Module 8

Study the image titled “Globalization in Action: Foreign Direct Investment in the Late Twentieth Century” on page 1027. Reflect on ways in which the information conveyed by this image could have both stabilizing and a destabilizing effect on world peace and cooperation.

The United States, Western Europe, China, and Brazil were the ones receiving the most foreign investment in millions. This may have been attributed to the Industrial Revolution. A series of agricultural innovations began in Europe therefore making it easier to create foreign investments. . The British government put high tariffs on Indian goods and favored men of business that aided in keeping these cheap Indian textiles out. Britain also established laws that kept workers unions and their science was more concerned with observation, experiments, precise measurements, mechanical devices, and practical commercial applications. This science allowed for innovations such as the steam engine to come to life. In continental Europe, entrepreneurs, scientists, and makers of scientific experiments were not as close in contact with them as they were with Britain. This may have been why the United States seems to be big on foreign investment because they wanted to give all of their factory jobs to outsources. 

Study the Snapshot titled “Global Development and Inequality, 2011” on page 1031. What trends stand out to you? If you were having a small group discussion in a classroom setting, what would your contributions to the conversation be?

The United States and other European nations that were doing economically well had higher ;ife expectancy rates and higher years of education. This may have been a result of their industrialization. They were able to come up with new medicines, new technology that aided in helping with jobs that could potentially hurt people in the workplace. These places also had more cell phones per person and population growth was minimal. In a place where people were obtaining more education, the direct result may have been a slow rate of population growth. As people started getting more jobs because of their education, they waited longer to have kids. This is very common among women living in more developed areas. In low income areas, the birth rate is high, but the life expectancy is low due to the lack of technological advancements. 

How can we explain the dramatic increase in the human impact on the environment in the twentieth century?

Factories were producing a lot of carbon dioxide which ultimately made the air less sanitary before. The use of chemicals in factories resulted in increased air and water pollution and an increased use of fossil fuels. There was an increase in population, and an increase in living standards which led to the depletion of natural resources. Cities were vastly overcrowded and smoky with wholly insufficient sanitation, periodic epidemics, endless row houses and warehouses, few public services or open spaces, and inadequate often polluted water supplies. Strayer states that as,”Englishmen obtained the right to vote, politicians got an incentive to legislate at their favor abolishing child labor, regulating factory conditions, and even, in 1911, inaugurating a system of relief for the unemployed.” The environmental movement during the 1960s and 1970s focused on Congress passing laws to fix the pollution in our air and water, and sought to find a way to get rid of toxic wastes. Rachel Carson wrote “Silent Spring” which focused on the impacts of DDT on human health and our environment. Silent Spring said that humans were endangering their natural environment and needed to find some way of protecting themselves from industrialization. 

Module 7

A pandemic is the global outbreak of a disease. Pandemics are generally classified as epidemics which occur regionally instead of nationally. Pandemics are described by their geographic scale rather than the severity of illness. The smallpox outbreak after Europe's conquest in different parts of the world would therefore make it an epidemic. During the 18th century, smallpox was introduced to Australia by Great Britain. European colonization imports introduced smallpox into North America during the 17th century. The smallpox was brought to the Caribbean and South and Central America through European colonization in the 16th century. Because the spread of this disease was widespread nationally, it can be considered a pandemic. Annual seasonal influenza are epidemics, but pandemic influenza emerges when it spreads around the world and people do not have immunity to the harmful health hazards that come with it. Viruses that only spread in one region are epidemics and cannot be considered pademics. Endemic diseases are more common than pandemics.


There are various pandemics that have occured in the past. HIV and AIDS were first documented in 1981. It first appeared as a rare lung infection that weakens the immune system. HIV is passed through bodily fluids such as blood transfusions, needles, secual contac or from pregnant women to her child. HIV opens the body to infections that would normally not cause problems and AIDS is the final stage of HIV.


