Worksheet for Module 7 (replaced Quiz 3)
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 started in 1492 and was the devastation of millions of Native American peoples who lived in the Mesoamerican and Andean zones. They got European and African diseases because they were long isolated from the Afro-Eurasian world, had no domesticated animals and therefore, were not immune to the numerous diseases Europeans brought with them, such as smallpox, bubonic plague, chickenpox, cholera, the common cold, diphtheria, influenza, malaria, measles, scarlet fever, sexually transmitted diseases, typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis, and pertussis. The impact of the Great Dying diminished the Native American population by 90%, killing approximately 54.5 million people (Vavra). The Great Dying can not be considered a genocide because the Europeans didn’t mean to bring the diseases solely to kill the Native American peoples. The term “genocide is used to describe violence against members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy the entire group” (Merriam-Webster).
2) What did native Siberians and native Americans have in common in terms of their experiences with Europeans during the early Modern period?
The early Modern period lasted from c.1500 to around c.1800 and it was when both native Siberians and native Americans had several similar experiences with the Europeans. First, territorial change happened to both native Siberians and native Americans. The Europeans colonization of Americas began in 1492 when Italian Christopher Columbus was in his sailing exploration through the west trying to find a new trade route and landed in what came to be called by Europeans, the “New World.” (see the first map below). Just like in North America, the Russians conquered Siberia, in the 16th and 17th centuries and expanded the borders (see the second map below). Second, the spread of epidemic diseases caused devastation to both peoples. When the Russians came to Siberia there were about 240,000-300,000 native Siberians and 50% of their population was killed and others, to stay alive, had to assimilate and accept Russians rules. Europeans destroyed 90% of Native American population. Finally, economic dependence was another factor in common because with the incoming people using the natives resources, they now needed European goods to survive.
3) Discuss the history and impact of the Indian Ocean trade network (the Sea Roads) from the Classical to Modern periods.
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?
The pie chart below shows where in the New World, the Americas, enslaved Africans were disembarked during the Atlantic slave trade from years 1501 - 1866. This trade involved approximately 12.5 million African slaves, 45% of them were taken to Brazil, 44% to the Caribbean and a much smaller amount, 4.6% to the Mainland Spanish America and 3.6% to the Mainland North America. Strayer states that “in exchange for slaves, African sellers sought both European and Indian textiles, cowrie shells (widely used as money in West Africa), European metal goods, firearms and gunpowder, tobacco and alcohol, and various decorative items such as beads” (p. 625). When we consider the human trafficking abuse, Strayer emphasizes that 14% of slaves died even before arriving to their end destinations because of the horrendous journey across the Atlantic. “For the slaves themselves - seized in the interior, often sold several times on the harrowing journey to the coast, sometimes branded, and held in squalid slave dungeons while awaiting transportation to the New World - it was anything but a normal commercial transaction” (p. 625). This horrifying reality needed to end and even though it took more than three centuries, the day of justice finally came in 1866. People might find it surprising that the greatest majority of slaves were taken into the sugar and coffee plantations of Brazil and the Caribbean instead of in the cotton plantations in the southern states of the United States.
The Atlantic revolutions started with that attempt to re-create societies based on freedom and dignity. When Strayer wrote about the Echoes of Atlantic revolutions in his textbook, he was referring to the consequences that still affect us today in the 21st century because of the impact of slavery, kings and empires power and male dominance in the global society. Part of the Atlantic Revolutions, the North American Revolution (1775-1887) and the French Revolution (1789-1799) inspired the the Haitian Revolution (1891-1804), the Spanish American Revolution (1808-1825) with the possibility of having more democratic and independent communities. The main movements of these revolutions included the abolition of slavery, the creation of nations and the feminist rights. Enlightenment philosophy, protestant morality, economic reality considering the industrialization, public brutality were the main focus in these movements. The British was the first to abolish slavery in 1807, a very different reality in the U.S. where it took the Civil war (1861-1865) for the slavery abolition. The other movements favored the “nation” as a new idea and the Feminist movement.
The Atlantic Revolution shadows still remain today in the 21st century. We live it and can clearly see how women and dark skinned peoples are visibly treated unequal socially and professionally. The trust to build equality still doesn’t exist and causes everyone's lives to be a struggle filled with discrimination and violence. When we think that equality is in reach, society’s injustices shows us that echoes of slavery and feminist traditions still remains in our communities today.
6) What did feminists and abolitionists have in common? How and why did they sometimes work
together?
Feminists and abolitionists during the Atlantic revolutions times (1775 - 1825) challenged continuing patterns of oppression or exclusion (p. 714). The feminists protested the subordination of women to men which often included discrimination and abuse. Similarly, the abolitionists protested the subordination of dark skinned peoples to all others. They worked together and supported each other because they both strived for some of the basic human rights such as equality, justice and freedom. Especially in Europe and North America, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the white community was used to the societies’ norms of male dominance and slaves ownership. The feminists and abolitionists often participated in each other's movements because they knew that the change would benefit them all.
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 transformed the lives of many and started in Britain before it spread to the rest of the world. British aristocrats were very interested in commerce and needed to provide to their growing population. “With substantial imperial possessions in the Caribbean, in North America, and, by the late eighteenth century, in India as well, Britain was the most highly commercialized of Europe’s larger countries” (Strayer, 744). They had a series of agricultural innovations such a crop rotation, selective breeding of animals, lighter plows, higher-yielding seeds. Even though many people were replaced by machines and became jobless, others, such as the slaves in the Americas and the serfs in Russia, became free to have a life of their own. “No element of Europe’s modern transformation held a greater significance for the history of humankind than the Industrial Revolution (Strayer, p. 737). It allowed communities to access healthier diets, better housing and cheaper goods. The Industrial revolution caused urbanization because of the attractive job opportunities and access to a variety of goods and services the urban areas had compared to the rural areas. The environment was impacted by the Industrial Revolution because of the population increase, there was an increase in living standards which is causing the depletion of natural resources and increased air and water pollution and use of fossil fuels. There are advantages and disadvantages in every revolution and the Industrial Revolution was inevitable for the British because of their innovative ways of living. Soon after, the world assimilated and kept improving and changing the way we live. I feel part of another revolution with so many innovations in every aspect of our lives. I am still unsure how I feel with the possibility of living on Mars or here on Earth and having to assimilate with the advancements of Artificial Intelligence
E.R. Wolf. Europe and the People without History
University of California Press, Berkeley (1982)
Comments
Post a Comment