Themes from Ways of the World

Kyle Janes

Chapter 17: The North American Revolution

The common belief is that the American Revolution took place due to taxation without representation. But the colonists seemed to be fine without being represented when taxes weren’t involved. So, it start over a pretty greedy concept but the ideals that were created because of it have stood the test of time.

Chapter 17: The Haitian Revolution

• The Haitian Revolution wasn’t as good against evil as the others seemed. It was a fight between different social classes that broke out due rising tensions between them all. There were rich whites, poor whites, rich blacks, and poor blacks. Eventually the black population was victorious due to their vast population on the island. It was the first major successful slave revolt of the time.

Chapter 17: The Abolition of Slavery

• The constant occurrence of revolutions went hand in hand with the eventual ending of world wide slave trade. Inspired by ideas of equality for every man of the enlightenment, many of the revolutions led to the freeing of slaves.

Chapter 18: The First Industrial Society: Britain

• With all of the obvious benefits of the Industrial Revolution, came also the negative effects. Obviously, the British aristocracy and economy benefited from it. But the hard work had to be done by someone. That’s where the laboring class came in. Their lives were riddled with poor working and living conditions and the constant exploitation of their labor.

Chapter 18: The United States: Industrialization without

socialism• The vast size and

amount of resources the U.S. had were the main factors in it’s rise to the top of the Industrial food chain. Such inventions as the assembly line, the automobile, and even mail order catalogs helped as well.

Chapter 18: Russia: Industrialization and

Revolution• Before the Industrial

Revolution, Russia was largely populated by a lower class that was constantly exploited by the wealthy landowners who put them to work for little money. But when the communist revolution kicked in and brought with it industry, Russia was put on the fast track to become an Industrial power. This led to the over working of laborers. 13 hour work days were a common occurrence.

Chapter 19: New Perceptions of the “Other”

• While in the era before, Europeans defined themselves as the elite because of their practicing of Christianity; the industrial revolution brought about a new way for Europeans to rank themselves among the world’s population. The success of the new found industries of the time led many to believe they were naturally smarter than the people they were taking over.

Chapter 19: Western Pressure

• Around the 1830’s, westerners began to realize the lucrative benefits of the exporting the drug opium. China in particular bought into this trade and their opium importing soon grew to 23 times more than what was before. But because it was illegal in China, it had to be smuggled in. This eventually became a problem when people buying the opium would pay for it in silver. This led to a diminishing of silver in China which was one of its major exports. Also the high addictiveness of the drug was a major problem for many Chinese who were looking to escape their problems by using the drug.

Chapter 19: The Opium Wars

• The negative effects of illegal opium trade led the Chinese official Lin Zexu (pictured on the left) to start a campaign against the drug. This caused the destroying of over 3 million pounds of opium and the expelling of many western traders from the country. This angered many of the western powers because they felt that their people were sent away unfairly. Eventually they were let back in as long as they followed the laws of the country and became citizens.

Chapter 20: Under European Rule

• European rule brought along with it much suffering and destruction in most places. Men, women, and children would be shot without remorse. Entire villages and farms would be burned to the ground. One Vietnamese poet expressed his feeling on foreign rule this way… “Fine wine but no good friends, So I buy none though I have the money”.

Chapter 20: Economies of the Cash-Crop Agriculture: The Pull

of the Market• Even before being colonized many

African and Asian markets were beginning to find their way into agriculture. Countries in West Africa exported peanuts or palm oil, Egypt specialized in cotton, Indonesia in spices, and India dealt pepper and textiles. When colonization began it in some ways helped those countries. But shortages of labor broke out which brought workers from other places in and cause social tensions among the people. Also the specialization in one or two goods per country made them prone to fluctuating prices in the markets they were involved in.

Chapter 20: Religion• Along with the economic

influences of countries onto their colonies, came religious influence. Thousands of missionaries were sent to different places to spread the teachings of Christianity. It didn’t have a large effect of India, which was mainly Hindu. But It did have an influence on non-Muslim population in Africa. Their belief in many different Gods had been shaken due to the easy take over of their villages which convinced many to convert.

Chapter 21: An Accident Waiting to Happen

• Throughout the period of enlightenment and imperialism countries in Europe did not gain power through working together, but rather competing against one another for global dominance. This, the Franco-Prussian war, and the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne were all ingredients in what to turned out to be one of the most horrific events in human history. Once Franz Ferdinand (The Austrian Prince) was killed, media and schools of the European countries blew the event way out of proportion which caused irrational nationalism to kick in and cause World War I.

