how a women stood up for her rights. She was given away to be married at 18 to an older man. Throughout the marriage she was not happy. She then disregarded every teaching and principle of China and left her husband to pursue an education. This was a dramatic and scary thing to do, however, Qui Jin did it. Her mission was to change the injustice rules of the Quin dynasty and to appeal for womens rights. For this, she was beheaded. This really makes me think about how strong of a person this lady was. To stand up to her husband is hard enough as it is, but to stand up to your country, is unheard of. I applaud her for doing that and wonder if I would every be able to do that.

The visual source I liked was 19.2. This was because it showed China being Westernized and it showed the similarities between the two. Western things like play the piano, the violin, and the outfits were things that resembled American. This just shows you that westernization was spreading throughout the world.


Chapter 17 Documents

Chapter 17 Documents:

17.1 Document caught my attention because it was so real. It talk about the brutal conditions of working in factories. The workers were treated so poorly and what stood out to me what the testimony of Elizabeth Bentley. She would work 13 hours a day and would only have one 40 minute break at noon. The could not eat their food in the factory either so throughout the day they would starve. They were beaten or "strapped" however, nothing was ever said about it. Even when the kids were beaten when they would go home their parents would not say anything. The parents couldn't because then the kids would loose their job and then they would loose their pay. This really struck me because I cannot even imagine working conditions like this. It just shows how much times have progressed which is a positive thing however, it is still a really important thing to remember.


Saturday, April 23, 2016

Chapter 16: pg 798-811 + Chapter 16 Documents

Chapter 16:

The revolutions had a global impact on the world because they enlightened other countries about how to stand up for their rights and then encouraged them to fight for their rights. The ideas spread throughout the world and they were known as "Global Echoes". The global echoes had a impact on countries for a lot of things however, two really stood out to me. These two were the abolishment of slavery and equality for women. The connection I made regarding these echoes were with the song "Same Love." The song talks about equality for gay people. It describes that love is love no matter what color, race or sex you are. Same thing goes for the abolishment of slavery and the equality for women. Regardless if your a boy or a girl, no matter if your skin color is red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, or grey, all people are people and they are all EQUAL. This was the positive thing that came out of the Global Echoes. It was a realization to people that we should be treating everyone with respect and all have the same rights. Finally, after the echoes took an impact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came out in 1948.

Chapter 16 Documents:

I like Document 16.3 because it focuses on the rights of people and the freedom of slaves. The ideas of the French Revolution had sparked a light in realization that people were made to be equal. Additionally, in America once the Declaration of Independence was created and it stated, "all men were created equally."
The document is was in the perspective of a past slave named Douglass. He was a slave, then lead an abolishment, then became a write and a publisher. The main message of this document was to get the reader thinking about what the Fourth of July really means to slaves. In America, we celebrate this day because it was when the Declaration of Independence came out and finally all people had their freedom. However, for people who were slaves, it is a day to remember all the cruelty, wrongs, and injustices that went on years ago. For past slaves, or for families whos ancestors were slaves, it is not a celebration. It is a sad day, so should we really be celebrating it?

Intro Part 5 + Chapter 16: pg 781-797

Intro Part 5 + Chapter 16 pg 781-797

The Atlantic Revolutions started because of the European Enlightenment. The news was carried throughout the world because of books, newspapers, and word of mouth. The wars affected multiple countries. A couple in particular were France, Latin America, and Haiti. The wars or revolutions were all very expensive. Therefore, the wars did not strengthen any economies. Each revolution was directly related to each other because the idea of each bounced off to the next then continued on. Atlantic revolutionaries were all similar in the sense that the meaning behind the fighting was the same. That was for equality, liberty, free trade, and the freedom of religion. One of the most reasons however, was for nationalism. People were proud of their nation, and would defend it and their beliefs to the death. People believed in nationalism and wanted to be independent from other nations. They no longer wanted to be controlled by anyone and wanted to have their freedom.

