The Opium Wars

The Opium Wars started in 1839 and ended in 1842. The war was between China and Great Britain. Since China had been isolated for so many years, Great Britain saw the opportunity to trade for tea. China has a great natural resource of tea which the British loved. Since the Chinese didn't want to trade with the British, the British began to sell them Opium, and they happily bought it. Opium is a drug that is very easily to get addicted to. It is extracted from the Poppy flower, and was sometimes used to stop diarrhea. Yes opium was very a dangerous drug, but the British thought that the Chinese rulers should sell it to their people.

The government of Great Britain and China signed a peace treaty that allowed the British to use five ports instead of one. They were able to do this because of how much the Chinese were buying opium. The British mixed tobacco with Opium and sold this new type of cigarette product in China. Over two million pounds of Opium was being sold to China every year. By the late 1830s more than 30,000 chests, each of which contained about 150 pounds of opium, was being brought in annually by the British. In 1838, the trade of opium ended, and anyone who was trying to trade it would be killed. Then in spring of 1839 Chinese authorities at Canton confiscated and burned the opium. China was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, and the British signed the Treaty of the Bogue in 1843. This war was called the Opium Wars because it was a fight for Opium. China wanted the Opium out of the country, while the British wanted it in. The British won this war due to their high technology and powerful army. This war ended in the Chinese losing the power of a very important island and trading port called Hong Kong. The British and French again defeated China in a second opium war in 1856. This time they allowed foreigners with passports to travel inside of China.

Film lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

In the film "Mountains of the Moon," the Europeans faced many hardships trying to find the source of the Nile River. Some of these hardships was dealing with the African tribes that already lived in the territory that they were traveling on. The African tribes were fascinated with their skin color and the way they dressed. They had never seen people of different skin color in their territory. They began touching Richard Burton and John Speke's hair as if it was the best thing in the world. They also had to deal with the bugs in the desert that gave John Speke an infection in his ear. When they found the source of the Nile River they named it Lake Victoria after a Queen of England, this name was very common in this time. Lake Victoria is located in the middle of Africa and is the third largest river in the world. The primary technological advantage that the English had over the Africans i believe were the guns and the compasses. The gun because it helped them fight against African tribes. The compass helped them to move around in Africa, so they would know which way they were heading. The Europeans eventually were able to conquer Africa because of the technology they had. Also because of the weapons that they used to defend themselves to take over the African land.

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

Mathew Perry was an American and a commodore who traveled in many ships. He threatened to destroy Japan. Mathew Perry bullied the Japanese by forcing them into singing a treaty.This treaty impressed the Japanese with the technologies that the Americans used in their everyday life. He used America’s technology because it was advanced and better than those of the Japanese. They sent many ships in order for Japan to open it to trade and for them to "get on the map".The Japanese were very impressed by the technology of the American steam ships. On March 31, 1854 a treaty was signed between the Americans and Japanese; that opened two ports to the United States to trade with the Japanese. Japan is an archipelago which means that it is made up of many different little islands.

Japan had been in isolated from the rest of the world for so many years that their army and technology was very weak and if they got attacked for their land they would lose it. The Meiji Era had a great effect on Japanese economy. A new emperor came in charge called Meiji. He wanted to bring back the divine right to rule instead of an actual government. The Meiji Restoration was to turn Japan into a modern country. The Meiji period ended, with the death of their emperor in 1912, by this year the Japanese economy became better because of there trading with the United States. They were able to have more contact with the outside world; "putting them on the map," which got them modernized because it seemed as if they were living in a completely different generation. They were able to modernize because they established a government, and different methods of transportation as well as methods of communication.

Karl Marx and Communism

Karl Marx's ideas influenced so many people that they started calling it communism. Communism is when everyone is created equal in every aspect; including someones paycheck. The government at this point controlled all its people. He wanted a revolution to begin so the workers would have better rights. He believed that since there were more workers that they could gain control of the landowners and the government. In Marx's communism idea he had to different social classes the proletariat's (workers) and the bourgeoisie (landowners).

