Thomas's Global Blog

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

2010-04-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Apartheid was basically the same as the Jim Crow Laws in the U.S. Nelson Mandela helped free South Africa and he became the first president of South Africa.

African Independence

2010-04-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Africa realized that they didn't want to be run by Britain anymore. They thought that Britain was the best country suited for leading them, until they saw what Britain was really like. They weren't the best country ever, so they wanted their independence.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

2010-04-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

The US and the USSR were competing to see who could get to space first. This was called the Space Race. The US managed to break the sound barrier first, but Russia got a satelitte into space first. Russia was winning, and they even managed to get the first man in space, but we eventually beat them to the moon in 1969. The scene with the sound barrier will help me remember it.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

2010-04-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

NATO was an alliance of nations formed during the cold war. It was made up of the U.S., Canada, Great Britan, and other countries from Europe. The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet answer to NATO. It consisted of Russia, Poland East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. These organizations were formed in case of a nuclear war broke out. An attack on one country would lead all the other countries in that organization to retaliate.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

2010-03-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

"Schindler's List" portrayed the Holocaust in a dramatic way. It let you get to know the characters so that you were worried about thair safety when they were force into the camps. I think the scene with the children was the hardest on me because they were sining a happy song while they were being shipped off the be slaughtered. That scene will stay with me for a long time. I think "Schindler's List" was more powerful for me. It was more emotional than "Night and Fog".

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

2010-03-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

I felt really bad after watching "Night and Fog". The scenes were much more graphic than "Schindler's List". I think that "Schindler's List" was more effective at portraying the Holocaust because there were characters that you got to know, and you were actually worried about them. In the documentary, it just showed nameless people in the camps.

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WW I)

2010-02-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

At the end of WWI, Germany had to agree to the Treaty of Versaillse. This treaty stated that Germany had to give up part of their land, part of their population, limit their military, and give up all of their African territories. This treaty was completely unfair. It was basically a way to kick Germany while it was down. The German economy suffered a depression as a result of manufacuring restrictions. I think that historians believe that this treaty lead to Fascism and the rise of Hitler because Germany was so desparate after the war, they just agreed to anything.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

2010-02-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

Secular means separate from religion. Turkey's culture was based entirely around Islam. Mustafa Kemal wanted to make Turkey moore secular because he believed that this system was uncivilized. He especially disliked the clothing. He believed that the classic garb of Islam was uncivilized. He even made it illigal to wear a hat that lacked a brim (a fez). He believed that the jackets, slacks and fedoras of the West were the only civilized outfits, and that without wearing them, progress could not take place.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

2010-02-25T11:06:00.000-08:00

Ghandi used non-violent tacticts to help free India. He once said, "an eye for an eye makes the whol world blind." He organized marches, protests, and was arrested many times, but was never violent to anyone. Britain was the side that used violence almost constantly. India used violence only a few times. This made Britain look bad because it seemed like Britain was just attacking a defensless country that they owned.

The Russian Revolution

2010-01-20T09:41:00.000-08:00

The russians had a revolution because they were tired of how the Czars treated them. They were also tired of WWI. Russia lost 4 million soldiers in the first year of WWI and didn't want to lose more. The Russian Revolution was a political revolution the get a new form of govenment. Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the leader of the Bolshevik party, a group of communists in Russia. The quote "peace, land, and bread" was a pro-communist quote spoken by John Lenin. It meant that everyone in the country would be fed, and have a place to live in peace.

Cause Of WWI

2010-01-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

The rival countries all had a strong sense of nationalism. They all thought they were better than the other, so there was a lot of tension. Imperialism was also a factor. Each country was upset that the other was getting more land. The assasination of Franz Ferdinand was the straw that broke the camel's back. The countries had been wanting for a while, but the assasination gave them a real reason to go to war.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

2009-12-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

The Opium Wars were battles fought between the British and the Chinese. The British traded opium with China for tea. China eventually became addicted to the opium. The Chinese government finally decided that they were spending too much money on opium, so they cut off trade with Britain. Britain didn't like this, so they attacked China. Britain won because they had better technology.