Chapter 15: pg 740-752 + Chapter 15 Documents

Chapter 15:

The Scientific Revolution was such a revolution because it completely changed and challenged every understanding of the how the universe worked. No longer were things thought to be this or that, now they were known facts. Sceince proved them which is why there was no argument if it was true or not. It went against the teachings the Catholic Churches which made people very upset. No longer was earth the center of the universe and the moon and sun revolved around the sun. Therefore, no longer was the Church the center of everything which made priests and people upest. This realization was known as the Enlightment. Quickly the Enlightment spread wide throughout Europe.

Why did this Scientific Revolution occur in Europe first? This was due to autonomy, historical development, and fragmented civilization. Universities were a big part in this discovery because students could continue to learn about autonomy FREE from the church, (without all their strict rules.) The major people who played a big part in this revolution were Galileo, Newton, and Aristotle.


Chapter 15 Documents:

This article was interesting to me because it talked about the destruction and inequality of rights between sexes. Men clearly have more rights then women do and this is throughout nations. However, the document shows the progress of this equality and how human dignity is trying to improve. It was a positive document in the sense that it encourages us to use our minds to think outside of what we know.. Or what we "think we know." It pushes people towards trying to continue to enlighten ourselves so that not only do we continue to grow, but also know the real truth and find justice throughout the world.


Chapter 15: pg 719-739

Chapter 15 :

Europeans were the major reason for the Protestant Reformation and this event drastically changed the Roman Catholic Church. After Martin Luther created the Ninety Five Theses, he challenged the Catholic Church of Catechism and stated that good works couldn't get you to heaven and that neither would the sacraments. It was based upon more than that. Therefore, Luther opened up a whole new world of Christianity. Christianity spread quickly and this was a lot due to the invention of the Printing Press. Christianity was now throughout Asia, Africa, and Native Americans and it gave a different "modern scientific outlook" amongst the world. Missionaries were additionally people who infectiously taught the message to other societies. After this point, Christianity was no longer just in Europe, it now became a world religion. However, it still had competition with other huge religions such as Hinduism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.



Friday, April 22, 2016

Chapter 14 669-687

Chapter 14:

This section was mainly about the trade throughout the Indian Ocean. It was interrupted by Europeans however, this interruption helped Europeans create new connections with Asian countries. With this being said, there was still a lot trade going on.  The trade had a lot to do with spices but also silver. During this time, Spanish American had 85% of the silver. Once silver became popular the trade network for it flourished. It was originally found in Bolivia and Japan and then traded all over the Indian Ocean because of the high demand for it. There was such a high demand for it because Europeans wanted the goods that the people in the middle east produced. However, the problem was that the Arabs did not like what the Europeans had to trade. Therefore, the only way the would trade with the Europeans is if they pain in gold or silver.
.

Along with this trade, I also thought it was interesting how it stated women were trade merchants during this time? I thought women had no rights in any countries? So how and specifically why did this occur?



Chapter 14: pg: 687-699 Chapter 14 Documents

Chapter 14:

After African Americans were captured and taken from Africa as slaves, they brought their culture into the new world. Things such as their culture, religious beliefs, food, and traditions. This furthermore expanded and helped different ideas spread throughout the world. As far as the slave trade itself, it was mostly popular among American plantations. This was because of all the work that was needed to be done. Men were most commonly doing labor out on the cotton fields and farms, while the women did some of that labor, but mostly were in charge of the household. Things such as cooking, cleaning, and tending to the children. In a lot of cases the women were also used as objects for their masters, a lot of rape happen during this time period. Additionally and unfortunately, once in America slavery was also inherited. Meaning, if you were born and your parents were slaves, you automatically became a slave as well.

I also did not know where the word "slave" came from and I found this very informing. There were slaves taken in order to work on Mediterranean plantations. These slaves came from the Black Sea and were "Slavic-speaking." Because these slaves were so prominent and all over, the name "SLAV" became the generic term for slave.

