Education in the Colonial Era

People who were educated were in somewhat of a higher class. They didn't have to participate in the forced labor and they were given jobs with higher salaries like business firms. In the passage where a man talks about a boy he encountered, he describes him as "a young god" because of his "smart clothes" and "a beautiful bicycle." He claims that these wonderful aspects came from his education and knowledge of reading and writing. The man who encountered him says in the end of this passage that he wanted to have the stuff that this boy had, especially his bike, and so therefore he wanted education. This made me think of the education that we have today. Today education is still an advantage in society, the only difference is that education is available to more people now so it doesn't seem as big of a deal. But to people who dropped out of high school or who weren't given a chance to excel in school are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to getting a job. This is sometimes what causes people to become homeless. They may not have been given as many opportunities for education as some have. We are at Menlo, a private high school that exposes us to many different subjects that many people aren't given the chance to experience. For example, World Religions. Not everyone is exposed to many different religions like the freshman class is at Menlo. Some may argue that it doesn't benefit them because they believe their religion and only that. But I think that it has given me many different view points of different cultures and it helped me to understand why people may do things like fasting and other traditions or ceremonies. To tie this back to the reading, education has made many improvements. Back then , a limited few were able to receive education, and it only enabled them to read and write. As I have said it was a big deal then because not very many people were able to receive it. Nowadays, people are able to go to schools from kindergarten to extra years of college like getting a PHD. Education has many many advancements and it has consistently stayed important and has been a disadvantage in people lives when they have not been educated.

Ways of the world by Robert W. Strayer (pg 604-609)

Colonization of Africa

European leaders from numerous places all over Europe had intense rivalries over the newly important land of Africa. They spent 25 years splitting up they land and at first, it seemed like this method would be successful. However, everyone just ended up fighting over the land again and things got very bloody. Some wars over certain parts of land even lasted decades, taking huge tolls on the military forces of each  territory. Not all negotiation were through fighting, though. There were still a good amount of peace treaties, but, predictably, a lot of the peace treaties ended up just stirring up another war when the territories realized that they didn't agree with the treaty after all.

After a while, when taking on huge empires in battle wasn't working anymore, military leaders began taking over territories village by village. Every once and a while a village would go down easy, but heavy resistance was encountered pretty much the entire journey. But no matter how hard it was to continue conquering land, many military powers continued to try to do so, no matter how great their losses were.

Africa and How it was Divided Up

While looking at the map of how Africa was divided up, I was curious as to why countries like France and the British were able to get the majority of Africa, and the central points. France even though they got mostly the Sahara desert in the central part of Africa, they did get and control access to the Red Sea, which was a majory port because of the fact that trading with the Muslim Empires could be accessed through that area. Also the British had control of Egypt and South Africa, both had major trade cities in both of these regions. Then there were nations like the Germans and Spanish, who were left with almost nothing. I was just curious about the process of how Africa was divided up, and why certain countries were able to get most of the major ports and parts of Africa. 

The "Scramble for Africa" pages 592-593

Interaction with European Forces:

The European powers all raced to rule or conquer parts of Africa. In about 25 years, they conquered most if not all of Africa and the European colonies all came out with large portions of Africa and they were surprised with how fast that process went. They divided the country among themselves. Afterwards, they fought to decide who got what. And problems arrived when there were parts of Africa that were separate from the big cities or states. The societies that were fairly unorganized in "formal state structure" were the ones that the European powers argued about because it was unclear about where they "officially" belonged to.

Colonizing Motives:

Missionaries were coming to Africa to go and help them because they thought that the Africans were not as "well off" as they were. So, missionaries went to Africa to save the "people in poor countries." They also thought that they could explore the new area and so that they could discover new things and possibly retrieve some new raw materials and resources to be able to make more products to sell. They also wanted to be the "cool" country and have pride in the country by having the best one possible. They wanted to have strong nationalism to make them seem like "the best."

People's Reactions:

Obviously the people that were previously living in Africa were not very happy with the fact that people were invading where they were living and those people were dividing up their "habitat" for them to keep and to control. But the natives did not have much of a chance to fight back with much impact because they did not have the latest and greatest technology and weapons like the Europeans did and so they ended up falling to the Europeans' control, sadly.