Smallpox was one of the biggest killer pandemics that were introduced by the Europeans after 1500. It dropped the Native American population from 100 million to 5 to 10 million. The symptoms of this virus are high fevers, body aches, and a rash. In 1796 a vaccine for the smallpox was created although the diseases continued to spread. The virus killed 2 million people globally.




Malaria was another virus that was introduced more than 4,000 years ago. It was caused by infected mosquitoes that passed down plasmodium microbes to humans. Microbes grow inside red blood cells that destroyed them during the process. During World War I, malaria immobilized various British, German, and French forces for 3 years.





Polio reached a peak in 1952. Over 58,000 cases of polio were reported and caused 3,145 deaths. This virus is caused by poliovirus poliomyelitis, which attacks the nervous system. The symptoms of this are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness, and limb pain. There is no cure for polio, but the vaccine was perfected in the 1950s and the U.S has been polio-free since 1979.






Tuberculosis is another virus that can be found in Egyptian mummies. Tuberculosis is airborne. It was a constant problem in Colonial America. at the end of the 19th century, 10% of all US deaths were attributed to tuberculosis. It is caused by the bacteria Mycobacteria tuberculosis.






My experience with this pandemic has been pretty hard. It has been very hard for me to get adapted to everything, especially school. My mental health prior to the pandemic was not doing so well, so when this started my health went a little downhill. It has gotten a lot better. It has been hard for me to adapt to being indoors all the time, but it has gotten better due to the amount of sunshine we have been having. Additionally, this pandemic has forced me to get closer to my mother which has been very nice. I never thought I would have to live through something this crazy. It has brought a lot of fear to my town and my surroundings which sucks. It also sucked to not be able to celebrate my friend’s birthdays with them during this time period. This can be compared to the influenza pandemic or the AIDS pandemic. People were scared to get close to each other during the HIV/AIDS pandemic because they did not know the root of this virus. They soon realized that it could only be transmitted through fluids.





Works Cited: 
https://www.onlinemastersinpublichealth.com/epidemics/
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525302/

Module 6

What was the role of Gandhi in India’s struggle for independence?
Gandhi was pro non-violence for independence. He applied an approach of periodic mass campaigns that drew support from Indians, peasants, the urban poor, intellectuals and artisans, capitalists and socialists, and Hindus and Muslims. The British lashed back with periodic repression which provided a greater Indian role in politics. He did not fight for social revolution, but instead he wanted moral transformation for individuals. He wanted to raise the status of "India's untouchables". He also helped women in their efforts to mobilize in their struggle against Britain and their standing in marriage and society. He emphasized the unique efforts that women brought into their society by having a capacity for virtue, self-sacrifice, and endurance therefore suited for nonviolent protests. Gandhi rejected modern industrialization.

Why was African rule in South Africa delayed until 1994, when it had occurred decades earlier elsewhere in the colonial world?
South Africa had been independent of great Britain since 1910, but African rule was delayed because independence had been granted to a government controlled entirely by a white settler minority which was 20% of the populations. The black African majority had no political say in the state. The African people's struggles were internal instead of external. These colonizers were permanent residents rather than colonial intruders. For this reason, it was evidently harder for them to receive their independence.  The book specifically says, "The intransigence of this sizable and threatened settler community helps explain why African rule was delayed until 1994, while India, lacking any such community, had achieved independence almost half a century earlier."

How and why did the anticolonial struggles in India and South Africa differ?
the African government developed apartheid that India did not have. Rigid "pass laws" were enforced in attempts to control the movement of Africans into the cities where they were subjected to extreme forms of social segregation. Racism was present in India but nothing of this magnitude developed there. This may have been a result of the there was an extreme dependence of Africans on the white controlled economy. Unlike India, divisions between the people of South Africa had to do more race, ethnicity, and ideology instead of religion.

