Replying to Teresa’s post on question #9.

Colonial Violence in the Congo (p.803)

https://images.app.goo.gl/VFSbiRWeYQG3mWbP6

    These young boys with severed hands were among the victims of a brutal regime of forced labor undertaken during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Congo. Such mutilations have been punishment because of the inability of their village to provide the required amount of wild rubber (Strayer, p, 803). 

The image illustrates the concept of the chapter demonstrating reality. Cruelties of forced labor occurred during the early twentieth century in the Congo Free state, then governed personally by Kind Leopold II of Belgium. This photo was a reality that people lived, in this case children. Unable to get rubber for they were killed, their ears or hands were cut off. With image we see the other side of industrialization. On this side we do not see improvements, we only see people suffering, being tortured and subjected to work that made industrialization possible.

Sadness! It is what I can see. Vulnerable people who could have worked without experiencing so much damage. The worst thing was that being in their own territory they were treated so badly. The reason? A mind so full of ambition and need for power. Those ideas are summarized in progress. But progress for whom? These poor human beings were worse off than they were before being invaded. Why is it always the same? The vulnerable people are those who end up working and suffering the most.

Hello Teresa,

I could not help but cringe at this image. It is indeed devastating how a country can treat its own people as animals to feed their greed and ambitions. This shows how greed can blind you and turn your heart into a “rock.”  I can not seem to get all of my words into sentences because that is how powerful and heartbreaking this image is. We have come a long way from times like this, yet, we still have a long way to go.

Chapters 16,17,18

1) What was The Great Dying? Cite examples and details from the historical record in your response. Could this be considered genocide? Why/ why not?

 The Great Dying killed around 90% of Native Americans. This phenomenon was caused by diseases brought over by the Europeans. “Before the smallpox broke out amongst them, they were ten times as numerous…their population had been melted down by this disease” (Strayer, p,559-560). It could be considered genocide because Europeans brought diseases, multitudes died and starvation killed many more. “ To Governor Bradford of Plymouth colony…such conditions represented the “good hand of God” at work, ‘sweeping away great multitudes of the natives…that he might make room for us’” (Strayer, p.560). The preceding quotes inferred that the mass death of natives was welcomed and that little was done to help them, hence, it can be considered a genocide.

2) What did native Siberians and native Americans have in common in terms of their experiences with Europeans during the early Modern period?

The Russian Empire was being transformed by the massive influx of Russian settlers, “whose numbers by the end of the eighteenth century had overwhelmed native peoples, giving their lands a distinctively Russian character.” (Strayer, p. 575). As well the native Americans were overwhelmed by the influx of Europeans taking much of their land. Disease brought by outsiders also struck native Siberians like native Americans. 

3) Discuss the history and impact of the Indian Ocean trade network (the Sea Roads) from the Classical to Modern periods.

The Indian Ocean trade routes connected Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa. During the classical era, major empires involved in the Indian Ocean trade—Achaemenid Empire, Mauryan Empire, Han Dynasty, Roman Empire. Many goods and religious thoughts were spread through the Ocean trade network.

During the medieval era, trade flourished in the Indian Ocean basin. The rise of Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates on the Arabian Peninsula provided a powerful western node for the trade routes. The Tang and Song dynasties in China emphasized trade—encouraged maritime trade. Moreover, Between the Arabs and the Chinese, several major empires blossomed based largely on maritime trade—Cholla Empire, Srivijaya empire, and Angkor civilization.

In 1498 Portuguese sailors under Vasco da Gama entered the scene. However they did not enter as traders, they entered as pirates. The Portuguese pirates seized port cities —Calicut on India’s west coast and Macau, in southern China. They robbed and extorted local producers and foreign merchant ships. 

In 1602 a ruthless European power—the Dutch East India Company (VOC). They south total monopoly on lucrative spices like nutmeg and mace. In 1680, the British joined in with their British East India Company—established political control over important parts of Asia as a result Indonesia, India, Malaya, and much of Southeast Asia reciprocal trade dissolved. Goods began to move to Europe while the Asian trading empires grew poorer—the two-thousand-year-old Indian Ocean trade network was crippled. 

4) Look at the pie chart titled “The Destinations of Slaves” on page 627 of our textbook. What might people find surprising about the percentages of slaves who disembarked in different parts of the Americas? What factors explain why the percentages were this way?

People might find surprising the number of slaves that wound up in Brazil and the Caribbean. In Brazil and the Caribbean, the labor demands of the plantation economy were most intense. “Smaller numbers found themselves in North America and mainland Spanish America. Their journey across the Atlantic was horrendous, with Middle Passage having an overall mortality rate of more than 14 percent” (Strayer, p. 626). Those who were able to escape joined free communities of formers slave—maroon societies which were founded in remote regions such as South America and the Caribbean—largest settlement was Palmares in Brazil, housing more than 10,000 or more people mostly of African descent but also included Native Americans, mestizos, and renegade whites. 

