World History Lecture Ten - Revision history

Aschlafly at 00:54, March 20, 2014

2014-03-20T00:54:26Z

Aschlafly: /* Southeast Asia */ better

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Southeast Asia: better

Aschlafly: /* British India */ better

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British India: better

Aschlafly: /* Southeast Asia */ better

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Southeast Asia: better

Aschlafly: /* Southeast Asia */ improved

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Southeast Asia: improved

Aschlafly: improved

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improved

Aschlafly: /* Imperialism */ improved

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Imperialism: improved

Aschlafly: /* Nationalism */ improved

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Nationalism: improved

Aschlafly: /* Post-Industrial Revolution */ better

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Post-Industrial Revolution: better

Aschlafly: /* Latin America */

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Latin America

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 The link between Darwinism, atheism and politics grew strong in the late 1800s.  Beginning in 1887, social scientists were using the term “social Darwinism” to apply a barbaric survival-of-the-fittest theory to social situations.  Under this theory, the wealthiest or most powerful in society must be biologically superior, and less “fit” persons should die or simply be killed like weak animals.  Soon many began to view racial struggles, and war itself, as a perfectly natural form of survival-of-the-fittest in the human race.  The horrific wars of the 20th century, employing shockingly brutal tactics, were encouraged by a belief in survival-of-the-fittest among humans.
-England was the strongest nation in the world at the time of Darwin, but its embrace of evolution, atheism and socialism weakened it dramatically.  The United States, where most reject Darwinism, rose from being a relatively weak country at the time of Darwin to becoming by far the strongest nation in the world today.
+England was the strongest nation in the world at the time of Darwin, but its embrace of evolution, atheism and socialism weakened it dramatically.  The United States, where most reject Darwinism, rose from being a relatively weak country at the time of Darwin to become by far the strongest nation in the world today.
 '''Social Reform'''
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 === Southeast Asia ===
-As trade expanded beyond Africa and India to Southeast Asia, so did imperialism.  Britain established a trading post and supply station at Singapore, the French acquired influence over Indochina, the Dutch grabbed Indonesia, and the Germans dominated New Guinea, the Marshalls, and the Solomons.  The United States were imperialistic by acquiring the Philippines and Hawaiian Islands.  The only country that successfully resisted western imperialism was Siam, which is now Thailand.  It was respected as a buffer zone between the British colony of Burma and the French colony of Indochina.  That gave Siam (Thailand) the best of both worlds:  western technology (hospitals, railroads, communications, etc.) without losing its own culture.
+As trade expanded beyond Africa and India to Southeast Asia, so did imperialism.  Britain established a trading post and supply station at Singapore, the French acquired influence over Indochina, the Dutch grabbed Indonesia, and the Germans dominated New Guinea, the Marshalls, and the Solomons.  The United States was imperialistic by acquiring the Philippines and Hawaiian Islands.  The only country that successfully resisted western imperialism was Siam, which is now Thailand.  It was respected as a buffer zone between the British colony of Burma and the French colony of Indochina.  That gave Siam (Thailand) the best of both worlds:  western technology (hospitals, railroads, communications, etc.) without losing its own culture.
 The story of French imperialism in Southeast Asia is simple:  since the 1800s France has dominated several countries, including Vietnam, known as French Indochina.  Rubber and rice were the key crops for France, and the harvesting and exporting of these crops caused Vietnamese to resent the French.  In the mid-1900s, communists in Vietnam overthrew French influence and forced the United States to pull out of the country also.

