On page 454, there are two charts about slavery. The first chart describes the rise and decline of the slave trade. I was surprised of the increase of slave trade during the years 1701-1850. It's interesting that from 1451-1675 the numbers were pretty low. What was the event that caused the numbers to increase so rapidly? And why did the the numbers stay consist and then suddenly drop?
The second chart is the destination of slaves in the eighteenth century. I thought that the U.S. had the most percentage of slaves. So I was shocked to discover that the Caribbean and Brazil had the highest percentages. Why did they have the highest percents?
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Chapter 15 Global Commerce (pg. 433-448)
The very first line in the chapter from the guest book of Cape Coast Castle made me realize how lucky I am. Slaves were treated so poorly and lived in such harsh conditions that they probabaly hated thier lives and despised the people who ruled over them. I am very grateful that times have changed and people aren't suffering as badly as they used to.
Some goods that were at a high demand include: cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and pepper which were used as condiments or preservatives. Other products of the East such as Chinese silk, Indian cottons, rhubarb for medical purposes, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires were also in great demand.
There is a line that says silver "went around the world and made the world go round." This increased supply of a precious metal traveled from country to country and people wanted to have it. It became an obsession to obtain silver and live life based around it and what you could buy or sell for it. In it's global journeys, silver transformed much that it touched. It's wealthy European elite lived in luxury, with all the goods of Europe and Asia and their disposal. People would travel for weeks on end to get silver. Greed consumed the people and of course they wanted to obtain something of great vaule even if it meant putting their lives in danger.
Some goods that were at a high demand include: cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and pepper which were used as condiments or preservatives. Other products of the East such as Chinese silk, Indian cottons, rhubarb for medical purposes, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires were also in great demand.
There is a line that says silver "went around the world and made the world go round." This increased supply of a precious metal traveled from country to country and people wanted to have it. It became an obsession to obtain silver and live life based around it and what you could buy or sell for it. In it's global journeys, silver transformed much that it touched. It's wealthy European elite lived in luxury, with all the goods of Europe and Asia and their disposal. People would travel for weeks on end to get silver. Greed consumed the people and of course they wanted to obtain something of great vaule even if it meant putting their lives in danger.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Handout: Ch. 4 Sweet Nexus: Sugar and the Origins of the Modern World
I found the phrase "people produce what they do not consume, and consume what they do not produce" confusing. I'm still unclear by what it means.
In the 4th century, sugar was discovered by Greek conquerors in north western India. Ancient Europeans called it "Honey from reeds." Sugar became a luxury good that was introduced into western Asia and Europe in the later Middle Ages. By the 15th century, sugar was being grown in southern Spain and in Portugal. The Portuguese brought the sugar plantation from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. There they used African enslaved labor to work the crops. I found this very racist and unfair. It's annoying when people are aware of the discrimination and don't do anything about it. It's not right to degrade people based on skin color or where they are from. The African slaves had to plant, weed, and harvest the cane. The conditions they lived in were nasty and brutal.
In the 4th century, sugar was discovered by Greek conquerors in north western India. Ancient Europeans called it "Honey from reeds." Sugar became a luxury good that was introduced into western Asia and Europe in the later Middle Ages. By the 15th century, sugar was being grown in southern Spain and in Portugal. The Portuguese brought the sugar plantation from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. There they used African enslaved labor to work the crops. I found this very racist and unfair. It's annoying when people are aware of the discrimination and don't do anything about it. It's not right to degrade people based on skin color or where they are from. The African slaves had to plant, weed, and harvest the cane. The conditions they lived in were nasty and brutal.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Chapter 14 Empires and Encounters (pg. 417-430)
While the Western Europeans were creating empires in the Americas, the Russian Empire was beginning to form. Eventually the Russian Empire became the world's largest state. Because of Columbus, the state of Moscow conquered neighiboring Russian cities and involved them with expanding the territory. Moscow was originally under Mongol control until Moscow became the center of the Russian Empire.This empire became very successful and offered economic and social improvements. By the end of the 18th century, Russian settlers overwhelmed the native people. The Russians started to take over other local countries and populate the land with their own people. Because the Russians conquered different lands, the empire became very mulitethnic. Obviously, the Russians created an empire like the Western empires in terms of conquest, settlement, religious conversion, and feelings of superoprity.
