Thursday, October 16, 2008

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy


Nationalism is basicly the pride and loyalty someone has towards his or her country. It is also rooting for or belonging to a certain country. Nationalism could be define by the rights someone has in his/her country, or someones culture, living within define borders, common languages and religion and also the country's history. I am nationalistic because as an American I root for the U.S when its is against other countries or even in competitive sports. In addition, I also celebrate common holidays such as the 4th of July, Christmas and even Thanksgiving. Furthermore, I am also Dominican, therefore I celebrate the Dominican Independence on February 27 and I also go to the Dominican parade.
Nationalism was a very big thing in many countries such as Italy however its states were separated. The people of Italy were becoming very tired of being ruled by other people outside of Italy. Famous people such as Giuseppe Mazzini believed that Italy should be united and freed from the Kings and nobles. This led Mazzini to create a group to help unite Italy.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions


Simon Bolivar also known as "the Liberator" accomplished many significant things. First of all Simon Bolivar was born on July 24, 1783 in Caracas, Venezuela. There he lived with his parents, unfortunately his parents died during his teens. Simon Bolivar received a good education in Caracas and also in Spain as well. After his wife's death, Simon Bolivar began to travel a lot into France and Italy. There he study the philosophies of people such as Rousseau, Locke, and Voltaire. Before arriving back to Caracas Simon Bolivar stopped in the United States at the same time that the U.S. had won their independence from Great Britain. This inspired Simon Bolivar and made him convince that is was time for Venezuela's independence from Spain. In addition, he also went to London as well as the United States and studied their system of governments. In London he searched for support for a revolution in South America. When he came back to Venezuela he created a revolutionary army and fortunately after some early defeats, he was able to beat the Spanish and win independence for Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Ecuador, and Bolivia. His surprise attacks and wise decisions led him to his victory.