Module 5

HIV and AIDS was a huge pandemic from 2005 to 2012. It was first identified in Democratic republic of Congo in 1976. It developed from a chimpanzee virus. It has been proven to be a global pandemic that killed more than 36 million people since 1981. At the moment, there are about 31-35 million people living with this virus and the vast majority can be found in Sub Saharan Africa. It was believed to have been a curse from God because gay men that were sexually active were targeted by it from the beginning. People soon became more woke and realized that these were not the only individuals that were targeted by this disease. As awareness grew, new treatments for HIV were developed that made this disease more manageable to live with, but AIDS lacks a cure. HIV/AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease. Although AIDS was first observed in American gay communities and developed from West Africa, people learned that the disease spreads through certain body fluids. The disease is still present and there is still not cure to be found for it yet. Those infected by the virus experience fever, headaches, and enlarged lymph nodes upon infections. When the symptoms cool off,  individuals that are carriers become infections through blood and genital fluid and the diseases destroys t-cells.

Module 4

1) World War I occurred when a Serbian nationalist assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne named Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The rulers of Austro-Hungary saw Serbian Slavs as a threat and decided they would "crush" them. Behind the Austro-Hungarians lay an ally which was Germany and behind Serbia was Russia. The allies of Russia were the French and the British. For the conservative British government, going to war meant uniting their nation that had been facing mounting class- and gender based conflicts within European societies. Europeans used a lot of propaganda ensured that Europeans believe that their national identities were valuable. This public pressure on mass media and schools allowed men little to now compromise and ensured maximum support for war. Although most Europeans believed the war would in by Christmas in the late summer of 1914, the war did not end until the German defeat that ended in November 1914. The aftermath of this war brought social and cultural changes. Following these events was the great depression which resulted in an American Stock Market crash. Many banks closed and various people lost their life savings. Eleven Wall Street financiers committed suicide jumping off of skyscrapers. Fascism was intensely nationalistic, seeking to revitalize and purify nations adn to mobilize people for some grand task. This proposed violence against enemies and was promoted by Hitler. It ultimately lead to World War II.

2) What is Fascism? Self guided research.
I learned that fascism is a "form of political practice distinctive to the 20th century that arouses popular enthusiasm by sophisticated propaganda techniques for an anti-liberal, anti-socialist, violently exclusionary, expansionist nationalist agenda". This was viewed with leaders after World War I that consisted of Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. The main goal for fascist leaders is to make a nation stronger, more powerful, and successful. Fascists believe that national strength is the only thing that make a nation good. Fascist reigns are good at exposing propaganda and grand gestures. They also scagoat and demonize other groups. This could be seen by Hitler's aim to get rid of those who were Jewish, gay, and who were born with disabilities. Some of the stages of facism include the following:
1) The primacy of the group
2) Believing that one's group is the victim
3) The belief that individualism and liberalism enable dangerous decadence
3) A strong sense of community or brotherhood
5) Individual self-esteem is tied up in the grandeur of the group


3) Although some may believe that Donald Trump is a fascist, I am not sure if I would go far enough to call him that. I don't like the man, but I honestly think he's only racist. The reason I do not believe Donald Trump is a fascist is because he doesn't romanticize violence itself as a cleansing agent of society. Although Trump has fascist tendencies, we have been seeing these tactics throughout history. For example, we saw them with the confederacy when they established Jim Crow and by the 1924 Immigration Act which were racial based immigration exclusions. Fascism is most successful when the audience that is being convinced is left with a destabilized sense of loss. This loss is what is responsible for their mistrust and anger against another race. 

Module 3 Empires in Collision

What accounts for the massive peasant rebellions of 19th century China?
After China's imperial state collapsed, the country was unable to keep many stable functions such as tax collection, flooding control, and social welfare which made it easier for rebellions to form. Corruption was endemic and harsh treatment of peasants was common. The Taiping Uprising called for the abolition of private property, redistribution of land, end of prostitution and opium smoking, and the organization of society into sexually organized military camps of men and women. The Tapian uprising called for posture towards women and their gender roles.