Karl Marx wanted communism to take over the world because he wanted everyone to enjoy this form of life, in complete equality. He thought that the good people were the "poor" because they worked hard to achieve everything they had. The bad people in his view were the "rich" because they pretty much abused the factory workers for their own wealth. He hated the fact of how badly the proletariat class was treated which were the workers. His idea of communism was for society to produce only what they needed. He wanted no one to have private ownership on their property, which meant that everything they had was the government's not theirs.

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution

Karl Marx was a German philosopher as well as many other things; who completely disagreed with the Industrial Revolution. His many ideas against the Industrial Revolution influenced and impacted many people in Europe, and all around the world. He believed that workers should have the power and rights in factories instead of the factory owners. He also thought that the people had enough power to take over the government. Since his ideas influenced so many people began to call it communism. To some communism was a solution to all their problems.

Many people in this time including Karl Marx thought that the rich were getting richer and the poor poorer. In this time now there were several different social classes. These classes were called the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The proletariat's were the workers, and the bourgeoisie were the landowners; who owned most of the factories. Since there were more workers than there are landowners, that "the workers of the world should unite!" Many followed through with his ideas even though he died in 1883, it influenced the following generations to unite.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

Nationalism is the belief of that one's greatest loyalty should not be to a king or to an empire but to a nation of people who share common culture and history. Nationalism is having pride and loyalty to your country. Religion, language, history, culture, money and territory all contribute to nationalism. The biggest cause for nationalism in the world is because of the French Revolution. Before the French Revolution the people that lived in France didn't consider themselves French, all they knew is that they spoke the language and that they paid taxes to their government.

I am nationalistic to the United States because I celebrate the 4Th of July, I speak the common language of the country, and use the dollar to pay for things. But I am also nationalistic to Colombia because my parents are from there which makes me Colombian as well. I celebrate Colombia's independence on July 20Th with my family, I also speak the common language and i use their currency when I go there. You are nationalistic because you pay taxes to this country to help the government have a strong country.

Nationalism was used to create the Nation of Italy. Italy was one of the countries to form empires. Before Italy became a nationalistic country, it was very separated. Each region had its own ruler or king. Italians were tired of being ruled by foreign rulers; Giuseppe Mazzini was a ruler who supported nation-states. He believed that having nation-states was the best hope for democracy and in the countries of Europe. His main goal was to unite Italy, because it wasn't united because of they multiple empires throughout the country. However many wars broke out because of disagreements between Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini; who was an idealist. Piedmont-Sardinia was the largest and most powerful state in Italy. Camillo Di Cavour worked very hard in order to expand Piedmont-Sardinia's power. He not only achieved his goal but he united Italy. Now Italy was finally united with the help of these two people.

Simon Bolivar and the Latin American Revolutions

The way I look at it Simon Bolivar made his parents proud. Even though his parents died before he was a teenager, if his parents were alive during all of the revolutions that toke place in South America, they would be proud. Simon Bolivar was born on July 24, 1783 in Caracas, Venezuela. When his parents died they left him a fortune, which he used in the best way he could. As a young man he traveled to Europe to finish his education. When he was nineteen he married a beautiful young lady from Spain. When Simon and his wife went back to Simon's country (Venezuela), his wife died of yellow fever just after a year of living in Venezuela.

Now Simon Bolivar was back in South America, he wanted to help the south American countries gain their independence from Spain. In 1810 he tried to get the independence of Venezuela but was not successful, but he tried and tried until it happened in 1813 and gained control of Venezuela. Then in December of 1819, Simon announced the establishment of The Republic of Colombia. He made himself the leader of this great country but he wasn't a good leader. Next he freed Ecuador from the Spanish with multiple battles. He then moved into becoming the dictator of Peru, since that didn't work he became the president. His presidency didn't last long because Peru broke up into two different countries; Peru and Bolivia.

