Chapter 22 Part 1

This chapter is focusing on the rise and fall of communism. Some people accused Barack Obama of being a communist. On a very reliable website called "commieblaster.com" they boast this slogan: PROGRESSIVES = SOCIALISTS = COMMUNISTS = LEFT-WING RADICALS = ANTI-CAPITALISTS = UNAMERICAN. They have also apparently confirmed that Obama is marxist. This is frustrating because when people do not like something they begin to search for excuses. Which can be extremely ridiculous. Communism is a socialist movement that strives to make everyone equal for the most part. This is one by eliminating social classes and such. It sounds like a good idea... in theory. But it has never really worked out. The Soviet Union and China are the most popular communist countries that I know of. Russia went through a revolution which resulted in the Cold War! And then look at China, bad stuff happened under their dictator, Mao Zedong, and millions of people died in the search for social perfection.

Chapter 20 Part 1

The focus of the beginning of this chapter is all about colonialism! As it says in the book, there were two different kinds of waves of European conquest. The first place that they went to was America. This is the story that most people now about Europe colonizing America. But the second place that they invaded was Asia and Africa. And people kind of know the story about this, but it is not as broadcasted as their trip to Americas. The major countries that were into colonialism were France, Britain, Italy, Germany, Portuguese, and Russia. Lots of people, besides the rich, disliked the colonies however because the rulers took many things from the people that they invaded including land and money.

Chapter 18 Part 1

The beginning of this chapter is all about industrialization! The chapter asks first, "Why Europe?" And then goes on to ask more specifically, "Why Britain?" This was something that I was always wondering and what I actually realized was that there were a lot of other countries that flourished in technological advances before Europe caught wind of the whole thing. When Europe began to pick up the pace industrially, other places like India and China were beginning to slow down. And I think history books need to emphasize other countries more often and stop kind of being so Eurocentric.

Chapter 17 Part 2

This part in the chapter highlighted, mainly, the Haitian Revolution! This is what I was most excited to hear about since I learned a little about it in high school but I don't really remember that much. I thought that it was kind of weird that there were so many different people in Haiti rather than just Haitians. They were slaves but there were also white people and other people that were just of mixed background. I think I found this interesting because I feel like back then, countries just weren't all mixed. But then I guess that also makes sense because Europe was kind of in every country back then..

Chapter 17 Part 1

The title of this chapter is very representative of what is going to be happening throughout this part of the book. It is called The Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes. The Atlantic Revolutions include the American, Haitian, French, and Spanish American revolution. Their echoes have to do with what occurred after and because of these revolutions. I am most eager to learn about everything but the American revolution. I feel like I know the most about the American Revolution and their struggle with Europe and I would prefer to expand my knowledge to learn about the other revolutions since they are just as important. Also, I think its kind of cool how one country inspired another to make changes for themselves and revolt!

Pages 491-497

This was mostly an introduction to the nineteenth century. The nineteenth century means that we will be learning the 1800s! It continues to talk about the evolution of England and how they were a main focus during this time. Instead of the scientific revolution, we get to learn about modernism! I'm interested to see what is considered to be modern. Or what modernism is exactly.  

Kant: What is Enlightenment?

This article was a pretty tough read but I found that it was much easier if I kind broke it down by paragraph and then by sentence. Because that kind of took a really long time, I probably didn't spend as much time on this as I should have. But what I got from this reading is that there is no real freedom. Kant believes that there is always someone telling you what to do. Which may kind of be a good thing.. But I don't know. Kant tries to encourage people to think for themselves and to not just blindly follow what people tell to you to believe. He wants people to free themselves from tutelage, which is doing something because you have the help of someone else. He wants people to be more independent.