Nationalsim

The essential question is: What were the major political ideologies of the 19th century and how did they influence social and political action? There were 3 ideologies; Liberalism, Conservatism, and Nationalism. They influenced political and social action by using old and new tactics to create a better society, in both the political and social sense. In class were were told to define what we thought that the 3 ideologies meant, and then we were told more in depth about what they were and who believed in them.

Our presentation helps to define nationalism because it defines what the people live for. They want to have a unified country with no foreign rulers, and they wanted to share culture, language, and history with the other people of their country. It influenced social action in the 19th century, because it was for the well being of the people and people as a whole. For political action, they wanted to make sure that they kicked out all foreign rulers, and created national unification. Under Napoleon’s rule, they realized that their own disunity was a weakness.

Liberalism is about preserving the rights of the people. It is the government’s job to make sure that all of the people get the rights that they deserve. They both agree in the invisible hand which is a way of controlling the economy by letting vendors choose their own prices, thus creating competition.  Liberals believe that everyone is born with natural rights. Conservatism is different. Conservatives think that tradition is the only political and social guide. They were opposed to innovation and reform. Aristocrats liked this because they were able to keep their rank, as they had in the past. Unfortunately, shifts in the people;s beliefs could cause bloodshed. One example of this is the French Revolution.

Museum Curator Blog Post

The most important part of curating an object or objects is getting the point across. As a curator, you want the one thing that you want people to know displayed in the biggest and brightest way possible. Our exhibit was comprised of 4 pictures a graph and an article. The pictures showed the evolution of the loom, from the house to the mill. The graph showed London's growth from 1800 to 1914, which grew by more than 8 times the size as it was. The article was about a man who was very much opposed to the mills and why the people are being treated unfairly. We came up with our title "Just Keep Spinning" because we were displaying spinning wheels and we wanted to add a creative and happy touch to it. We hope that our viewers can understand the immense changes that came about during this time period and how the evolution of the spinning wheels contributed to this. 

Group B presented about transportation. From their poster, I was able to infer that many vast changes occurred in the world of transportation. One thing that I was able to learn from this group is that in less than 50 years, the people of the United States were able to create hundreds of railroads linking up much of New York, but were also constructed in places like Ohio and Maryland as well.

Group C created their project on living conditions in England. From just a few pictures on their poster, you could tell that they did not live right. In an article on their poster, a man said that "I have seen tens of thousands of old, young, and middle-aged of both sexes . . .earning abundant food and domestic accommodation without perspiring at a single pore." I liked this quote because that is what much of England was like, and it really contrasts with the hard workers who are being paid next to nothing. 

Group D presented about child labor. This poster made me feel sad, from the pictures of children pulling mine carts to statistics about child work ages. The one picture that really got to me was the one with the one child pushing the cart and another pulling, because they were sending young children to do the work of a grown man so that he can sit around all day and do nothing. 

Group E talked about cotton trade and slavery. They had a map, a drawing, a graph, and more to explain their exhibit, and they did a great job. The on piece on their exhibit that really struck me was the US slavery statistics from 1770 to 1860, shown here. In 1820, the Industrial Revolution happened, which is why the statistics for slaves skyrocketed in this time period. 

Napolean

 Napoleon made many social changes to create a better Europe. He first abolished serfdom and took away power from the nobility. This made the rich nobility mad, because they were now put on the same terms as the lower class. This was a smart move because he is now making everyone equal, so there are many less people that will become upset. Madame de Stael, the daughter of Bonaparte's financial adviser, is upset because the leveling of classes is only pushing her down. She thinks it is ridiculous and unfair that she is losing her rights for nothing.   Also, Napoleon gave more citizens rights to property and access to education, which were not available before his rule.


He also made economic changes. First, when he went to Europe, he took money and art from Italy, because he had power. Eventually, after his reign, the items were given back. While Napoleon may not have seemed very greedy, he still had his eye on the valuables.  He also did many good things. He controlled prices, and created more business opportunities for the common person. He encouraged new industry which was another large source of new jobs for the people. Lastly, he also built railroads and canals for the people. This made way for easier, cheaper and faster transportation. While Napoleon may have been capturing these places and holding them under french rule, he was still doing good for them.