Chapter 14 Documents:

There were 4 documents in this section. The one that I like was document 14.2. The perspective was from an English merchant and we were reading his journal. He described how exactly the slave trade worked from different perspectives. He witness the exchanges happen himself, therefore he was able to give first hand insight. The merchant gave us information such as how much the slaves were and what they would exchange the life of the slaves for in regards to goods and other services. This part especially stood out to me because it basically put a price on the human life. When people would trade these slaves for jewelry, animals, and food it really made me think about how poorly people thought of the slaves. I know my life is worth way more than any food, and jewelry, and any animal and it is honestly really crappy that these peoples lives were not thought of this way.





Intro 4 + Chapter 13

Intro Part 4:

This section introduces the reader to the political transformations that were going on throughout the world. While Europeans were in charge strictly due to the fact that they controlled the world sea routes, Japan and China controlled ALL of the merchants who tried to buy, sell, and trade in their countries. Asian Empires were more advance because of their history, culture and knowledge. Even though the Asian Empires eventually crashed, they still were greatly successful during this time. It is interesting to think about the saying, "all good things come to an end." Will every successful thing eventually die off? It is interesting to think of when you think about the United States today.


Chapter 13:

This chapter covers numerous topics however the primary ones are the following: The Great Dying, the Colombian Exchange, the Aztecs and Incas, and the Russian Empire. I want to focus this post on the Great Dying because that is what I found most interesting.

There were a lot of Native American societies located in Mesoamerica and Andean Zones. These two locations were mainly dominated by the Inca and Aztec Empires. No person living in these regions ever came in contact with Europeans. Therefore, since they were essentially isolated and had not built up any immunities to these diseases, when the Native people came in contact with the animals brought over from Europe and the European people, the Native people began dying. They died from simple diseases such as influenza, malaria, yellow fever, measles, and small pox. Nothing that couldn't be prevented, the Native people just weren't use to the diseases. In the end 90% of the population had deceased. WHAT!!! That is such a dramatic and alarming number.

After The Great Dying, there was a major labor shortage. This allowed open spaces for not only Europeans to come over, but also African Americans. Once the immigrants immigrated, they replaced the Native Americans. They also brought new plants, animals, germs, and people that were again foreign to the Natives. These new societies that were created from the immigration process helped develop globalization and transform the world we know today.




Monday, April 4, 2016

Into Part 6 + Chapter 20 pg 973-1017 + Chapter 20 Documents

Intro Part 6 + Chapter 20


World War 1 created  new way people live their lives as individuals, as communities, social groups, and nations. It was followed by an economic meltdown of the Great Depression which cause economies to spiral downward. All of a sudden the markets crashed and the banks all closed. People lost all their money and there was many suicides because of it. The unemployment also whirled downward and people were desperate for jobs. By 1932, employment rate had dropped by more than 30%.

Additionally, the Holocaust happened which was one of the more tragic events that has occurred. Jews were discriminated against and then wiped out because of Hitler and the Germans. They were put in concentration camps, dehumanized, and then burned, gassed, or shot. Millions of Jews were killed making their population dwindle.

 During the second half of the twentieth century, after World War 1 there was also a major world population growth in the U.S and Europe. Once World War 2 occurred, it mapped a road to a war in Europe and Africa and had a global conflict. Now we can look back at the wars and reflect on whether or not we have learned from them and whether or not they were beneficial. These are not easy questions and the answers vary from person to person. However, the one thing that is for sure is that those wars changed the world and made it the way it is today.

Chapter 20 Documents:

I was interested in Document 20.1 because it focuses on the Holocaust and the Nazism that occur. It shows how corrupt Hitler was and it talks about his book "Mein Kampf" which means "My Struggle." This was horrible to read because he was basically stating that his race was so much better than everyone else. He quoted, "All who are not of good race in this world are chaff." My question to him would be what makes you god? Who gives you to the power to just decide what race is good and what race is not? I guess I cannot wrap my head around a person who thinks that way. I will never understand the cold blooded person Hitler was.