Below shows a map that illustrates who was controlling certain parts of Africa and it is very similar to the graph we saw in class in Ms. Xia's powerpoint but it is just focusing on Africa.

Robespierre Trial

I believe that Robespierre was one of the most horrendous people to live, therefore he was guilty. In the trial, we prove him to be guilty. The main reason he was such a terrible person was because he killed hundred of thousands of innocent people. Why would he think he has the power to do such a awful crime. Many people tried to stop him but when they did they were sent to the reign of terror. A man like Robespierre deserved to die and suffer because after all the killings he should!

This mad disgusts me.

Napoleon Trial

I personally thought that Napoleon was guilty, he took part in many terrible actions and decisions, the main being not signing the proclamation of Rights of Man. Being the King of France his duties were to make sure the people were happy, but by not signing this proclamation he angered almost all of France. Once he realized that he upset pretty much all of france he escaped. As the King you should NOT leave and tell no one where your going. He did not just leave he tried to escape which is a big no no for the king. He also believed that slavery was a good thing. Which i strongly disagree with. He thought oh slaves are great, you can use them if you want. But really slaves should not have been legal when he was king its terrible way of treating humans and all humans should be treated fairly. There were more points in the trial which proved him to be as guilty as they come in my mind.

Feedback on Cy's Marx Smith handout

Cy, I strongly agree with your point about how the rich people used the poor people because there wages were so small that they could not provide for themselves or their families. The people had to suffer through the beginning of the Industrial Revelation. I know if i owned a factory or business i would at least try to up the wages so that my workers we able to survive. It would benefit my business because the customers would be more loyal. However i strongly disagree with you on your point about how the Industrial revolution was a horrible part in the american history because, it really did benefit everyone is one way or another. Even though the factory owners and wealthy people were benefited first eventually the poor people were benefited and their wages increased drastically. I believe that the Industrial Revolution was an excellent time and help with the inventions in a huge way because without these inventions todays world would not be the same.

Outcomes of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution brought a lot of wealth to mainly Great Britain, and Germany, but it brought it to few people in the higher classes, and to the majority of the population it brought nothing. The section of people that did benefit from the industrial revolution were the Aristocrats, and the middle class people. These of course were only 30 percent of these nations people. The rest, 70 percent of the people, were laborers. They were the screwed ones. These people had really bad working conditions, and really low salaries. They had a lot of illnesses because there living conditions were not sanitary, so they were living a really tough life. Because of this, I feel as if the industrial revolution was really unsuccessful. 

I think that Smith sort of helped create this machine that Marx hated, so I don't think that he helped the people that much. He did help the overall economy, but the majority of the people were still miserable. I thought that Marx's ideas were really good. It is crazy how a person in those times could stop looking at the great and new technologies, and take the time to instead look at how the people were being treated. His huge idea about how everyone should be equal in politics must have been outrageous in those times, but it is one that is really good. 

Extra Credit Post

Today’s game that we played gave me a much better understanding of what life would be like in Europe in the 1800s. Luckily I was a single woman going into the Industrial Revolution because providing for just one person is hard enough. In order to eat decent food, have suitable clothing and a roof over one’s head, one must work all day ever day. In order for all of these things to be made possible for more than one person, then it is necessary for everyone in the family to work as well, including the children. I saw some families where children died due to the horrific working conditions, which as tragic as it was, in some ways benefitted the families due to now there was one less mouth to feed. I felt that the factory managers should have been a bit more lenient and conscientious of the wages they were paying their workers. Yes, I realize that they had to make livings for themselves and their families at home as well, however when it is at the point where families are going hungry or living on the streets then I feel as though something must be changed.