    Lastly, he made an political impact. To begin, he was one of the, if not the most successful general of all time. His major contribution was that he gave his knowledge of politics to all of the countries that he conquered, including Austria, Italy, Belgium, Holland, and many more. One of these was was called meritocracy. This means that a leader was chosen on his skill and accomplishments, or merits, and not based on divine right or through family. This lead to a brighter and more successful future for many of these countries.

While Napoleon may be seen by many as a ruthless ruler and immense military threat, he did do many great things for the continent of Europe.

Napolean

Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism

       In class, we did an experiment. Each student in the class was given 3 Hershey kisses, in a class of about 25 people. 2 students were given 10 kisses to start the game. These 2 students represented thee rich, while the represented the general population. We were told that we had to play rock, paper, scissors, and the winner of each game would earn a Hershey from another player. As you might have guessed, most of the people ended up sitting down, besides for a few people who luckily built their numbers up. The two students with 10 ended up with the most at the end of the game. Every aspect of this game represent what capitalism is like in real life. The freedom of competition is like that we were able to choose how much we played and who we played with. The workers' revolt was like the "broke" students at the end of the game who wanted back into the game. Then, our teacher took all of the candy and gave each student 3 Hershey kisses. This is just like the government owning the industry, bringing economic equality, and finally aiming for a classless society. At the end of the game, no one wanted to play, in fear of losing out on chocolate. As a result, the teacher would not regulate the amount of candy that we had. This parallels to the goal of classless society being achieved, and the government not being needed. These are the three economic structure that were invented, and used in the 1800's. They are Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism.



              Karl Marx created the theories of Socialism and Communism to help the greater good. The bourgeoisie, also known as the rich folk, oftentimes did not have to work for their money. The proletariat, or the lower class, worked hard every day for a fraction of the money. Karl Marx did not like this system of Capitalism, so he came up with socialism. Socialism was the idea that all industry was owned by the government, so that there would be economic equality among all citizens. It also meant that there was a classless society. This was important to Marx because it was fair, and it gave the poor people a happier and more comfortable life. This evolved into communism. Communism has no classes, which is what the goal of socialism was. There was no government needed because everyone had the same things and they were all given equal pay. Adam Smith was another pioneer at this time. He created the theory of the invisible hand. It let commerce be untouched by the government; they set the prices, the items sold, etc. If one man is making 2 dollars selling candles, then another might come along and sell them for $1. The effect of an "invisible hand" touches your back and says "Hey, come to this store, they sell candles cheaper!" Then, the first person would lower their price to $1, and the competition would rise again. This more free way of running a business lead to an economy boost and less unemployment.


           There are good sides to every argument, but I think that capitalism works best in a modern society. This is because the harder you work, the more you get paid. The lazy people are thus rewarded with nothing, and the hard workers earn what they make. In a society like the ones in the 1800's, I think socialism is the best because it equals out all people and makes things fair. No one person can start with any more than another, creating a perfect society.

Video Links
The Invisible Hand
Karl Marx Mini Bio
What Motivated Adam Smith??



               

The Life of a Lady

There were a lot of reasons that girls would have wanted to work at a mill in Lowell. It all started with a recruitment process, in which recruiters would go to houses all around the New England area. They would tell the fathers of these girls how good life is, and all of the reasons that these girls should come and work at the factories. The benefit for the girls were that they could earn their own money, and buy their own clothes. This would also give them independence that they had never had before. For the families, they can have money sent home from the girls working at the factories. It is also one less mouth to feed, and for a financially struggling family, the less they have to spend on a child, the better. For the corporation, they had girls that were generally more obedient than boys. Most boys worked on farms anyways, so it was harder to recruit them. Lastly, they didn't have to pay the girls as much as they would have had to pay the boys. Because of this large increase in the speed and ability to manufacture goods, especially fabric,  spinning wheels in the house became obsolete. This made most girls have to work in these mills because it was the only way for them to make money. Over time, many women eventually ended up protesting this because of their unfair conditions. In the 1830's many women quit work at the mills because of a new idea called "separate spheres" which means that the men should do commerce and the women should stay at home.