Opium Wars - Imperialism In China

Tea was a popular drink in China and soon became popular in Europe. The Europeans wanted the tea but China would only trade in one port sine their government didn't want them to adopt ideas. Then Great Britain thought of ideas so that they can buy and sell in China and not just buy. The Europeans then started to sell opium to the Chinese people which was a drug. The Europeans sold opium to the Chinese and they got addicted to it. This ended up making the Chinese trade tea for opium and the government ruled that if anyone is caught trading opium they would be put to death. Then Britain declared war on china for banning opium and attacked China using their gunships while China was unaware of the attack. This is called the opium wars because Britain was trading opium to china which led to China banning opium and led to a war. Great Britain won the war easily while China had a humiliating defeat. This is due to China being behind in technology and had ancient weapon while Britain had more modern weapons due to China restricting trade which prevented new ideas from entering China.

Film Lesson: Mountains Of The Moon

In mountains of the moon the Europeans sent a crew to Africa to search for the source of the Nile and eventually found it. On their expedition they faced many hardships and most of their crew eventually ended up dyeing. Some of the hardships they face was getting through Africa since most of it was uncharted so they were going into the unknown. Another hardship they faced was meeting other tribes along the way some that attacked them and some became allies. The next hardship was the conditions in the desert insects such as mosquito that carry malaria. It is strange that Victoria Falls is named after a British queen because the land that it is in is Africa and not a European country. The technological advantage they had was that they had better weapons and other utilities than the Africans who used spears and other ancient technology. They were able to conquer Africa easily because the Europeans had better weapons that are more advanced and the Africans relied on ancient weapons.

Imperialism Project

It was to show the countries that the Europeans conquered in parts of the Americas, and Africa. It was also to show the divisions of the countries in those continents. We also did it to show the shipping routes and what they traded to each other. I learned how many countries were conquered by various European countries such as Great Britain and Spain. I also learned things they traded such as Gold and Silver. I also learned that Great Britain traded China Opium to get tea because China wouldn't open up for trade with foreign countries and so they traded Opium since the Chinese would get addicted and eventually traded tea. This then led to the Opium Wars and Great Britain won easily.

Karl Marx and Communism

Karl Marx's idea for Communism is where workers share the wealth equally and the workers controlled the government. Communism is a word derived from the word common and it is where people shared the wealth so there was no social class. In communism the workers have the power and not a specific group of people. He wanted it to take over the world so then the worker are treated fairly and would have the same wealth as anyother person. He also wanted a classless society. He wanted the workers to be dominant and the owners would dissapear and workers would eventually be free from the clutches of the rich owners. Karl Marx saw the workers as the good people and the owners as the bad people because the workers work hard and yet they are treated badly and don't have much money while the owners do nothing and keep getting richer while the workers get poorer.

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution

Karl Marx didn't like the Industrial Revolution since working conditions in factories were harsh and unsafe. Karl Marx thinks that workers should control the factories rather than land owners and that the wealth should go to the workers. He also didn't like the fact that the workers had no power. The Industrial Revolution inspired him to create communism since one worker can't do much if all the workers unite they can take over the factory. The Industrial Revolution showed that workers weren't paid equally. The owner got the most and the workers got a small share of the profit. This led to him giving equal pay to all workers.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

Nationalism is loving the country you reside in and it is the bond between you and other people in that country. An example of how I am nationalistic is through a common language which is English with the same accent they use in America. The thing I do that shows that I am nationalistic is using the same currency which is the United States Dollar. Italy was a nation that formed due to Nationalism in Europe. Italy before was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. They were part of a empire which had several different countries within it. People living in Italy gathered and wanted to break free from forein rule. Guiseppe Mazzini was one of the first leaders who unified parts of Italy and created it Young Italy. Then the Kingdom of Sardinia was formed and united italy again but it was larger. They declared war with Austria and got most of northern Italy. Then a soldier named Guiseppe Garibaldi had a army and claimed Sicily. He then let Sardinia rule and they claimed the rest of Northern Italy from Austria and that was how the nation of Italy was formed.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

