Blog 12

The reading starts off by talking about Europe expanding their industries. Europe sold most of their products to foreign countries due to the fact that they were producing way more goods than their people could afford. In the early 1900s, investors realized that they could make more money by doing so and selling their products abroad. Over seas communication also became very popular to the Europeans. Steam-driven ships helped to transport products faster, underwater telegraphs made it easier for countries to communicate quicker and the discover of quinine helped to prevent spread of malaria. During this time period, Europeans also valued many other countries' customs. Diversity arose as Europeans began to marry individuals from countries such as Africa and China. Biologist began to compare and contrast physical appearances between those from Europe and others from Africa and China. Europeans were believe to have been the superior race at the time. After a while, the British attempted to take over parts of Africa and other independent countries. They successfully seized Australia and New Zealand and were nearly wiped out due to the fact that the British had brought in many diseases. As the United States attempted to expand, it disrupted the peace between them and Mexico creating an imperialist war. The United States also took over the Philippines which was formerly under Spanish rule. European men were believed to have been superior due to their "masculinity". In French Africa, "natives" were restricted from raising their wages and faced force labor. Many injured at work and others caught AIDS. AIDS was believed to have first been passed to humans by chimpanzees in Cameroon killing millions. Africans usually worked under white miners and make only a fraction of what the whites did. The Africans were forced to stay in barbed wired all-male prison like structures where they would occasionally return home to prevent them from starting a family by the mines. Asians were forced to take care of growing sugarcane, tobacco and tea, rubber, etc as well as working at mines. They were also paid poorly and forced to live under terrible conditions as death rates doubled due to disease. The ability to read and write was widely seen as a privilege. European culture was widely embraced as many followed their traditions when it came to marriage, housing and education.