When it came time for the second round to commence, I felt as though I had a better idea of how to be successful. Although eating less may be harmful to my body, eating only potatoes saved me an amble amount of money. Also, as awful as it may sound, it was quite beneficial to me that Layla passed away early on for I would not be able to provide for the two of us. She would have been too little to work in a factory and I would have been unable to bring her with me to work. All in all, I feel as though it would have been extremely difficult living in the times that we are studying, and it is highly doubtful that I would be capable of living a successful life back then. Playing this game allowed me to grasp a deeper understanding of what life for people of that era was like, allowing me to gain more interest in the topic as we continue to study it.

Welcome to Manchester

Hello, my name is Lola Johanson and I have just moved to Manchester. I am 20 years old and I have left my extremely wealthy family in France to come here and start a new life. I had one child, a baby girl, who sadly did not make it here alive. My husband disappeared immediately after Layla was born. I am here on my own, ready to make a living for myself. Word in France was that Britain is home of all of the latest and greatest inventions, and they have a textile industry with 52 million pounds of cotton. With railroads criss-crossing and factories steaming, Manchester is just the place I have been looking for.

Living in the countryside of France was dreadful. The estate where I usually stayed in was big enough to house the French army and a few more, and everywhere I looked there was some maid just waiting for me to ask them for something. I never saw any of my multiple mothers and my father was always off taking care of some business related need. My 16 siblings were always at parties or gambling or out spending our father’s money in the most absurd ways imaginable. I needed to get out of there before I turned into one of them, which I promised myself I would not let happen.

Richard, my first love and once husband, was always in full support of my plans I had for the future. We were going to have a family, get married, and start a school system in the local town near my estate. However, once I got pregnant with Layla, everything seemed to go downhill. Arguments were the only conversations we had, and I began seeing less and less of him. Then Layla was born, on October 7^th, and Richard was gone. No one ever saw him again. After that tragedy I knew I had to get out of that town, away from everything that reminded me of him and our future plans we had together. I took what I could fit into a knapsack and headed south with Layla. However due to the fact that she was was born premature, she did not make it even a week. Having lost both my husband and a child, I continued on my voyage to Manchester. Upon my arrival, I can only hope to turn my life around.

Industrial Revolution

When reading about the Industrial Revolution, it was clear to see that it was a time of complete transformation. Change for the positive, that is, with new inventions being released constantly. The coal-fired steam engine, the spinning jenny, the power loom, and the cotton gin were just some of the many beneficial tools that added to the “culture of innovation.” (Page 528 Ways of the World)
However, the positive aspects of the Industrial Revolution were all that were stated in this section. It got me thinking if along with all of the beneficial effects this time had on society in the late 1700’s, if there was a downside as well. After some further research, I found that there were some negatives as well. According to Wikipedia along with various other websites such as Yahoo Answers, the main downsides of the Industrial Revolution were enclosure, pollution, child labor, and insanitary working quarters.
Enclosure took place where those of the wealthier class took money/land from those of a lower class, forming one larger and better lot, leaving the farmers jobless. The machines and factories caused pollution, which dirtied the once clean air. The factories needed more workers than just adults, and in turn hired children to work their machines. Due to the fact that they were hiring children, they were able to get away with paying them below minimum wage as well as having them work in extremely close and unsuitable environments.
As one can see, the Industrial Revolution brought both positives and negatives to society in the 1750s-1800s. The positives, however, strongly outweigh the negatives. All of the beneficial things the new inventions brought truly improved the way Europe matured as a whole, opening up countless doors to even more future opportunities. The negatives were in fact harmful in some ways, and it is understandable as to why some saw the Industrial Revolution as damaging to those who lived through it. Yet as a whole, I feel as though for the most part all that came with the Industrial Revolution was beneficial and “this continuous emergence of new techniques of production and the economic growth that they made possible mark the past 250 years as a distinct phase of human history.” (Page 528 Ways of the World)

Asian and Latin American Industries

After reading the section titled " Explaining the Industrial Revolution", I came across a brief statement that said, " the Industrial Revolution became global when a number of Asian and Latin American countries developed substantial industrial sectors." It then gave a long list of some of these sectors such as Oil, and natural gas, but I wanted to more about how they started for these to sections of the world. 

