Links

The information on the information from the links were pretty interesting. There was one about the Invisible Hand by Adam Smith and the other was by Carl Marx and it was called the Manifesto. Both readings were about the economy and how it works. Talking about it in class definitely helped me understand the actual meaning of both readings. Invisible Hand was how the market economy pretty much regulates itself. He talks a lot about supply and demand which can relate to our society now. A lot of our economy is about supply and demand. The manifesto was about capitalism and the struggle between social classes. Supply and demand really reminds me of the gas issue we have. Gas prices are absolutely insane. Prices have gone up 60 cents within the last week. There is no sign of these prices going down either. What is causing this? simple answer is supply and demand. Supply comes from the people making the product and the demand is the people buying the product. As more people use gas, the prices go up because it is harder for it to be supplied. What can we do to lower these prices? Supply more obviously but how? These readings really made me think of our society and how it applies to our market.

541-556

         The rest of this chapter was about the industrial revolution in Unites states, Russia, and Latin America. I thought the pictures in the section was pretty interesting to look at to look at the variety of products in demand during that time. It was cool to learn that the United States were once the worlds leading industrial power by making 36 % of manufactured goods. The United States had techniques for mass production using the assembly line. This was familiar to me because I learned about it last year. The picture on page 543 really caught my attention because most of the silver and gold was being mined on the west side of the country and on the east side depended on iron and coal mining. Apart from that, Henry Ford made the first model T car using the assembly line which made cars more affordable.
         In the Russian Revolution it shocked me to see that only 5% of their population were a part of the working class. Most of the population was made up of peasants. Russia focused on roads and heavy industry. They had harsh conditions and there were many worker strikes especially after the defeat in war by Japan. In the Latin American Industrial Revolution, the picture on 551 interested me because I was able to see the products that they needed and where they were being produced. I didnt even now what some of  the products were such as the cacao, guano, and the yerba mate.
     

527-541

This chapter is about the industrial revolution. Industrial revolution began because of the such large increase in population as well as the use of fossil fuels. What exactly are fossil fuels? Why is it that Europe experiences everything first?  Is it a coincidence or is it because it had a large impact or power on everyone else? it was weird that I asked these questions. As I continued reading there is a whole section of how and why it started in Europe. Other areas of the world were experiencing advances but Europe was not. Europe had internal development that favored innovation and the merchant class was more involved. It is also the center of the exchange network. The Industrial revolution started in Britain. I thought it was cool that as the Industrial revolution came it lead to a lot of other new thinks such as railroads, mining, more manufacturing, etc. I liked how it boosted the middle class by a lot. It opened up opportunities for them. It makes me think of the things we can considering doing today to boost up the middle and lower classes. From this, protesters started which led to the spread of socialism.

rest of ch 17

The rest of chapter was about the haitian revolution and other revolutions that happened in various areas. The haitian revolution was significant because of the successful slave revolt that went on. It was crazy to read that it was the only successful one in world history. the number of slaves dominated the population. We played the game today in class which was quite interesting. I just wish we could have relayed answers to you before the game ended so the girls team would get points. the game was fun though but a tad unfair but I guess that was the point trying to be made. Im glad we finally figured it out because we were at least able to break even with zero compared to the 15 negative points we started out with. But the game was fun and i liked that it was a good way to study the material that would be on the midterm. Are we going to play it again before the midterm with questions from the beginning chapters? I think it would be a good idea. Anyway the chapter was also about the feminist movement. Females began to get a bigger role in societies. They started getting jobs. I thought it was interesting how they were scared that their reproductive systems would get damaged. Its something we dont think about very rarely in todays society. This chapter was overall very interesting and I really enjoy the game.

504-507

This reading was very short as well. It was all about the French Revolution. I thought it was really cool that the french helped north america undermine the british in the north american revolution. but why didnt north america help with the french financial problem. I didnt get the other reading because I wasnt in class because of a softball tournament. but im going comment on others blogs! We are in vegas right now for our first tournament this year. We won our first two games in extra innings yesterday.There were very exciting games. And today we had two more games. We lost the first on but won the second. We have one more tomorrow then we come back to school. My family is here so I will get to spend some time with them as well which is good because there is a lot of family here that I dont get to see very much. I was able to go out to dinner with them and spend some time with them after the games today.

chapter 17 first part

This was a short reading of chapter 17 which we are beginning to learn about the different atlantic revolutions such as North America, France, Haiti, and Latin America. It was a place of exchange of good and ideas. It was crazy that all the revolutions of the Atlantic were from derived from the European Enlightenment. These ideas of the enlightenment were shared across the atlantic by books, pamphlets, and newspapers. Its shocking to see how much of an impact it had on the rest of the world as it spread. Im  excited to  see how each of the revolutions differed from the same central ideas. The North Atlantic revolution was all about getting away from the british rule which was launched by the declaration of independence. Learning about this reminds me of the Washington DC trip I took in 8th grade. We went to particular monuments to learn about the history of America. It was a really fun yet informative trip. I was very thankful to get that opportunity.

491-497

This is an introduction to chapters 17 and 18 which are within the time periods of 1750-1914. They call this period the long nineteenth century. The themes that will be explained during this time period is the new kind of society called modernism and the exercise of more power. Why was this period called the long nineteenth century? And why and how is Europe always the center? This section was pretty short and I dont really know what to write about. I really like the pictures and the timeline. I like how it is getting more present day history. It makes it more interesting for me to learn.

Kant reading

When I started reading this, I had no idea what it was saying or what it was trying to say. It was pretty confusing but after going over it and dissecting bits and pieces of it in class it makes a little more sense. To understand this packet you must first understand what enlightenment means and its still a little hazy to me. He said the word tutelage a lot which means protection of or authority over something. Enlightenment would mean like being introduced to something knew such as knowledge. This packet was pretty confusing but I did like the section I had to go over in class. It was about the differences between public use of reason and private use of reason and how it relates to enlightenment. Kant believes that public use of reason is a promoter of enlightenment and private use can restrict it. I agree with him but there can be exceptions to where private use would be better. The use of public reason is for the reason to be free, or known to the public. It is not held inside and individual or a small grou of people. Public use would be a promoter of enlightenment because everyone would have that new knowledge or idea. Private use could be known to restrict enlightenment because not everyone would be introduced to it. I think it could go both ways because what if the public use of reason is false or not relevant, It wouldnt promote enlightenment.

end ch 16

I was amazed to read at the beginning of this reading assignment that the scientific revolution also started in Europe. It said that the Islamic world was most scientifically advanced so why didnt the scientific revolution start there? Europe allowed colleges and institutes of higher learning and countries of the islamic world didnt. That made me mad because why didnt China for example allow that. That is ridiculous especially because they knew they were the most scientifically advanced. The Europeans view of the world derived mainly from Aristotle and Ptolemy. Catholic church opposed the new thinking. I think they felt threatened by the new ideas. They didnt have all the authority anymore. Science became widely desired. By then end of this section, it got into the nineteenth century. I am getting more excited because I am more interested in more recent history so I look forward to the upcoming chapters.