Blog #11

What I found interesting in this reading was the section that questioned why Western Europe was the area that the industrial revolution started in. I had never questioned why the industrial revolution happened in Western Europe until the book got me thinking about it. It makes sense that the industrial revolution occurred in Western Europe because all of the small independent states led to a highly competitive industry. This competition would lead to each state trying to find ways to get an advantage over the other states. The innovation helped lead to new inventions and ideas that all eventually culminated in the industrial revolution.

I liked how the book points out that other parts of the world have had their own types of industrial revolutions at different points in history. For instance China had it's industrial revolution during 700 C.E. I think that the reason we make such a big deal about the industrial revolution in Western Europe is because it is the most recent industrial revolution we have had and it has had the biggest effect on us. There are even problems that started because of that revolution that still bother us today. One of these problems is the need for finding new renewable resources. 

Blog #10

This reading has made it obvious that nationalism cannot be forced. A conquered country cannot be expected to adopt the same patriotism or beliefs as people who are in the conquering nation have. People in conquering nations wanted to be on their own and resisted accepting their "new" country's beliefs. An example of this was when Russia tried to spread the russian language through out it's empire. The only thing that Russia succeeded in doing was pointing out how different the Polish, Ukrainian, and Finnish people were. This same thing happened to many other empires such as the Ottoman empire and the British empire.
I liked all of the arguments that Simon Bolivar brings up in The Jamaica Letter. He gives valid reasons for why the island deserves its autonomy. One is that they have created their own people which is a mix from the homeland and from the indigenous people on the island. The new people has combined the best of the two groups. Another reason is the homeland has changed and has gone from being helpful to being a curse. This puts the people on the island at a disadvantage.

SND Handout

The French of the time seem similar to something that I feel corporate companies and politicians are like today. The part that I would relate to the corporate companies today was when people in French society were trying to reform the tax system in France to make the burden on the poor less. Instead of letting them reform the system the french aristocracy chose to get rid of the guy until they got to somebody who would do what they wanted them to. The part that I would relate to politicians is how politicians make it seem like they are reforming when in reality they are doing the same exact thing that they were doing prior but it is disguised. The french aristocracy did this with the tax reformation. They basically made small changes or changes that they were ok with and told the public that the tax system was reformed, when in reality nothing was changed.
I think that a combination of events helped form Francoise into the religious life. Two main events stand out to me. One is her attending the boarding school Abbey Saint Michael. Her teachers there helped instill in her the first religious ideas that she would ever get. I believe that being at a religious school helps shape the character of the student and this is what happened to Francoise. This combined with her trips with her grandmother to help the poor really had an affect on Francoise point of view on life. She was able to see how the poor lived and suffered.

Blog #7

I found the American and French revolutions very interesting. The American Revolution was a very calm revolution compared to the French Revolution. In my opinion the reason for this was that the American Revolution did not take place on the homeland as the French Revolution did. People in Britain wanted to keep the colonies but not everybody cared because it was not happening right in front of them. This brings to mind the phrase "out of sight, out of mind." I believe that if the revolution would have happened in Britain or near it, then the revolution might have been as bloody as the French Revolution. Also the American Revolution seemed very gradual. The American Colonists had already been on their own for a while when all of a sudden Britain decided that they wanted to retake control over the colonists. The colonists did not like this and fought back. After they had one they already had an idea of how they wanted to govern themselves and what they were going to do about it.
The French and their revolution was much more different. One big difference was that it occurred in France, which meant that everyone was involved. It didn't matter if they wanted to be or not. Another is that all the classes were fighting with each other. The poor wanted to gain wages they were losing, the middle class wanted the respect they deserved, and the upper class wanted to retain their power. Everybody was able to voice their opinion in the revolution which led to a short abolition to slavery and gave women more rights than they ever had before. Both of these were short lived but the fact that they were even considered was huge. I believe the French revolution was more ugly because everybody was fighting to make sure they had their voice heard. Also the revolution was not gradual but more like a bomb that was just dropped.

Blog #6

Blog #6
I see the Enlightenment and all of the scientific ideas that came from it as a way to clean up all of the corruption that was in the world religions at the time. The religions of the world were taking advantage of the ignorance of the common person. They could make people do anything because they said it was God's will or they could explain any bad event as a form of punishment. I think that the Enlightenment grew in popularity because the people realized how corrupt the religions were and they wanted to get to the truth. People saw the enlightenment as a way to better themselves and society. I believe that the world religions were content with the way things were and did not care to see people progress. This is why when all of these new ideas that contradicted religion came out, many religions did not tolerate it and fought hard to keep the ideas from spreading.

Blog #5 Cultural Transformations
I found Martin Luther's protest ironic because he meant it to help fix the Catholic faith and repair the corruption that was found with the popes and bishops. What actually happened was he started a revolution against the Roman Catholic Church. His argument gave kings and queens the justification they needed to go against the church and recollect many of the lands that the Church had taken for itself.
It is interesting that Catholicism has been able to stay so popular for so long. Islam was spreading quickly and competing with Catholicism. Islamic people were able to get rid of the Catholic parts of the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire was able to take control of Constantinople which was the stronghold for the East Orthodox Church. After all this the Catholic church was still under attack from its own people as more and more people were becoming protestant and turning away from the church.