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! 

Chapter 15- Global Commerce

So…. instead of boring you all with facts about chapter 15, I’m just simply going to give you my opinion and thoughts about one of the keys subjects in this chapter which is the Atlantic Slave Trade. Shocking to say, just the name “The Atlantic Slave Trade” says a lot about our society not only then but now as well. Unfortunately we live in a world where everyone works for their benefit. People betray other people for their benefit. Countries bomb other countries for their own benefit. It is a process of life where even the most inhumane practices are held so that people/countries may benefit for their own satisfaction. The Atlantic Slave Trade is the epitome of this world’s cruelty. For about 300 years, over 11 million people were taken from Africa and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas where they lived as slaves. Countless millions of people also died in the process of capturing and getting them to the Americas. How can people be so heartless to the point where they are taking other people out of their homes, their homeland, and their country, to be slaves for another country because of the color of their skin? How can such a HUGE thing like this happen without any objection from the rest of the world? The answer to that is money. Europeans and Americans made money off this horrible action.  They saw the suffering and brutality in which slaves had to go through daily, all because of money, because money is so much more important that a person’s life. Personally, I think it’s a damn shame that events like this can happen in our history. It’s a shame that people would use slaves as free labor because they were too lazy to do things on their own. It’s a shame that a little bit of extra cash can kill millions.

On the other hand, without the slave trade, the United States especially would not be as diverse as it is today. Not to say that in any way I support the Atlantic Slave Trade, but America is one of the most diverse countries in the world. We have all different cultures and ethnicities and that brings our country out the most. Unfortunately, traumatic events like this happen but there is always a little good that may come out if it. That’s a little on my view of the slave trade. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions!

Chapter 14- Empires and Encounters

Chapter 14 is filled with a lot of material that is rather interesting and worth reading about. North and South America has a lot of Spanish territories within it along with the French, Portuguese, and English territories. Europeans had a huge advantage when it came to trade because they had a great position for more involvement in the Americas. Although this was a huge breakthrough, it brought a lot of trouble for the Native Americans because of all the diseases in which were brought with the Europeans. Populations dropped almost instantly, and it shows how far the world can come just for some new territories and wealth. On the other hand, the Asian Empires had almost the same situation happening. Their empires were regional, and not global like conflicts between the Americas and the European powers. China eventually became into a Central Asian Empire. China was different in some ways because they did not move around the world. They stayed in their own territories and conquered neighboring countries unlike the Europeans. They did not mix bloods and believed in preserving their own culture rather than mixing and diversifying their country.
Overall it was very intriguing to see what strategies different countries has in expanding their empires and conquering territories. The Europeans, Russians, Chinese, Ottoman and Mughal all had different views and tactics to their plans. Some were very successful and some unfortunately killed many innocent people which was ultimately huge losses. Eurocentrism, till this day, continues to be a conflict among world historians.

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Hi, my name is Shaylja