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 The story of French imperialism in Southeast Asia is simple:  since the 1800s France has dominated several countries, including Vietnam, known as French Indochina.  Rubber and rice were the key crops for France, and the harvesting and exporting of these crops caused Vietnamese to resent the French.  In the mid-1900s, communists in Vietnam overthrew French influence and forced the United States to pull out of the country also.
-The Dutch had influence over Indonesia beginning in the 1600s, enjoying full dominance by the 1800s over this region, calling it the Dutch East Indies.  The Dutch harvested rubber and extracted tin and oil from the area.  Many Dutch immigrated to the region and worked in trading posts and managed plantations.
+The Dutch had influence over Indonesia beginning in the 1600s, enjoying full dominance by the 1800s over this region, calling it the Dutch East Indies.  The Dutch harvested rubber and extracted tin and oil from the area.  Many Dutch immigrated there to work in trading posts and manage plantations.
-The British, meanwhile, took control of the port of Malaysia, Burma and the port of Singapore near the Malay Peninsula.  This region had a surplus of rubber, teak and tin.  The British attracted many Chinese immigrants to this region, who eventually outnumbered the native Malay people and conflict with them to this day.
+The British, meanwhile, took control of the port of Malaysia, Burma and the port of Singapore near the Malay Peninsula.  This region had a surplus of rubber, teak and tin.  The British attracted many Chinese immigrants to this region, who eventually outnumbered the native Malay people and conflict with them.
 The United States engaged in some imperialism of its own around 1900 in acquiring the Philippines (and also Puerto Rico and Guam) from Spain as a result of the Spanish-American War.  Separately, the United States picked up Hawaii (also spelled as Hawai’i), even making it a state after World War II.

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 British rule in India lasted for a 200-year period known as the Raj (1757-1947).  Inevitable demands for independence in India began as early as 1857, when Indian soldiers (“sepoys”) acquired new cartridge-based rifles.  Soldiers were instructed to bite off the cartridge seals before loading the cartridges into the rifles and firing them.  But then a rumor spread that the cartridges were sealed with beef fat (prohibited by Hinduism) and pork fat (prohibited by Islam).  Many were angered by this rumor, and in the Sepoy Rebellion (or Sepoy Mutiny), Indians revolted against the British in northern India.  The British suppressed it and continued to rule India directly.
-There were peaceful calls for independence for India dating back from the early 1800s.  Educated leaders such as Ram Mohun Roy sought an end to the caste system and the practice of sati by widows who would throw themselves on the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands.  The British did prohibit sati and it is debatable whether the practice was ever widespread.  In the late 1800s, a nationalist group called the Indian National Congress formed to demand independence, and in the early 1900s the Muslim League made similar demands.
+There were peaceful calls for independence for India dating back from the early 1800s.  Educated leaders such as Ram Mohun Roy sought an end to the caste system and the practice of sati by widows who would throw themselves on the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands.  The British did prohibit sati and it is debatable whether the practice was ever widespread.  In the late 1800s, the nationalist Indian National Congress demanded independence; so did the Muslim League in the early 1900s.
-But all attempts at independence for India failed throughout the 1800s because of religious divisions.  The Hindus and Muslims could never agree, and the Sikhs, a military offshoot of the Hindus that used force to resist Islam, remained loyal to the British.  Real independence for India would not occur until after World War II, in the middle of the 20th century.
+But all attempts at independence for India failed throughout the 1800s due to religious divisions.  The Hindus and Muslims could never agree, and the Sikhs, a military offshoot of the Hindus that used force to resist Islam, remained loyal to the British.  Not until after World War II did India obtain independence.
 === Southeast Asia ===

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 === Southeast Asia ===
-As trade expanded beyond Africa and India to Southeast Asia, so did imperialism.  Britain established a trading post and supply station at Singapore, the French acquired influence over Indochina, the Dutch grabbed Indonesia, and the Germans dominated New Guinea, the Marshalls, and the Solomons.  The United States also engaged in imperialism, as it acquired the Philippines and Hawaiian Islands.  The only country that successfully resisted western imperialism was Siam, which is now Thailand.  It was respected as a buffer zone between the British colony of Burma and the French colony of Indochina.  In a sense that gave Siam (Thailand) the best of both worlds:  it enjoyed western advances in technology (hospitals, railroads, communications, etc.) while retaining its own culture.  Let’s look at the influence of each Western European nation Southeast Asia in detail: France, the Netherlands (Dutch), Britain, and the United States.
+As trade expanded beyond Africa and India to Southeast Asia, so did imperialism.  Britain established a trading post and supply station at Singapore, the French acquired influence over Indochina, the Dutch grabbed Indonesia, and the Germans dominated New Guinea, the Marshalls, and the Solomons.  The United States were imperialistic by acquiring the Philippines and Hawaiian Islands.  The only country that successfully resisted western imperialism was Siam, which is now Thailand.  It was respected as a buffer zone between the British colony of Burma and the French colony of Indochina.  That gave Siam (Thailand) the best of both worlds:  western technology (hospitals, railroads, communications, etc.) without losing its own culture.
 The story of French imperialism in Southeast Asia is simple:  since the 1800s France has dominated several countries, including Vietnam, known as French Indochina.  Rubber and rice were the key crops for France, and the harvesting and exporting of these crops caused Vietnamese to resent the French.  In the mid-1900s, communists in Vietnam overthrew French influence and forced the United States to pull out of the country also.

