The Meiji Restoration of Japan

Japan is an archipelago which means that it is made up of many different little islands. The country of Japan was basically isolated from the rest of the world for a long period of time. Japan had no interaction with the outside world and they did want to either. However Mathew Perry was sent to Japan in order to get goods from them. Mathew Perry wanted to water and coal for their ships and their trade with China. These Americans also wanted to open the doors for Japan it would not be an isolated country anymore. The Japanese did not want to sign the treaty of trade but since they didn't want the Americans to destroy their country, they actually ended up signing the treaty of trade. In other words, Japan was sort of forced to sign the treaty of trade. After they signed it, they were no longer isolated from the world because they now started to trade with Russia, China, Britan, and France. As Japan began to trade more their economy grew and went up because they weren't relying on only themselves anymore. As the economy grew the government began to change and dissolve. The government was now militarize and Japan became more industrialized and commercialized due to the western political and economic influences.

Karl Marx and Communism

Karl Marx saw that because of the Industrial Revolution the only people that were moving forward and becoming rich were the owners of factories and businesses. However, the people who worked long hours and under horrible conditions were getting no where. He believed that everyone should have the same pay in other words equality. He also believed that the workers should be the ones controlling the factories and farms instead of the landlords or that the workers should united and cause a revolution. Karl Marx stated that the wealth should be distributed "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Karl Marx believed that capitalism and other governments were only for the rich people because they were the only ones in power and the only ones that had the most money. With communism everyone would have the same pay and no one would own any property. This meant that there would not be any social classes what so ever.

Karl Mark and the Industrial Revolution

Karl Mark was a man who didn't appreciate or like the Industrial Revolution. He believed that the workers were being treated very unfairly and the wage they were getting paid were very low. He also believed that the factories were in very harsh conditions and very dangerous. Karl Mark realized that the factory owners were the only ones getting rich while the workers just worked and worked but continued to be poor. He called the factory owners bougeoisie and the workers or middle class were called the proletarians. This led Karl Marx to develop Communism because he wanted to end the fact that the bougeoisie were the only ones with all the power. He wanted everyone to be equal in pay and in power.

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.

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.

Robespierre and The Reign of Terror

As the French Revolution continued, the king, the nobles, the lords and the the clergy began to lose most of their power over the people in poverty or the lower class men. However the people who were gaining power in France were now becoming greedy and power-hungry. During this time a legislative assembly was set up for the king to share power with but the king didn't agree with that. In results, the Jacobins end up cutting the king's head off for being accused of treason. Around this time, many people's head was cut off using an execution machine called the guillotine. This machine was used with the people found to go against the new government or even people following the old one as well.

Later, Maximilien Robespierre rose up in power. He was the one who came up with the Reign of Terror because during this time the people lived with this fear and terror of their heads being the next one to get cut off (that is how extreme things were). Robespierre as dictator of France did anything and everything he can to get rid of the old government or the old monarchy. For instance, the calendar was changed and Sunday was deleted from the days of the week because they believed religion was now "old fashion." In addition, kings, queens, and jacks were removed and placed with faces of revolutionaries.

Even though Robespierre had so much power, he didn't use it in the right way. The reason why is because people were afraid of getting their heads cut off for really no reason at all. Therefore, Robespierre was arrested and his head was cut off (what goes around comes around) and there ended the Reign of Terror.

The French Revolution

1) Many people in France were critical of the nobility, the king, and the clergy because the king had absolute power. In addition the peasants had to pay taxes and feudal dues to the lord, the king, and also the church. Furthermore, the peasants had no privilages in society even though they made up about 90% of France population.

2) In the year of 1978 a French peasant might have complained about how poor he or she was due to the fact that they had to pay taxes to the upper class men. Additionally, the peasants had to pay the lord in order for them to use their mills, ovens, and winepress. Also the peasants where the ones with the smallest income in France.

3) The cartoonist point in this image is that the upper class men such as the clergy and the lords live of the taxes and the feudal dues of the peasants and that is because in overall, everything that the peasants earn eventually will go to the lord and the Church. The quote " One hopes this will end," means that the peasants believe that one day the king will not have absolute power and that there wouldn't be no more heavy taxes for the peasants to pay.

4) The author of the source B describes the life of a peasants as stressfull and awful with alot of dues. The reason why is because a peasant family only with a morsel of land, a cow, and a horse had to pay feudal dues to two lords and in addition to that they had to pay taxes to the king. Some of the feudal dues include chickens, and a lot of kg of wheat and oats

5) Sources A, B, and C do explain why the peasants resented the rich people because in source C the document conveys that a peasant only make 200 livres a year while a priest would make 10,000 a year. Another reason the peasants would resent the rich people because in source B it states how a family of peasants had to pay so much taxes that they said " the taxes and feudal dues are crushing us," because they had to pay 20kg of wheat and 3 chickens as dues to one lords. To another lord they had to pay 60kg of oats, one chicken, and five pence not including the taxes they had to pay the king.

6) Rousseau's writing would mostly influenced the peasants the most because in Rousseau's writing he conveys that no one has the power to have total control over other people and that in order to achieve something through force such as feudal dues is sort of a violation of the human rights.

7) I believe that the pamphlet was banned by the clergy and the lord (nobility) because they were the ones who were charging these heavy dues and also they were the ones who were living off of the peasants hard work. Furthermore, the king, the nobility, and the clergy all believed in absolute power over the poor people.