5) What does Strayer mean by the “echoes of Atlantic Revolutions”? Cite examples and details from the historical record in your response. Are the Atlantic Revolutions still echoing in the 21^st Century?

The Atlantic revolutions in North American, France, Haiti, and Latin America took place within a larger framework compared to the various other upheavals. There were many expensive wars, weakening states, and the destabilizing process of commercialization. Moreover, the costly wars strained European imperial states. Also, the various Atlantic revolutionaries shared common ideas—derived from the European Enlightenment and were shared across the ocean in newspapers, books, land pamphlets. The main idea was the radical notion that human political and social arrangement could be engineered, and improved, by human action—liberty, equality, free trade, religious tolerance, republicanism, and human rationality were in the air. The ideals that animated these Atlantic revolutions inspired efforts in many countries to abolish slavery, to extend the right to vote, develop constitutions, and to secure greater equality for women. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, echoed and amplified those principals while providing the basis for a number of subsequent protest against oppression tyranny, and deprivation” (Strayer, p. 700).

Yes, the Atlantic Revolutions are still echoing in the 21^st century —in 2011, the Middle Eastern uprisings known as the Arab Spring initially prompted numerous comparisons with the French Revolution.

6) What did feminists and abolitionists have in common? How and why did they sometimes work together?

The feminist and abolitionist both had a common goal—to grant members of their particular groups a free and ultimately better life. The Abolition movement focused on granting slaves their freedom, in addition, to end social discrimination and segregation between people of white and black color. The Women’s Rights movement fought to provide women the right to vote. It also protested the lack of educational and economic opportunities for women. In both of these movements, their primary concern was to grant the people the right to freedom. Women were not physically enslaved, but socially they were. Towards the beginning of the Women’s Rights movement, they did not have the right to divorce, own land, vote, etc. The Women’s Rights movement and the Abolition movement provided men and women alike, the opportunity to join together and fight for their basic human rights. 

8) What was the Industrial Revolution? Where and when did it begin? Discuss its long-term significance to people, cities, and the planet.

The Industrial Revolution marked the period of development in the latter half of the 18^th century. The Industrial Revolution began in Britain (1780s) and spread to the rest of the world, including the United States by the 1830s-40s. The Industrial Revolution wrought a mounting impact on the environment —nonrenewable raw materials: coal, iron ore, petroleum, guano…altered the landscape in many places. Moreover, waste from sewers emptied into rivers turning them poisonous, smoke from coal-fired industries polluted the air which contributed to respiratory illnesses. Small groups voiced their concerns and urged for the return to the “green and pleasant land” of an earlier time. “For many historians, the Industrial Revolution marked a new era in both human history and the history of the planet that scientists increasingly call the Anthropocene or the ‘age of man’. More and more human industrial activity left a mark not only on human society but also on the ecological, atmospheric, and geological history of the earth” (Strayer, p. 740). On the other hand, access to new sources of energy gave rise to an enormously increased output of goods and services—>wealth. Many goods were more accessible to people.

9) Chapter 18 contains some powerful images. Why do you suppose Strayer chose to include these specific images? How do they illustrate concepts introduced in this chapter? Choose one image and a) describe it, b) explain how it illustrates a concept from the chapter, and c) give your general thoughts about the image, as you might do in the context of a small in-class discussion group. The images you can choose from are (your version of the textbook may use different titles and page numbers):

            An American View of British Imperialism (p.790)

 “An American View of British Imperialism.” This picture is an American cartoon from 1882. The British empire imitates an octopus “whose tentacles are attached to many countries.” It also shows how is ready to take possession of Egypt—to grasp ye another colony.

This chapter is about industry and empire. This picture depicts the importance of imperialism—in Europe imperialism became very popular during the last quarter of the nineteenth century—the growth of mass nationalism. “Colonies and spheres of influence abroad became symbols of the “Great Power” status of a nation…” (Strayer, p.790). With the industrial age came new was of thinking for the Europeans. They developed a “secular arrogance that fused with or in some cases replaced their notions of religious superiority…they unlocked the secrets of nature, created a society of unprecedented wealth, and used both to produce unsurpassed military power.  

This picture clearly defines imperialism—more power for the wealthy, powerful politics. The ambition grows once one has tasted victory, one is left wanting more with no end in sight. 

Chapter 15

Why did the Scientific Revolution occur in Europe rather than in China or

the Islamic world?