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 American businesses did exploit the Philippines, displacing farms with large sugar plantations.  But Americans also vastly improved the island.  Decades later the United States granted the Philippines its full independence.
-American businesses also set up sugar plantations in Hawaii.  They demanded that Hawaii be annexed to the United States so that the businesses could avoid paying high tariffs on sugar imports.  In 1893 Queen Liliuokalani, a native Hawaiian, attempted to increase the political power of herself and the natives at the expense of the Americans on the island, but the American businesses overthrew her and in 1898 Hawaii was annexed to the United States as a territory.  It became our 50th state in 1959.  An interesting bit of trivia is that one spot in Hawaii has the most rainfall in the entire United States (460 inches of rain per year, or an average of more than one inch of rain ''every day'').
+American businesses also set up sugar plantations in Hawaii.  They demanded that Hawaii be annexed to the United States so that the businesses could avoid paying high tariffs on sugar imports.  The businesses overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, a native Hawaiian, and in 1898 Hawaii was annexed to the United States as a territory.  It became our 50th state in 1959. A spot in Hawaii has the most rainfall in the entire United States (averaging more than one inch of rainfall ''every day'').
 == References ==

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 In India, the story is British imperialism followed by Indian nationalism and independence.  Beginning as early as the 1600s, the British established trading posts in India.  When the Mughal empire (founded in 1526) weakened in the early 1700s, British influence (especially the East India Company) became more influential.  By the early 1800s British dominance over the subcontinent was immense.  The British imposed rules that limited the internal operations of the Indian economy, and the British decimated the local Indian industry in handmade textiles by flooding the market with cheap manufactured clothing from Britain.  A famine resulted when the British displaced many farmers in India through economic changes similar to what happened in Africa, with cash-crop and big business plantation techniques destroying small farms.
-When the Civil War broke out in America, and the South expected Britain to intervene on its side in order to protect the production of cotton, Britain turned to Indian cotton instead.  Britain also benefited from many other forms of agriculture or raw materials from India:  indigo, coffee, tea, jute and even opium (now an illegal drug).  The British would profit by selling the opium to the Chinese, which caused addiction and severe problems for China.
+When the Civil War broke out in America, and the South expected Britain to intervene on its side in order to protect the production of cotton, Britain turned to Indian cotton instead.  Britain imported additional materials from India:  indigo, coffee, tea, jute and even opium (now an illegal drug).
-To be fair, the British also brought immense improvements in India, building roads, railroads, hospitals, schools, and improving the overall infrastructure and sanitation.  The British also encouraged Christian missionaries in India, although they had only limited success in converting Indians from Hinduism and Islam, both of which remain more popular than Christianity there.  The British also brought the English language to India, where it is spoken widely today.  Certainly the British conferred enormous benefits on India, and there is a friendly relationship between the two countries to this day, which includes competitions in cricket (the British counterpart of baseball).
+To be fair, the British also brought immense improvements in India, building roads, railroads, hospitals, schools, and improving the overall infrastructure and sanitation.  The British also encouraged Christian missionaries in India, although they had only limited success in converting Indians from Hinduism and Islam, both of which remain more popular than Christianity there.  The British also brought the English language to India, where it is spoken widely today.  Britain conferred enormous benefits on India, and there is a friendly relationship between the two countries to this day, including sporting games of cricket.
-Christianity predates the British Empire in India by a long way. The [[Oriental Orthodox]] religion was established in Kerala, a state in southwest India, very early in the history of Christianity, by Thomas the Apostle ("Doubting Thomas"). The Portuguese, who established trading posts in western India in the 15th Century, introduced Roman Catholicism. Nowadays, about 5% of Indians are Christian, mostly in the southern states, and the majority of these are Catholic. Christianity continues to be the most common religion in Kerala. Outside Kerala, most Christians belong to the poorest, most downtrodden [[caste]]s, but some have achieved distinction as politicians, academics and sportsmen. The Christian churches - Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant - have an important role in running charities such as hospitals and schools in India, especially the South, second only to the [[Gandhi]]an movement.
+Christianity predates the British Empire in India by a long way. The [[Oriental Orthodox]] religion was established in Kerala, a state in southwest India, very early in the history of Christianity, by Thomas the Apostle ("Doubting Thomas"). The Portuguese, who established trading posts in western India in the 15th Century, introduced Roman Catholicism. Nowadays, about 5% of Indians are Christian, mostly in the southern states, and the majority of these are Catholic. Christianity continues to be the most common religion in Kerala. Outside Kerala, most Christians belong to the poorest, most downtrodden [[caste]]s, but some have achieved distinction as politicians, academics and sportsmen. Christianity runs many hospitals and schools in India, especially in the South, second only to the [[Gandhi]]an movement.
 British rule in India lasted for a 200-year period known as the Raj (1757-1947).  Inevitable demands for independence in India began as early as 1857, when Indian soldiers (“sepoys”) acquired new cartridge-based rifles.  Soldiers were instructed to bite off the cartridge seals before loading the cartridges into the rifles and firing them.  But then a rumor spread that the cartridges were sealed with beef fat (prohibited by Hinduism) and pork fat (prohibited by Islam).  Many were angered by this rumor, and in the Sepoy Rebellion (or Sepoy Mutiny), Indians revolted against the British in northern India.  The British suppressed it and continued to rule India directly.

