CHAPTER 20

This chapter spoke about the European movement throughout history and was really quite interesting. It was said that between 1750 and 1900, there was a second round of European conquests. This time, it was centered in Asia and Africa rather than in the West. There were more countries involved as well, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the US, Japan, and then the Spanish and Portuguese had small roles. Europeans, it was said, had to fight to create their new empires. African and people of Asia incorporated very well into one another in the European empires. 

There were so many wars that were peaceful among the "Great Powers" during this time to see who would get what and there was lots of military action. People under European Rule had many complaints. It is said that the transition was a very "traumatic" experience for many. Small scaled societies suffered the most. In the textbook, it said that European colonies were some of the latest in a long line of imperial societies to be built. This chapter opened my eyes more to really how difficult the transition was for people to be under European rule, something I had never realized before. 

Chapter 19- China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan

This chapter is all about troubles that happened internally and externally as well as threats that occured to all of the places mentioned, China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan. China and Japan were not the only places that were facing the European expansion. Dealing with Europe was not the only thing that China and Japan were focused on though, they were trying to complete an Islamic revival. The encounters with Europe provided a reflection in which the people of Asia and Africa viewed themselves and they tried to transform their own cultures. There were four main parts of European imperialism that affected the societies. First was their huge military power and their political tenacity of the rival European states. Second, they became very immersed into the trading networks, investing, and sometimes migration that leaked out of a industrialist and capitalist Europe. Third, they were affected by certain parts of European culture, such as the fact that some learned to speak French, English or German, some converted to Christianity, or studied European literature also and philosophy. Also, some Asian people an Africans engaged in the culture of modernity.
It is said that a lot of the factors for Europes massive expansion was the fact that the Industrial Revolution had recently taken place. This process gave way to new economic needs, and the needs for raw materials and agricultural products.
The Industrial Revolution, although so important, had many ill effects on much of the Asian countries.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

This chapter was all about the Industrial Revolution in the period of the mid 1700s to the early 1900s.
THere was a huge boost in the rate of technological innovation, and it led to a huge increase in output of goods and services, and many new sources of energy were also founded. There is much question as to why the Industrial Revolution took part in Europe and there are reasons for it, one being that other areas of the world had previously experienced many times of lots of technological advancement previously. There were many economic things that aided Europe in becoming the powerhouse of this movement as well. Life expectancies, wages, the standard of living, free markets, and much more made Europe well suited. Britain is also a burning question. Britain was the "most highly commercialized of Europe's larger countries". British political life had encouraged commercialization and many innovations of economy. In Britain, in terms of the Scientific Revolution, it is said that they were very concerned more with observation and experiments, and very precise measurements and mechanical devices. I found an interesting quote in the book that said, "The social transformations of the Industrial Revolution both destroyed and created." This is interesting to me because typically, you only think of these things as being positive. Eric Hobsbawm, who was a historian said, "In its initial stages, it destroyed their old ways of living and left them free to discover or make for themselves new ones, if they could and knew how. But it rarely told them how to set about it." This is very interesting, but the point is well taken. Interestingly enough, it is said that the middle class benefited most from the industrial revolution. Women in the middle classes were typically made into homemakers, wives, and moms, and they were supposed to just wait on their men hand and foot, this changed a bit during the revolution. Also, the lives of the working class were changed as well because of the revolution.

Road of Lost Innocence

In continuing with my reading of the Road of Lost Innocence by Somali Mam, I am constantly amazed at how inhumane people can really be. The part that hurt me the most to read would have to be about the electric shocking and also the part about the snakes. I am still so amazed that some believe that having sex with a virgin will cure them of their diseases, and make them pure again. The level of "ignorance" so to speak has really gone to another level in reading this book. I also give Mam so much credit for being able to write about it herself. After reading about Mam's organization too on her website, I think she is a great person for helping others out that have been in her position. She went through this terrific ordeal and can still live to talk about it. She has turned a bad situation into a learning one and is really making a difference out there. Going back to the book again, the fact that so many young girls are just taught to obey the men that constantly rape them seems so wrong, and it pulls at your heart when you read it. I have read this book previously in my First Year Experience class, but reading it for the second time has opened my eyes so much to the amount of gruesome behavior some people can exhibit towards others.