For the week of May 3rd

 How did trade, religion, and transportation change the world in the 19th Century?

5 Paragraph Essay Mini Lesson/Final Exam

Main themes of Chapters 1-10

human rights

war--Indian War, Crimean, War to form Italy, Taiping vs. Qing in China, American Civil, War of the Pacific Region, The War of Triple Alliance

trade--wanting to trade, ports, forcing opium trade through war

transportation--new ways to make transportation easier--Suez canal--trains --leading to time zones

human rights--slavery, Italy's war against Austria 1848 for their own country--Germany being founded on fear

Intro Paragraph--

Trade--Slave trade and rights of the African people, David Livingstone exploring Africa for a way to increase other African trades besides slavery, Opium trade affecting the lives and livelihood of Chinese, British fighting to be able to continue opium trade, tobacco and cotton trade influencing the south to continue buying and keeping slaves, Fight over Atacama desert in South America because of copper, saltpeter (gunpowder), and sodium nitrate (fertilizer and bombs)

Transportation--Railroads opening up the American West, influencing the invention of time zones; Suez canal built to help transportation to the east for spices and silks, Increase of travel in Europe spreading western ideas, Toll roads began in 1794 in America, canals helped goods transport in America

Faith/Morals--Hindu/Muslim soldiers not wanting to use the Enfield rifle because of the cow fat/pig fat rebelling in India; David Livingstone exploring and spreading the Gospel in Africa, Friedrich of Germany disturbed by the conquering and destroying of the Prussians leading to a Germany that was not loved or respected, only feared, Sultans of Ottoman Empire wasting money weakening the empire, 

How many people were addicted to opium in China in the 19th Century? How many hours of work did it take to turn a five month journey into a five day trip? How many slaves were traded in the 400 years of slave trade? It took a million addicts to get open walls, 30,660 to turn five months into five days of travel, and more than twelve million slaves before freedom. Trade, transportation, and human rights were all significant themes in the 1800's around the world. 

Most countries like to trade like the British, but others hated the idea. China was one of these countries. The Chinese officials hated trading for one main reason, and that was control. The Chinese didn't want any western ideas to reach their people because they thought if their people heard about freedom, their people would fight to get it. The Chinese only allowed one port, and the people on the ships weren't allowed to get off them. The British didn't like this, so they had the devious idea of selling opium to the Chinese. Soon the Chinese people got addicted and wanted more which meant more trading had to be allowed. The Chinese realized this and destroyed all the opium, making the drug illegal and closing the port. The British were obviously not excited about this and declared war on China. The British won and made China open more ports and pay the British back for all the opium they destroyed, leaving China very poor and still addicted.

To trade with people, you need a way of getting to them such as boats or horses. Traveling like this could take months, so people started thinking of ways to make it faster, and one way was trains. A trip from one side of the U.S. to another could take five months by ship, but with trains it could take five days. It took twelve hours of work from hundreds of workers every day for seven years to complete it. People at both ends of the country started building and eventually met at the center at Promontory Summit, Utah. The official putting in the last nail missed it and had to get a worker to nail it in, but the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. was completed in 1869.

Before the first railroad was built, the Civil War happened, which was a war partially about human rights. Human rights often are a problem in many countries, such as Bulgaria fighting against the Ottoman Empire. In April 1876, the Bulgarians wanted to be their own country and decided to fight for it. The Ottomans, instead of killing just the people in the uprising, killed people who weren't even involved. "Sixty villages were wiped out." The other countries of Europe were surprised by this massacre and decided to help the Bulgarians. Often in history people tried to hold down others and then the people realized this and tried to rise up and fight for freedom. This happened in the French Revolution, when the young Italians rebelled against Austria in 1848, and it happened in the Civil War, which was a step towards freedom and justice for African Americans.

Without millions of opium addicts, the East might not have opened their borders to trade. Without thousands of hours of sweat from poor workers, there might never have been a faster way to travel across the U.S. It took more slaves than we should have to count to reach equality. Though I think that the work on the railroad was worth it, forcing trade through promoting addiction was unnecessary and slavery was even more cruel. The 1800s was a time of progression through change in transportation, freedoms, and trade.