Chapter 21: The great Depression

• After World War I, the U.S. was launched to the top of the economic food chain. The roaring 20’s were a decade where mass amounts of consumerism took place. People spent their money like there was no tomorrow. Little did they know, that tomorrow would be the Great Depression. The Depression was the first extreme failure of capitalism and shook many countries beliefs in it. It also resulted in many new government programs which were created to help those in need of economic assistance.

Chapter 21: The Fascist Alternative in Europe

• After World War I, countries such as Germany and Italy were left poor, defeated, and angered. Much of this was because of the very lopsided treaty of Versailles; which favored countries like Britain, France, and Russia. Because of the new found hate for their capitalist enemies and economic troubles, fascism evolved. It presented an aggressive and much more nationalistic alternative with a charismatic leader that would be the main source of power. It encouraged conservative values, but was very violent in it’s ways of gaining control. It challenged the ideals of democracy in Europe by putting practically all the power into one man’s hands. This turned out to be a huge problem when people such Hitler and Mussolini took over Germany and Italy.

Chapter 22: Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution was the result of a failing system of government and also the war in Europe. Through aggressiveness and man power the Bolsheviks were not only able to overthrow their own government but also keep others such as the U.S. and Britain from destroying them. It also helped that they got rid of the Tsar Nicholas the second who did nothing to try and help his poverty stricken people. Also by surrounding themselves with communist governments soon after their takeover, Russia, insured it would remain untouched.

Chapter 22: Communist Feminism

• The communist movement in Russia also brought about a feminist agenda. But unlike America’s feminist movement, this one was controlled and encouraged for some time by the government. The communist party even created a group called Zhenotdel which was run exclusively by women. While it existed, this group published magazines, trained women in different fields of work, and pushed the feminist agenda. This movement was one of the very few good things to come out of the Russian revolution.

Chapter 22: China: Abandoning Communism and Maintaining

the Party• After Mao Zedong died in 1976,

major reformation took place in China. Deng Xiaoping took power and was determined to end the mistakes of the Mao era while still maintaining a communist focus. But China’s style backed away from communism when they began to give farmers back their land and allowed some free enterprise. They had a little bit of capitalism mixed in with communism because they feared the instability of democracy. When they did this, China’s economy was shot to the top and has stayed their ever since.

Chapter 23: The Use of India: Ending British Rule

• Many different empires had taken over India throughout its existence. But when British rule took place, Indians began to feel a resentment for foreign rule like never before. Along with the forming of the Indian National Congress and the teachings Gandhi, India eventually freed itself. But it did so in a very unique way. Gandhi inspired peaceful protest rather than war. He also did not want India to become an industrial power but instead to instill the old way of living into India. Things such as religion, and self sufficient villages were his goals. He felt that the ways of capitalism had gone bad and only created moral weakness in humans.

Chapter 23: Comparing African Nations

• African Nations, unlike India just can’t seem to grasp on to democracy or any other sort of central government. With the exception of South Africa, India, and some other nations, Africa has been a melting pot for military coups and constant economic turmoil. Even Imperial rule for many years couldn’t successfully establish a lasting democracy in it’s colonies throughout the continent. There could be many reasons for this, but I believe that the main one is that the traditional and third world ways of many African nations don’t allow the people to organize and figure out a solution. Many Africans live in villages of their own without a care for what’s going on in the outside world.

Chapter 23: South Africa and India

• While so many countries around them remain in chaos, South Africa and India have somehow maintained a steady government. These democracies have proven themselves as two of the most successful countries in the world. Perhaps the most reasonable explanation for this is that throughout their histories, these countries became aware that they were being constantly taken over when they didn’t control themselves. So, they became independent.

Chapter 24: Reglobalization• After World War II, the

importance of global trade grew very rapidly. The accelerated circulation of goods, capitol, and information laid the foundation for years to come. Department stores such as Wal-Mart carry goods that come from all over the world. Every other item seems to have the very common, “Made in China”. This is just one of many examples of global trade being used to this day.

Chapter 24: Consequences of Globalization

• With the global economy, came the largest rise in the flow of capitol ever. Quality of living has been significantly improved with infant mortality rates going very low and life expectancy growing higher. The Global economy has introduced many countries new ways to live. But the negative consequences are also starting to show up. Some countries that don’t have the labor or means to participate in it have been left In the dust while the power countries are always stepping it up with things like better healthcare, drinking water, and just overall quality of life. Also, every economic giant is dependent on others. This means that if an influential country has a depression it drags the other countries economies with it.

Chapter 24: Fundamentalism

• In response to the secular nature of modern times, fundamentalism was introduced. It started in America as a reaction to the counterculture of the mid-1900’s . Over time, it has been used also as political weapon when candidates explain themselves as fundamentalists to get votes. It was started as an attempt to re-establish the religious culture in America, and has in some ways succeeded. It is also a popular player in many governments such as Iran, which is an official Islamic Republic.