Film Lesson: "mountains of the Moon"

2009-12-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

The Europeans had to deal with many problems. No Europeans had ever been where they were going before, so they had no idea what to expect. They had to deal with disease, insects, fatigue, violent natives, and thieves within their own party.

It is strange that Lake Victoria is named that because it is a lake in Africa, but it is named after a British queen.

The primary technological advantage that the Europeans had over the natives of Africa were guns. All the natives had to defend themselves with were primitive weapons like spears and the Europeans had machine guns.

Imperialism Project

2009-12-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

We did the Imperialism Project to help us understand imperialism's effect on the world. It showed us how Eourope took and split up Africa. This helps us understand why there are so many different languages spoken in Africa today.

Karl Marx and Comunism

2009-11-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

Communism is a form of government where, in theory, everyone is equal. It was meant to have a classless society. To do this, everyone had equal pay and equal rights. This is backed in his quote "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." He saw owners as bad guys and workers as good guys, and thought that eventually, the workers would lead a "bloody revolution" and take over the world. Marx hated capitalism and called

Karl Mark and the Industrial Revolution

2009-11-17T09:44:00.001-08:00

Karl Marxs did not like the Industrial Revolution. He did not like the fact that the workers were being treated so badly. He felt that the workers should be in charge, not the landlord. He thought the workers already had power because if they stopped working, the owner wouldn't get paid and he would eventually give in to their demands. He also thought that the workers of the world should kill the factory owners of the world. He thought that the workers should be treated as well as the factory owners. He thought This helped spawn his idea of communist.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

2009-10-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Nationalism is basically the love for ones country. I am nationalist because I share a language, currency, history, flag, symbol, government, and more with other Americans. I show that I am nationalist because I say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning and sing the national anthem at special events.

Before Italy became Italy, it was divided into the provinces of Venetia and Lombardy in the north and The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to the south. A man named Giuseppe Mazzini created a group called Young Italy. It was a nationalist group for Italians under 40 years old. He and other nationalists were exiled after many revolts. Italian nationalists then asked Piedmont-Sardinia for help. After two victories against the Austrians, Italy became a country.

Simon Bolivar and the Latin American Revolutions

2009-10-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar was a general and political leader in South America. He helped defeat the Spanish in order to win freedom for Bolivia (the country named after him), Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. He also helped found the first Republic of Columbia, now called Gran Columbia. The American and French Revolutions influenced Bolivar to have a revolution of his own. He is referred to as the George Washington of South America.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

2009-10-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Thomas Jefferson is talking about the three natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are given to man at birth by their Creator (God), and therefore cannot be taken away.

The Government comes from the people, and so does all of its power. if a government gains too much power, then the people have the right and the power to get rid of it and start a new one.

Copernicus and the Trial of Galileo

2009-10-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Geocentricism is the belief that the earth was the stationary center of the universe and that everything revolved around it. Heliocentrism is the belief that the sun was the stationary center of the universe and everything revolved around it. Geocentricism was around earlier.

The church put Galileo on trial because the thought himto be a heritic.

Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Method

2009-09-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

The scientific method is a series of steps that scientists take to prove something. It can also be used to create or support a theory. The steps involve starting with a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis, observing the results, retesting and reobserving the results until a theory can be developed.

If you want to find out how long it takes to cross the street, you make an educated guess, possibly based on how many steps you think it will take, the you cross the street.

Evolution vs. Creation

2009-09-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

The theory of evolution states that man evolved from lesser species of animals, mainly primates like monkies. According to the theory, this process took millions of years.

The belief of creationism states that earth was created by God in seven days. It also states that a man named Adam and all the animals were placed on earth by God. God tasked Adam to name all the animals. After Adam finished, God noticed Adam was lonley, so he took one of Adam's ribs and created a woman named Eve.

I'm not sure what to believe. I do think that there is a God, but i also agree with most theories on how earth was made, like the big bang.