Chapter 20 Reflections

Strayer entitled the period of European expansion into East Africa and Southeast Asia between 1750 and 1900 as the "Second Wave." I think his word choice here exactly conveys the reality of the situation with wave suggesting an endless stream, a cycle that merely increases in intensity as rising and falling water. Europeans cannot seem to function without the invasion of territory, without constant conquering and constant expansion. I believe in growth, though I do not think it needs to literally define as the growth of the country across the planet. Interestingly, though this may come from a biased understanding of history as my education simply falls in the cycle of European conquest, it seems the main world powers, such as Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Portugal, uniquely have the drive for constant expansion. I understand that Spain and Portugal did not participate as widely and devotedly to the "second wave" as their influential counterparts; however, their role previously in expansion and conquering of peoples includes them within the list. The vast improvement in industry, science, medicine, and agriculture broadened the abilities of the Europeans, leading them to a superior position economically and militarily to facilitate their dominance in the world. I find it interesting to contemplate the scene had the oppressed countries experienced the vast growth of the Europeans.

Cooperation resulted in the easy transition for certain individuals into the control of the European invaders, however, whether or not certain individual morals were sacrificed in order to retain a certain amount of status within the country. Strayer describes that individuals participating in the peaceful assimilation were either men joining the European militaries that occupied the regions or the elites of the once sovereign countries. The difficulty in maintaing self-derived principles in the face of a stronger, invading force though the necessity to join the forces against the people undergoing massive, forced change is debatable. As understanding by Strayer's words, the main motive of these individuals in entire cooperation came from the drive to attain "status and privileges" as well as "gaining considerable wealth" by means "both legally and otherwise" (595). Otherwise than legal methods in order to retain certain social statuses and indulge in previously unexperienced wealth, as interpreted by Strayer, seems to be a manipulation of the power at hand in order to exploit the citizens of the country by both the perpetrators and the victims themselves.

In regards to the constant, repetitive, seemingly unavoidable segregation of individuals by racial barriers, the comfort of those in power to remain in power by enacting rules of separation, in my opinion, arises from the insecurities and laziness of individuals to achieve success through work. They prefer to implement systems of comparison, such as the European "masters" to the African "boys" and the frightened reaction to intellectual Asians and Africans, to attain automatic, unearned, and undeserved supremacy (597). The inability to handle their fear leads to the resorting to anger and violence, and thus the cycle continues.

Chapter 19 Reflections

            The rapid development and growth when presented with the changing mentality of an era in Europe and Asia signifies the adaptive ability and advantage of humanity. When presented with the opportunity of the Industrial Revolution, countries compounded their advances upon one another in order to form a time of great prosperity in the realm of development. Industry and capitalism provided Europeans with a surplus of goods, especially in the cotton-cloth field, and therefore permitted them entry into the Asian-Indian trade circle that they had desperately wanted to enter for years. Companies began to think in terms of individual gain, and therefore saw the entry into Indian trade as an entry into a massive population of consumers. Capitalists even sought to invest far from home, stimulating economic growth worldwide. With monetary growth grew the desire of status for countries as a whole, and thus was born the imperialist drive. The spheres of influence suddenly became concerned for the conquering of not necessarily worthwhile countries for the sake of bolstering their power stance. In these terms, the great powers of the world such as Great Britain, France, and Germany, began to use other lands purely for competition without consideration for the benefits of the local residence as well as the people of the conquering countries. The well-being became secondary to the nationalist ego, and therefore the desire to hold power over these countries became unnecessary and morally wrong due to their being no substantial capitalist growth for the countries on account of such acquisitions.