First, Europe's had unusually autonomous universities in which scholars could pursue their studies in relative freedom from the dictates of the church or state authorities. Western Europe was in a position to draw extensively upon the knowledge of other cultures, especially that of the Islamic world. Additionally, the Age of Exploration shook up older ways of thinking and opened the way to new conceptions of the world.

On the other hand, in the Islamic world, philosophy and natural science were viewed with great suspicion by the ulama. In China, education focused on preparing for a rigidly defined set of civil service examinations and emphasized the humanistic and moral texts of classical Confucianism.

Chapter 14

What was the significance of the silver trade in the early modern era of world history?

The silver trade was the first direct and sustained link between Asia and the Americas. It initiated a web of commerce that slowly grew over the centuries. It also became a key commodity in world trade. Silver trade transformed Japan and Spain. Japan made good use of silver profit—created unity—industrial revolution.  Silver trade became a key commodity driving long-distance trade and offered the Europeans a product that they could produce that was also in demand in other parts of the world. Importantly, silver trade deepened the already substantial commercialization of China’s economy—fueled global commerce.

Chapter 13

What large-scale trans- formations did European empires generate?

The European empire building was the cause of the demographic collapse of Native American societies. Moreover, the combination of indigenous, European, and African people helped create new societies in the Americas. It is important to note that large-scale exchanges of plants and animals raised both in the Americas and in the Eastern Hemisphere were the largest and most consequential exchange of plants and animals in human history making a huge impact in the biological environment of the planet. Also, the need for plantation workers and the sugar and cotton trade made lasting connections for Africa, Europe, and the Americas. 

The conventional understanding of the world that Europeans had was being shaped by new information entering Europe. This information contributed to a revolutionary new way of thinking known as the Scientific Revolution. “In short, the colonial empires of the Americas greatly facilitated a changing global balance of power, which now thrust the previously marginal Western Europeans into an increasingly central and commanding role on the world stage” (Strayer, p. 563).

Claudia I accept your challenge

While China’s “Golden Age” might have have been as significant as the Renaissance, the Renaissance provided realism in art and helped spread knowledge by the invention of the printing press. This was significant because prior to the Renaissance and the printing press, education was reserved for wealthy citizens who could afford such luxury. Additionally, new ideas spread quickly throughout Europe and allowed for widespread educational reform among Europeans.

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Pros & Cons—Mongols

Pros:
1. Actively promoted international commerce
2. Mongol trading circuit stretched from China to the Near East (linked most of Eurasia)
3. Prompted diplomatic relationships across Eurasia
4. Increased exchange in Eurasia with the forcible transfer of thousands of skilled citizens
5. Facilitated the spread of religion and encouraged the exchange of ideas

Cons:
1. ability to extract wealth, through raiding, trading, or extortion, from agricultural civilizations such as China, Persia, and Byzantium.
2. Mongols were ruthless; they killed about a million during their empire.
3. The people who survived the Mongols were treated brutally. They also violated many women    (wives, nuns).
4. The Mongols empire did not last long. The plague largely contributed to the collapse of the Mongol empire.
5. Through their large trading routes and their constant migration to other countries, the Mongols were responsible for spreading the plague.

Christendom

I have never heard of the term Christendom before; thus it was interesting to learn what is meant by “Christendom.” I would say that one can define Christendom in different ways, however, in the end, the different definitions unite and make one long definition. The word Christendom encloses the idea of the central place of Christianity in the lives of nations, countries, states, and individuals. Christendom is defined as a group of people or a nation under a Christian set of morals and values. Moreover, the term Christendom refers to the impact of Christianity on the world; it delineates how Christianity became a very important part of ones’ lives.

Christendom was withering away in Asia and Africa with the rise of Islam. However, after the Mediterranean frontier between the Islamic and Christian worlds stabilized somewhat in the early eighth century, the immediate threat of Muslim incursions into the heartland of Christendom lifted, yet, border conflicts persisted. This “break” provided some security to most African and Asian Christian communities. This security paved the way to shape the diverging histories of the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe.

The Roman emperor Constantine began to favor Christianity during his reign in 330 C.E. He established a capital (Constantinople) on an ancient Greek city called Byzantium. The Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves—launching a division of Christendom that has lasted into the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, the western Roman Empire collapsed during the fifth century, despite this collapse the eastern half was sustained for another thousand years. The eastern half encompassed the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Syria, and Anatolia (eastern Roman Empire—Byzantium). The easter Roman Empire was very wealthy and had great accommodations such as shorter frontier to guard, access to the Black Sea, and command of the eastern Mediterranean. Due to their strong army, navy, and merchant marine as well as strategic diplomacy the easter Roman Empire was able to keep the Germanic and Hun invaders at bay. Moreover, the road, taxation system, military structures, centralized administration, imperial court, laws, and Christian Church were the Center of Byzantium for many centuries. To the surprise of many, Byzantium collapsed in 1453 when Muslim Turks and Venetian Christians sacked their capital—Constantinople. Still, Byzantium recovered, flourished, and spread its cultural identity.