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 .  Establish colonies, like the British colonies in America, whereby the European power had direct influence or control over the colonies.
-.  Establish protectorates, whereby the region has its own government and is an independent country, but is protected by a larger country.  Puerto Rico and Guam today would be an example of that, as they are protected by the United States.
+.  Establish protectorates, whereby the region had its own government and was an independent country, but was protected by a larger country.  Puerto Rico and Guam today would be an example of that, as they are protected by the United States.
 .  An even less direct form of imperialism was “spheres of influence,” in which the European country had special trading privileges over the region.
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 The invention of the steam engine encouraged Europeans to explore the interior of the African continent, and cables and railroads facilitated communications and transportation as well.
-Africa was an easy and attractive target for the Europeans.  It was easy because Europeans had better weapons and could easily defeat African tribes, who were divided among themselves.  The many different ethnic groups and languages spoken in Africa also made it difficult for the continent to unify and defend itself.  Meanwhile, Africa was attractive because it had a profitable slave trade, and the rivalries created by the slave trade made it easier for European countries to divide and conquer.
+Africa was an easy and attractive target for the Europeans.  It was easy because Europeans had better weapons for defeating African tribes, who were divided among themselves.  The many different ethnic groups and languages spoken in Africa also made it difficult for the continent to unify and defend itself.  Meanwhile, Africa was attractive because it had a profitable slave trade, and the rivalries created within Africa by the slave trade made it easier for European countries to divide and conquer.
 Malaria was historically a problem in Africa (and still is today), but the discovery of quinine, which can be used for both the prevention of and treatment of malaria, made European activity in Africa possible.
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 Aided by all of the above, the Scotsman explorer and missionary David Livingstone explored central Africa in the late 1860s.  He was searching for the source of the mighty Nile River.  Because the Nile is unusual in flowing south-to-north, its source could only be in central Africa in the vicinity of the Congo.
-But Livingstone was gone for years without any communication.  A news reporter from America, Henry Stanley, decided to travel to Africa to look for him.  Upon finding a stranger who stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of central Africa, Stanley uttered the famous line, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”  Indeed, Stanley had found Livingstone alive and well, and Stanley later returned to Africa to sign treaties with chiefs near the Congo River.  Belgium King Leopold II used these treaties to gain control for himself (not Belgium) over the region.
+But Livingstone was gone for years without any communication.  A news reporter from America, Henry Stanley, decided to travel to Africa to look for him.  Upon finding a white stranger in the middle of central Africa, Stanley uttered the famous line, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”  Indeed, Stanley had found Livingstone alive and well, and Stanley later returned to Africa to sign treaties with chiefs near the Congo River.  Belgium King Leopold II used these treaties to gain control for himself (not Belgium) over the region.