Asia(Asian tigers)

The Asian tigers is a term that refers to the highly developed regions of asia, which are Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. The main reason why there was a huge increase in the asian Industries, was because of the motivated people, and the stable governments in asia. The governments was stable, and so many nations around the world sought asia as a place to invest in. Not only did foreign countries like the stable governments, but they also liked the good labor of the people. The workers in asia were both motivated and skilled, so they made asian countries such as South Korea  a great place to invest in. In 1960 was when the real industrialization happened for South Korea. This was when they switched from the less advanced manufacturing, to the more advanced manufacturing of steel. Shipbuilding and the automobile industries were now of interest, and for the next 30 years after 1960 South Korea grew to be considered a "Developed Country". The main automobile industry  is Hyundai-Kia which is the 4th largest automobile automaker.

Latin America(Argentina)

Argentina also has grown  a lot economically because of manufacturing. The only difference is that South Korea grew in the Automobile industry, while Argentina grew in the Agricultural industries. Argentina is now huge in the food processing industry, because of their own natural resources of crops such as soy and maize. 

Marx + Smith Handout

I think that the outcomes of the Industrial Revolution, at first, only helped improve the lives of the wealthy. The rich people took advantage of the poor, and left them to live on unlivable wages. The rich were the only people who could afford luxuries, and other inventions that came out of the revolution.

However, over time, inventions and other luxuries began to decrease in price. Workers gained more rights, as they formed unions and America moved towards social equality for all.
I agree with Marx that people were unequal during this era, however, I also agree with Smith that capitalism can be successful, as long as we keep those with capital in check.

The Industrial Revolution was a horrible part of America's history: it was full of oppression, discrimination, manipulation, and greed. However, it did give birth to economic success, revolutionary inventions, and global development in the long run.

Karl Marx

I thought the view of Karl Marx on the Industrial Revolution was refreshing. Instead of just viewing it as a time of technological advancement and urbanization, he saw it from the point of view of the workers. He felt that they were being treated unfairly and were being exploited. He recognized that there were two classes: the workers selling their labor, and the capitalists who were buying it. He saw that since workers were making the product that the factory workers were selling, the factory workers were paying the workers as little money as possible in order to make the largest profit. they were getting rich and sitting back, while the workers were spending long grueling days in the factory and being paid next to nothing for it. Marx said that the machine spread the working ability of the family, since it took away the value of strength. Workers just needed to be able to repeat the same motions all day, and the machines did the rest. this made it so that the man was paid less, and therefore the rest of the family was forced into working in order to earn enough money to support the family. even children were forced to work since strength and intelligence were not needed. He felt that the use of machines and lower wages to workers made the factory owners boatload of money, while the rest of society suffered. He believed it was time for the working class to revolt and rule society, Making everyone equal. It was socialism

Paul Frank and my wife Anne

My name is Paul and me and my wife, Anne, just moved into Manchester. We just moved from Japan because of the great rice fields in Manchester so we thought we could hit it big there. We definitely arent poor, but we arent rich either. We moved to Manchester because life in Japan was a little tougher than it is here. We lived in the mountains and fed off of the local indigenous creatures. We were also samurais. My wife Anne Frank is a skilled blade smith that specializes in assassination samurai swords.

Industrial Rev Activity

I personally thought that the activity was not well done and poorly organized. The main problem I had with the activity was that someone could go to the beach for one star of luxury for only a dollar but they could go the opera for 30 dollars and only get 3 luxury stars. This messed up the whole activity by the end because everyone ended up with like 20 luxury stars because they spent all their money on walks to the beach. Also another problem was that the citizens had no idea how much money their wages should be and so the owners could charge us for really low wages and they would profit a lot of money and we would have no money for use to spend. I guess that send us the right message about the corrupt owners but I still had a problem with the pricings so if this was changed then the activity would be beneficial and helpful.

Adam Smith

Adam Smith was a philosopher that wrote the wealth of the nations. He contained many beliefs that I'm going to investigate in this blog. One of the things that I want to talk about is the idea that people should be divided into 3 classes. These classes were those who have land, those who have money, and those who have labor. I don't think this was a proper way for society to be divided in two because of the fact that some people could be in all 3 of these classes. This would create tension and inequality between the citizens of this government. For example, a wealthy farmer that owned his own land and worked his own land.