Simon Bolivar helped Latin America get it's Independence from Spain who had a king that was french. He is famous because he led Latin America in the Latin American revolutions and helped gain independence. He also helped form a government like they did in the United States and France. He has a country named after him because he helped gain independence in Latin American. Simon Bolivar helped defeat Spain durring the Latin American Revolution and he was fighting for independence. The thing that influenced him in his quest was the United States who gained their independence from Britain and the French who formed a new government.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

John Locke was one of the influential thinkers during the enlightenment. His ideas heavily influenced Thomas Jefferson when he created the United States Constitution. The rights that Thomas Jefferson is talking about is all men are created equal and they have the rights to Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness. The right to Life is that everyone has the right to live their life. The right to Liberty is that everyone can do what they want according to their will. The right to Pursuit of Happiness is the right to pursue the things you want to do. These are the rights Thomas Jeferson was talking about in the Constitution. According to the Constitution the government comes from the people. The power of the government comes from the people who are being governed.

Copernicus and The Trial of Galileo

Heliocentric and Geocentric
There were several theories about the earth which were Heliocentric and the Geocentric models. The theory that came out first and was used for years was the Geocentric theory. The Geocentric theory is a theory that says the solar system revolves around the earth. The Heliocentric theory is the theory that the solar system revolves around the sun. The theory that came out of the scientific revolution was the Heliocentric theory. The correct theory is the Heliocentric theory because it was proved to be true later on.
Galileo's Trial
Galileo Galilei was put on trial by the church for saying that Copernicus's theory that the solar system revolves around the earth is wrong and going against the bible. Galileo believed in the Heliocentric theory while the church believed in the Geocentric theory. Galileo said his opinions in public and therefore was put on trial for going against the teachings of the church. Galileo eventually lost the trial and was put on house arrest and eventually died. Then three century's later the Church said that the earth is not in the center of the universe.

The Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method is a way to get an unbiased answer. This then turns into a theory after many tests and observations are done. The tests also must have the same results at the end for anyone who wants to conduct the same experiment for it to be true. The scientific method goes in this order observations, hypothesis, predictions, tests, and then a theory is made. If the other scientists agree to the theory it is believed to be true.
Experiment That Uses The Scientific Method
A Experiment that uses the scientific method was Galileo's experiment from the leaning tower of pisa. This experiment was to prove if you drop something from the same height with one being heavier and one is lighter and to figure out which one will fall first. Galileo did this experiment on the leaning tower of pisa and dropped various objects of different weight. He then saw that no matter what the weight is it will drop at the same speed. This was then tested by other people and got the same results therfore Galileo's theory is correct.

Evolution Vs. Creation

Evolution

Darwin's theory of evolution is that we evolved from what is know as a common ancestor. We evolved slowly, piece by piece and eventually formed all the different animals today. Darwin's theory explains how we evolved from a common ancestor through natural selection. Natural selection helped organisms to have an advantage in the habitat they live in, for example if a organism lived in a area with tall plants it will adapt and eventually get the traits needed to reach them such as long arms, long neck, height, etc. The organism then survives to pass down traits to offspring.

The organisms without the traits eventually die out and it allows the ones with the necessary trait to survive. This theory also explains that this happened gradually over time. The organisms keep the good traits and gain more traits to eventually form a new organism. The organism also removes unnecessary traits.

Creation

Creation is a religious belief that God had created the world and life which includes the first humans on earth. Creation is based on the Bible in the book of Genesis. This theory is believed by the Christian church and explain that the first humans on earth Adam and Eve and eventually led up to the humans now. Creation also rejects the fact of natural explanations such as the theory of evolution.

I believe in the theory of evolution because it is based on science. This means that there is evidence to back up the theory. Creationism does not have any evidence except for the Bible and it is based on belief. Evolution on the other hand has proof that organisms adapt and change over time which is know as natural selection. Creation in my opinion doesn't show how it created the humans today.