-Belgium King Leopold II exploited this region of Africa for personal profit, building large rubber plantations for the natives to work on.  This destroyed the farming community and compelled the workers to toil for unreasonably low wages.  The working conditions on these plantations were very harsh.  Eventually an international outcry caused the Belgian government to take over the region, and rename it the Belgian Congo.  But this also increased competition among European powers for African colonies.
+Belgium King Leopold II exploited this region of Africa for personal profit, building large rubber plantations for the natives to work on.  This destroyed the farming community and compelled the workers to toil for low wages.  The working conditions on these plantations were very harsh.  Eventually an international outcry caused the Belgian government to take over the region, and rename it the Belgian Congo.  But this also increased competition among European powers for African colonies.
 France was another European power competing for control of the Congo, which contained valuable copper and tin deposits.  Further to the south, in what is South Africa today, there were even richer gold and silver deposits.    The European powers saw much wealth in Africa in the form of minerals and wanted this for themselves.  They also wanted plantations that could produce rubber, palm oil and even cocoa (chocolate) for the European factories.
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 To minimize armed conflict the Europeans held the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885 to divide Africa among themselves, without regard to what the tribes of Africa wanted.  Ethnic and cultural differences within Africa were also ignored, and lines of demarcation were arbitrarily drawn for the sole benefit of the European nations.  All of Africa except for Ethiopia (which successfully resisted Italian control in 1896) and Liberia were divided and taken by European nations.
-One of Africa’s biggest and wealthiest countries today is South Africa, located on the southern tip of the continent.  It has a very advantageous location for trade routes by sea from Western Europe to India and the Far East.  As a result, there was far more immigration by Europeans to South Africa than any other region of Africa, and whites of European ancestry completely ruled South Africa until the late 1900s.  Since then, democracy has brought representative government to the African ethnic groups, but since then violence has plagued this country and many have left it.  The World Cup (a soccer tournament) was played in 2010 in South Africa, the first time it has ever been held in Africa.
+The nation of South Africa has valuable minerals and an advantageous location for trade routes by sea from Western Europe to India and the Far East.  As a result, there was far more immigration by Europeans to South Africa than any other region of Africa, and whites of European ancestry completely ruled South Africa until the late 1900s, when democracy brought representative government to the African ethnic groups.  Since then violence has plagued this country, and many educated citizens have left it.
 The Dutch (or Boers) were the first to establish a European settlement in southern Africa, at Cape Colony on the very southern tip in 1652.  This port supplied ships on the way to the Indian Ocean.  The Dutch exploited the labor of African slaves and set up farming communities that displaced the native Africans.  In the 1800s the British arrived and took over Cape Colony, and disfavored the continuation of the Dutch slavery system.  The Dutch then moved inland, further north, in what is called the Great Trek.  This created further conflict with the native Africans.

