This week’s reading concentrates on the period of time
between 1750 and 1914, and all the changes that were happening around the world. We start out by reading about several
revolutions that happened, one after another.
It seems to have been a time of great unrest.
We
start out with the American Revolution in the British colonies of North America
declare their independence from Great Britain, and go to war for their
freedom. Apparently, the French lent the
colonists quite a bit of help, which I was previously unaware of, which drained
their country of money and fueled their people’s appetite for a revolution of
their own. The French Revolution
followed soon after, with a war of the common people against the privileged
elite classes, and the eventual execution of the king and queen. From there, we move on to the Haitian
Revolution, which was essentially a large revolt of all the slaves and lowest
classes in the Caribbean colony of San Domingue. Half a million slaves turned on the
plantation owners, killing many of them and burning 1,000 plantations. By the time this revolution was over, the
country had been renamed Haiti and the slaves were now equal citizens with the
rest of the population.
Along
with the theme of revolution, we have people all over the world changing their
thinking about slavery, and beginning to condemn the practice. As people begin to evaluate their rights and
the rights of others, they begin to determine that slavery is wrong and the sale
of slaves drops sharply. The United
States was one of the countries that held on to slavery the longest, and it was
only after the Civil War that the practice was finally abolished.
Feminism
is also increasing in this chapter, with women beginning to want education and
voting rights, and beginning to hold paying jobs outside of the home. Men were, of course, threatened by this and
there was much resistance, so progress was slow.
In the
next chapter, we take a look at the Industrial Revolution and how it
transformed Europe. It’s interesting
that the beginnings of Industrialization brought low-cost goods to so many, and
yet the standard of living did not increase for most people, in fact for many
it declined. It was, however, the
beginning of a fairly strong and stable “middle-class” of wealthier merchants
and factory owners. The work and living
conditions of the lower classes that had the factory jobs were quite
unpleasant, as they were often packed into small housing with limited food and unhygienic
conditions. The Industrial Revolution
continued in the United States too, with some people becoming very rich, and
others living in squalor. The demand for
inexpensive goods remained high and industrialization produced many consumer
goods that had previously been too costly for most people to purchase. The lives of many people improved with these
new items.
The
final chapter of this week’s reading discusses Colonialism and its effects on
the world. We look at how Africa was
colonized by most of Europe, and basically divided out into territories that
could be used by the various European countries for trade purposes. Africa had many products that were valued by
the rest of the world, such as gold, diamonds, sugar, coffee, cotton, and
rubber. The Europeans were able to go into
Africa and export these products for huge profits. Unfortunately, the African people were
treated very poorly, and not compensated for these resources. In some places, such as British South Africa,
there were racial tensions as well, which resulted in segregation and inequalities
that lasted well into the 20th century. Colonization also brought jobs to Africa that
took men away from their families in hopes of earning better wages. This had the effect of women learning to cope
on their own, and finding ways to improve their own situations without the
men. I found this part particularly
interesting, as it showed how resourceful these women could be, even in a
society that gave them very little. They
were able to find a way to make the best of what they had.
No comments:
Post a Comment