Before Simon even knew he fought against the Spanish to gain independence for most of South America's countries. He had a country named after him; Bolivia. But most importantly he was heavily influenced by The French and American Revolutions. The constitutions that were made for the countries in South America, are very similar to those of France and The United States. Due to all his accomplishments he is know as "Simon Bolivar: El Libertador" or some people referred to him as "The George Washington of South America." He deserves both of these labels for everything he did. His accomplishments of freeing six countries from Spain, giving them their independence, made him one of the most important political leaders in history. Simon Bolivar died on the island of Santa Marta, Colombia on December 17, 1830 of tuberculosis.

Robespierre and the Reign of Terror

Robespierre and the Reign of terror was a time during the French Revolution when the nobles, the king, the clergy and the lords began to lose most of their power over the people in the lower class men. However the people who were gaining power in France were now becoming greedy and power-hungry. The outcome of the king losing his power came the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was a period of violence with the enemies of the Revolution. A limited Monarchy was set up; A legislative Assembly was set up to work with and share power with the King. The kings didn’t like this at all because they wanted to have absolute power over everything. While France was figuring out was to do with the new people in power, a new group of people who called themselves The Jacobins, took over. Who ever disagreed with there opinions would get there head chopped off. The guillotine was the machine that they used to cut off people heads.

You could be a friend of Robespierre one day, and sent to the guillotine the next. Robespierre even killed Louis XVI widow, Queen Marie Antoinette. Her last words were: "Monsieur... I beg your pardon. I did not do it on purpose". After The king and his widow's head were cut off the people of France were in shock and scared.
As time passed by and leaders struggled to get power back from Maximilien Robespierre. Kings, queens, and jacks were removed for faces of revolutionaries, the calendar was changed, and church’s in Paris were closed. His rule was called the Reign of Terror. It was named like this because people were executed, and scared.

Even people who worked with Maximilien were scared of him they made sure of no stupid movements because they didn’t want to have their heads chopped off . During the Terror, approximately 3,000 people were executed in Paris. People were tired of being scared so they organized a conspiracy or a team of people who worked together to gain power again and he was executed. He was killed by having his head chopped off just like he did to all of the other people in France and finally the Reign of Terror was over.

The French Revolution

1. Many people were critical in France of the:
a)Nobility because they had control of pretty much all the peasants in France and they also didn't have to pay military service. Aside from not paying military service they also didn't have to pay much taxes either, and some didn't pay any taxes at all. The nobility or the high class lived the luxurious life.
b)The king because he had control of absolutely everyone and everything in the kingdom.
c)The Clergy because they had their own estate or social class. Also they had their own rules and regulations.

2. In 1789 a French peasant would have grumbled about how they had to pay both the clergy and they lords. They were the biggest estate in France, but the ones who had to pay the most. In my opinion they probably paid double half was for themselves but the other half was for the nobles, who paid no taxes.

3. The cartoonist was drawing about the how France was divided pretty much into three social classes; the clergy, the nobles, and the peasants. It's trying to say that the clergy and the nobles lived the good life few taxes while the peasants paid their taxes and worked hard for nothing.

4. The author says that the peasants have a lives full of suffering. They suffer enough as it is paying feudal dues to the Lords. To one lord they must pay with about everything they have, and to the other lord they must pay equally the same leaving them with nothing. But that isn't all they have to also pay taxes to the king which are equally as much or more than what they pay to the lords. This means they are left with nothing to eat or to buy anything for themselves.

5. Sources A,B, and C don't exactly explain why poor people resented the rich, but it explains many motives as to why they would hate them. It states that they pay too much taxes and shows that the rich people earn more than enough to pay taxes as well. But on the other hand it shows that the peasants hoped to one day not have to pay as much taxes or work for such little amount of money. So it never states that they resented them it just shows motives.

