The Opium Wars

     The Opium wars were about when China and European countries fought over a drug called opium that took about 3 years from 1839 to 1842. Opium was a drug from India. Opium was one of the first drug wars in the world. The reason of the Opium wars were because China wanted to isolate themselves outside their country. Europeans especially Britain wanted to trade with China. Europeans saw that tea from China was a great product and they liked the China's tea. China only let the Europeans access to the port and that's when China adapted from Western civilizations. Europeans gave the drug opium to them. 

     China was so addicted to opium that it was a heroin and morphine and the Chinese made a law that it was illegal because the drug affected many people in China. The Chinese would confiscate it and destroy the opium and buy no more of it from the Europeans.  During the Opium wars China would get defeated a lot because of the highly equipped Europeans. It was called Opium wars because China got mad at the Europeans for bringing a drug to their country and they stopped trading the Europeans tea. Europeans got mad also for not getting tea from the Chinese. All because of a drug it was called the Opium wars.

     In the war Europeans attacked the Chinese with their gunboats and cannons. The Chinese were not prepared for the war and only had swords. The Chinese's weapons were no match for the Europeans advanced technology and weapons. The British defeated China. China signed two Treaties called Treaty of Bogue and Treaty of Nanjing. They finally got peace and China was able to legalize opium. Also Europeans were able to have five ports in China.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

     The film, "Mountains of the Moon," was a great movie and I can see now how the Europeans traveled in Africa finding the Nile River. As the Europeans explored Africa, some of the hardships they faced there were when robbers robbed most of the explorers supplies and food. Europeans were short on supplies and food. Rare animals like lions would get in their way, bugs like mosquitos at night, they met tribes on the way and had to give presents to them to stay or pass in the tribes' land or turf. Also the Europeans were ambushed from a bad tribe because they didn't like them and wanted to take any valuables they had especially gold. 

     It's strange that the Europeans named the Nile River,"Lake Victoria," after a British Queen because after they found the Nile River they wanted to name it after their British Queen in honor of her. Along the expeditions of the Europeans, the primary technological advantage they had over African people were weapons like guns. The guns they had were hand guns and shotguns. The African people didn't have any weapons like what the Europeans had, instead they had spears but it wasn't effective.  

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

     Matthew Perry  bullied the Japanese into signing a trade treaty through a display of military might. To impress the Japanese, Perry amazed them by ships with no sails. When Perry came to the ports he intimidated the Japanese with their high technology. 

     Japanese's economy has changed during the Meiji Era by a production of labor intensive goods, handicrafts, and a lower quality of machine from the absence of the Industrial Revolution. The Japanese modernized and industrialized by having two ports after a treaty was signed and trading helped them to get what they needed. Archipelago means a chain of islands. Japan is an archipelago because they had many small islands.  

Karl Marx and Communism

     Karl Marx's idea of Communism was to have workers share wealth in a communist society. He didn't like that landlords and factory owners were being in control and making a lot of money for themselves. Communism is a system of social organization in which all property is vested in the community and each person contributes and receives according to his or her ability and needs. 

     Karl Marx wanted Communism to take over the world because he didn't like that peoples' jobs were unfair and the worker were getting paid less. He saw the conditions of workers' jobs. He saw that since the workers work so hard with less money, he saw them as the good guys and he saw the landlords and factory owners as the bad guys because the way they treated the people that works really hard and they were being greedy making more money.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revolution

When the Industrial Revolution came around, Karl Marx felt that the treatment of the workers were harsh and unsafe. He didn't like it. He was arguing about thatworkers should be in control of factories and farms rather than landlords. He wanted workers to unite in a "worldwide revolution." The Industrial Revolution inspired Marx to invent Communism because workers would share wealth in a communist society.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

Nationalism is the belief that one's greatest loyalty should not be to a king or an empire but to a nation of people who share a common culture and and history. I'm nationalistic because in the United States we have a holiday called the American Independence which is on July 4th. I watch the television and and see the fireworks go up in the air. I speak the language English, watch the Olympics and cheer on the American Olympic team. I'm such a nationalistic, you can see I'm an American and I show pride.
Nationalism was used to create the nation of Italy because it was one of the countries to form from the territory of crumbling empires. Austria ruled the Italian provinces of Venetia and Lombardy in the north and several small states after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Before Italy became it's on country it was a nation state. Italy wasn't a country until they fought, got freedom, and became Italy.
The country is called Italy because a ruler named Giuseppe Mazzini that supported the nation states. When this man helped people and other nation states, they got seperated. Italy got it's name, started to make it's own food, culture, and it's own tradition.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolution

     Simon Bolivar was born on July 24, 1783. After his parents died when he was young, his uncle don Carlos Palacios was taking care of him. Simon Bolivar's uncle brought to Spain to continue his education. When he grew up he became general. He accomplished a lot of independence for winning his victories and becoming a "Liberator" which were Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. In 1804 he married Maria Teresa Rodriguez. 

     Bolivar is famous because is was one of the greatest leaders of the Spanish American Independence. He was also famous for his victories. The country Bolivia was named after him because of the influence he brought to South America. He helped General Jose de San Martin to defeat the Latin American Revolution and fight for freedom and independence for South America. In his quest for revolution, he was influenced by the people of South America. On December 17, 1830, he died suffering from tuberculoses.