Blog #2

The first thing I noticed from this week’s reading was that war seems to be the number one answer to every problem that arose in history. I am strongly against war because of the massive amount of deaths that result from it. Apparently, humans find it difficult to resolve dilemmas with kind words and negotiations; they resort to war to force their beliefs on others and satisfy their greed! Although his method proved effective, it was still horrendous to read about all the fighting that took place. Among all the tragedy of war, I have to agree that the establishment of mercantilism in the European country and the Navigation Acts were quite clever ideas! European’s method of becoming self-sufficient by destroying its dependence on foreign countries and selling more good abroad than buying allowed it to thrive greatly.

            The topic of slavery, once again, made it uncomfortable for me to read. It was so depressing to learn about how the slaves were mistreated, how the owners had cruel restrictions on them, and how miniscule amount of food they were given per week. It annoyed me how slave owners disregarded their health and needs and did not even consider the possibility of being a little more lenient on slaves after all the revolts or rebellions that occurred. It shocked me to see how anyone could sit still after seeing how hard the slaves were trying to gain a bit of independence and understanding for their people.

            Regarding colonial politics, I found it amusing how a government was able to last when most of the people didn’t even have a say in political matters. Only males who owned a certain amount of land or property could vote. Women, blacks, and Indians did not have a voice on how the society they lived in should be run. Those living in rural areas couldn’t even vote because elections were randomly called and most did not want to travel a long distance on dangerous roads just to find a voting place. What kind of government could help its people when many of its citizens couldn’t even express their thoughts and opinions?

            Last but not least, the topic of the Enlightenment period has always been interesting to me. I have always found it to be such a relief that people like Sir Isaac Newton or Benjamin Franklin actually embraced the idea of reasoning, science, and logic. A lot of irrational events had taken place in history because people believed in blinding theories, such as the time when so many women were burnt and killed because they were suspected of being witches without any hard evidence. Because of the discovery of science, humans were able to expand their logic and intelligence by experimenting with the world. It’s scary to think how our world would be like without the discovery of the Enlightenment!