Revolutions

It is interesting to find out what different events were going on around the world on important dates to me. In 1989 the French were celebrating their revolution with a huge parade. My brother had just turned 1 this year 6 months before this exact date. The chinese were also in the parade pushing along empty bicycles resembling thousands of other chinese people who had been killed during the chinese fight to gain democracy. Another thing I learned by only reading the intro of the book was that the Haitian Revolution was the first successful slave revolt known to mankind. I also learned that the revolutions in france evaded Egypt, Poland  and Russia. I would think that since france is so tiny comparing to these other countries they would not have as much power to invade so many. With all these revolution taking charge, made many countries abolish slavery, better woman's rights and more rights to vote for people. I also remember learning very vaguely about Simon Bolivar in high school, now that his name come up again I am interested in learning more about him. I know from this text that he was an important figure in Spanish America, and he received military aid from the first black government in the Americas. The ideas that came from the Atlantic Revolution were coming form the European's Enlightenment. They shared commercial and cultural ideas. The way the ideas were also shared were through newspaper, books, and pamphlets that traveled across the oceans. This atlantic revolution played a major part in the political up-comings for the century that followed.

Science in Revolution and Enlightenment

Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Newton and many more considered themselves the "moderns" and thought the "old rubbish must be thrown away". The rubbish they were referring to external authority of divinely revealed scripture or ancient philosophers ancient observations. This scientific revolution took place between the mid-sixteenth and early eighteenth century. They agreed that it was time for a more "magnificent philosophy". This new way of thinking began to question the authority and teachings of the church. it also altered ideas about the place of humankind within the cosmos. Science began to distinguish racial and and gender inequalities. People of color were categorized and women naturally became inferior. By the 20th century, science became the biggest symbol of global modernity. Science became so popular because of Islam in Europe. Arab scholars achieved mathematics, astronomy, optics and medicine. China's Confucianism was also less concentrated in religion and more sophisticated and secular. This did not compare to the intellectual breakthrough in Europe. By the 12th and 13th centuries. They developed towns, churches, guilds universities and more. This drastic change was built upon the idea of a "corporation" or a group of people that was treated as a unit. Europe was different than the islamic world because the Roman Catholic Church gained some measure of autonomy from secular authorities. I wonder if the transition of the different ways of thinking was easily  taken upon the people of this time. Although it does not seem like a huge deal to us today, It was back then to them. AS I was reading along the list of "Major Thinkers", I came across the name of Francis Bacon. I think we are studying about him in Art HIstory and he was a famous artist as well emphasizing the key to modern science is observation and experimentation. Enlightenment was directed towards thinking against superstition  ignorance and corruption of religions.
What made enlightenment and what made it revolutionary was the idea of progress. I enjoyed reading about Charles Darwin because he is mentioned so much in history, his theories and ideas never seem to get old. We are the work of evolution operating through natural selection. This, in my perspective tells me that just how certain animals and species have become extinct, we will too and we do not know when, but it will naturally happen. Toward the end we talk about borrowing and the complexities that come along with it. Islam was borrowed by Africans and many Asians. europeans borrowed scientific ideas form the Islam world. to ease tensions, some people tried to point out similarities while cultural borrowing occurred. Christianity and Confucianism were much alike so the people who practiced these religions set aside their differenced. Also, churches in Mexico associated Catholicism less with the Spanish than the pre-Aztec communities and beliefs that were now in their rightful position. It is interesting to see how different cultures and countries came to borrow each others different practices and teachings. This still happens in the world today and will probably forever continue since technology is far more advanced and we pick up different things like fashion, religion and beliefs from other places in our world today.

Sugar and Slaves

In the U.S, we are all spoiled. We live in a world where almost everything we consume and buy is made by someone else in another country. Unfortunately we are living in a "profit-based international market in which people produce what they do not consume, and consume what they do not produce," (WEISNER). It was not until last year where I actually stepped back and thought about the things I was consuming. My friend told me she refused to buy the "iPhone" because the people that were making the phones had horrible labor conditions and were really poor. She made the choice to not be a part of Apple products. By this time I already had an iPhone, iPod and Macbook, so there was not much I could do. This made me wonder what else have I bought and am not aware of the working conditions and/if slave labor that is used to make the product. Today we consider "drugs"; cocaine, alcohol meth and many more. Colonial empires and Europeans considered their drugs to be coffee, tea, tabacco, and sugar. These were all grown naturally in a way and the demand for these "drugs" were all in high demand around the same time. The point is, when somethings ir rare or new to a society, they produce different effect on people. Sugar was grown in many different part of the world like; South Asia, the Caribbean, China and many other places. It was often used in Europe as a medical substance. History does in fact repeat itself because Marijuana is also grown in different parts of the world today, and now it is also offered for "medical use". Black labor for white sugar began in the late fourteen hundreds. They brought slaves from Africa to work in Brazil and also in the Caribbean. It was not until the eighteenth century that people from all classes began to use sugar the right way, as a sweetener. The transition from the high demand luxury of having sugar went to mass commodity was done. People of middle-class began to use sugar in coffeehouses. By the late eighteen hundreds, sweetened tea was spread through all classes of British society. At one point, drinking tea and having sugar was no longer an image of being wealthy, but a sign of poverty and lack of proper vitamin and meal consumption. 

