Chapter 19 & Documents

Throughout history growth of the economy and expansion of its people and trade can be seen across all nations. During the time the Industrial revolution became popular in many countries, China was one of the few countries that did not adapt to this economical change. In some ways China was was victim of its own earlier success. China had a robust economy and its American food crops allowed it to enable a sustainable population growth from about 100 million people in 1685 to 430 million people in 1853. Unlike other countries, specially Europe, where similar growth and expansion took place China lacked the Industrial Revolution that accompanied this growth. The result of China's growing population and no massive food industry to supply its people their needs came the result of growing pressure on the land, smaller farms for China's huge peasant population, and in all too many cases, unemployment, impoverishment, misery and starvation. This was only the beginning into bigger problems that China would soon face. Thy faced problems within their country but also issues with relationships regarding other countries as well. The world around China seemed to be changing, however, the Chinese struggled with changing with them. In this chapter Stayer does a good job about discussing the problems and obstacles and China faced during this time period.
Something that I found interesting in this chapter was during the revolution women fought with the soldiers. This was something very new during this time period - women would be fighting alongside men/soldiers. This seemed as though it was the beginning for many gender roles to change.
Additionally, this ties into the document 19.3 because in that document it discusses the gender roles of women in China and how during this time period they were beginning to change.

Chapter 18

During this time period, the industrial revolution gave rise to new economic needs, many of which found solutions abroad. Europe's growing wealth and goods created a need for extensive raw materials and agricultural products. They collected, wheat from the American Midwest and southern Russia, meat from Argentina, bananas from Central America, rubber from Brazil, cocoa and palm oil from West Africa, tea from Ceylon, gold and diamonds from South America. These demands changed the social and economic life in these countries. Additionally, with the booming success of the industrial revolution and the needs it required also came new ways of transporting these goods around. With new machines to move products over long distances gave Europe a great power because they produced many of the goods and were used all over the world. Additionally, with this newfound way of life came a great deal of racism. It was that "scientifically" people of other races had different (lesser) qualities than the white people and therefore white supremacy started to happen. Not only were these differences taking place but also the way of working changed as well. It changed taxes, labor, enterprises and methods of transportation. Instead of subsistence farming, they tried to seek what they produced for cash income. The cash was then used to pay taxes and buy machines that were needed. During this time Artisans often suffered because the machines prices had to be lower. Overall, chapter 18 was very insightful as to how the industrial revolution impacted Europe but also the countries Europe was in contact with as well. It is interesting to learn more about how recent this revolution was and how the events that played out still have an impact on today's world.