Chpt 23 Considering the Evidence 4/21

    As the semester is winding down this is the last chapter in the book in which we had to review. Taking a look back on the world economy and how it has come to function. It has been interesting to watch. Not much of the 21st century remains left untouched by globalization. In fact much of everything we touch is indeed a result of globalization. Although much of the westernized world has taken this globalization for granted that isn't the case in much of the rest of the world. Many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America still struggle in making their own economies and for much of the their basic necessities. In these visual sources I was given a picture of how many people perceived the economies.
    In the first visual source the picture was of to people on a bike riding through the orchard in china. It almost was a lackadaisical character of how the elite would view globalization and how the are not too affected by the financial need. The second visual was extremely powerful representing death and a sign stating that globalization was exploiting the people and the nature of trades. this was actually very common in the east portion of the world and was extremely dramatic.

Religion and Global Modernity 4/16

      Another type of globalization that began to take place was the shaping of today's modern religions. This chapter was interesting because to most "advanced" thinkers of the enlightenment period actuall believed that religion was going to phase out of exisitance, and society would turn to a much more scientific/ communist role. For the most part during that time this actually seemed to be true, countries like France, Britain, and the Soviet Union all saw a decline in the amount of religious practices, another big factor was that smaller countries were actually placing a higher emphasis on school.
      But despite all the belief of religion not playing out, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islamic religions played huge parts in the political area as in the societies they were accepted into, they were also very adept at spreading themselves into other countries. Through out the west popular activities such as yoga, and meditation have spread down the line branching from Buddhism. By the 20th century countries like Chine began to embrace religions like Christianity, making it the first religion to actually make up for 62% of European religious culture. Another large part of the expand religious modernization was called fundamentalism, which seemed to be adopted in part by almost all religious groups. This fundamentalism was considered the embattled form of spirituality, which in large part was very symbolic to the people because it was considered to be good verses evil.
      As the evolutions of religions continues, to this day it appears that we have a society that is lead by its own personal views. Over time the religions themselves have morphed into what they have become today with the advancement of fundamentalism but with all these adaption it is still very obvious that our world s still a very religious society.

Feminist Movement 4/14

Duringhe last century large ideas have been circulating around the globe. None are more powerful than the idea of liberation, and to that extent the libration of women. It is hard to live in a world where women are not as hinder by men as in other countries, but with the concept of globalization comes the meshing of cultures, and with this meshing comes women with the idea of freedom. In the 1960's civil rights lead African Americans , and Hispanic Americans to rise up, In western Europe people were also driven by civil rights but this was more so for the women. Books became the driving force for all campaigns. Authors such as Simon Beauvoir arugued that women had long been classified by the other weaker sex, in effort to help establish rights over their bodies women also signed documents stating they had undergone abortions which at the time was illegal.
       Women were trying to identify with the feminist mysitic which argued that they were unsatisfied with motherhood and marriage and in an effort to escape those boundries they took on the feminist movement to educate themselves and create jobs for themselves.
      This is a far cry from what women now days see themselves as. It is eye opening and expressive.

Primary Sources of Islam 4/11

Tonight's reading was on the Primary Sources of Islam, it was the collection of four reading as well as four visual sources that gave the class first hand knowledge as to what the people of Islam viewed and felt at that time. This reading was also part of my hour long class presentation and so I was really in tune to what the authors had to say.
       Each of the four reading was interesting because they each held a different view point as to the turning points in the Islamic world. The first author Ayatollah Khomeini, was especially diligent in trying present his own views to the public. He believe that the Imperialist were the source of the problems for the Muslim people that they're goal was an effort to keep his people in a backwards state to which they would be able to exploit them.
        My favorite author was actually the last, she supported the feminist movement. Hirsi Ali was a young woman who grew up in the Islamic movement and was very supportive of it until her father tried to force her into an arranged marriage, during this point in her life she was actually able to pull away from her faith and explore the different options such as atheism, as well as becoming more politically active.
        In this way we are able to see two sides of how people perceived the Islamic movement as well as how it affected their every day lives. The visual sources are also ways in which people expressed their view on how affected their every day lives. In visual 22.3 Jewish immigrants expressed their thankfulness for giving back their promise land.

The Ending of an Era 4/4/14

This chapter in the book was about the political aspects of Africa and Asia in in the 1900's, and how after such little time they seemed to disappear!Why did these two growing countries seem to just melt away from the political landscape in the 20th century? I believe that much of this had to do with their independence of the European nations. They were at a time when trying to assert their cultures as well as gain independence from Europe seemed to bring them down instead of boost them up. This was during the Colonial Era, and during a time when other countries like Russian, and Austria seemed to be falling. They had a sort of self-determination to build themselves up. It seemed that as Countries like the United States, and parts of Europe gained in dominance the ideas of self-government became less wide spread, Africa and Asia were given chances to prove themselves because of the 20th century gave out a large boom of educated elites who were well versed in European culture. During this time also came the following of widespread ordinary people who wanted to follow the dream.The more urbanized these Africa and Asia became the more interesting they were to other European Countries. The struggles to develop these countries grew as men such as Gandi, Ho Chi Minh, and Mandela all strives to improve Africa and Asia, over time these movements helped to make alliances between different classes and ethnic groups.

Collapse at the Center 3/24/14

Today's reading was interestingly enough about the first World War, which lead history into its very next segment.We know it was basically a European war that eventually branched out to the rest of the world but people often forget that it also was part of the great depression, the rise of Germany and Hitler, as well as adding on to WW2. Why did this happen? Well I like how the book has put into perspective that by the 1900's most of the World was under the government of the Europeans, as their massive empire as well as influence spread, it didnt exactly ice their cake with neighboring rivials such as the Italians and Germans. These other countries were also seeking to gain power as form little groups. These groups were ment to bring peace to the countries and help prevent strife but in 1914 Sebrians assisnated the Hungarian heir which was part of the starting point to the first world war.

