Sunday, 2 March 2014

Portugal


started(1430)
Portuguese went looking around Africa for gold and a route to the east.
1500
trade post set up in Ghana and became central flow of gold into Ghana.


moved to bigger settlements
Mozambique for gold
Angola for slaves( degradoros)
they also married African women and were very powerful( prazeros) until late 1800s


Atlantic slave trade
they were the first to trade slaves( and colonies)
Brazil biggest market for slaves
Angola biggest supplier of slaves.
Kongo( Congo) 2-3 million
leader Alfonso supplied slaves in exchange for goods and arms.

Impact of slave trade
lasted 400 years- 12 million people
Africa lost young strong men( Ghana, Nigeria and majority Angola)


slave trade
many slave raids, violence , terror and instability
broke up families
basis of racism

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

The impact of the Spanish on the Americas

The Spanish had a huge impact of the Americas which includes family and society, loss of history, religion and culture, racism and new cultures, harsh treatment and a drastic decline is indigenous population.

family and society
They disrupted the communities
destroyed their settlements
they broke down the family structure


loss of history religion and culture
monument/books/cities destroyed
they denied their religion and enforced Christianity
European values , culture ,beliefs imposed on Indian people


racism and new cultures
classification of race introduced-(whites, Indians and slaves)
social structure changed new food, culture and music


harsh treatment
legalized slavery
forced labor
mining and sugar plantations
mining- terrible conditions, died from exhaustion and lack of oxygen


drastic decline in Indian population

violence (conflict,war)
major factor disease (smallpox)

Monday, 24 February 2014

The mission (1986)

Summary
The film is set during the Jesuit Reductions, a program by which Jesuit missionaries set up missions independent of the Spanish state to teach Christianity to the natives. It tells the story of a Spanish Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel who enters the South American jungle to build a mission and convert a community of GuaranĂ­ Indians to Christianity.




We watched this movie in class because this movie is directly related to the slave trade. This movie shows how cruel the slave trade was. The Portuguese (the slavers) used Christianity in a way to think they were right to put people into slavery. The movie also shows the Spanish moving away from slavery. It also mentioned the treaty between the Portuguese and the Spanish (treaty of Madrid) which the Spanish give land to the Portuguese and taken the indigenous there into slavery. 


Father Gabriel with the Guarani children when the Portuguese attacked

the trailer of the mission

Monday, 27 January 2014

Brief description of the Mughal empire


The Mughal empire (1526-1857)

Origins
The history pf India stretches back thousands of years over the centuries many different people invaded India such as the Greeks and the Mongols. They were attracted by fertile land opportunities for trade and for its resources such as spices, silk and precious stones. The result of this was a rich mix of people.
Government and society
In 1526 the Mughal leader Babur invaded India. The Mughals were a Muslim dynasty who originally came from Persia. They conquered the local sultan and established their capital in Delhi. They remained dependent on the support of local rulers who were mostly Hindu. The local rulers were allowed to remain in power as long as they paid their taxed to the Mughal leader. As a result many landowners and merchants kept their power and wealth.

Women in Mughal India.
In India society men controlled political and economic power and women would subordinate them.in the Mughal empire wives and mistresses of nobility were kept out of public sight in separate areas of the house.in the mogul court women were educated and influence poorer women works in the farms under weir under control from their husbands.

Travel and trade
Under the Mughals trade increased and important communities grew which had contacts with china and south east asia.in the 16TH century ships from Europe started to visit India. Indian mechanist gained new trade opportuinites.in 1600 English merchants set up the English east India Company (EIC) to trade in India. The bought cotton goods, silks, peppers and spices.in return for gold copper and zinc.

The decline of the Mughal Empire

At its height the Mughal Empire controlled nearly the whole of modern india.in the second half of the 17TH century it began to decline. Rulers broke up in revolt and Mughal was wreaked by invasions from Persia and Afghanistan. As there power wreaked the EIC became to setup forts and were defended by garrisons. People surrounding the asked for protection and them EIC began to gain authority. Eventually the EIC became to setup it authority through india.by the 19TH century the EIC with its army and administrators extended its power through India. The became the dominant power in India. They introduced new landowners and taxes. They were uprising but London sent troops to crush them. The births government abolished the EIC and Indian became a colony of Births Empire.

Sunday, 26 January 2014

A brief summary of the Ming dynasty


The Ming dynasty (1368-1944)

Origins
The Ming dynasty ruled China from about 1368 to 1644 CE. For nearly 100 years, China had been ruled by the Mongolian empire. When a group called the Red Turbans attacked the Mongols in the mid-1300s, it began a peasant rebellion that overthrew the Mongols. The leader of that rebellion and the first emperor of the newly established Ming dynasty was Zhu Yuanzhang.
 
The Ming
 The Ming were absolute rulers .Ming emperors ruled in the Forbidden City, an imperial palace in Beijing which was the capital of the Ming and received news through servants and administrators. They never dealt with normal peasants and never left the Forbidden City. In order to protect themselves from invasion, the Ming emperors built the Great Wall of China. It featured watch towers, signal towers, and barracks for troops. The Ming encouraged study of cultural traditions and provided financial support for academics and colleges.   
Women in Ming china
Women in Ming china were seldom wealthy properties owners with a small influence. But the majority of women in Ming china were valued only to have children. Lower class women worked in fields alongside men. Middle class women worked as weavers. Though upper class women were often crippled by the foot binding practice at a very young age. Purpose was to keep their feet small and was seen as female beauty.
China during the Ming dynasty
The economy as a whole experienced growth and I rise in population in china. They had about one quarter of the world’s population during the Ming dynasty. They were a very advanced society for example they invented printing, paper and gunpowder centuries before the Europeans did.
Trade
The Chinese sent their silks, porcelain and tea to western Asia and Europe via the Silk Road. They also traded by sea to japan and countries around the Indian Ocean. Under the Ming many ships were built. The emperor sent many trade fleets to explore the Indian Ocean and the voyages were led by admiral Zheng.
 
The decline
China began looking inwards after 1433. When the Dutch attacked Chinese ships raided the south east coast the chine navy defeated them and they retreated to Taiwan. There were threats from the Mongols and also the Manchu. China became distrustful of strangers and became inward looking and concentrated on becoming strong and self-sufficient. The Ming Empire slowly went in decline and was weakened by power struggles between court officials.

Coming to the end

The growing power of the Jurchen and Manchu nomadic tribes in the northwest threatened the Ming, however peasant uprisings in the northwest kept the army busy in that area. In the 1590s Japan invaded Korea which brought Chinese armies into Manchu territory. Though they pushed back Japan, their armies were weakened and allowed the Manchu tribes to conquer Korea. The Manchu tribes then waged war with China. The cost of war could not be paid because the peasant taxpayers were still in revolt. The final Ming emperor hanged himself in 1644 in his temple surrounded by rebels and allowing the invaders to establish the Qing dynasty.