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 ==Nationalism==
-Nationalism was a concept that arose around the same time as Romanticism.<ref>Romanticism was an artistic and literary style in the late 1700s that emphasized emotion and upheaval.</ref>  Nationalists believed loyalty to one’s nation was of utmost importance.  They felt that society should be viewed as a whole, rather than as being made up of individuals.  In Germany and Italy, nationalism inspired unification, where only loose connections had existed before (recall that Germany and Italy became nations much later than France and England).
+Nationalism was a concept that began in the early 1800s, after Romanticism laid the cultural groundwork.<ref>Romanticism was an artistic and literary style in the late 1700s that emphasized emotion and upheaval.</ref>  Nationalists believed loyalty to one’s nation was of utmost importance.  They felt that society should be viewed as a whole, rather than as being made up of individuals.  In Germany and Italy, nationalism inspired unification, where only loose connections had existed before (recall that Germany and Italy became nations much later than France and England).
-The Congress of Vienna had left the independent city-states of Italy under Austrian control in the north and Spanish control in the south, and had established Germany as a weak confederation of 39 states.  But nationalism in the 19th century (1800s) changed all this.
+The Congress of Vienna had left the independent city-states of Italy under Austrian control in the north and under Spanish control in the south, and had established Germany as a weak confederation of 39 states.  But nationalism in the 19th century (1800s) changed all this.
 ===Italy===
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 ===Germany===
-Germans were dissatisfied with the Confederation established by the Vienna settlement, and the Frankfurt Assembly attempted unsuccessfully to unify in 1848.  Prussia, the strongest “German” state, established a “Customs Union” — which resembled a national market system — and a parliament.  King Wilhelm I of Prussia selected Otto von Bismarck to be Prime Minister in 1862.  Fiercely patriotic to his native Prussia, Bismarck believed in “Realpolitik” (translation: “reality politics”) and sought to unify Germany under Prussian control.  He believed the only way this could be done was by creating a war with a foreign adversary, which would have the effect of unifying the German people against the common enemy.
+Germans were dissatisfied with the Confederation established by the Vienna settlement, and the Frankfurt Assembly attempted unsuccessfully to unify in 1848.  Prussia, the strongest “German” state, established a parliament and a “Customs Union,” which resembled a national market system.  King Wilhelm I of Prussia selected Otto von Bismarck to be Prime Minister in 1862.  Fiercely patriotic to his native Prussia, Bismarck believed in “Realpolitik” (translation: “reality politics”) and sought to unify Germany under Prussian control.  He believed the only way this could be done was by creating a war with a foreign adversary, which would have the effect of unifying the German people against the common enemy.
 Bismarck’s motto by which he waged this war was “by blood and iron.”  Lacking Parliament’s approval, Bismarck forced the northern states to join the Northern German Confederation.  When the southern states would not also join, Bismarck tricked France into declaring the Franco-Prussian War, which Prussia won.  This accomplished Bismarck’s goal of creating southern Germany, which was now willing to accept Prussian rule.  Then, in 1871, the North and South were united into the new German Empire, the “Second Reich,” and Wilhelm was made “kaiser” (A German word for “Caesar” or emperor, used primarily between 1871 to 1918).  Hence Germany became a nation.