            On a topic different from the imperialist mentality that consumed the countries of influence during the age that directly followed the impact of the Industrial Revolution, the wording within Strayer’s book reveals an ingrained masculine approach to history that I have deemed ethically supporting inequality among genders. Granted, I typically do not boast feminist beliefs for I do not believe one gender more privileged than another (meaning I do not believe women superior to men, men superior to women, I just believe people are people and we should stop categorizing and limiting ourselves to stereotypes), but the wording of this textbook in a particular passage has bothered me severely.  I am a logical, rational individual very capable of removing biased perceptions from situations in order to deduce the objective meaning of information, and I therefore do not believe my interpretation to be sensitive to the female sight. Furthermore, in a section regarding the changing perceptions of Europeans with the cultural expansions of the countries, Strayer writes, “Even as they held on to their sense of religious superiority, Europeans nonetheless adopted many of the ideas and techniques of more advanced societies. They held many aspects of Chinese and Indian civilization in high regard; they freely mixed and mingled with Asian and African elites and often married their women” (Strayer 563). I included such a long text in order to ensure the understanding of exactly the length and content of which Strayer must have been talking about only the men of the time period in order for the final clause, “married their women” to retain cogency. I have studied history throughout my entire life, and I understand the oppression women endured before gaining equality within the world. Therefore, I understand that men predominantly made the decisions and held positions of political power and influence during this time period. However, I believe that Strayer should have specified specific political sanctions that encompassed only the male population instead of claiming that the entire countries interests were male. In the manner by which this passage was constructed, Strayer writes entirely from the male perspective and excludes female desires and intents. He therefore excludes roughly fifty percent of the history of this time period due to the fact that females compose roughly fifty percent of the population. I can therefore conclude that his report is inaccurate for the entire era, since we only glance at the male desire, not the populace’s desire. We no longer ventured into a time that included countries, but rather a time that was significant for men. I do not despise men in any way, I must specify, but if Stayer thought to design his book in such a manner then he should have categorized two sections: male perspective, female perspective. I believe this take on history as inefficient however, since, as stated before, humanity shares the same qualities and does not demand segregation. 

Chapter 18 Reflections

            The speculations on the origin of the Industrial Revolution indicate the prosperity of Great Britain arising out of conditions that occurred simultaneously and necessarily. It appears that without the seemingly coincidental collision of events that led to the manifestation of an industrialized Britain, the revolution as history understands it would have never existed at all. One could speculate that the increased agricultural production reared from the better developed technology as well as methodology surrounding the production system in turn created the increased population that necessarily occurred alongside it, that the innovative thinking that devised procedures such as crop rotation and selective breeding fostered the workers to be born off the cheap food now readily available. Regardless, the combination of the two that occurred in Britain on account of the selective farming techniques that the country employed to allow for marketable farms to prosper over the individual farmer paved a smooth foundation for the birth of the revolution due to a surplus in workers full of rich, cheap caloric intake and restless angst.

            Other preexisting conditions generated the expanse of industry in Britain that did not exist in neighboring and equally available countries. The governmental policies contributed significantly to their growth in direct comparison to France; in Britain, tolerance emerged before the occurrence of a revolution, which took France until the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century to gain, allowing the increase in scientific minds to collaborate in the country. The tariff policies also favored internal growth rather than external importation of goods such as textiles from neighboring countries. Therefore, Britain provided its residence with a greater incentive to engage their intelligent, Scientifically Revolutionized minds to initiate technological growth. The universities within Britain fostered experimentation as well as practical development in the fields of technology much more than technologically advanced countries such as China or India. This also created a means for the Industrial Revolution to occur on the grounds of a constant stream of improvement and growth. While Britain favored the development of mechanical devises, China placed its importance on religious devotion and understanding. It becomes clear the advantages of Britain against the rest of the world when the smaller and less identifiable points such as these are examined. In total, the Industrial Revolution was not an advantage that could be found on the global level; it was not a comparison between the economic standings of the countries, the military superiority, the population size, the greatest ruler. In actuality, it did not have to do with the country as a whole at all. The Industrial Revolution was born from the individual mind, the individual cooperation, and the individual desire to better one’s condition. The Industrial Revolution occurred with a modern mentality, one of capitalism, expansion, improvement, and constant gain through self-interest. The greatest thing Britain was able to do for itself was provide the exact means for this ideal to develop, and therefore won the race for technology. 

Chapter 17 Reflections

The reasonably close relations between the revolution leaders created an era of change for the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The amount of revitalization the actors of the Atlantic Revolutions witnessed remains to this day unrivaled and influential.  The connections between the various country leaders spread across continents amazes when compared to mere individuals fighting for a cause they have devoted themselves to entirely.  These revolutions that traversed the seas proved the significance behind a single idea of human integrity and innate rights of the individual.

            The revolutions had to initially debase the established superiority of the privileged and the irrefutable control of the king. This countered an ideology that had thrived throughout the world for centuries without even a breath of distrust or serious rebellion. Monarchy had endured its darkest of times with dominance and certainty, escaping the trials that should have accompanied lunatic rulers with mad decisions such as Louie the Fourteenth of France and his plan to drive the economy into the ground. However, with the age of revolution erupting from the enlightened minds of the century, ideals such as equality, free trade, and tolerance surpassed the archaic belief in the divine privilege of kings and the unalterable destiny of the aristocracy. The revolutions of the Atlantic confronted authority with a new head on its shoulder, and each revolution was bolstered by the confidence of the successes directly preceding them.