6. Jean Jacques Rousseau influenced the peasants because they were tired of paying unnecessary taxes and working hard for nothing. The word Democracy meant a lot to them, it meant freedom of taxes and hopefully a better government. A better government meant more rights and a better life for the peasants.

7. The nobles would probably have banned this pamphlet because they didn't want the peasants to rebel against them. They didn't want them to open their eyes and say i deserve a better life, i deserve not to pay taxes, those were things that the higher classes didn't want, especially the king. The king would hate this because it meant that there was less money coming in from the peasants.

John Locke and "The Enlightment"

Thomas Jefferson's ideas on the U.S. Consitution were heavily influenced by John Locke. The "Rights" that Jefferson is talking about is: Liberty, Life, and The Pursuit of Happiness. It is the right of the people that if the people don't like how the president is doing his job they could replace him with someone that can do the job right. According to the Declaration of Independence, the people have the right to abolish and make a new government if the actual government becomes destructive. The government gets its power from the people because the people have the power to change or alter the goverment if something is going wrong.

Copernicus and the Trial of Galileo...

There are two theories about the solar system one is called geocentric and the other is heliocentric. Heliocentric is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the universe. It wasn't until the 16 Th century that the theory became known because of Polish mathematician and astronomer Copernicus. But before the Scientific Revolution started, many people believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and the all the planets and the stars including the Sun orbited around the Earth; this theory is called the geocentric.

The geocentric theory was brought up by Nicolas Copernicus. Copernicus examined the motions of outer space and the earth and came up with the heliocentric theory. Unfortunately, not many people believed the heliocentric theory because Copernicus didn't have much evidence to prove his point. Due to the lack of evidence, many people continued to believe in the geocentric theory. In addition to the no one believing Copernicus, The Roman Catholic Church went against him because the bible states that the Earth was the center of the universe.

Galileo's trial toke place because he also believed that the Sun was the center of the universe and all the other planets revolved around it. The trial was held by the Roman Catholic Church because Galileo promoted his and Copernicus's theory in a book he wrote, which went against the teaching's of the bible and those of the church. The Roman Catholic Church pretty much made Galileo plead guilty, which put him under house arrest for the rest of his life.

Scientific Revolution: Scientific Method!

The scientific method was created to prove that there are certain concepts people will believe if there is evidence. Without evidence it's hard for people to believe your argument. In the beginning of time either you got your ideas from ancient Romans or Greeks or from the Bible its self. The bible and the Greeks said that the Earth was the center of the universe.

Since people believed this and many theories for many years The Scientific Revolution created a lot of eye opening and controversy. Scientists then began to conduct experiments to get to the truth as close as possible. The experiments and its procedures were called: The Scientific Method. It has a total of four steps: Observations of the theory, the hypothesis to explain your opinion, and experiments proving that your theory is true (which is performed more than once), then a collection of the experiments in a table or graph.

Evolution vs. Creation

Darwin's Theory of Evolution is pretty much based on how everything evolves and changes after time passes by. He states in his theory of Premise that life has descended from a common ancestor and that everything is related in one way or the other. Everything is related with a certain form of "modification", that over the years genes and DNA are being passed down so eventually we will have a completely different organism that what we started with. Natural Selection is an advantage that enables a species to compete better in the wild. Even though everything evolves over time Darwin states that evolution is a slow process that happens in slow steps.

Many people with religious beliefs refer to the Creation as being done by a God, which in every culture is called differently. It is said that people in the West believe that the creation is from the days of Genesis. The Creation has brought up so much controversy that it has been banned from being taught in public schools. In creation people believe that there is a higher authority that controls what happens on earth.


In my opinion I don't really believe in either one of the theories. Since my family is Catholic, so of course they believe in the creation theory: that everyone and everything was made by God many years ago. Also the Darwin's Theory of evolution has it's concepts that can and can't be true, because how can something change oe evolve, when it has not even been created yet. There are many points in each theory that make me want to believe it but then again I don't, there's not enough evidence in my point of view to believe it.

test

test