Read the Zooming in segment titled “Lin Zexu: Confronting the Opium Trade.” How might Lin Zexu have handled his task differently or more successfully? Had he been given an impossible mission?
I don't think Lin Zexu could have handled this task differently. I think maybe he could have made some negotiations with Europeans, but he definitely had to set his foot down in order for them to take him seriously. It was a good idea to explain to the Chinese people the health hazards that resulted from smoking opium, and taking the drugs away as well as the tools to smoke the drugs with was a good way to get rid of the problem. Additionally, he arrested various drug dealers that were Chinese which also helped get rid of the problem. Something he could have changed was the manner in which he tried to get foreigners to stop selling to China. The reason I say this is because Europeans held a lot of power, and it is never good to bite the tail of a superpower because in the end it bit him back. His mission was somewhat impossible especially because he was given a job that called to go against a powerful nation. He attempted to get it done and was successful for a little bit, but the success did not last long.

What lay behind the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century?
To begin with, the invasion that Napoleon undertook was a blow that caused them to lose land. After the French left, independent Egypt pursued a modernizing empire. In addition to this, other parts of this empire that included Greece, Siberia, Bulgaria and Romania obtained their independence due to their increasing yearning for independence and support from Britain and Russia to obtain it. The west potion of the Ottoman Empire had weakened because of its inability to raise revenue because local warlords and provisional authorities had gained more power. The Ottoman Empire lost their financial expertise as Europeans began to dominate the oceanic treasure of Asia. Competition with European goods that were cheaper than what the Ottoman Empire had to offer hit them hard. Additionally, the Ottoman EMpire was in debt which resulted in their reliance on foreign loans to finance efforts at economic development.

Module 2 Chapter 18

In what ways did the Industrial Revolution shape the character of 19thcentury European imperialism?
The industrial revolution helped Britain expand overseas. Steam driven ships allowed Europeans to move through Asia, Africa, and Pacific Ports. The growth of massive nationalism in Europe made imperialism easier. Europeans no longer cared about religious superiority. Instead, Europeans judged themselves and the rest of the world with the following criteria: resources, military power, and wealth. Because of these standards, the Chinese no longer held the power that they once had when they were the leaders of trade during the 18th century. They were viewed as weaker to Europeans. Europeans used science to create racial preferences and prejudices. Phrenologists, craniologists, and sometimes physicians would classify white people as having bigger skulls which meant they were more advanced than other races. This created a hierarchy of races in which white people dominated the top.

Spend a few minutes studying the map titled “Conquest and Resistance in Colonial     Africa” on page 796. What is so striking about this map? If you were in a group discussion during class, what would be the observations you would share about this map?
There are a lot of uprisings that occurred in the southern portion of Africa. There were many insurrections close to the Atlantic Ocean, and France established themselves in a majority of the places in Africa as did Britain. It was surprising to see that there were two independent African states. Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Italy did not have a lot of control over Africa in contrast to their counterparts.  Britain was expanding a lot of their empire in this territory.

Read the poem on page 798 by Nguyen Khuyen, a Vietnamese official during French colonial rule. If you had the opportunity to share a glass of his “fine wine” (or a cup of tea) with Mr. Nguyen, what would you say to him? How might that conversation go?
I would definitely feel his frustration with everything that must have been dramatic to go through due to this French conquest. I would tell him that he isn’t alone and that many others have had to see their home get torn down due to conquest. I would tell him that I understand that losing homes, family members, and land is a traumatic experience and that I am sorry they had to undergo these ordeals. I know that right now everything may seem very hard for him. I would tell him that although right now nothing looks like it will get better, there will be better days. Assimilation will be hard, but he survived the hardest part even if his society got torn apart along the way. I would ask him if he had thought about going someplace else.

Module 1 Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Module 1

Question Number 2: 

In what respects did the roots of the Industrial Revolution lie within Europe? In what ways did that transformation have global roots?

