Seeds of Change

The two chapters I chose to read this week were Chapter 17, Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes and Chapter 20, Colonial Encounters. I enjoyed reading both of these chapters because I found the material easy to understand and much was applicable to the classes I had taken in the past year. There were lots of little points along the way in the reading that caused me to jot down some notes and points to cover in my blog for this week.

The most striking common thread that I found for the cause of change was the reference to the “Age of Enlightenment.” In very simplistic terms, individuals started to question the process by which they were living and to challenge the officials, elite or nobility who were in charge. When people are allowed to be creative, and have free thought process, so much is possible. The question of why, how, and what are important to learning, and the seeking of knowledge. The intellectual leaders of the Age of Enlightenment questioned the process and caused others to start to do the same.

Chapter seven compared the revolutions that took place in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, starting with the American Revolution and ending with the Spanish American Revolutions. I liked the author’s simple explanation for the cause of the North American Revolution. This sticks out for me because I work in a fifth grade classroom where most of the social studies curriculum is spent learning about the causes and effects of the American Revolution. Every year, fifth grade students are taught that the colonists got tired of being pushed around by England with all of the taxes and tariff’s being imposed, and they wanted their independence; however, the smaller, finer details are what is missing in their instruction. Strayer tells us is that social life was pretty good in the colonies - colonists led a pretty autonomous life until a certain point. People were not hindered by the rules that they had endured in Europe and there was economic opportunity. These are some of the biggest reasons why individuals had left Europe in the first place. But, England was in debt and needed money and therefore felt it had the right to impose taxes on the colonists. As throughout history, the colonists questioned an unjust, aggressive tax and fought back.

I digress in my writing to think about today’s political environment with the election of Obama. It is a proven fact that the political elite has always governed in America, dating back to the Adamses, Washingtons, Jeffersons and Hancocks. These men were wealthy and powerful and were able to push their agenda forward speaking for the “people” but not everyone was spoken for; women and people of colored were left out. Obama has become the man of the people because of his humble roots; there is hope for the commoner. It took a long time for the people of color and women to gain their rights and it is still a fight today.

Haitian Revolution

I liked reading about the Haitian Revolt and that the slaves came out on top in that society. It was inspiring to me that people of color could, and did win against such tyranny. Every point made in this section brought a small smile to my face: “the lowest order of the society – slaves – became equal, free and independent citizens (Strayer, pg. 509).” I liked that they reclaimed their land and stepped back into a more hunter-gatherer type of environment, “small scale farmers produced mostly for their own needs, with a smaller export sector (Strayer, pg. 519).”

There is an ironic twist to the story of slavery on this island that Strayer points out to us. Though the people were successful to end slavery on the Haitian island, slavery found the path of least resistance by moving to the island of Cuba where sugar production now moved also increasing the need for slaves there. Around this time, slave states also increased in the United States because France, who had held Haiti and needed to recoup its losses from that revolution, sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States. This land selling allowed for more states to become slave states. Though slavery ended on Haiti, it continued to be a huge practice elsewhere: sad, but true.

Women’s Movement

Questions, questions, questions. Back in the Paleolithic Era, it is shown that men and women were equal in society. With the advent of the Agricultural Era, women took a back seat to men. We were told that women could not handle the plows, the equipment and machinery, and that warfare was left to the men as well. A patriarchal society developed and has stayed throughout the world to this very day.

The Age of Enlightenment is again part and parcel the reason behind the women’s movement in history as it questioned the “inferiority” of women to men. This was especially prevalent in France, where a new foundation for society was taking place. Women, right alongside men, took the stand that a society should be created where everyone was equal including women. This stand did not take hold but did spark the genesis of the movement. Through this movement, women became more involved and were able to gain more education and freedom. It has indeed been a struggle and is often hard to grasp that one’s sex would determine their success in life. All one has to do is look today at the salaries of women in business, as well as the lack of numbers of women in leadership roles, to see that this fight continues. We must continue to push at the ceiling, hoping to break through. Perhaps, history can help us out as we learn that one needs to persevere in order to make a change.

Colonial Movement

Europe was pretty ingenious after the various revolutions took place. Though I totally am opposed to the colonialism that took place in Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa, I can, for a moment shake my head that the European nations did indeed want land and power bad enough. Perhaps, looking back to previous chapters as to the start of oceanic and trade exploration and when Asia dropped its exploration, does this speak to the type of people Europeans were - driven, motivated and a “no-holds-barred” type of attitude. If you think about what makes people successful in today’s world, one must have that same attitude. A bigger-than-life, strong, domineering, innovative, highly advanced and creative person is how one succeeds in today’s world. This is exactly how Europe was in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries – strong, creative and dominant.