Chapter 16

The American Revolution and the French Revolution were very different from each other. Strayer states that “the American Revolution expressed tensions of a colonial relationship with a distant imperial power, the French insurrection was driven by sharp conflicts within French society.” The people of France had issues with monarchy and were not afraid to show it. The wealthy had issues with all the new taxes, the middle-class were offended because of the privileges they were not allowed to be a part of and the lower-class were struggling because of the increase price  of bread and increase in unemployment. The French Revolution was much more violent than the American Revolution. What really caught my eye in this chapter was the persistence of the women fighting for equality compared to the women in the American Revolution. Women were a part of the storming of Bastille in 1789. They were more active in major events. Women made political demands and were supported by a few males. They signed petitions about their lack of education, prostitution and the price of bread and soap. They even demanded to bear arms. Somehow, slavery was abolished and the Catholic church was replaced as the place for major events but women were not granted equality. Some men argued that women that tried to fight for their rights were “domineering” and should not be considered to be women at all. I cannot even imagine what it would have been like to live at this time as a woman. Slavery was ended between 1780 to 1890 because of the enlightenment thinkers and it is baffling to me to think that it took them this long to realize that it was not ok to enslave people. 

Chapters 13-15

Chapter 15 caught my attention as soon as I read the title. I have always found religion to be a fascinating topic. I personally am not religious and cannot say that I believe in “God” but find it intriguing as to why others do. My family believes but for some reason I have never believed just because I was told to by my mother. I asked questions. To this day, I still don’t understand why they believe. She has told me that she has had encounters and was able to just know that God was there and I asked her to explain how but she couldn’t. I have nothing against those that are religious, I just, for some reason, am not. I have recently began feeling like an outsider when it comes to religion because it seems that everyone I know is religious and believes in a “God”. I found it very interesting and almost comforting to know that the number of those who believe has been declining. I felt that I was one of the only ones. You go on social media and everyone and their mothers are posting about how they thank God for where they are and for the opportunities that he brought to them whereas I believe that hard work and dedication gets you to where you want to be. Slayter talks about how people from all around the world have been are are currently traveling in order to spread the word of God and I’m not sure that I agree with that action. It’s one thing to practice your own beliefs but one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone tries to shove religion down my throat and tells me that I’m bad or I’m going to hell just because I don’t believe in what they believe in. Nevertheless, I found this chapter to be very interesting. I thoroughly enjoy learning about religion and have made it a point to go to different places of worship to learn more about others’ practices.

Chapter 9, 11 & 12 Reflection

One of the most interesting topics in the section to me was the Mongols. The debate was especially fun for me. It was really interesting to learn that the Mongols have such a bad rap for what they did in order to stay on top and conquer when so many other conquering civilizations have done so much worse. I had no idea who the Mongols were and definitely did not know they had such a huge contribution to society today. Pastoral societies heavily stressed equality and I think that equality is one of the biggest topics in our lives right now. I think we have a long way to go but we have definitely come a long way. The Mongols were known for all of the killing they did and the conquering but no one really focused on the good that they brought. For example, women had a higher status and followers were extremely loyal to their leaders. They introduced standardized weights and measures which is huges. Where would we be without those things? The Mongols lived in tent cities that could be packed up and moved which contributed to the exchange of ideas and techniques. It’s terrible that they killed and harmed so many but at the same time, it’s kind of like survival of the fittest. They did what they had to do to survive and when put in perspective, they didn’t do anything more terrible than any other civilization that conquered another.