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 '''Evolution'''
-Another Englishman, Charles Darwin (1809-1882), developed the theory of evolution.  Darwin’s own family considered him to be a disgrace before he devised his theory.  His father wanted him to become a doctor (Charles failed at that).  Then his father sought for Charles to become an Anglican parson (pastor), but Darwin abandoned Christianity.  He was unable to earn a degree in science and he struggled in scientific subjects such as physics (and math).  But after collecting some plant and animal specimens on a voyage (on the ''H.M.S. Beagle'' ship) around the world, in 1859 Darwin published a radical book entitled ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''.  It proposed that species had evolved into complex forms of life over millions of years through “natural selection.”  Darwin never found any transitional forms (fossils reflecting evolution between species), and he said his theory would fail if no transitional forms were found.  None were ever found.
+An Englishman, Charles Darwin (1809-1882), developed the theory of evolution.  Darwin’s own family considered him to be a disgrace before he devised his theory.  His father wanted him to become a doctor (Charles failed at that).  Then his father sought for Charles to become an Anglican parson (pastor), but Darwin abandoned Christianity.  He was unable to earn a degree in science and he struggled in scientific subjects such as physics (and math).  But after collecting some plant and animal specimens on a voyage (on the ''H.M.S. Beagle'' ship) around the world, in 1859 Darwin published a radical book entitled ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''.  It proposed that species had evolved into complex forms of life over millions of years through “natural selection.”  Darwin never found any transitional forms (fossils reflecting evolution between species), and he said his theory would fail if no transitional forms were found.  None has ever been found.
-The greatest scientists and mathematicians, from Louis Pasteur to Bernhard Riemann, viewed Darwin’s theory as absurd.  The French described Darwin’s theory as “a fairy tale for grown-ups.”  Darwin’s explanation for an evolution of the whale (a mammal) was that it somehow came from black bears swimming with their mouths open.  Darwin’s theory conflicts with the Flood, with the fact that all mutations are harmful, with the fact that species have been going extinct rather than being generated, and with the fact that everything tends to become more disordered and scattered over time.  Darwin’s theory is based only on functionality, without any recognition of artistic design in the world like beautiful autumn foliage.
+The greatest scientists and mathematicians, from Louis Pasteur to Bernhard Riemann, viewed Darwin’s theory as absurd.  The French described Darwin’s theory as “a fairy tale for grown-ups.”  Darwin’s explanation for an evolution of the whale (a mammal) was that it somehow came from black bears swimming with their mouths open!  Darwin’s theory conflicts with the Flood, with the fact that all mutations are harmful, with the fact that species have been going extinct rather than being generated, and with the fact that everything tends to become more disordered and scattered over time.  Darwin’s theory is based only on functionality, without any recognition of artistic design in the world, as displayed by colorful autumn foliage and many other beautiful aspects of nature.
-Fraud and political motivations helped promote the theory of evolution in the early 1900s.  The Piltdown Man was a fake fossil combination that was falsely taught in public schools for 40 years as the "missing link" between man and apes.  England promoted the theory of evolution because Darwin was English, and is even buried next to Isaac Newton.  Germany also promoted the theory until the Darwinists engaged in racial cleansing and experimentation to “perfect” the Aryan race under Adolf Hitler.
+But fraud and politics helped promote the theory of evolution in the early 1900s.  The Piltdown Man was a fake fossil combination that was falsely taught in public schools for 40 years as the "missing link" between man and apes.  England promoted the theory of evolution because Darwin was English, and is even buried next to Isaac Newton.  Germany also promoted the theory, and the Darwinists engaged in racial cleansing and experimentation to “perfect” the Aryan race under Adolf Hitler.
 The link between Darwinism, atheism and politics grew strong in the late 1800s.  Beginning in 1887, social scientists were using the term “social Darwinism” to apply a barbaric survival-of-the-fittest theory to social situations.  Under this theory, the wealthiest or most powerful in society must be biologically superior, and less “fit” persons should die or simply be killed like weak animals.  Soon many began to view racial struggles, and war itself, as a perfectly natural form of survival-of-the-fittest in the human race.  The horrific wars of the 20th century, employing shockingly brutal tactics, were encouraged by a belief in survival-of-the-fittest among humans.
-England was the strongest nation in the world at the time of Darwin, but its embrace of evolution, atheism and socialism weakened it dramatically.  The United States, where most reject Darwinism, rose from being a relatively weak country at the time of Darwin to becoming by far the strongest nation today.
+England was the strongest nation in the world at the time of Darwin, but its embrace of evolution, atheism and socialism weakened it dramatically.  The United States, where most reject Darwinism, rose from being a relatively weak country at the time of Darwin to becoming by far the strongest nation in the world today.
 '''Social Reform'''
