Ch 20 and 21

Propaganda was a definite factor in the great war.  During this time propaganda was used for the war effort.  It was used to get people to want to join the war effort and to support their country.  There was a sense of nationalism and loyalty towards your country.  This would also be one of the first times where it shows women in a different light.

Women were shown in such a positive way as supporters of the war.  When the men had to go off to fight in the war, the women took over their jobs and creating the weaponry used in the war.  In this period of time the women seemed to be a little bit on the equal side.  Women who were nurses went overseas to care for those in the war.

While visiting the Disney museum in San Francisco, they had a section about propaganda that Disney issues for World War 1.  There were many posters that depicted everyone's favorite Disney characters fighting in the wars and buying war bonds.  The propaganda posters did not just stick to the adults but to the children as well.  The greatness of the first world war was so different and affected everyone from young to old.  Women and men were affected, even men and women of other races were being brought to the front lines of WWI.  Everyone was affected around the world, it was something that no one has experienced before.  Unfortunately it will also not be the world's last.

Ch 16,17, and 18

During the time of the revolutions, there was definitely one that hit the world causing a chain reaction of treatment throughout the world.  The Industrial Revolution created more items for the mass population.  With more items, that meant more jobs were created.  With the new multitude of jobs that were created and many spots open, men, women and children worked together.  Unfortunately there was no protection for the working class.  There was no limit on the amount of hours worked or age ranges.  Children were working at the same hard work conditions as large men.

There was also still the importance of being proper.  Women who had children out of wedlock were on their own especially it seemed, if the men were married.  The conditions were hard enough but add a child and with the meager wages, it was so much more.  In the book there is a story about Ellen Johnston who was a single mother, factory worker, and a poet.  She was able to write down the struggles of the working class and the unfair treatment that they received.  She was recognized and was able to have a few things published but because of the inequality in classes and sexes, she died in a poor house at the age of 40.  In Ellen's writings, she writes about the hard work that the working class does for the gentry and while the gentry is happy and without a care in the world, many of the working class are dying and no one would care.  Ellen herself died at 40, 40 is such a young age but it was not uncommon during this time.  This is an important aspect in learning history.  From history, we were able to learn about the treatment and this is what started aspects as the unions and labor laws.  History is  important for our present and the positive changes, although slow, we can work towards a better life.

Ch 13, 14, and 15

While reading chapter 15, I got to the portrait section titled Ursula de Jesus, an Afro-Peruvian Slave and Christian Visionary.  Here we learn the story of Ursula de Jesus who was born a slave.  She was sold to a young woman who was from a wealthy family and was now living in a convent.  Ursula's owner dressed Ursula in such a way where she was covered from head to toe in finery (I didn't know people were so well dressed in convents).  Ursula said she was vain and one had a near death experience when she almost fell in to a deep well but asked for the intercession of Our Lady of Carmel, and regained her balance.  From there she stopped being vain and wanted to focus all of her self to Jesus.  It is also said that Ursula experienced visions from those stuck in purgatory especially priests and nuns.  Ursula then had her freedom bought by another nun and she stayed at the convent where she died.  Her diary about her visions were actually turned into a book.

The question in the book was to what extent did Ursula shape her own life and in what way was it shaped by larger historical forces.  I would say that Ursula shaped a large majority of her life, even as a slave.  She was sent to tend to the girl who went to live in the convent; which I would say was the large historical force.  From what I have read, rich, young women went to convents to retrieve an education.  There Ursula followed but Ursula choose to give up her fine clothes and choose to giver herself to Jesus.  She also choose to stay until her death after her freedom was bought for her.  I would say Ursula was able to shape her life more then the historical forces that she lived in at the time.

Ch 9, 11, 12

While learning about history, people cannot help but remember all the dark times.  The first fights, the first conquests, and of course the first of the big plagues.  The black death is something that I have always remembered from my history classes growing up.  I remember learning about in high school and when they said that it spread from a flea on a rat, I stayed away from rats and grew a fear in them that I never had before.  Now learning through this class that the spread of the black death also intensified because of the spread of the Mongolian Empire was something I did not know before.

Now in reading about the black death and religion in Western Europe was really interesting.  I have befriended many Catholic priests and nuns, and when they hear that someone is near their death, they rush to their side to do the last of the sacraments and to show care.  One of my friends is the police and fire chaplain for the city of Santa Clara.  He was late to a funeral of a friend of mine because he got called to a death by car accident where the victim was covered in bleach in the car.  He crawled into the car and perform the rite then and there, coming to the funeral late and smelling like bleach.

My friends say that it is an honor to be their at the end, no matter what the cause of death is.  This has changed my views on the subject of death and that is probably why I spend a lot of time with people at their last stages with different incurable diseases.  Like my friends, they say they do this so they won't have to be alone.  In the reading it talks about the priests who would even do confession and one of the most important, the anointing of the sick.  This really stuck to me, but in learning from last weeks class about the medieval ages in which the state and religion were working way too close to each other causing a power struggle, that it fell away from the real teaching of Jesus was really something that stuck to me.  I am glad to learn about the past so it does not continue on to the future (hopefully) and every past mistake in history is something that we can take as a life lesson, and that is something I feel like I am seeing with Pope Francis.

Ch 7, 8, and 10

As the spread of civilization increased so did the spread of laws, governing bodies, armies, and religions.  In last week's class, we spoke about the surplus.  When there is a growth in surplus that means there is now more time for the people to do more.  The more surplus of items, the more people want to continue with the wave of wanting more and more.  This is when it seems that greed sets in and people become much more territorial.  Gone are the days of living only with what is needed to survive.  On the plus side, this does lead to the path of civilization of today's world and with that people have the chance to do more; that means that they now can focus on creating more art, education, and the protection of their growing population.  Strayer has an interesting way of speaking about the globalization of civilization.

        "Each of the new third-wave civilizations was, of course, culturally unique, but like their
         predecessors of the first and second waves, they too featured states, cities, specialized economic
         roles, sharp class, and gender inequalities, and other elements of "civilized" life." (Strayer, pg    
         308).

The quotes around the word civilized is interesting.  It goes to show that even though we are becoming more "civilized" with the arts, laws, armies, and education; we are becoming more unequal between the sexes and between the classes.  This shift in the societies of that time, thousands of years ago, has caused for the unending fight that we still have in today's society.  That is what is so interesting, that an idea created by a group of people thousands of years ago, is something that still effects societies today.