Theory of the Invisible Hand

The reading discusses about supply and demand by Adam Smith.  He believes that with the invisible hand theory of supply and demand will help make the production and consumption of goods.  He defines demand as people who will pay a certain price for a specific good.  The reading describes a way where the economy can become better since it is completely dependent on consumers. 

Chapter 18: Revolutions of Industrialization (pgs. 541-556)

The Industrial Revolution can be seen as a good thing, but at the same time a bad thing.  It was good that new inventions were being introduced like factories that had machines doing production work ten times faster than a single person.  The down side is that the use of new inventions can cause very serious and sometimes deadly results towards the user.  The continuation of Chapter 18 focuses on the expansion of the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe.  In the 1900's it was established in: The United States, Russia, etc.  American Industrialization began with the New England textiles, which exploded after the Civil War.  By 1914 the United States obviously became the world's largest power.  Due to the industrialization  social divisions rose where the gap between the rich and poor grew larger and larger were many were poor and a few were rich.  In Russia, the Industrial Revolution was launched in 1890's which focused on railroads where there were only a few factories than Western Europe, but they were big.  In 1917 the Russian Revolution broke out which brought in radical socialist groups led by Vladimir Lenin.  The Industrial Revolution in Russia led Russia into social revolution.  Though the Industrial Revolution brought different negative results for different nations, it helped societies like the United States to modernize and be more advance like today.        

Chapter 18: Industrial Revolution

The following chapter talks about the Industrial Revolution which took place within 1750-1900.  The Industrial Revolution took place in Western Europe, but mostly in Britain.  More importantly the concept and idea of the Scientific Revolution was brought to life which gave people a different perspective on life and it's creation.  Also because new types of theories and inventions.  There were a lot of inventions being created.  For example the coal fire steam engine was created and later on petroleum engines were created.  The inventions were more energy efficient.  Energy was the big factor needed to create these types of inventions.  The British and the Europeans built a lot of energy efficient inventions, one of them being the steam engine which was used in transportation vehicles like boats and ships.  Also the Industrial Revolution began to focus more on new concepts like: steel, steamships, railroads, food processors, and electricity.  The world was starting to modernize.

Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions And Their Echoes Part 3

The continuation of Chapter 17 talks about the Haitian Revolution.  The origins of Haiti was that before it was named Saint Domingue and eventually the name was changed to Haiti.  At the time it was considered the wealthiest country since it had 80,000 plantations which produced sugar and coffee.  The down side was that the population was made up of 500,000 slaves.  The white population of Haiti is 40,000.  Then there is a third group of mixed races and different backgrounds with a population of 30,000.  The country was very diverse with different races.  Another thing that happened during this time period was the revolt of the Spanish and the Americas and the revolutions took place in: North America, France, and Haiti.  The revolutions started due to people insulting each other.  A good thing that cam about was the feminist movement for the rights of women who never spoke about different issues, and now they were.

Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions And Their Echoes Part 2

The following section of this chapter goes more in depth of the French Revolution.  During this time France was in a bad state.  Being on the edge of bankruptcy, not to mention that the tax reforms where in bad shape.  To make matters worse King Louis the XVI wanted to raise taxes against other classes, which is bad since most people can hardly afford to pay regular taxes and now the taxes were going to be raised.  He then called a meeting that had three representatives which included the: clergy, nobility, and the commoners.  When the king died, along with his queen it made everyone upset since everyone loved the kind so much.  After King Louis came Napoleon Bonaparte who was a great leader who wanted to reform France and make it better.     

Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions And Their Echoes

The following chapter talks about the Atlantic Revolutions.  The Atlantic was very resourceful when it came to spreading ideas and cultural resource like: newspapers, books, and pamphlets.  Not to mention other ideas like: liberty, equality, free trade, religious tolerance, republicanism, and human rationality.  With these new ideas comes a lot of controversy since society does not like new ideas or thoughts.  The chapter discusses about the: American, French, Haitian, and Spanish American Revolution and what were the causes for each revolution.  During the American Revolution had a conflict between the thirteen colonies and Great Britain.  The French Revolution on the other hand had a conflict within themselves where many were offended and one can image how violent it was.  The Haitians had a conflict with the French colony of Saint Domingue.  As for the Spanish American Revolution, it took place in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies.  Overall due to the revolutions, it was sort of like a path to a new world. 

Part Five The European Momnet In World History

The following reading introduces Chapters 17 and 18 which was during the time periods of 1750-1914.  This was called the long nineteenth century.  The main theme that will be discussed during this time period is a new kind of society called modernism and to exercise of more power.  It looks as if Europe will be the main focus of this section and I am anxious to find out why Europe is the main focus.

DGP The Americas A Hemispheric History

What I really found interesting, well I have actually always found it interesting that even though Canada is within the United States, it is separate from the United States.  Yet, Canada is considered more American than the Northern and Southern part of America since that is where Mexico is located.  I just found it odd.  Another thing that I find interesting when I read the packet was that for instance if you were born in North America you would be considered a Norteamericano.  Then there are Canadians, Chicanos, Latinos, Indos, Cacuasians , Angolos, etc.  I understand that there are people from many races that are proud of their culture, which makes it hard for people to refer to themselves as Americans.

DGP What Is Enlightenment?

I can honestly say that the reading was hard to understand because it was difficult to pin point what the author was talking about.  There are some concepts that I understood clearly though.  One being the idea of enlightenment.  Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage.  The definition of tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another.  The author in my mind was looking ahead to our generation and seeing the lack of knowledge and free will of society.  There are tons of people in the world today who are incapable of not only thinking for themselves, but solving and figuring out problems by themselves.  Some people feel as if they need to be pointed the right direction in order to find out the truth about something.  Yet what people should do is find the answers by themselves because every person thinks differently.  Each answer and discovery is unique and should not be limited by a being dictating how you should think or answer. 

Chapter 16: Religion And Science Part 2

 The remaining part of this section talks about the Scientific Revolution, which happened during the mid-sixteenth to the eighteenth century which gave a different perspective on how the world was created and challenged the ideas of the church  and Christianity.  The European's condition were very favorable to rise in the ideas of science since there was a legal system which guaranteed the independence of institutions.  Meaning that they were allowed to believe in whatever they wanted without any consequences.  Overall the reading reminded me about Inherit the Wind, which was a play that was written during the 1950's and became a film during the 1960's. Which was based on the Scopes trial in 1925.   The play was about a teacher by the name of Bertram Cates who is arrested and sent to court for the crime of teaching his students about science and the theory of evolution and he is put on trial.  The prosecutor was Matthew Harrison Brady who is well known as a Biblical Scholar and everyone loves him.  Defending Bertram was Henry Drummond who is a friend of Brady and is known as a famous lawyer for his controversial mind.  The case ends with Bertram being found guilty, but because Drummond's case was well organized Bertram only had to pay a small fine.  It shows how the idea of science was a controversial thing since at the time so many people were very religious. 

Chapter 16: Religion And Science

The following chapter talks about the ideas of Religion and Science between 1450-1750. At the time, Christianity was only limited in Europe during the 1500's and in time became divided between the Roman Catholics of Western and Central Europe, as well Eastern Europe and Russia.  On the chart in page 464 it describes the differences in beliefs between the Catholics and Protestants.  The chapter also talked about the Protestant Reformation where there were serious divisions came about between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox sects.  The Reformation was a different perspective of Christianity and even questioned the Pope.  In time the Protestant Reformation was countered by a Catholic Reformation.  In the end Christianity began to spread quickly, converting and affecting many.