Imperialism Project

Imperialism is when a country updates another country with the latest technology. The updated country likes it but doesn't know that years from now it would be ruled by the country that upgraded it. Britain had done it to Africa, India, and China. It gave the Chinese, Indian, and African people lots of opium and others. It's like smuggling or dealing drugs.
The Opium Wars went from 1839 to 1842. After that China got so addicted to opium, which can be made into heroin. In 1843, the Treaty of Nanjing was signed and it would go in effect for years until 1997 because Hong Kong was British territory at the time. The second Opium War took place in 1858 and the U.S. was one of the countries to be involved in it.

Film Lesson: Mountains of the Moon

     The movie is about two British explorers who search for a source of the Nile River. The explorers, Richard Burton and John Speke, work for Royal Geographic Society. During their first trip to Africa, they were able to escape from a savage tribe. Back at England, Burton and Speke get more people and supplies. They returned to Africa and the nicer tribes give them extra people and supplies. The search for a source of the Nile took six months. On the way they found a lake and named it Lake Victoria, after the queen of England. Even in the trip did they find some harsh areas, animals, and people. Late in the trip they ran out of food. Some of the people, including Speke, got a disease. Many died  of malaria. Speke, Burton, and their crew eventually found the source of the Nile. Speke thinks he found it, Burton disagreed. Speke later got stressed out and committed suicide. The trades they made, including drugs, made the tribes people get high. This convinced England to rule over Africa and India, which went from the 1850's to about 1950.

Karl Marx and Communism

     Karl Marx thought of a different kind of idea where people working in factories could overtake a government and rule its country. He called it Communism. Marx disagreed with the 

Industrial Revolution. Communism was also where the same amount of money received would be be the same. Workers would also run the country so that there would be no government. Russia tried it out, but failed after 70 years. China, Cuba, and North Korea are the remaining Communist countries.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revolution

     Karl Marx was born Jewish and became German, but he had good ideas for Russia. He heard about the Industrial Revolution, which was an era of jobs, factories, and many good opportunities. But he thought that there should be a different way of life. Marx called it Communism. It was where people with jobs  had more freedom than landlords. However, it would be harsh because many governments were replaced by Communist groups. There would be no jobs, school, fun, sports, or any other activity going on in a Communist country. Marx never supported the things going on in the Industrial Revolution, especially the jobs, factories, and inventions there. 

Nationalism

     Nationalism is where people live in, support, and fight for your country. Most people formed their own country together by breaking away from an empire. Many things are done to keep the country together. 

     In competition, people support their country during a sporting event such as the Olympics. Countries have to win the Olympics by winning as much gold medals as possible or the most amount of medals. If there is a war, then people can defend the country by joining the military. 

     A country can have a culture, religion, language, history, symbols, currency, and connection. It got all that by breaking from a strong empire. It's people got it all by rallying against their enemies. 

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

Around the early 19th century, Latin America started to revolt against their Spanish counterparts for independence. They were lead by Simon Bolivar. Bolivar was born in 1783. He traveled through Europe for most of the time. In 1811, Bolivar saw that his home country was gaining independence from Spain. So he became their leader. He lost the first few battles, but then he made surprise battles against the Spanish.
Bolivar got some help from some other countries that had recently won their independence. Soon he was winning battles all around Latin America. He was great as a general, but not as a government leader.
Bolivar died of turberculosis in 1830 at the age of 47. After he died, people thought of him as the Latin American version of George Washington, though not at the same level. But Bolivar did help his native country win independence from Spain.

Copernicus and the trial of Galileo

During the ancient times, Greeks and the Roman Catholic Church believed that the Earth was at the center of the solar system. However this was not true. Aristotle thought that heavy objects fell faster than a small object. That is not true either. Sometime in the 1500's Galileo, according to legend, went up the Leaning Tower. He used a big and small stone. Both stones fell at the same speed. This is true, so Galileo proved Aristotle wrong. The Church eventually accused him of doing that and forced him to say the wrong things. A hundred years later, Isaac Newton proved that the sun was the center of the solar system. That too, is true. We now know that all objects fall at the same speed, no matter the size. We also now know that the sun is at the center of the solar system.

Enlightenment

The Enlightenment is making a science of government. A famous Englishman named
John Locke thought of that. He thought that people could govern themselves instead of having a king or queen tell them what to do. He thought that people also had free and equal rights. If their government did not protect these rights, then people could start rebelling and start their own country and government.Free and equal rights mean a democracy. If someone got accused of a crime, the punishment for that crime would be limited to a number of years in prison.

Evolution vs Creation

             Evolution is where according to science that says that man came from ape. It means that over the years, man has continued to change. There is still some searching on new species part of Evolution.

                Creation is where according to religion, man was created by God. God did not just create man, He created plants, animals, and everything else. Creation is still being talked about in all religions including Christians, Catholics, and Lutherans.

                 Believers of both Evolution and Creation have argued against each other to see which is the official creator of man. I would say that I believe in Creation, although I'd like to ask my mom and dad on which do they believe in.