Introduction

My blog is entitled chapter 10 is about chapter 10, An Age of Democracy and Progress and chapter 11, The Age of Imperialism. Chapter 10 is about many things, among them are how Great Britain and France underwent democratic improvements, and how there were advancements in science and technology that changed life. Chapter 11 is about Europeans creating colonial claims, how Europe captured land from Muslim states which helped them to expand, and the impact of colonialism. Through this blog I hope to accomplish a better understanding of imperialism and colonialism.

3,2,1

3 Things I Learned

1. The Berlin Conference was held to lay down rules for the division of Africa.
2. The Great Trek was when thousands of Boers moved north to get away from the British.
3. Britain thought of India as the brightest "jewel in the crown."

2 Thins I Found Interesting

1. Between 1871 and 1914, Fance averaged an alteration of government every ten months.
2. By 1910, five million Americans were present at some 10,000 movie theaters every day to watch silent movies. 

1 Question I Have

1. Besides the Dole Fruit company controlling pineapple trade in Hawaii, what other examples of economic imperialism are there?

Don't Worry, Be Happy

"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever,” was said by Mahatma Gandhi. In this quote, I think Gandhi is saying that worrying just breaks you down and makes you tired. I also think Gandhi is saying that if you have faith in God then worrying is a waste of time because God will take care of everything for you. Another point that can be taken from this quote is that you should put all of your troubles in the hands of God. I completely agree with this quote by Gandhi. Although it is very hard to not worry about things I believe that it is a waste of time and you should trust that God will take care of all your troubles.

Suez Canal

Today, the Suez canal is controlled by Egypt. The Suez canal is a very busy means of travel, in just the month of January, 2,970 ships passed through the canal. The canal is said to be the shortest connection between the east and west. The Suez canal also saves ships travelling longer distances, it saves time, and it also reduces shipping expenses which saves consumers and businesses money. Today, in a world where gas prices can go up five cents in just one day, the Suez canal is more important than ever. Since 1/3 of all oil passes through the canal, the price of both oil and gas would sky rocket if the Suez canal no longer exsisted.

Uprising

The Maji Maji rebellion began in 1905. Unlike most wars, the Africans in German East Africa used a spiritual type of protection. Africans wanted to pay more attention to their food crops rather than take the advice of the Germans and plant cotton which was a cash crop. However, this only angered the Germans. Trying to deflect the bullets, Africans scattered magic water over their bodies which they believed would turn the Germans' ammunition into water. The magic water was called maji maji, hence the Maji Maji rebellion. Logically, this magic water did not save the Africans and it is estimated that 26,000 of them died. However, many more lost their lives due to a food shortage that came after the uprising.  

Taking Control

One way an empire could control a colony is by economic imperialism. In economic imperialsim, less advanced but free nations are ruled by private business concerns instead of other governments. With this type of control, the government does not get involved. Also, it is less competitive. An exmaple of a colony being controled through economic imperialism is that Hawaii's pineapple trade is controlled by the Dole Fruit Company.

Imperialism

Imperialism is like a double edged sword, there are several ways it helped the world and several ways it hurt the world. One way imperialism helped the world is that it took a weaker territory and made it stronger. One example of this is Europe controlling Africa. While Africans fought to stay independent from the Europeans, the truth is they didn't have enough technology, and they were not unified strong enough to be their own independent territory. They also didn't have the weapons that Europe did, the Maxim gun for example was the first automatica machine gun, the Europeans had it and the Africans did not. Another way imperialism benefited the world is because it gave the larger countries a sense of nationalism. The Europeans knew they were more advanced than other countries which made them feel stronger thus enhancing their patriotism. Lastly, imperialism helped the world by allowing countries to expand. For example, Europe taking over Africa enabled it to gain more territory. One way that imperialism hurt the world is that it promoted racism. Because the Europeans were so advanced and believed they were superior to others and could control them, they were racist against other people. Secondly, imperialism was bad for the world because it caused fatalities. Since smaller countries were being taken over they did not go silently, they faught back. But because of their smal size they could not compete and suffered many deaths. Lastly, imperialism stripped people of their freedom. Although Africa was small, they were still free and were living where they wanted, being controlled by who they wanted. When Europeans came in and took over, Africans lost their right of freedom and sense of safeness.

Germ Theory of Disease

During the mid-1800s there were many advancements in science but one very important advancement that saved numerous lives was the germ theory of diease. The germ theory of disease was discovered by Louis Pasteur, a French chemist. Pasteur's discovery influenced Joseph Lister, a British surgeon. After reading about Pasteur's discovery, Lister instructed that the whole floor where he operated be immaculate. Saving 85% of his patients, he also directed that injuries be cleaned in antiseptics.

Electric Vote Recorder

In 1868 Thomas Edison made his first of many patented inventions. This invention was the electric vote recorder. The purpose of the electric vote recorder was to quicken the practice of voting and to produce a more accurate counting of votes. This invention did not affect the common person because congress did not like Edison's invention of the electric vote recorder. Fortunately, Edison perservered through this rejection and invented many other things that would come in handy. 

Information found at: http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventors/a/Edison_Bio.htm