Changing China 3/21

Todays post was on the documents written by the chinease after the first Opium War. The document that I believe I liked the best was that of the Editorial on China's Examination System. This document goes into great detail about the hardships students had to go through in order to obtain there robes and graduate. It really made me laugh when talking about their hair turning with, and them having to spend part of the year toiling in class and the other half struggling with their families. The most difficult they seem to say was the eight-legged essay, with emphasises the european influence through their country. Another document that I thought really tied into was Gender, Reform, and Revolution. In this section womens roles also seemed to crop up and have the people question where traditional marriages would still be the same or if yearly contracts would instead replace them. The most important womens rights activsit at the time was Qiu Jin. She left her family in the pursuit of education, and started some revolutionary circles. These to documents are just a simple part of the entire Chinease Revolution, much because of the Opuim War, as well as the dependance on the European governments, China found themselves with overpopulation, and large areas of poverty.

The Scramble For Africa 3/13/14

             Tonight's reading was a general conclusion to Scramble for Africa in the book. It revolves around the artistic interpretations of how many artists viewed the breaking up of the contents during the 19th century. During this time it was when the European began to exploit Africa in ways other than the slave trade and began to hunt for raw materials, as well as land, and expansion in the industrial revolution. The visual sources in the book were particularly eye catching because each one was unique in its vary own way.
             The first visual source was really interesting because the artists take was entirely different than what I would have expected especially when just viewing it. Think of a modern day monopoly game in which the theme is gaining wealth and prestige by gathering land. This was the idea of was gathered from the French's overall scramble to gather parts of Africa, and was rather creative at the time.
             The second visual aid was just as striking as the first. I especially liked this one because it was more vivid and enthralling that the other sources. It depicted the French expedition as they traveled a crossed the continent of Africa and placed great emphasis on the Commander of the French expedition Jean-Baptiste Marchland, and his eighteen month long march with his troops. In the picture Marchland is leading the way through a dry desert type scene, with his troops guns pulled ready to fire, and with him stand dramatically over the dead body of a soldier. I believe that this portrayal of Marchland made the French feel as if they were reaching higher goals than the other Europeans and emphasized this on the cover of their magazine.
              These to visual sources are just little insights to how the Europeans thought of their take over of Africa. Much of the artistic work was done by the European's and showed how they each got a piece of the African nation.

Echos of Revolution (pgs 798-811) 2/4/14

           Tonight's reading largely in part revolved around the post era of the Atlantic Revolution. It focused mainly on three challenges the world had to resolve. Those three challenges were:
                     1) The Abolition Movement and the end to slavery.
                     2) The Formation of Nationalism.
                     3) The Feminist Movement.
           All three of these movement have played an important role in exactly how our Governments, Nations, and Societies are shaped. It is hard to imagine not having our ancestors go through the trials they endured to fight for what they believe was just and right, and because of each and every one of these movements countries around the world are now offering better opportunities, for a bigger majority of their people.
          The Abolitionist Movement is really the only movement I happened to learn about in previous history classes and this maybe because it sparked the biggest part of the Enlightenment Movement, and helped shape our own country's history in a unique way. With this movement the world was able to spark ideas of liberty and equality. Ended slavery in the European nations as well as start promoting the working and middle classes giving them better opportunities as well.
           Nationalism and feminism movements both had last impacts through out the 19th C. People began migrating to industrialized cities, and a lot more  political ideologies began to be practiced. Women started to ask for more rights, such as to own land and have divorces, and overall people began to separate themselves for the governments who once had control over them, and they began to make their own constitutions and nations.
           Without these three movements that largely shaped the 18th and 19th C. our world today would look much different. I can only imagine what it would be like to not part take in my voting rights or have to defer to a man, to get a proper education. The Atlantic Revolution has helped shaped the world today by giving those people previous to my generation a different outlook on how life can be. It only serves to make me wonder if things hadn't changed what would my view points be today?

1/25 The Journey Through Slavery

      Today's history reading revolved around various accounts of people who lived through the Atlantic Slave trade. In the reading I gained a first hand view through the eyes of a slave, through the eyes of a merchant, and then through the eyes of two kings living in Africa. I was most shocked at the what the people describe their treatments as being, and I believed in my mind things would have been much different.
     What do I mean by much different? Well in the first narrative about the slave Olaudah, I got the feeling that Africans were so much kinder to their slaves than their American counterparts. At times I felt as if Olaudah was almost welcomed into the families who bought him, and that his only true suffering began when he was captured and place on a slave ship.
     Through the eyes of the English Merchant, I gained the sense that all Africans where beneath the esteem of the Traders. It seemed they found it difficult to respect the culture, and they ultimately felt that the people where not worth the space or money paid for them.
    The last two account through the eyes of the two kings, different greatly. I was most enamored with the king who sought to end slavery in his territory. But it was shocking to see how involved his society was with the western world. The other King was all but desperate in his attempts to promote slavery.
       Each of these accounts was meant to establish a certain image of slavery in the readers eyes. By reading each I have gained a little understanding from each point of view. It is incredibly sad to see that Africa's culture has been shaped by the larger standing parties such as the merchant and king who promoted slavery, and not by the educated slave, and King who knew exactly what slavery can do to populations. In the end, I believe that if more Kings had the incite to keep slavery out of their territory's, and had promoted their own trade network things would not be as they are today.

    

Yay - I'm Done!!!

This Is my first blog ever!!