Ch. 16-18 Questions 1-9

1. The Great Dying was a global phenomenon which took place starting when Native Americans came in contact with Europeans, who brought European and African diseases to these Native Americans. For example, before the Spanish conquest Mexico had about 15 million citizens in the population, which was drastically narrowed down to about 1 million by 1650. In what is now modern day New York, the Dutch and British had wiped out all but one tenth of the Native Americans in that region (Strayer p. 557-560). The question of whether this could be a genocide is a hard one for me to answer. I would go with yes it was a form of genocide, because the Europeans had known about diseases from Africa and Asia before migrating to the Americas. Now was there vaccines or precautions even available back then? As crazy as it seems, I do think the genocide brought by the Europeans may have not been malicious with intent, but I do think they should have been smarter than to assume Native Americans would immune to their disease. I also believe that the Great Dying left Native Americans extremely vulnerable. With most of their population just gone, they were outnumbered and vulnerable to become slaves or forced laborers to the Europeans.

2. When looking at the Siberian societies, we see that they were essentially taken over by the Russian Empire, which eliminated the hunter gatherer societies and brought agricultural growth to Siberia. Siberia was eventually taken over with almost a million Russian settlers by the year 1720. Simply put, Russia seemed to outnumber Siberia in terms of citizens in the population. In America, Native Americans also had their land taken over by the Europeans and were severely outnumbered, specifically after the Great Dying. Agriculture was also brought to American, similar to how the Russians brought agriculture to Siberia. Overall it seemed like Siberians were actually integrated in Russian life much smoother compared to Native Americans. Siberians eventually were able to form their own Islam communities and overall seemed to blend in with Russian society easier than Europeans did with the Native Americans.

3. The Sea Roads were a major advancement point in the history of the world. The Sea Roads connected essentially all of the societies on the Eastern Hemisphere for major trading, which we learned was truly key for survival. Each region, due to climate, was able to provide a resource specifically for their region, which was used to trade with other regions whose climate may have provided a different resource. The Sea Roads actually made it possible for Venice, Italy to become somewhat of a major trade island. Merchants were able to pick up goods to resell from Venice and this was a huge resource for merchants who traveled the Sea Roads. The Sea Roads were essentially the connecting pieces of the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Sea as well as the South China Sea. The Sea Roads seemed to be the connecting piece of the world at the time.

4. I think the most surprising number between the America's is that Mainland Spanish American actually had almost 100,000 more slaves than North America. I think most people in America just assume North America had a mass amount of slaves, but the pie chart shows North America actually had the least between those societies listed on the chart. I believe the Europeans disgusting views on Africans as "not human" played a role in the Europeans choice to bring these slaves to the Americas. In other West African countries, slaves were used for farming and labor on sugar plantations. 

5. I think Strayer is referring to all the collateral events which happened as a result of the Atlantic Revolutions. The first example I found was on page 714, which Strayer discusses Britain's loss of its invaded North American colonies, actually fueling its urge to go to China for intervention. To me it seems that Britain took one loss and went to fight another war to fulfill their enormous amount of greed. Starting in the mid 1800's Europe seemed to get away from the radical ideas of Napoleon and more conservative ideas came into play. Equality and liberation from foreign rule were huge movements which swept the world following the Atlantic Revolutions. There are still echoes of these revolutions today. For example, Hungary's George Soros. For someone who is not a US citizen, it sure is odd how much he involves himself with US politics and his obsession with America is rather concerning as he clearly does not have our American's best interest with the actions he takes. So I would say yes even today it seems like we can shake foreign rule. That also could enabled by his good friend Hilary Clinton and her buddies, but that is not a topic I would like to discuss during this worksheet. 

6. An abolitionist is a person who favors the disbandment of slavery or institutionalized settings. Once slavery became a major problem, humanity soon realized how slavery was indeed a unprecedented crime. Abolitionism was simply the right thing to do. The abolitionists used practices of Enlightenment and Christian values to achieve human equality. The feminist movement took place during this time as well, and both movements had one common idea, human equality. Both of these movements spread like wildfire and I can see the similarities in battling for basic human equality. 

7. No number 7 was listed in the list of questions

8. The Industrial Revolution was yet another history making time in the world. The Industrial Revolution was the transfer of goods being made or sourced in homes or small shops, to large factories, more similar to the production of products today. Global energy was the big factor in starting this revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought on the use of fossil fuels such a coal, oil or natural gas to replace manpower, water power and wind power. The Industrial Revolution began in the early 19th century in Western Europe, China and Japan as the major focal points of this revolution. I find the Industrial Revolution both fascinating and contradictory of today's current world. The Industrial Revolution changed life forever when introducing fossil fuels for energy. We began to harm our environment, which we are salvaging today, but we also changed manufacturing forever. I actually just invested in a company called Hyliion, who is converting big rig trucks into hybrid electric/natural gas fuel. This truck produces zero emissions and fits the theme of the Tesla's and Nikola's of the world. Electric vehicles, in my opinion, will be the next kind of Industrial Revolution our world will see. 

9. The image I chose to write about is the one depicting Britain's enormous amount of greed on page 790. I think Strayer chose this particular cartoon because of the volumes of truth it actually speaks. At a time where the world could have been created in a peaceful, equal manner, a country like Britain did everything they absolutely could to extend their power and reach among other civilizations. An example is Britain being defeated in the American Revolution only to go back and try to start an opium war with China. The hand above Egypt, shows me that Britain indeed was plotting a scheme to get a piece of Egypt along with the other countries it has its hands on. I personally do not like this image, but I felt like I could relate to it. Today in America it seems that we owe so many countries so much money. This picture for some reason reminded me of today. The difference is that global bankers and elite families with mass amounts of money are now the "Britain Octopus" with their hands in EVERYTHING. From banking to oil to food supply, the same elite families are tied to vital industries. I suggest doing research on families like the Rothchilds and the Rockefellers to see their impact and their monopolization of the world, not just the United States.