Chapter 17, 18 & 20

Chapter 17, 18 & 20:

You may have noticed that I seem to get most of my work done in the evening. It’s great when there is peace and quiet in order to get the job done.

I learned about the French Revolution during high school in South Africa. We read a book entitled The Tale of Two Cities and our teacher felt that she should get as graphic as possible in her explanations of the atrocities that took place before and during between the rulers and peasants. I recommend reading it if you have not yet done so. The section reminded me about reading about South Africa when it stated that the clergy and nobleman, who owned all the wealth, were only about 2% of the population of France - some things just do not change. The social conflicts at the time fueled the fire and terror broke loose. Peasants burned castle, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed and thousands of people were beheaded on the guillotines. The revolutionaries even wanted to start a new calendar unlike the Americans who wanted to build on what there once was.

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain which was unplanned and unexpected but they were the most commercialized country in Europe at the time which probably made the transition easier due to funding being available. Everything seemed to fall in place with the steadily growing population adding the work force required for the revolution. The religious toleration that was established in 1688 also allowed skilled workers to work in Britain which obviously added much to the quality of the workforce. The government also favored locally made products to keep Indian textiles from swamping the market. Europe’s Scientific Revolution also started in Britain, almost as expected as success breeds success. The Royal Society was greatly influential in scientific breakthroughs and better understanding of science. It was quite obvious though that a country with a vast supply of coal and iron would be at the forefront of these revolutions as the required energy and steel. This enabled Britain to become the first industrial society.

I grew up in a society in South Africa that was very much influenced by European rule due to conquests to South Africa after the Dutch had settled there in 1862, hence the Anglo-Boer Wars. Both sides of my family were involved in both sides of the war... Long story. The book talks about racial separation due to the European settlers being worst in South Africa. I grew up there and saw that first hand a long time since these problems started. The separation that took place in South Africa, as well as many other places, was due to fear of an uprising and the need to establish firm authority by the minority that believed that they should rule. People of color, non-caucasian, were not allowed being in the cities at night, had to use separate restrooms and had to drink water from separate taps. Many people argue that the British introduced an economy into Africa as is seen in Kenya and South Africa but we recently learned in class that there was trading taking place on a serious scale long before the British decided to interfere. The atrocities that have taken place in Africa since the colonization by the British specifically have destroyed any short or medium term hope of building a society of mixed races and cultures that can function peacefully together.