The Opium War

The first Opium War was when The British fought The British and China. They fought with ships in the seas. This war started because the British had opium and wanted to trade with China.Opium comes from a plant called poppy. In the beginning British gave away opium to the Chinese so they can become addicted to it and make it a physical need for them. The rate of addiction greatly grew in China. Later the Chinese wanted more opium, however British didn't give it away this time, now they wanted to trade it to them for tea. The Emporer was not happy about this so when the British came to the ports to trade with the Chinese merchants, the Emporer sent out ships to block off the British ships. Obviously, the Chinese lost because of their out of date ships and weapons. The Europeans had high powered cannons and ships made of steel. European won the war because they had more superior technology's than China.

"The White Man's Burden"

The poem talks about the white man's burden which talks about their job to civilize and bring knowledge to the Africans and Indians. They believe it is a blessing for them to come and educate. At that period of time England had the most Technology, Guns, and Inventions than any other country. They believe it is a blessing for them to come and educate these people that don't even want their help. This poem explains how at the end your son is "Half Devil and Half Child" referring to all the misdeeds he committed to the savages that caused him to turn into that devil. The White man may have raped a African or Indian women because of the lack of Intelligence they posses. They have so much power in their possession causing them to do foolish things. There is also a line where it says "The hate of those ye guard" discusses the racism the White Man has against the African's and Indians. They talk about how their race is the dominant race and the world couldn't form without one English man. The White Man believes they are the dominant race and is better than everybody else.

"The Scramble for Africa"

The Scramble for Africa began in 1881. It was when different nation's all tried to colonize Africa. The nation's that were involved were Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, and Italy were the main country's involved in the scramble for Africa. These European nations were looking for natural resources such as petroleum, gold , diamonds, timber, and ivory. Africans were also used for slave trade to the triangle trade to bring slaves to the New America's. This affected Africa by separating and splitting everybody up so they could not communicate with tribes. The Europeans created borders to isolate different Africans.It was very easy for Europeans to dominate Africa because of the Technology they possessed as well as a good military. Also Africa wouldn't have the intelligence to revolt against the British.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

In this film Richard Burton and John Speek were on a quest to look for the source of the Nile.The Europeans faced many different kinds of hardship. One was the lack of technology the had. They also lacked conservation of food. There were hazardous insects. John Speek was one of the victims from the insects. A beetle entered his ear and was causing him pain. He stabbed the beetle in his ear. They faced boredom and teaching African's how to use their technology. One was a dangerous and the primary advantage they had over the Africans was the invention of the firearm gun. I believe it was foolish to give a primitive unintellectual person a gun, who knows what they can do with it ? Its strange that the Nile river is named after a British queen when its an African country containing mostly African's not whites. When you think of Africa, White people don't come into your mind, unless you go back in time like I'm explaining now. It was so easy for Europeans to invade Europe because of the lack of intelligence the people there possessed and all the gifts the Europeans had to offer to them. What got me curious is, Why did John Speek commit suicide ?

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

The Meiji Restoration ocurred in the later half of the 19th century. Japan is an isolated country. It had been locked away from other countries for years because they were imperialistic. In 1868 a Tokogawa shogun who ruled japan in the feudal period, lost his power and the emporer came into power and restored Japan. The emperor name was Meiji, he chose that name because it meant "enlightened rule" and also which the even was called THE MEIJI RESTORATION. Since the emporer was restored head of Japan, the nation had a weak military. The country also had lack of technoligical development. This caused United States and Europe took advantage of this by making them sign treaties which limited their supply of trade and in japanese citizens that live in the western parts will not be tried as the Meiji way when they do crime, however they will be tried as western citizens in court. When the emperor fell to his death in 1912, japan had many benifits to his death. They had a highly centralized bureaucratic government, a well developed transportation and communication system, a powerful army, a highly educated populations and free of feudal class restrictions.

Karl Marx and Communism

Karl Marx idea of communism was very unique. He was a philisopher, social scientist, historian, and revolutionary. He was one of the most influential social thinker of the 19th century. He invented communism and believed it very strongly. Communism is a society where everyone is equal. He believed that every working class should have the same wealth. Everyone share the same income.He wanted everyone to be equal. Karl Marx didn't believe in unique talents. Industrial Revolution influenced him to invent communism. He observed the way the poor get payed less while the rich get payed more. He wanted everyone to be happy. He didn't think people would feel this strongly against communism. In my opinion I believe that his idea of communism was a smart idea, however it didn't work out. I liked the way he approached in thinking of communism by observing industrial revolution. I believe that he thinks that the message of communism was not to anger anyone it was a token of peace. He relates to John Lennon allot.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revolution

Karl Marx was a German. He believed that the way the factory's were run on industrial revolution was necessary to build a capitalist society which also led him to think it was a necessity precursor to the development of socialism and eventually communism. He was dismayed by the way workers were treated in the factory's and mills. He influenced workers of the world to unite in a worldwide revolution. He invented communism which came from the word common. He also quoted that " workers rather than landlords should control the factory's".I believe that his idea and perspective of the industrial revolution were correct, however he went wrong into inventing communism.