Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

The Opium war was during the Imperialism in China. The western Europeans were still exploring places, trying to find new resources. In China, they've found their tea and they loved it. The British only had one port in China. The British didn't like it, so they decided to trade Opium to the Chinese people for their tea. The people in China realized that it was a dangerous drug and they make it illegal, and whoever uses it can get killed. 

Film Lesson: " Mountains of the Moon "

For the past 2 days, we watched a movie called " Mountains of the Moon ". It's an 1990's movie, but the story took place at a time in the 1800's. Its involves around the Imperialism time when the European countries explored around the world to find new resources for their factories, also known at this time " The Industrial Revolution ". The explorers mostly discovered in Africa, since they have many resources there, but other countries in the South America and Asia. 

In this movie, there are two British explorers who came to look for the Nile River because they know there's a lot of resources in there. They had many difficulties during the trip they had. There was a lot of malaria and other diseases, that come from mosquitos and other bugs. Its also dangerous if you forget your Mosquito net when you go to sleep because many bugs or any type of insect can go inside you. Like what happened to the British Explorer, John Hanning Speek, who had a beetle in his ear and Richard Francis Burton who had a leg infection during the trip. There was also many tribes that they may not know and they might come and meet, and who knows, they can get killed since most of those African tribes never seen a white man before and they may think that you're in their territory. Also there are many wild animals you might come across with, and you are doomed if you don't have any weapons to guard yourself. 

You can also have shortage of food and water when you're traveling around Africa. Also you never know if the water you find in Africa are infected with malaria. In the movie, the African people who were helping out the two explorers, died from drinking the water they've found. But throughout their who journey. They found a lake thats connected to the Nile River, and they called it Lake Victoria, after their Queen at that time, which is Queen Victoria.  People nowadays found it unfair that, just because they've found it doesn't mean they can name it after their WHITE Queen. There was people probably already who live there. But the African people had no control or advantage of it, or they can't do anything about it. The Europeans took control over Africa. They were able to conquer them easily because they had more advance weapons that they can kill any African with a Spear.

Imperialism Project.

This beginning of the 3rd Semester, we started working on our Imperialism Project. We got to find countries in the map and label them with the goods they had in their country. We also labeled the European countries and the countries they have colonized in. The reason why the Europeans started exploring and colonizing in different countries around the world because they wanted more resources for their factories. They are still really important since it was still during the Industrial Revolution.

Karl Marx and Communism.

Karl Marx's idea of Communism is about how one whole state controls everything. Like your property, ownership, and government. His idea of Communism is making everything revolve to ONE. He wanted everyone to be equal especially during the Industrial Revolution. He thought that Capitalism was a bad idea and it was " Evil ".  He saw the Capitalist as the " Bad guys ". He didn't like how some workers are treated in the factory. He found it unfair that some people get higher wages than the other, so he thought that maybe it would be easier if everyone was paid the same even if some are in high or low positions. He wanted to share one whole wealth to everyone. He was also mainly involve with economics, political - science, history, and also philosophy. He wanted Communist to take over the world because he thinks it'll unite everyone. Though, the Soviet Union's government was strict and forced everyone to work. They were very dictatorial.  

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution.

Karl Marx, a Jewish- German, whose theory changed the Russian History. He was a Communist. He was also known as " The Communist Manifesto ". He made up and wrote a book about " Communism ". He started it during the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution is when factories increased, including the pollution, many transportations has been created and many cities were growing.

Communism is basically about equality to everyone, but with the control of the government. It was privately controlled. Like for example, if a doctor gets paid at this amount of wage then a person who works at McDonalds get paid the same. The houses or their lands don't belong to them either but it belongs to the government. Karl Marx didn't like the idea of Capitalism, where everyone works independently and people are treated differently. He thought that whole idea of Capitalism was unfair, so he thought his idea would benefit a lot of people. He was tired of the industrial revolution. He didn't like the conditions of it either. Though Communism is about equality, it was still a very strict government, and it failed. Theres still countries today that have communism, but only a few.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy.

