Chapters 16, 17, 18 Questions 1 to 9

World History Week 7

1)What was The Great Dying? Cite examples and details from the historical record in your response. Could this be considered a genocide? Why/ why not?

The Great Dying was the massive death of Native inhabitants of the Americas after contact with Europeans. It was due to the fact that the Natives had had no exposure to the Old World infectious diseases such as small pox, measles, and others. Up to 90% of Native population died in South America, Mesoamerica, North America and the Caribbean. Genocide is define as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, so this mass death due to disease cannot be considerate genocide.

2) What did native Siberians and Native Americans have in common in terms of their experiences with Europeans during the early Modern period?

Native Siberians had some experiences in common with Native Americans in the consequences of their contact with Europeans. They experienced lethal diseases and depletion of many of the animals that they depended upon for their survival. They were forced to pay taxes to Russia and faced competition from Russian trappers.

3) Discuss the history and impact of the Indian Ocean trade network (the Sea Roads) from the Classical to Modern periods.

The Sea Roads were a massive extension of the Silk Road commerce connecting Eurasia. Since ships could carry a lot of more cargo than Camels the Sea Road transferred a lot more goods than the luxury goods of the Silk Road. There was also a lot of cultural and civilizational mixing. For example, Christianity was introduce into East Africa and India. Crops from one Region were introduced into other Religions. In South East Asia regions at the choke point between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean achieved prominence. Buddhism and Hinduism came to South East Asia.

4) Look at the pie chart titled “The Destinations of Slaves” on page 627 of our textbook. What might people find surprising about the percentages of slaves who disembarked in different parts of the Americas? What factors explain why the percentages were this way?

I was surprised that so many slaves went to Brazil and the Caribbean.  45 % of all slaves went to Brazil and the Caribbean each or 90% total. In Brazil and the Caribbean sugar cane was the major and highly profitable and labor intensive crop.

5) What does Strayer mean by the “echoes of Atlantic Revolutions”? Cite examples and details from the historical record in your response. Are the Atlantic Revolutions still echoing in the 21stCentury?

Echoes of the Atlantic Revolutions Refers to the reverberations around the world of the French and American Revolutions. Liberty, Fraternity and Equality resounded around the world. The Haitian Revolution was the first, and it was the only successful slave revolt in history. After that came deliberation of South America from Spain. Even the Decembrist revolt in Russia was an echo. The desire for representative Government brought down the Eastern Block in Europa, was the theme of the Chinese uprising in 1989, and continues its influence to this day.

6) What did feminists and abolitionists have in common? How and why did they sometimes work together?

Both Feminists and the abolitionists want to overturn a particular structure of society. The early feminists were active in the Abolition movement. They learned a great deal of organizational skills but soon found that many of their male comrades were opposed to woman having equal parts in the movement this led in 1848 to the first women’s rights convention  in New York State.  They continued to work together for the abolition of slavery but split on the issue of  women’s rights .   

8) What was the Industrial Revolution? Where and when did it begin? Discuss its long-term significance to people, cities and the planet.

The Industrial Revolution led to the replacement of renewable sources of energy and human and animal muscle power with coal, oil and natural gas.  It began in the latte 18 century in Britain and accelerated in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  It led to a massive increase in food and consumer goods production and the cost of great poverty for many workers, serious pollution, and even a decrease in life expectancy for the working  class. It has progressed to the point where the existence of the planet and humanity is at stake.

9) Chapter 18 contains some powerful images. Why do you suppose Strayer chose to include these specific images? How do they illustrate concepts introduced in this chapter? Choose one image and a) describe it, b) explain how it illustrates a concept from the chapter, and c) give your general thoughts about the image, as you might do in the context of a small in-class discussion group. The images you can choose from are (your version of the textbook may use different titles and page numbers):            An American View of British Imperialism (p.790)            European Racial Images (p.791)            Map 18.2 Conquest and Resistance in Colonial Africa (p.796)            Colonial
Violence in the Congo (p.803)            The Educated Elite (p.815)

 I think Strayer chose this particular image to show the most extreme of the colonial rules in Africa in the Congo, with happened to be in the reign of King Leopold .

I choose Colonial Violence in the Congo p.803 the pictures shows two young boys whose right hands were missing. They had had their hands amputated   because their village had been unable to supply their quota of rubber. This occurred in the Congo which from 1885 to 1908 was the personal propriety of King Leopold of Belgium. In addition to mutilation as punishment, rape, sex slavery, and murder were common. According to the book King Leopold Ghost, written by Adam Hochschild , millions   of Congolese were murdered during Leopold’s reign. It only ended in 1908 when the Ivory and Rubber ran out, and Belgium annexed the Congo.  Leopold’s economy was purely extractive without any concern for conservation of the rubber and Ivory supply nor for the conservation of the people who did the work.