The difference between communism, socialism, and capitalism

Although having socialist countries are widley assumed to be communist this is not always the case. Russia, despite having a long history of being communist, now has a president yet is still considered socialist. What socialist according to dictionary.com means is "system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole." HOwever is later associates socialism as the stage after a capitalist economy and before having communism. Communism and socialism are quite simmilar, they both believe in a sharing of recourses. Communism has the government be totalitarian and therefore can be no rebellion. Many in Enlgand during the time of the industrial revolution were pulling for a socialist economy so that there was not such a huge gap between the rich and the poor. In a communist country the government would take the factory and assign its people to work there. Treating them all as equal and having not one person be higher than another. The only way a communist country can work well is if the government is almost perfect. It cannot have people in it that are greedy otherwise then it will turn into the people of a country dying and having a very few government officials that are well off. The problem usually with communism (such as in north korea/dprk) is that the government is too corrupt and since it has all the power destorys itself. Socialism is not so specific in how the government will act. Although the government might still own the factory, there could be promotions as to who is charge among the factory owners. SOcialism is a more reasonable form of communism. Captialism is every man for himself. You have to work very hard in a capitalist society and if you are stuck at the bottom your whole life will be awful. That is what happened during the industrial revolution.

Industrial Revolution: Positive/Negative?

I think that the Industrial Revolution helped the higher more wealthy classes and people but it didn't help the poorer lower classes. I think that the higher classes noticed that the lower classes were poor and in need of money. When they realized this they hired more people from the families to work on the machines and then they paid each individual a smaller wage. That way the factory workers could produce maybe 3 times more than they were and then they would only have to pay a little more than before. Then the poorer people felt that they were making more because the prices in potatoes and other goods were lowered because of all the work that was being supplied. There were so many workers working to make money that many of the products doubled and tripled in production. Therefore the poorer people were able to afford a little more than they could before. This did help lower class a little because of the price drop but in relation to the wealthy people, the high class people were coming out way wealthier than the poor lower class. From the documents, the lower class was gaining some things like education, but it started slow so it wasn't real effective in the beginning compared to education now and where it can take you. But it was a step in the right direction. There were many points in these documents that mentioned the beatings and injuries inflicted on the laborers. This is obviously not very positive for the working class.

I think that Smith was right about how the "masters" or industrialists or factory owners were using the laborers because the laborers need to work to get money to survive, and the factory owners could have actually lived without workers, but the factory owners preferred workers so that they could produce more inventory and therefore make more money. I think that Marx was right about the point that the laborers should ideally make a time limit and set boundaries for when they work because otherwise they would be selling themselves and their freedom to the factory owners, and then essentially become slaves. The problem is that the laborers need the money to live and support their family and so they aren't always given the option of choosing how long they are to be employed. So I think that Marx had a good point and it makes sense but it wasn't exactly realistic for all of the laborers.

Extra Credit Game Reflection

The game was a very good was to experience what the lower classes were going through during the industrial revolution. At first i was barely scraping by. I had a family of three, and all of us had to work long, hard hours in order to earn the minimum wage paid by the factory owners. I could only afford the cheapest food, and a small room with no extra money for any form of luxury. I survived the first round without going into debt, and having 5.5 points left over. I was able to accumulate more money than my neighbors because i only had to feed 2 adults and one kid, who didn't eat as much. I was also able to work out a deal with a factory worked to pay me 6 points a round instead of four, and i forced my wife and kid to work, so i had three streams of income, so we all made enough money to feed ourselves. The second round was much better. the prices of everything were lowered a good amount, so i managed to save up 20 points by the end of the round which i was able to spend on luxuries, like meat, and walks on the beach. The game really demonstrated the unfair situation the factory owners were in. They were paying us bare minimum, and working us all day on grueling and tedious tasks. They were making thousands of times more than we all were. They all came off with more than 1000 points after round two, and we barely were making 20. I would have supported Marx because he was supported unions and fairer treatment of the working class. He also felt that workers deserved more power in society.