The industrial revolution was a direct result of the lack of nonrenewable resources that were essential in producing power within Europe. The Industrial revolution began in Europe--specifically Great Britain, but soon spread to other places. Europe was the first to access energy resources that came from coal, oil, and gas. This became widespread when other places such as Japan and China were struggling to provide energy as their populations began to increase. The Industrial revolution was a response to the lack of nonrenewable resources such as charcoal and wood that became scarcer as populations began to increase. This is how this transformation had global roots. Everyone was attempting to find efficient ways to create energy for the increasing population. Some historians believe that Europe has been distinguished for its creative culture and it was a matter of time until they were the leaders to modern economics. Europes small and competitive states helped with their development of the industrial revolution. It was in the interest of the government to encourage trading commerce and innovations since royals were desperate to find revenue in the absence of an effective tax-collecting bureaucracy. Europe was not alone in developing market based economies as Japan, China, and India followed. In the Americas, Europeans found silver that allowed them to be a part of the Asian markets. They also obtained timber, fish, potatoes, and maize to feed the rapid growing populations. 

Question Number 3: 

What was distinctive about Britain that may help explain its status as the breakthrough point of the Industrial Revolution?

A series of agricultural innovation began in Europe. These consisted of crop rotation, selective breeding of animals, lighter plows, and higher yielding seeds. British political life encouraged commercialization and economic innovation. They were tolerant to other people's religious beliefs which ultimately allowed them to welcome people of different backgrounds for their technical skills regardless of their faith. This contrasted France's persecution of the Protestant minority. The British government put high tariffs on Indian goods and favored men of business that aided in keeping these cheap Indian textiles out. Britain also established laws that kept away workers unions and their science was more concerned with observation, experiments, precise measurements, mechanical devices, and practical commercial applications. This science allowed for innovations such as the steam engine to come to life. In continental Europe, entrepreneurs, scientists, and makers of scientific experiments were not as close in contact with them as they were with Britain. Additionally, accidents of geography aided in their industrial revolution. They are situated where there was a ready supply of coal and iron ore that was easy to access and within close proximity to each other. 

Question Number 5: 

How did Britain's middle classes change during the 19th century?

Britain's middle class consisted mainly of wealthy factory and mine owners as well as bankers and merchants. These men were able to buy country houses, obtain seats in parliament, and send their sons to prestigious colleges to continue their educational careers. Other people that were included in the middle class were lawyers, engineers, teachers, journalists, and scientists. This part of the middle class consisted of many livers that favored free trade, private property, a constitutional government, and social reform within limits. Women were viewed as domestic homemaking individuals and were viewed as "ladies" if their husbands were the sole providers of a household. Employing servants marked a middle class family as proud. By the late nineteenth century, women began to obtain greater roles in this society. Some obtained teaching jobs, clerical jobs, and nursing professions. When children were withdrawn from labor, a more skilled and educated workforce emerged. A lower middle class also emerged as Britain's economy expanded. This consisted of bank tellers, salespeople, clerks, telephone operators, secretaries, etc. 

Echoes of Revolution

The echos for revolution can be seen with the abolition of slavery, feminist movements, the Haitian Revolution and the Spanish American Revolution.

Haitian Revolution
To the slaves, the French Revolution was a promise to personal freedom for themselves. They held a massive revolt in 1791, burning 1,000 plantations and killing hundreds of white landowners. In the end, the slaves were successful in obtaining their freedom. They had thrown off French colonial rule and created a second independent republic.

Spanish American Revolution
Spanish Colonies were offended by the Spanish monarchy's attempts to get a greater grip of control and power over its colonies. They wanted their colonies to be subjected to heavier tariffs and taxes just like their North American counterparts. They were successful in their revolution, but it had little benefits for slaves and women.

Abolition of Slavery 
As enlightenment ideas spread, the idea of natural rights was put into question. Many enlightenment thinkers began to think about whether or not slavery evaded African American's natural rights and whether or not it was critical for economic advancements. Some believed that slavery was repugnant to religion and therefore should be abolished. Slaves attempted to revolt in North America, which hastened the coming of their freedom. Latin American countries abolished slavery in the 1850's, but did not receive equality. The only place that slaves received political equality was in Haiti. Radical reconstruction helped freed Blacks in the United States obtain some form of equality.