Nationalism is the belief that one's greatest loyalty should not be to a king or an empire but to a nation of people who share a common culture and history. Also meaning that people are devoted to their country's culture. An example of me being nationalistic, is being interested how people in one country or place works and adapting to the lifestyle of the people. One way I can show I'm being nationalistic is speaking their language and maybe start changing your style. Like for example, in New York, most people who live here have that New York City Attitude. We have that tough attitude, it's a bit mean, but most people adapt to that once they get used to it. 

Nationalism changed Europe. It helped many countries create their own nation and government. One of the European Country that was changed by nationalism is Italy. Many other foreign countries ruled Italy, and they were tired of it. There was two different leaders. One idealistic and the other practical. They still unified Italy with their differences. 

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions .

Simon Bolivar was from South America. He was known for his courage to gain independence for his country and the whole Latin America. He gained their independence by fighting with Spain. He was a political leader and he went to Great Britain to go study more politics. The country Bolivia is named after him because that was the first country that he freed. He was basically famous for being a hero and a revolutionists for liberating South America from Spain. Simon Bolivar was influenced by the American And French Revolution. 

John Locke and " The Enlightenment "

John Locke became one of the world's greatest influence. He made a big influence to The 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson. He influenced him in making the U.S. Constitution. The " rights " that he was talking about in the Declaration of Independence was about how Man should be created equal. Everyone should've equal rights. Nothing bigger than the other. It was also talking about its government. Like for example, if the system of government isn't working out then we can throw off that government and make a new one. They basically have Democracy and its from his idea.

Copernicus and the trial of Galileo .

During the Middle Ages, there were many theories about the Scientific things and also religion, and a whole bunch of stuff. But it was mainly about the Scientific knowledge Vs. the Catholic Church. There was two theories about geocentric and heliocentric. Heliocentric is about how the sun is the center of the universe and geocentric is a theory about the opposite. Geocentric was how the earth was the center and the other planets were around it.


The theory that came first was the heliocentric was found by Copernicus, around the early 1500's, but was restricted because of the Catholic church. I think the correct theory is the heliocentric, the sun is the one centering us. Since most of these events came from the Renaissance Both came out the scientific revolution. There was many new ideas during this age. Like inventions, teachings and even beliefs. That's where religion kicks in and didnt like the scientific teachings.

The trial of Galileo was about the the Scientific Knowledge vs. the Catholic church. He was put on trial because of what his theory and what he believed him. The Catholic church obviously didn't like his idea for many reasons. They didn't want his theory to overtake the society at that time. Most people are starting convert and it was all a mess in that society. Many arrests was taken place.

Galileo Galilei was a scientist who studied a lot about the solar system and he wanted to teach it publicly, and the Pope Urban VIII totally disagreed with it and had him arrested till death. But a few years later, the Pope John II agreed with Galileo's idea and said it was wrong of putting him on arrest. They had proof that the earth wasnt the center of the universe and Galileo was correct.

Scientific Revolution : The Scientific Method .

A scientific method is a helpful technique that can help you answer your question by using knowledgeable guess. Basically you're trying to gain information. There are 7 steps in the scientific method. First things first, you ask a question. Then you try information about it and you figure out the hypothesis, which means an educational guess. After you find information, you try it if it works out and if that can be the answer to your question.  In the end you make a conclusion and you share your answer.

An example of a scientific method can be about Evolution and Creationism or even just a simple question you want to know. You can ask how we came from apes and how we all evolved through time. And you can do the same question with creationism. You can also compare and contrast after you get the results. 

Evolution Vs. Creation.

For Global history 3, we are learning about the evolution and creation. Before I pick what I believe in. I want to explain and talk about these two topics people are still arguing about. Evolution was founded by Charles Darwin, who is a naturalist. His theory was about humans and animals evolving. 

It started when he went to an island called Galapagos island. He believed in natural selection and also believed that each generation evolve to the next evolution and their self- image changes through time. Now, Creation is a whole different story. Creationism is based on religion and mostly has to do with God. And evolution is based on science. 

In creationism, God created man and woman , then produced more people. Unlike evolution, we came from one species and evolved through time. I honestly would pick Creationism because I believe in it even though the Evolution makes sense in a way. But I believe in the Bible . :) thats all .