Sunday, June 26, 2011
"Socially, the last had become first."
Wow!!! As I read about the Haitian Revolution from 1791 - 1804 I wondered where I had been all this time since I had never heard of it before. After reading a few chapters I went to page 511 to look it up in the map, couldn't believe it was so small. I felt so proud of what they had done and the movement they had started.
I was impressed to read that Haiti, then known as Saint Domingue, produced 40% of world's sugar and half of world's coffee. As I read on I was saddened to read that although the previous sounded great, the labor was done by the native people who had become slaves. The numbers are unbelievable, yet true, there were 500,000 slave, 40,000 whites and only 30,000 free people of color, wow!
I was impressed to read that Haiti, then known as Saint Domingue, produced 40% of world's sugar and half of world's coffee. As I read on I was saddened to read that although the previous sounded great, the labor was done by the native people who had become slaves. The numbers are unbelievable, yet true, there were 500,000 slave, 40,000 whites and only 30,000 free people of color, wow!
As I continued to read I found out that they;
"were only completely successful slave revolt in world history ...
second independent republic in Americas and
the first non-European state to emerge from Western colonialism.
( Ways of the World by Strayer page 509)"
After some reflection, of what a great victory these people had and being in awe of they achievement I continued my reading waiting to know more. I again felt saddened to hear that although they had become independent and although they were at once leaders in making sugar and coffee that it no longer was so. The book goes on to share that people were so afraid of another take over by slaves or the oppressed that they tightened up the rains because they didn't want to see that happen again.
I read this I was also thinking that since Europeans were in charge of goods and trade, that they wouldn't want to trade with Haiti. Then I was thinking that after the war, the land was destroyed so badly that they couldn't even produce as much. My thoughts went on to think about how they were psychologically, emotionally and physically. Then I went off to have many questions;
*Could these people just get up and start working the land like before?
*Would they relive their trauma as they worked the land and could they surpass it?
*What were their believes of the land?
*Did they want to continue to exploit the land and resource?
*What resources did they have to rebuild their lives?
* and my list of questions can go on
I went on to finish the chapter but kept thinking about Haiti. Before the reading, I had mainly heard about the country through the news when they were hit with the quake and then through a news report on missionaries helping out. I wanted to learn more but couldn't remember if I had watched the news report on Newsline, 20/20 or PBS. I decided to do a search to learn more.
For once, this book has truly gotten my attention and it has even gotten me look up more info :)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Chapters 14-16
Through this reading three things stood out to me. The rise in trade, the rise in production of goods or trade and the way this impacted their world.
As I was reading through the "Colombian exchange". I felt sad for the many people that lost their lives because another group of people came to their area. These people didn't have the immunity they needed to over come these new diseases this other group of people brought with them. This exchange brought with it many goods, crops, animals and along with that diseases. The book shares that during that time the most number of people died, that some died because of the diseases and that some died because they were too fragile to get up and look for food. Although not as severe, it made me think about my job as a teacher and how I get sick along with the kiddos. Just recently, there were a couple of kiddos that had a runny nose and a cough. One teacher caught the bug, then another kiddo, then me, then so on it went. Before we could get better, another kiddo got sick with a different strand of the cold and cough. Most of us went through it again, finally a couple of weeks ago a few kiddos got the flu and then again some of us caught it too. For us in that classroom, we caught the various bugs that went around but we were able to make it through because of our immunity, unfortunately for the people in those days, they didn't have that immunity because they had not been exposed to any of these new diseases, animals, and foods.
Going on to the next chapter, it made me see how the rise in trade also set off a rise in production of goods and a changed way of life for people. Since more goods needed to be produced and cultivated then more people were needed to do the work. The response for some was to purchase and abuse people so that they could produce a benefit with their goods. The book shares about the men and women that were taken from Africa and used as slaves. What I was surprised with and a bit unbelieving was that the books shares that some parts of the world weren't as cruel to their slaves. As the book shares about slaves in a couple parts of the world it made it seems as if it weren't that bad as it was in the Americas. Certainly all slavery is bad and that should be the stand it takes, not make it seem one is better than the other.
Through world trade peoples lives changed. Some like I mentioned before, became slaves, others worker more, other less, others became wealthier while others became pore. Communities changed, with the introduction of new items peoples diets changed and so did he way they viewed the world. This time brought something like an explosion. There was lots of movement of people and goods. There were lots of lives lost through the exposure of diseases and through the transport of goods. This time brought lot of change, permanent change from those days till now.
As I was reading through the "Colombian exchange". I felt sad for the many people that lost their lives because another group of people came to their area. These people didn't have the immunity they needed to over come these new diseases this other group of people brought with them. This exchange brought with it many goods, crops, animals and along with that diseases. The book shares that during that time the most number of people died, that some died because of the diseases and that some died because they were too fragile to get up and look for food. Although not as severe, it made me think about my job as a teacher and how I get sick along with the kiddos. Just recently, there were a couple of kiddos that had a runny nose and a cough. One teacher caught the bug, then another kiddo, then me, then so on it went. Before we could get better, another kiddo got sick with a different strand of the cold and cough. Most of us went through it again, finally a couple of weeks ago a few kiddos got the flu and then again some of us caught it too. For us in that classroom, we caught the various bugs that went around but we were able to make it through because of our immunity, unfortunately for the people in those days, they didn't have that immunity because they had not been exposed to any of these new diseases, animals, and foods.
