Chapter 17- Atlantic Revolutions and their Echoes

Feminist Beginnings. Of all the subjects talked about in chapter 17, this really caught my eye. For many years women have not been treated with the same equality that men have been treated with. Everything for a woman has been ten times harder than a man to achieve in society. We are lucky now that in this day in age things have definitely taken a huge transformation and women are just as important as men. This all may have not happened if it wasn’t for the feminist movement. Europe and North America is where it all began. Within the middle class, more and more women found educational opportunities to learn new things, in order to obtain more knowledge to be successful. Some women found free time from household chores. Many many women took part is different activities and became involved in society such as temperance movements, charities, abolitionism, missionary work, socialist/pacifist organizations, and even active trade unionist. On the other countries such as France were not too fond of this movement and “based their claims less on abstract notions of equality and more on the distinctive role of women as mothers.” They were not supportive of women in society to be successful and make a difference. This did not stop anything and by the 1900’s upper and middle class woman were attending universities and women in the United States we able to manage and control their own property and wages. This was a huge break through but many feminists were viewed as “selfish” because they were “willing to sacrifice the family or even the nation while pursuing their individual goals.” There were many conflicts about feminists and their explosion in the world to be treated as an equal with men. In my opinion, I am a female, and I believe that females are just as capable as men to do anything. I think that sex doesn’t change anything and shouldn’t be regarded in any matter because equality is the key to success. Everyone deserves a chance to be what they want to be and do what they desire, with that, being judged on whether or not you’re a male or a female is unfair. I am very thankful for the feminist beginnings and how it has paved a concrete path for other females to live their dreams.

Chapter 18- Revolutions of Industrialization

As most people already know, the Industrial Revolution was one of the BIGGEST things to happen in our past history. It made life ten times easier for people and was a breakthrough for life. There was a great acceleration in the rate of technological innovation which led to major output of goods and services. Many inventions were made to make every day life easier for individual. This was HUGE for the economy. In most cases, the Revolution was helpful and created many of jobs. This was great because it gave people the chance to travel to the cities and get jobs but sometimes that wasn’t the case. Often times there were TOO many people looking for jobs and wasn’t enough to go around. Sometimes people would get sick and lose their job, and wouldn’t really have any money to get by. Their kids would starve, they would starve, and their lives would become a living hell. It was brutal for those who suffered sicknesses especially with all the people and diseases involved in this era. I sympathize for those who had it rough.

On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution was incredible and the invention I appreciate the most probably is the steam engine. It basically saved our lives because it gave all of us a way to transport. Without that breakthrough we probably wouldn’t be able to have submarines or trains. Moving things around is what our world does best and it’s a necessity to have that. Along with many other things like the telegraph, ELECTRICITY, and steel processing. I mean, take a minute and just think. What if we didn’t have all these inventions in our everyday life? What if we didn’t have a phone to call people or a switch to turn on your light? Life would be a mess and all the conveniences we have now would have never existed. The Industrial Revolution was vital for our everyday life and I’ve definitely learned to appreciate it! J

Chapter 16- Religion and Science

So the subject of the week for my blog is Spanish America! The Conversion and Adaptation in Spanish America. Personally, I think this matter is a little too much. Religion and the belief system is a very touchy topic to talk about seeing that everyone has their own belief’s and faith that there prefer. Honestly, I think it was a poor decision on the Europeans for forcing Christianity on the Native Americans. I think it was unacceptable and unfair to the Native Americans because they had to no choice but to convert seeing that they had no defense but to listen to the Europeans. Personally, my family and I are very strong believers in Hinduism and we could never think about converting to any other religion. If someone came into our home and made us convert to another religion that we were not fond of or ever heard of, it would make us VERY angry and confused. I could only imagine how the Native Americans felt. First coming into their homeland, taking away their pride, and then converting them to Christianity, must be heartbreaking. I don’t know what I would do in that position, but the Native Americans definitely did not deserve that type of treatment. Taking away their cultures and tradition is demoralizing. On the other hand, assimilating two religions together can give a better outlook on life with both peoples. Both the Native Americans and Europeans can have their own faith and tradition and can live in peace with their own beliefs. It can create a more diverse environment and keep everyone content. Luckily in this day, we have the freedom to choose our own religion and belief and have the choices that the Native Americans never had. GOD BLESS AMERICA!