Rachel Carson – Environmentalism

For my final blog, I want to focus on the Portrait of Rachel Carson on page s1166-1167 titled, “Pioneer of Environmentalism”.

Carson was an educated women; she went to college, received a graduate degree in biology and then became a marine biologist in the United States. She was quoted to have said “much of nature was forever beyond the tampering hand of man” (page 1166), however shortly after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, she began to question whether or not nature could withstand the damage humankind was doing to her.

Her life’s work shifted from marine biology to what we would now call the study of Environmentalism; specifically, she studied the impact of pesticides on the Earth’s natural ecosystems and human health. After her data collection, Carson wrote her book Silent Spring and began to criticize the use of pesticides and the government agencies for “their negligent oversight” (page 1166) and allowance of such chemicals.

Carson received backlash from the chemical companies and social organizations, but their responses not only criticized her professionally, but they took shots at her on a personal level saying she was a spinster and un-American. During this time, around 1958, Carson was continuing her battle with cancer and other health conditions and was dealing with the loss of her mother. She did receive a lot of support as well, however…and I feel this may have outweighed the negative attention. She was a guest speaker on CBS News, was cited by the Science Advisor Committee and shortly following her death, the Environmental Protection Agency was formed and the insecticide DDT was banned in 1973.

Here is a wonderful example of a strong, educated, powerful and determined woman who took on the world and won. During this time when women were still fighting for equal rights (face it, we still are), she faced her adversaries and paved the way for permanent change. Many environmental groups were formed and grew through the release of her book, and today we continue to stand with Carson and fight for change; change to improve the environment and human health.

Brief Thoughts on Hitler’s Mein Kampf

I had never read any portion of Hitler’s Mein Kampf so I wanted to take the opportunity to give a few of my thoughts to this brief excerpt:

-          Hitler defines man as the creator of all art, science and technology. He gives praise to the Aryan race saying because these products were created exclusively by this race then all other races are lesser beings and not considered part of mankind, or of man.

o   I think this is preposterous although it’s not the first time we have heard that a whole race of people were considered to be less-than-man. During the time of slavery in the US, slaves were considered less-than 1 person. Woman and children were also considered to be less-than 1 person. Slaves and women were more so considered to be property than equal human beings.

-          Hitler was very well spoken and wrote with such passion. I do not believe in what he fought for nor do I encourage the existing believers to continue on his path, however I can see how he was able to rally troops and supporters for his cause.

o   Its unfortunate how many devastating leaders in our world’s history were educated and/or well-spoken individuals. The same can be said about some of the world’s greatest leaders, however we would expect great things from educated people, not devastation and attempted extinction of a race.

-          At the end of the excerpt Hitler wrote, “Never forget that the most sacred right on this earth is a man’s right to have earth to till with his own hands...” We know that Hitler believed only the Aryan race was “man”, but today we know that isn’t true. Some still believe that certain races or ethnicities are lesser humans, but through all that we have been through we now define people as man or woman. I would say that we can take this quote and spin it to show that all races, cultures, ethnicities are worth loving and accepting because all of mankind is sacred.

Comparing Images of Middle-Class Families

Strayer asks the question “What marks this family as middle-class? How would you compare this image with the painting of middle-class life on page 838? Do the two families derive from the same segments of the middle class? Do you think they could mix socially?

The 2 images he is referring to are a painting (pg 838) of a middle-class French family eating dinner around their table attended by a servant, and the drawing of a middle-class British Family (pg 873) in a railroad compartment returning home from vacation.

Both photos are representations of middle-class families. The French family seems to be a high middle-class family. The mother and daughter are dressed in gowns and the men are wearing suits for their intimate dinner. In addition, the fact that they have a servant means that they are making significant money, suggesting they are business owners, bankers or the like. The British family, although not attended by a servant, is seen in fashionable clothing sitting in a railroad compartment on their way home from vacation, a luxury that the laboring class families could not afford. This suggests the image of this family is also high middle-class. The railroad is thought to be the symbol of the Industrial Revolution in Brittan. The railroad represented power and speed and “It energized punctuality, disciple, and attention; and proved a moral teacher by the influence of example” (Strayer, 872).

Both of the middle-class families were of the high middle-class and would most likely assimilate easily into the aristocratic life. I don’t believe that these families would be able to socialize together. I think the main difference here is how they spent their money; one family chooses to be waited on, similar to the aristocrats while the other focuses on family – maybe spending their money one education for their children. I would say that if these two families were together socially that the French family would look down upon the British family as if they were of a lower class.

3 Sides to Slavery

One thing I truly find valuable in Strayer's book is his inclusion of original sources and stories of individuals who lived through these historical events. What I also value is the importance he puts on telling the history from multiple views. There are always many sides to a story: mine, yours and the whole truth. What Stayer does is tell the same story from multiple sides in order to show the whole truth. Specifically, I’d like to address a story/portrait in Chapter 14 page 696-697.

“Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, To Slavery and Back”

This portrait is about a West African man who was not only a prominent Islamic scholar, prayer leader and hafiz (one who has memorized the Quran), but he and his family were also slave owners! Ayuba was sent off by his father to trade slaves for paper for his business, but mistakenly he traveled too far and was captured and enslaved himself along with his own slaves. He became ill shortly after his capture due to the physical work demanded of him. He tried to escape, failed, and was imprisoned. During his imprisonment a local lawyer realized he was not the ‘common slave’, took to him and helped him regain his freedom. Once free, Ayuba made his way back to West Africa where he was welcomed and “resumed his place of prominence”.