Going on to the next chapter, it made me see how the rise in trade also set off a rise in production of goods and a changed way of life for people. Since more goods needed to be produced and cultivated then more people were needed to do the work. The response for some was to purchase and abuse people so that they could produce a benefit with their goods. The book shares about the men and women that were taken from Africa and used as slaves. What I was surprised with and a bit unbelieving was that the books shares that some parts of the world weren't as cruel to their slaves. As the book shares about slaves in a couple parts of the world it made it seems as if it weren't that bad as it was in the Americas. Certainly all slavery is bad and that should be the stand it takes, not make it seem one is better than the other.
Through world trade peoples lives changed. Some like I mentioned before, became slaves, others worker more, other less, others became wealthier while others became pore. Communities changed, with the introduction of new items peoples diets changed and so did he way they viewed the world. This time brought something like an explosion. There was lots of movement of people and goods. There were lots of lives lost through the exposure of diseases and through the transport of goods. This time brought lot of change, permanent change from those days till now.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Then there was 11-13
I went into chapter 13 interested to learn more about the Aztec Empire. I usually start the chapters by reading the headings and then I dive in. This way if I find myself getting bored (it has happened) I have something to look forward to. In this case it was the Aztecs ;)
Last year I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and see the pyramids. While I was there our group met up with a tour guide whom shared some information about the area and the people. He shared that his family is native of that area and we were able to meet some of the native people there while also participating in a spiritual ceremony. Having gone through this great experience last year, like I mentioned before, I was interested to read what this book shared about the Aztecs.
Our guide like the book shared that these people produced a lot of goods and then were traded and sold in markets places. The book shares that a Spanish conquistador was impressed by not just the amount of goods but also the variety he saw at the market place. The book goes on to share that he was so impressed by it that he wrote it down. Reading this brought me back to a little town we visited. The town seems small, the streets are narrow, not too many cars, people are mainly walk about town, and it was on the quiet side. At this point we had another tour guide and after taking us around town he finished the tour at the town's market place. Well, it was no longer quiet. The market place was buzzing with people, there was music, food cooking, people talking and each stall had a variety of goods to sell. I actually took a picture of various stalls because their goods were so colorful and their produce looked so fresh. One stall had herbs, another clothing, another tiles, another meats & fish and another yarn and ... the list goes on. We didn't make it through the whole market, it was too big but it was great experience. Reading about the goods they produced and how they had big markets brought me back to my own experience.
Moving along with the reading, I was surprised to read that the Aztecs had slaves and that the people they conquered weren't killed immediately. I some how thought that once they conquered an area and its people that they would kill them since they had such a big population themselves, but according to the reading, these people were instead used. They were used to make goods, certain areas had to produce a certain good and a certain amount. The reading goes to share that these conquered people were also used as sacrifice to their gods. Wow, would hate to of been them. Can you imagine, not only do they make you work hard by making goods for them but at some point, you might be the one chosen to die for their gods.
This was an interesting read. My experience with a tour guide at the pyramids gave it more of a romanticised feel to history of the Aztecs, although he did mention the human sacrifices. The book on the other had gave it more of a gruesome feel to it in regards to sacrifices and the way conquered people were treated.
Last year I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and see the pyramids. While I was there our group met up with a tour guide whom shared some information about the area and the people. He shared that his family is native of that area and we were able to meet some of the native people there while also participating in a spiritual ceremony. Having gone through this great experience last year, like I mentioned before, I was interested to read what this book shared about the Aztecs.
Our guide like the book shared that these people produced a lot of goods and then were traded and sold in markets places. The book shares that a Spanish conquistador was impressed by not just the amount of goods but also the variety he saw at the market place. The book goes on to share that he was so impressed by it that he wrote it down. Reading this brought me back to a little town we visited. The town seems small, the streets are narrow, not too many cars, people are mainly walk about town, and it was on the quiet side. At this point we had another tour guide and after taking us around town he finished the tour at the town's market place. Well, it was no longer quiet. The market place was buzzing with people, there was music, food cooking, people talking and each stall had a variety of goods to sell. I actually took a picture of various stalls because their goods were so colorful and their produce looked so fresh. One stall had herbs, another clothing, another tiles, another meats & fish and another yarn and ... the list goes on. We didn't make it through the whole market, it was too big but it was great experience. Reading about the goods they produced and how they had big markets brought me back to my own experience.
Moving along with the reading, I was surprised to read that the Aztecs had slaves and that the people they conquered weren't killed immediately. I some how thought that once they conquered an area and its people that they would kill them since they had such a big population themselves, but according to the reading, these people were instead used. They were used to make goods, certain areas had to produce a certain good and a certain amount. The reading goes to share that these conquered people were also used as sacrifice to their gods. Wow, would hate to of been them. Can you imagine, not only do they make you work hard by making goods for them but at some point, you might be the one chosen to die for their gods.
This was an interesting read. My experience with a tour guide at the pyramids gave it more of a romanticised feel to history of the Aztecs, although he did mention the human sacrifices. The book on the other had gave it more of a gruesome feel to it in regards to sacrifices and the way conquered people were treated.
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