Feminist Movements
A concern for women's rights was established in Western Europes, the United States and beyond these two places. Feminists newspaper were put up in Mexico as well as schools for girls. Women in the Atlantic sought to obtain the same rights as men and saw themselves as equals. The first expression of feminism took place at the Women's Rights Convention in Seneca. Women from America and Europe traded ideas and read each other's work as a way to bounce off ideas from each other. These movements had oppositions to them as did all of the others, but women were prompted some accomplishments for their work. They were able to go and study at universities, and literacy rates were increasing.

Part Five + @ 1st 2 Sections Of Chapter 16

In this chapter we are going to learn about the revolutions that occured around the world and the outcomes that came with them. This chapter also talks about eurocentric geography. Before people knew how the world actually looked, they assumed Europe was at the center of the world. Flat maps aided in making this possible for Europeans.


Age of European Dominance

• Rise of Europe occured in an international context as a result of the Chinese naval fleet withdrawal that allowed them to take over the Indian Ocean 
• They held the advantage over Native Americans 
• Resistance and rebellion did not make it easy for them to get automatic dominance

The Haitian Revolution was shaped by the American Revolution and the French Revolution. After seeing the manner in which the people responded to oppression, they got those ideas and formed a revolution of their own. Atlantic revolutions formed to gain justice, liberty and equality. As John Locke expressed, people wanted a government derived from the people. This time period allowed for more freedoms which included.extending the right to vote, more rights for women, and the abolishment of slavery. 

The American Revolution began as a conservative move made by the people that came from their mother nation. They knew the advantages that the British empire held and did not wish to separate entirely from them. There was an evident difference between Europeans in England and those in North America. There were class distinctions, less poverty, and more opportunity if you weren't a women or a slave. After having neglected the people from North America for so long, the British turned to this nation to regain the revenue they had lost with their struggle with France. Political power remained in the hands of the elites after the revolution and the northern and souther portions of North America were separated. 

Foundresses Week

I did not get the chance to participate in any of the foundresses week activities due to sports and my class schedule, but I definitely learned a lot about our school as a result of the reading that we did in class. I learned about two important individuals that came from different backgrounds but had enough respect for each other to build this college together.

The first person I learned about was Francoise. She came from a stable family and was well off economically. It inspired me that she was a type of feminist during her time period. She did not care about the money she beheld, but her economic level allowed her to do the one thing that wasn't expected from women her age. She did not want to marry to become a housewife. She claimed to want to keep her virginity. Additionally, her family was more liberal for their time. Her dad claimed to be an atheist which was a crazy thing to define yourself as during that time.

Julie Billiart, named after one of the dormitory buildings, was the complete opposite from Francoise. Julie comes from a more humbling background. She got basic schooling done and at a young age attempted to help those who were less fortunate. She was on bed rest for a while but did the best she could with her disability. I found Julie inspiring as well because despite her circumstances she did not let it change the purity of her heart.

Chapter 15

Christianity spread through various places in the world although at first it was mostly practiced in Europe. This religion spread to Spain, Russia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, and Central Asia. Although Catholicism held a high position at that time as a religion, Martin Luther's revolutionary ideas changed this. He publicly spoke out about the abuses within the Roman Catholic Church bringing to life the Protestant branch of Christianity.

Luther believed that salvation came through faith instead of the sacraments and good works that were taught in the Catholic church. This changed the lives of some of the individuals in the social ladder during that time period. Kings and Princes used this explanations as a justification to rid the pope of the power that he held against them. The role of middle-class dwellers grew as a result of Protestant ideas because they preached that "all vocations were of equal merit". In the end, the Protestant religion ended the veneration of Mary and female saints. The struggle between Protestant and Catholic dominance created the Thirty Year's War.

As a result of the Protestant reformation, the Catholic Church made some changes to the way they ran their church. They worked on the "authority of the pope, priestly celibacy, the veneration of saints and relics, and the importance of church tradition and good works".