The worst part of all this is that Ayuba continued to be a slave owner for another 39years until his death…WHAT?!? He experienced firsthand what his people/slaves go through and yet he still chose to put them in harm’s way and poor living conditions. I would expect that a man with his education and passion for Allah and his teachings would find compassion, and instead of using his power of knowledge for personal gain he would use it to better the lives of all people.

This is a great example of how slavery worked during that time, and probably still does today. We know slavery in the US to be the selling of Africans to the British Colonies, but we don’t know much about is how the slaves were actually traded. This portrait shows us that there was already a divide in Africa between the rich and poor, the elite and the commoner. Both parties are to blame when it comes to slavery, yet in US schools we do not learn that Africans, and in many cases Black Africans helped facilitate or at least take part in the slave trade. We would benefit in, and our children will be more knowledgeable and confident in knowing our own history better than we do today.

What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love...

What does the world need from us?

Compassion, Acceptance, Equality, Strength, Innovation

Extra Credit Opportunity?

Hi Professor,

Here is the breakdown of slaves between North and South America that you said you would give us extra credit for :)

Is this what you are looking for? Thank you!
~Felicia

http://slideplayer.com/slide/8319849/

             

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WHO?

Distribution of Slaves in 1519-1867

Area

percentage

PortugueseAmerica

38.5%

British America (notincluding NorthAmerica)

18.4%

Spanish Empire

17.5%

French Americas

13.6%

British NorthAmerica

6.45%

English Americas

3.25%

Dutch West Indies

2%

Danish West Indies

0.3%

• The Portuguese werethe first to develop theidea of slavery. AfricanKings and merchantswere trade their ownpeople orcaptives/prisoners to theAmericas. The Americassent the goods made,to Europe. Europe thensent a variety of goodsto African Kings andmerchants.

WHERE

•The Portuguese, British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and theAmericans were all involved in the Atlantic SlaveTrade.

•Slaves were taken from the coasts of Africa and sentover to the ‘New World’ also known as the Americas.

THE GLOBAL TRADE CONNECTOR OF THE 15TH, 16TH,AND 17TH CENTURIES.

SILVER

WHAT?

•China demanded to be paid in silver as well asJapan. Silver began to be used as currencythroughout the world; China, the Middle East,Europe, and even partially in the Americas.

•The major port of silver was Potosí in the Americas.5/7 of all world silver traveled on Spanish galleonsacross the world.

•The Manila galleons was the largest ship theSpanish had to transport silver across the Pacificfrom the Americas to the Philippines andeventually into China.

•Silver transported to Spain raised the priceexponentially and inflation ensued within Spaincausing their empire to weaken greatly.

WHERE?

-Spain found a major silver mine in Potosí, Bolivia near thecoast of Central America.

-The Spanish took the silver from Potosí and took it eitherback across the Atlantic to Spain, or more likely, to Manilain the Philippines.

-Manila was a major Spanish trading port to China. Itconnected Europe to South East Asia through theAmericas.

-After 3 centuries, Potosí ran out of silver and the overallincrease in silver amounts in the world slowed greatly.

HOW?

•The Spanish used their galleons to transport theirsilver. Their hold on the Americas let themtransport 5/7 of all silver in the world at the time.

•They used large convoys as general purposefleets to transport silver, gold, timber, porcelain,and more.

•They were able to mine the silver at first with theirown labor but eventually they turned to the mit’asystem of a certain number of years for a personto work and there is a rotation system. The nativeswere used in this system for all mining.

•Since natives began dying, the Spanish turned toslaves from Africa.

WHO WAS INVOLVED?

•In Potosi, the Spanish who were the largest silvertraders controlled the silver mines.

•The Spanish were responsible for 85% of theworld’s silver.

•China was also involved in the trade of silverbecause they didn’t have many deposits and italso helped their economy by trading their goodsfor it.

WHEN?

•The trade of silver became a vital part of theChinese economy in the 1400’s and was usedthroughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

•In the 16th century trade with China became veryprofitable and demand for silver became so highthat Europeans began to search for moredeposits.

WHY SILVER?

•China preferred silver over any paper moneybecause paper caused many problems in theireconomy but also because of the value in silver.

• The Asian countries wanted silver products fortheir religious temples.

IMPACTS: SLAVERY

•Largest major forced migration of the entire worldhistory. Approximately 10 million African slaves weretransported.

•Boosted the European colonies’ economies. Theplantations and mines had cheap labor and had moreproducts made and shipped for less cost.

•The darker skinned people were lower on the socialstrata. Slaves were the lowest; mulattoes, creoles, andmix races were in the middle, and peninsulares or thewhite Europeans were at the top of the spectrum.

•African elites that had sold their war captives and exileshad traded for guns. These resulted in increased warfarethroughout Africa that lead to several powerful empiresincluding Asante, Dahomey, and Oyo.

IMPACTS: SILVER

•Silver amounts rose exponentially in Europe, especially  inSpain. Silver prices dropped drastically because of thesurplus of silver and the economy dropped. Spaincollapsed as the major world power. Its influence onother countries was almost completely destroyedbecause it invested most of its economy into silver andnot other products. Spain’s banks crashed because silverwas used as a currency, jobs were lost, and inflationrates increased drastically with the surplus silver.

•Silver mines made the need for slaves increase becausethe Spanish realized the work needed for mining waslabor-intensive.

•Spanish crown lost many of its major influences in theAmericas because its entire investment was in silver.