            The American Revolution in the late eighteenth century spurred the movement across the Atlantic and into the European homeland. The Americans began with less opportunity as well as less advantages against their older, stronger, better equipped opponent, Great Britain. However, their determination and ability to abide by the ideals they established and to place them before the eyes of their oppressors inspired the French to slice a piece of revolution pie. The French had a first-hand feel for the revolution due to their direct role in assisting the Americans against the overpowering Britain. British had consistently stood as the rival to the French, and thus provided France with its role in the American Revolution as well as its spark to ignite its own. France, dealing with its own economically crippling predicament, sought to reform its monetary situation through a gathering of representatives. However, through this gathering was it made apparent the severe lack of representation of the people by the government, due to the deciding estate being broken into three parts with the first two accounting for roughly two percent of the population. This gathering, brought on by Louie the sixteenth, led to the creation of the National Assembly which quickly assumed the role of decision making for the revolutionized country of France. They acted to create the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which initiated the action of the revolution. Actions such as war and conflict supported by radical shifts in ideologies soon affected the mentalities of suppressed majorities under select privileged rule. Such effected countries prevailed with more significance than others, such as that of the Haitian Revolution. This revolution remains prevalent due to it being the single successful slave revolt in the history of the world. It stands as probably the greatest revolution on account of the vast change in authority from exploiters to the workers, from controlled and dominated slavery to free people individually prospering from their labor, and from racial inferior to equality. The massive alteration in ideology of the Haitian Revolution perfectly epitomizes the age of revolutions. 

Chapter 16 Reflections

Religion in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had an interesting contribution to society in that in consumed near entirety of the people's lives. In regards to the early forms of one particular religion, that of Christianity, the desire for a return to simpler times in large groups of people appears logical due to the amount of influence the God, the Bible, but mostly religious heads had on the lives of the individual. In modern times, groups still practice the art of conversion through missionaries to various third world countries (in my current understanding I have not heard of a missionary travelling to a more prosperous place), as well as internal conversions through works such as pamphlets, street preaching, door-to-door speeches, and other activities to proliferate the religion. However, nothing compares to the widespread devotion of the early sixteenth century spread of Christendom across Europe into the far east of Russia as well as the more southern areas such as Egypt and Ethiopia. 

Arguably, the spread of Christianity derived from devious reactions towards other groups of people, and can therefore be thought of in spite rather than for prosperity. Therefore, the actual spread of the religion, the expansion of the good word and the morals to be upheld, came from malicious desires to compete against the Islamic people for the greater majority of power and control throughout Europe. Proof stands in the expansion of Christianity occurring after the Ottoman’s began advancing through the Holy Lands and their seizure of Constantinople. Once they infiltrated the region of Central Europe, the Christian reign was threatened by the dominant Muslim culture into sparking its growth. It had nothing to do with the word of Jesus Christ or the good will of God among people. It had no roots in morality in a world of injustice. The reason for the spread of Christianity was in the Christian desire for power and control. The religion itself supported these values of dominance through the ideology that fueled it. A glance at early sixteenth century Christianity and all the years preceded it reveals a Catholicism the suppressed women, numerous ethnicities, the illiterate, and the poor in favor of white aristocracy determined to remain white aristocracy regardless of human justice and the rights of man. Christianity preached words of control through a single person’s interpretation, the pope, and therefore limited the minds and the consciousness of those who followed and believed it. Women were taught that it was God’s will to suppress them due to their ability to bear children, and they therefore should not argue with the good will of the Lord. Europeans were favored as God’s children since they were created in his image, and they had the painstaking labor of caring for the rest of the ethnicities of the world to teach them civility. The illiterate and the poor were taught to accept their fate for it was unchangeable and conceived for the proper function of the world. People were fed the key to their own chain around their ankles, and they willing swallowed it for they knew no better. Their naivety and ignorance could not be helped for the control of Christianity. That is, until Protestantism. Regardless if Protestantism bolstered similar morals as Catholicism, it offered freedom of interpretation which in turn fostered the growth of religion in the individual life for the individual reader. This option would have never existed with the perpetuation of the Catholic ways.