In the early centuries and beyond there was much controversy (religious) and political division, however, the deepest division within the Christian world occurred as Eastern Orthodoxy came to define itself against an emerging Latin Christianity centered on papal Rome. Although both had much in common the widespread Christian Community was being replaced by differences and competition. This created the separation, rivalry (political power), and religious divergence between the Byzantine Empire and the emerging kingdoms of Western Europe. This separation in the World of Christendom slowly grew from the seventh century and on. Unable to unite, the Western and Eastern Branches of the church mutually excommunicated each other in 1054.

The “Holy wars” wars were aimed at enemies who threatened the spiritual health of all Christendom and all Christians. However, Crusades had little impact, either politically or religiously in the Middle East—European power was not strong enough to induce many conversions. On the other hand, in Europe, crusading and interaction with the Islamic world had long-term effects. Spain, Sicily, and the Baltic region were brought into the world of Western Christendom.

Resources:
Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2009.

Change

Is it time to conform? Is it a time to seek friendship? Is it a time to challenge? Is it time to make a change?


I really do not have the words to express myself right now. We are no doubt experiencing yet another important moment that will certainly be written in history books (I hope). I am not a social media kind of person at all and rarely do I part take in posts. I do feel guilty for not posting about the matter but I am just the kind of person that has a very hard time posting my thoughts and feelings for the world to see. Maybe I am wrong, maybe others may think badly of me. I do not think that I am necessarily staying quiet in all aspects for I do other things that contribute to the cause (I just do not like to document it on social media).

My older son (9yo) has severe anxiety so we have limited the subject matter in our home. I did explain to him what was going on and his response was, “ I am going to paint myself white so I don’t get killed.” I was heartbroken by his response; he did not quite grasp what I was trying to explain because his anxiety was taking over. At night he did not want to sleep alone because he could hear the protests from our home. He could hear loud firecrackers that to him sounded like gunshots. It has indeed been a very difficult time for everyone.

It is definitely a time to make a change, police brutality has to stop! Excessive force has to stop! Racial profiling has to stop! Policemen need to be retrained, I do understand that they have a dangerous job and an important one too, but they have been given too much freedom on how they deal with people. People who racially discriminate should be held accountable immediately. There should be no room for racist comments and doings. I understand that we can not change how people feel and their opinions on race, however, they should refrain from further spreading hate.

I was disappointed to read that...

I was disappointed to read that the “golden age” of the Song dynasty was not favorable to the Chinese women. While under the influence of steppe nomads, women lived less restricted lives. In the North, elite women of the Tang dynasty era were able to participate in social life with more freedom than before. Paintings and statues showed women riding horses, “while the Queen Mother of the West, a Daoist deity, was widely worshipped by female Daoist priests and practitioners” (Strayer, p.331). However, with Confucianism views coming back and rapid economic growth “seemed to tighten patriarchal restrictions on women and to restrictions on women and to restore some of the earlier Han dynasty notions of female submission and passivity” (Strayer, p. 331). Once again it was reminded that women were subordinates to men and that boys lead and girls followed. It is sad to read that women feminine qualities made them look weak. Moreover, women were seen as a distraction to men’s pursuits of contemplative and introspective life. What made me angry was that widow women although allowed to remarry were shamed if they did—“The remarriage of widows, though legally permissible, was increasingly condemned, for ‘to walk through two courtyards is a source of shame for a woman’” (Strayer, p. 331). It was sad how foot binding a very painful process for young women was seen as beautiful.  

I found it interesting to read that..

I found it interesting to read that the “Silk Roads provided a certain unity and coherence to Eurasian history alongside the distinct stories of its separate civilizations and peoples”(Strayer, p. 284). Although there was indirect trading by pastoral peoples that linked the Eurasian civilizations “in a network of transcontinental exchange” Silk Road trading networks were more successful when large and powerful states provided security for merchants and travelers. The world of trade is interesting to me as it shows how the economy was /is established and sustained (although sometimes at the expense of the poor). The variety of luxurious goods were transported via camel caravans “that traversed the harsh and dangerous steppes, deserts and oases of Central Asia” (Strayer, p. 284). Out of all the luxury products that were being transported, silk became the most important and symbolized the Eurasian network of exchange. Silk was used as currency symbolizing wealth especially in China and the Byzantine empire. It is amazing how silk is to this day expensive.