Chapter 17 (pg. 862-877)

The industrial revolution was a time when there was many new innovations that were changing the daily lives of everyone. The industrial revolution gave us the middle class, new technological advances, political restructure, etc. Communism was able to bring everyone down to equal levels. Even though there was a lot of great things from this revolution, there was some negative factors as well. Some of those negative factors were child labor, pollution and harsh treatment on workers. These were things that may have killed a lot of people. Pollution was at its high due to all the factories. People were working tremendous hours and getting treated like animals. The industrial revolution brought a lot of lessons that helped all of us look back and change for good.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes from 1760-1840. This was a period where production switched from hand production, to methods of machines. The industrial revolution was one of the biggest turning points in history. Almost every aspect of the daily life was influenced in some way. This revolution began in the UK and most of the important technological innovations were British. The standard of living for the general population began to increase consistently for the first time in history as well. Living during this time was a really special time. The economy was growing and there was new technological advances that were making life easier for everyone.

Early Modern Commerce in products

This chapter was mainly on different trade routes that were being used all over the world to trade resources from one country to another. Commerce was a big change that became a big movement for globalization. Commerce between countries allowed new relationships to occur among people, enriched some, disrupted old patterns empires had, and some countries even enslaved people. The most important trading source that become very significant was silver, because it gave birth to a global network of exchange. Overall, the ideas of this chapter is how commerce worked within the countries during the time.

Feb 16 Echoes of Atlantic Revolutions

During this time, people were sparked by many ideas, specially during the enlightenment. The enlightenment thinkers of the eighteenth century became increasingly critical about slavery because of the natural rights every person had (liberty and equality). Due to this, people began to think that the idea of slavery was wrong. Not only did the Atlantic revolution and enlightenment spark a change in views for slavery, but it also gave the rise of feminism. This was a time where things were changing more for good than for bad. Many people were coming together to get justice for those who had no voice, which was the slaves. The Haitians were the ones who were able to motivate others to stand up and rebel. After all the fighting and standing up for slaves, they were able to get freedom, which eventually led to the movement of the feminist and helped them make moves to shine and rise.

Founders Week Activity

On Tuesday, I went to the event in the chapel where Michael Fox talked about his life and experiences. Michael explained how he came to meet Sister Dorthy Stang and the impact she made in his life when he met her. Sister Dorthy Stang changed the way Fox viewed things and was greatly influenced in a very positive way. Fox also talked about how "mother earth" was dying. Fox basically dreamt about his mother dying. He mentioned about several different things like; the coming of the comic christ, ecological awareness, the big picture and other experiences. The thing that caught my most attention was when he talked about "the lessons in the amazon". He explained how their chapel was the three in the backyard, and how people were tortured or killed for trying to protect the Amazon. Fox believed the Amazon people were very brave and courages for facing tough realities and deaths daily... I enjoyed this event because of the experiences Fox went through and how Sister Dorthy Stang was able to help him out when he met her.

Atlantic Revolutions

The Atlantic Revolutions were a revolutionary wave in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was associated with the Atlantic World during the era from the 1770s to the 1820s. Independence movements in the New World began with the American Revolution, 1775–1783, in which France, the Netherlands and Spain assisted the new United States of America as it secured independence from Britain. These revolutions were mostly successful. The revolutions began to spread widely the ideals of republicanism, the overthrow of aristocracies, kings and established churches. In addition, they showed that the modern notion of revolution, of starting fresh with a radically new government, could actually work in practice. 

Colonial Empires in the Americas

Portugal seems to be the first Europeans to colonize the americas. Portugal was also one of the first imperial states to grant independence to its colonies in the Western Hemisphere. I believe that the Portuguese explorers played a significant role in opening areas in the region for further exploration and exploitation by other imperial states, including the introduction of the modern slave system. They basically did some good things and some bad things during their time colonizing. 

The Birth of Modern Science

I believe this was a time where many things were being discovered and spread throughout Europe. Many people were trying to force the attempt to practice christianity, while others were making Europe's scientific revolution. I feel like this was a very interesting time to be alive, because there was no technology like todays. Imagine trying to study the stars and doing science things without the equipment we have today? It would be super hard. I believe people during the modern science life were very curious. Curios people tend to be a bit "weird" or different, but they always come to discover important things.

The Early Modern World

This is the era the Europeans "wake-up", expanded, and began to build empires. The interconnection of the Eastern and Western hemispheres made possible by transoceanic voyaging marked a key transformation of this period. Technological innovations helped to make transoceanic connections possible. Changing patterns of long-distance trade included the global circulation of some commodities and the formation of new regional markets and financial centers. Increased trans-regional and global trade networks facilitated the spread of religion and other elements of culture as well as the migration of large numbers of people. Germs carried to the Americas ravaged the indigenous peoples, while the global exchange of crops and animals altered agriculture, diets, and populations around the planet.