Europeans believed that their success in the Americas was a direct results if the power of the "Christian God". Native American's agreed with this statement which made it easy for them to turn to Christianity. The cost of conversion was high for women who held any type of religious power because the Catholic faith only gave men the opportunity to lead. In some occasions, the Spanish would force their faith onto the native populations by destroying images and ritual objects on native people's idols.

China was superior to the European missionaries causing them to have to come up with a different missionary strategy than the one used in the Americas. Instead of forcing their faith into the Chinese Empire, missionaries pretended to be interested in the Confucius ideas that belonged to their faith, They downplayed their mission to convert by expressing an attraction in exchanging ideas and learning from China's faith. Jesuits brought knowledge that consisted of new ideas in technology, geography, and mapmaking. This allowed them to gain good positions within the Chinese imperial court. Some of the people in China naturally converted to Christianity, but it was not widely accepted there. There was no real parallel between the Chinese and Catholic faith making it an all or nothing faith.

Europeans were able to convert many of the slaves that were brought to the Americas. Europeans thought that the way that the African people worshipped was evidence of sorcery or witchcraft. In the end, African slaves began to incorporate many of the Christian rituals to their faith,

A major cultural change that blended Islam and Hinduism was Sikhism. This religion ended the seclusion of women and promoted the "'brotherhood of all mankind'". Another religion that blended these two religion was Bhakti. Through various religious practices, this religion sought to united the many deities in India.

The Scientific Revolution challenged the way that religious scholars saw the world. Before the Scientific Revolution, many thought that the earth was at the center of the universe. People believed that God made it this way because the purpose of Earth was to give the inhabitants the ability to be saved by God. Nicolaus Copernicus stated that what was the actual center of Earth was the sun and that the planets revolved around it. This put into question what Christians initially believed. This was one of the many things that were put into question about Christianity.

Chapter 14 rest of chapter

Due to the environmental changes that caused a "Little Ice Age", the fur trade became very prominent during the early modern era. European nations competed to be apart of this enterprise. The French obtained much of their fur from the St. Lawrence valley. British traders took over the Hudson Bay region and the Dutch primarily had control over the Hudson River where New York stands today.

For the most part, Europeans did not do any of the trapping that took place for trading fur. Many of the Native Americans that partook in these jobs benefited a lot from trading fur.  They usually had the Native Americans do the messy work in exchange for gifts suchs as weapons, textiles, and brandy. The fur trade became widespread and everyone wanted to take part in it due to the cold climates that were approaching. Trapping caused environmental damage to beaver populations in the United States. Their habitats were degraded which almost lead to their extinction.

The Atlantic Slave trade was essential during this time period as well. Many African people were taken in by elites in and sent to the Caribbean, America, and the Mediterranean. In the Americas, the African slave trade brought diversity into their society. Unlike other societies, there was a racial barrier between African Slaves and their European counterparts. For a long period of time, they were not viewed as equals, but instead they were seen as property. In the Indian Ocean world, many of these slaves assimilated into other societies of their owners. They lost their identity through this process. Some slaves in the Islamic world were given prominent military or political status. Many of the slaves that were transferred from one place to another died in the process. They caught diseases that were not known to them in the process.

Chapter 14 Part 1

Muslims held a monopoly on the Indian Ocean. They were the source of supply for much of the goods that were being traded within the Indian Ocean. The city of Venice was a place of commerce commonly used for trade between the European Powers. Europeans resented both the Venetians and Muslims due to the fact that they had to rely on them as trading partners. Because Europe was not as developed as its counterparts, they had to pay for Asian goods with gold or silver. Europe's lack of dominance on the Indian Ocean ultimately lead them to find their way into the "ancient Asian world of Indian Ocean commerce."

The advancements in technological weapons allowed for the Portuguese to gain access by force to bases that were under the rule of weak states. They knew they could not control commerce through economic competition, so they aimed to enter this system by using arm force. They attempted to assign merchant vessels duties of 6 to 10 percent of their cargos as a means to make profit. Although the Portuguese were able to make their way into the Indian Ocean trade, they never exceeded to amount of half of the spice trade in Europe. Their unsuccessful attempts soon lead them to assimilate themselves back to their ancient ways.