It was interesting looking at the chart "Sugar and Slaves" because for the most part, slave importation to Barbados and Jamaica increased between sixteen-fifty to the seventeen hundreds dramatically. Reading about the slaves of Barbados was interesting because the person is talking in first person. They saw the negros not so much as humans, but mostly like working animals that were lucky on some days and were fed "...food..."... it was not seen as inhumane, and it was very much normal to observe how the slaves worked so hard for them while they sat back and made their profit. At times, they were even thought of as being "spoiled by the English". There are also assumptions of the slaves someday taking over and killing of Christianity but since slaves are so in "awe" by being hard workers and not being rebellious enough, they would not attempt to escape. Another reason that I had not though about was how some slaves could not communicate with each other since they were from different countries in Africa. I found this reading pretty easy and very informative. I also think it was a bit too long of a read on top of all of our other homework. 

Other Expanding Empires

Although the Russian Empire was located on the eastern fringe of Christendom where it was remote, cold and in the forests, the empire grew and Russians dominated the forests and grasslands of northern Asia. This expansion that also spread westward that brought many Germans, Ukrainians, Baltic and other people into the Russian Empire. The Russians were primarily focused on the nomadic pastoral people that were established in the south and east Russian heartland. The Russians felt as if they had to an agricultural security issue because the Mongol Empire that had recently disappeared, was known to raid agricultural Russian neighbors and sell them into slavery. In the East, across Siberia, Russians was opportunity because of the "soft gold" of fur-bearing animals. The pelts from the animals were highly wanted by many people in the world market and Russians saw this as a great opportunity to make good trading exchanges with others around the world.The Russian empire became so huge, it stretched across the pacific and they used wooden forts that protected their frontier towns, trading centers and protection for many Russian farmers. Not only did Russians take over a huge amount of land that belonged to others, but they eventually took over Siberia and the steppes with the help of Russian military power. The Russians demanded an oath from the natives, swearing an oath of "eternal submission to the grand tsar" which at the time, was the monarch of Russia. Also some type of tribute paid with money or with something of value. In Siberias case, this meant paying with fur. Many people were pressured into converting to Christianity since tax breaks, exemptions of paying tribute and land or cash was offered.

I find it interesting how even today, the Russians question whether they were actually destined to follow other well constructed European Cities or was it more based on Slavic and Asian power taking the Russian Empire back to the beginning. The difference between the British and Spanish conquest of the "New World", was that they arrived at a place they had never been before. The Russians on the other hand, were already in contact with the lands they overtook and remained intact until nineteen ninety-one, which was when the Soviet Union fell. The Spanish and British received independence a long time ago.  

Colonial Empires in the Americas

"To Celebrate Columbus is to congratulate the process and history of the invasion"- Winona LaDuke, president of the Indigenous Woman's Network. This man viewed Columbus as a thief, slave trader and a the perpetrator of genocide. While the European Colonies like the Spanish, Portugese, British, French and Dutch were constructing all across the Wester Hemisphere. This was a time when new societies were swiping out old ones and Europeans and Africans came into contact for the first time ever. The early modern era was a time when people mingled and this represented a new globalization process which still lingers in the twenty first century today. By the mid-eighteenth century, Europeans extended their empires throughout the Americas.Since the winds of the Atlantic ocean blew towards the east coast of the Americas, which were different that the Monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean,  be Europens me motivated to reach the Americas. Manny people had different incentives to begin a new life in the Americas for example; persecuted minorities. During the"great dying", many people in the Americas died, wipping out a vast majority of their population. Afterwards, the columbian exchange brought horses, pigs, cattle, goats and sheep which had never been brought to the Americas. Since there were no natural predators for these animals, they multiplies immensely. Mesitzos were offspring of native american women and a spanish men. They represented a majority of the population of Mexico and cultural blending had become a central feature of the country's identity. Many surviving indian women wanted security of life in a Spanish household, where their children would not be affected by harsh demands on native peoples. Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, fathered children with two of Moctezuma's daughters. Sugar became very well known and African slaves from Africa were depended on for the sugar industry to remain stable. Portugese and Spanish colonies were a wide variety of mixed-race groups. In North America, one percentage of african ancestry in a person made them "black". In Brazil, people with African ancestry were not considered black, but some other mixed race. A person wo was white was more privileged and had better opportunities. The United states usted to be the "dregs" of the colonial world. The U.S. was more democratic and economically stable that the divided, unstable Latin America.