Cat's World History II Blog

In this text, we discover that Julie Billiart and Francoise were the foundresses of the SND, and we examine their individual upbringings, their social contexts in the age of growing up One aspect of the reading I found surprising is that Francoise had a very aristocratic upbringing. This is not something I would expect of someone who had a strong sense of spirituality, morals, and ethics, but this was who Francoise was. One role model in Francoise's life was her grandmother, who helped to instill good values and morals in her when they went together to check on people's practical well-being. These visits helped shaped Francoise to becoming a more altruistic person. Likewise, Julie still remained persistent and gave lessons to the children despite her illness and being confined to her bed, revealing her utmost compassion. Last semester, my freshman seminar class focused on the academic study of happiness, and we integrated the study into reading Martyr of the Amazon.  Though w...

Cultural Transformations: Religion and Science (1450-1750) The marriage of Greek rationality and monotheistic tradition set up the modern Western cultural civilization. Though Europeans were "central players" (644) in the rising of these two cultural trends, Strayer does not leave out the other civilizations and religious traditions that experienced cultural transformations too during this era that other texts are likely to skip over. After all, this is world history, not just Western civilization. The Globalization of Christianity The significance of the Protestant Reformation in the globalization of Christianity was that it gave rise to a divided but "renewed" (650) Christianity. The movement began with Martin Luther, who essentially protested the corrupt, authoritative tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. His ideas, which many resonated with, encouraged people to read the Bible for themselves, independent of the Church institution. Christianity also spread...

Commerce in People: The Atlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic Slave Trade involved the trade of millions of Africans during the early modern era. It was caused by a high European demand for slaves, fostered by their discovery of the usefulness of sugar, from which they established sugar plantations. Europeans saw Africans as ideal victims for slave labor because of their farming skills, their immunity to disease, they were non-Christians, close by, and because being "black" (623-624) somehow made them submissive. Europeans controlled the trade, but African merchants did sell slaves, negotiate, and exchange for products. However, I think it's important how Strayer makes it clear that "Africans did not generally sell 'their own people' into slavery" (626). Distinct because it was dehumanizing, massive, central to the economy, inherent, and creating of an African "blackness," the trade brought African peoples and cultures to the Americas, promoted g...

Europeans and Asian Commerce Europeans wanted to get involved on the world of Asian commerce because of the desire for wealth in spices, and metals, their recovery from the Black Death, and to explore Christianity. The Europeans sailed to India for the first time during the voyage of the Portuguese sailer Vasco de Gama, and they wanted to do so in a way that bypassed Muslim and Venetians. First the Portuguese made their way into the Indian Ocean network. But realizing their goods and economy were unattractive and lagging in Asian markets, they established the "trading post empire" where they could forcefully control commerce and sell their shipping services, making use of their advancement in naval technology. The Spanish too decided to make a voyage to get into Asian wealth, discovering an "archipelago of islands" (607), naming it the Philippine Islands after Spanish king Phillip II, and taking over and establishing colonial rule there, rather than commerce (as t...

Chapter 13: Political Transformations The early modern era (1450-1750) was an "age of empire" (554). Imperialism, or the act of national expansion through military affairs, has a bad rap. However, Strayer argues that though it was true that empire building could be violent and forceful, imperialism in the early modern era gave rise to globalization because the mixing of diverse peoples created refreshing changes and relevant changes in history. European Empires in the Americas & Comparing Colonial Societies in the Americas Europeans had advantages in colonizing the Americas because of geography, Atlantic winds, and European innovations. They also were driven by a determination to find the world's riches, their expansion from ecological production, and competition for wealth and status among rival states. They were also boosted by local allies that basically assisted their conquest. For example, peoples of the Aztec empire joined Cortes in carving a Spanish Mesoam...

Introduction to Part 4 The years from roughly 1450 to 1750 are characterized as the early modern era. Signs of globalization and modernization throughout the world included population growth, increase in trade, scientific discoveries, more global affairs, cultural and political transformation, and colonization. Still though, traditional principles were not totally displaced by modern ways during this time. It is interesting to me how Strayer is careful to characterize these three centuries as an early modern era and "late agrarian" era because it demonstrates how this time was a complex combination of old and new trends in terms of trade, culture, religion, politics, and science that cannot be oversimplified. He even emphasizes that it was "less an entry into the modern era" (549). Keeping this notion in mind, that the early modern era was more of a combination of old and new ways, helps us have a clearer understanding of where we are today. In this class, ...

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