After seeing the success held by the Portuguese, the Spanish began to think of ways to catch up to their counterparts. They established themselves in the Philippine Islands. In comparison to the Portuguese, the Spanish did not dominate these Islands through force. Instead, they formed alliances with the chiefs living on these Islands. The Spanish pressed their religion --Christianity-- onto the Filipino lifestyle. Women began to be displaced by male priest as their major role as healers, specialists, and midwives were taken from them.

The Dutch and the British began to get into the Indian commercial trade during the early seventeenth century. The Dutch held great business and maritime shipping skills that allowed them to become a highly commercialized nation. The Dutch took over the Islands of Indonesia to use for their resources. They took control of spice-producing islands and forced the people living their to trade with them solely. Additionally, the Dutch East Indian Company also took over Taiwan. The British East Indian Company established itself in Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta, and Madras.

Silver and gold also became an essential when it came to trade. Spanish America held 85% of the world's silver in the early modern era. Because the Spanish held control over the Philippines, they possessed a capital that was the destination to shipments of silver.

Chapter 13 Summary

The Chinese, Indians, and Muslims lacked incentive to participate in the exploration of the Americas, but the Europeans did not. A relevant quote expressed by a Spanish Conquistador, that of which our history book mentions, is "We came here to serve God and the King, and also to get rich." This pretty much sums up the reasoning behind many of the Europeans settler's incentives to find land elsewhere. Some were seeking better lives after the potato famine, others left as a result of religious persecution, and some sought to obtain the riches that they believed the Americas possesed. This new land was easily sought for by the Europeans because they were more advanced than the Native American's residing in this land. The diseases that the Europeans brought to the Americas killed off most of the Native American populations making them the dominant race. The Dutch, the British, and the Spaniards all had major advantages towards the Native American populations. The "Little Ice Age" also took place during this time period. The cool temperatures that arouse made it hard for individuals to produce crops. A major revolutionary process that occurred was the columbian exchange. New plants, crops, and animals were introduced to the Americas making it easier to provide food for many. International exchange became worldwide and major nations were trading amongst each other. Additionally, the Atlantic slave trade was a means of making profit from Africa to the United States. Cheap labor was needed to take care of crops such as tobacco, and many colonies would pay to bring these workers to America. 

Both the European and the Russian empires had some similarities and differences during this time period that relied on conquering land. As individuals were expanding in the Americas, Russians were also expanding their influence westward. The Russians were trying to take control of those nomadic pastoral individuals who lived in the grasslands south and east of Russia. The reason for this was because they posed a threat to their agricultural Russian neighbors selling many of them into slavery. What drove the russians to the east was the opportunity to access "'soft gold' of fur-bearing animals." The Russian empire enforced the individuals under their control to pledge an oath of allegiance to the Russian authorities. They also demanded a tribute that had to be paid in cash. Similarly to the conquest in the Americas, being under Russian control produced epidemics in the places that were conquered. Russians provided incentives such as "tax breaks, exemptions from paying tribute, or the promise of land or cash" to get individuals to turn to Christianity. Russians destroyed mosques as a means to get individuals to turn to Christianity as well. 

Part four talked about the modern area and emphasized that it was not set in stone who held the most influence in 1970. It was interesting to read that Europeans did not have a grand amount of control on China and Japan. In fact, during the eighteenth century, China and Japan controlled the European missionaries and merchants who intervened in their societies. Additionally, African authorities had a huge say on the way that the triangular slave trade was processed between the European authorities. During this time period, women were still not viewed as individuals capable of owning land. Those who got a say for the most part were rich males that owned land or offices. Although our definition of modern means bigger changes than the ones that will be discussed in this chapter, during that time period these were the ideas that were placed and enforced in their societies.

Yay! I'm done.