China built an empire on the northern and western frontiers that enlarged the size of the country. The Chinese conquests along with the Russian Empire transformed Central Asia. China's domination sparked a clash of the nomadic pastoralists and settled farmers. The India Mughal Empire was a result of Central Asian warriors, who were Muslims in religion and Turkic in culture. The Nughal Empire was an encounter of two of the world's great religious traditions.
Along with the Mughal state, the Ottoman Empire was the result of Turkic warrior groups. The Ottoman state was converted from a small frontier to a powerful empire. This empire represented the growing of Tukic people becuase they now had a large number of Arabs. Like the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire was a cross-cultural empire between the Islamic world and Christendom.
China built an empire on the northern and western frontiers that enlarged the size of the country. The Chinese conquests along with the Russian Empire transformed Central Asia. China's domination sparked a clash of the nomadic pastoralists and settled farmers. The India Mughal Empire was a result of Central Asian warriors, who were Muslims in religion and Turkic in culture. The Nughal Empire was an encounter of two of the world's great religious traditions.
Along with the Mughal state, the Ottoman Empire was the result of Turkic warrior groups. The Ottoman state was converted from a small frontier to a powerful empire. This empire represented the growing of Tukic people becuase they now had a large number of Arabs. Like the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire was a cross-cultural empire between the Islamic world and Christendom.
Chapter 14 Empires and Encounters (pg. 403-417)
The European colonies, Spanish, Portuguese, British, French, and Dutch were very significant with the empire building across the Western Hemisphere. Throughout these empires, old societies were destroyed while new socities were created. Countries such as Portugal, Spain, Britain, and France were located aorund the rim of the Europe. This made them closer to the Americas and the wind currents blew in the same direction they were going which made it easier to travel and trade. As for China, the wind currents blew against China which made it difficult to travel and China was already developed and had a strong economy so there wasn't any need to explore.
There are negative and positive views about Christopher Columbus. He was hero by discovering a new world and he brought western culture and civilization to this new land. He provided assistance in helping the people use thier land effectiviely and how to manage it. So for this, Columbus was a crucial factor in farming and modernizing the other lands. However, upon his arrival up to 90% of Native Americans died. Their bodies couldn't handle diseases because they were never exposed to it and their immunities weren't strong enough. Because of his new ways of living he brought to the Native Americans, most of them died from starvation because they didn't know ways of searching for their food. In my opinion, I still look at Columbus as a hero because he made advancements towards life and other lands. It is unfortuante that millions of people had to die as a result of this but it is part of the cycle of life to adapt to new and different things that occur in the world. Today, we have created medicines for diseases and have multiple ways of getting food to stay alive. Without Columbus, people would never have learned to adjust to ways of living and advancements in the medical field would never have been discovered.
There are negative and positive views about Christopher Columbus. He was hero by discovering a new world and he brought western culture and civilization to this new land. He provided assistance in helping the people use thier land effectiviely and how to manage it. So for this, Columbus was a crucial factor in farming and modernizing the other lands. However, upon his arrival up to 90% of Native Americans died. Their bodies couldn't handle diseases because they were never exposed to it and their immunities weren't strong enough. Because of his new ways of living he brought to the Native Americans, most of them died from starvation because they didn't know ways of searching for their food. In my opinion, I still look at Columbus as a hero because he made advancements towards life and other lands. It is unfortuante that millions of people had to die as a result of this but it is part of the cycle of life to adapt to new and different things that occur in the world. Today, we have created medicines for diseases and have multiple ways of getting food to stay alive. Without Columbus, people would never have learned to adjust to ways of living and advancements in the medical field would never have been discovered.
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