-Labor unions arose in the late 1800s, as John Stuart Mill suggested, in order to combat a perceived exploitation of workers.  “Collective bargaining” between workers (the “collective” side) and their opponents, the owners, became popular and continues to exist today.  Collective bargaining usually works like this:  the workers demand a raise in their salaries, or the workers will go on strike.  Collective bargaining by auto workers in Detroit, demanding higher wages, had a crippling effect on the auto industry.
+Labor unions arose in the late 1800s, as John Stuart Mill suggested, in order to combat a perceived exploitation of workers.  “Collective bargaining” between workers (the “collective” side) and their opponents, the owners, became popular and continues to exist today.  Collective bargaining usually works like this:  the workers demand a raise in their salaries, or the workers will go on strike.  Collective bargaining by auto workers in Detroit in the 1970s and 1980s, demanding higher wages, had a crippling effect on the American auto industry.
 The abolition movement, which was motivated mostly by Christianity, wiped out slavery and slave trade in much of the world by 1888.
-Other social reforms in the late 1800s included “free” public education in Western Europe, Japan and the United States (some might dispute the claim that public schools qualify as a “reform”); rehabilitation for prisoners; and child labor laws to control working conditions for children.
+Other social reforms in the late 1800s included “free” public education in Western Europe, Japan and the United States (it is doubtful that public schools qualify as a “reform”); rehabilitation for prisoners; and child labor laws to control working conditions for children.
 In 1848, women suffragettes (supporters of the right to vote for women) met in Seneca Falls, New York, where they issued their own version of the Declaration of Independence called the “Declaration of Sentiments.”  Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott of the United States and the British Emmeline Pankhurst protested for suffrage.  Britain and the United States gave the right to vote to all women shortly after World War I.
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 '''Home Rule'''
-The industrial revolution led to the growth of cities, which in turn led to demands for greater amounts of democracy or “suffrage” (rights to vote).  In England the right to vote was limited to those who owned property until Parliament reduced these restrictions with the Reform Bill of 1832.  That reform also eliminated “rotten boroughs,” in which relatively few residents had the power to elect a representative with the same vote as much bigger districts.  The British Parliament then redistricted the cities to reflect their growing populations.
+The industrial revolution led to the growth of cities, which in turn led to demands for greater amounts of democracy or “suffrage” (rights to vote).  In England the right to vote was limited to those who owned property until Parliament reduced these restrictions with the Reform Bill of 1832.  That reform also eliminated “rotten boroughs,” in which relatively few residents had the power to elect a representative having the same vote as representatives of much bigger districts.  The British Parliament then redistricted the cities to reflect their growing populations.
-By 1838 the Chartist movement demanded that Parliament extend suffrage to all men based on the secret ballot.  The Chartist movement also sought annual elections for Parliament, salaries for its members (so that the middle class could afford to serve), and the elimination of property requirements as a condition for belonging to Parliament.  But Parliament did not enact these reforms until 1900.
+By 1838 the Chartist movement demanded that Parliament extend suffrage to all men, with use of the secret ballot.  The Chartist movement also sought annual elections for Parliament, salaries for its members (so that the middle class could afford to serve), and the elimination of property requirements as a condition for belonging to Parliament.  But Parliament did not enact these reforms until 1900.
-Gradually the power of the monarchy in England was reduced to that of a figurehead, which is all it is today.  The power of the British Parliament increased, and much of that power went to the elected lower house (the House of Commons) rather than the upper, unelected House of Lords.
+Gradually the power of the monarchy in England was reduced to that of a figurehead, which is all it is today.  The power of the British Parliament increased, and much of that power went to the elected lower house (the House of Commons) rather than to the upper, unelected House of Lords.
-In what is Ireland today, the great potato famine of the 1840s killed many and caused massive immigration to the United States.  The Irish did not obtain any substantial level of self-government until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922.  Many in Ireland and many Americans of Irish descent blame British leaders for allowing that horrific potato famine to happen, and without home rule there was little the Irish people could do to stop it.
+In what is Ireland today, the great potato famine of the 1840s killed many and caused massive immigration to the United States.  The Irish did not obtain any substantial level of self-government until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922.  Many in Ireland and many Americans of Irish descent blame British leaders for allowing that horrific potato famine to happen, and without home rule (self-government) there was little the Irish people could do to stop it.
-Canada achieved effective independence (as a Dominion within the British Empire) in 1867, but still remained within the British empire (Newfoundland remained a British territory and did not join Canada until 1949).  Australia, which was originally settled by prisoners from England, did not obtain home rule for its separate colonies until the 1850s; it obtained independence as a united Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.  New Zealand also won home rule in the 1850s and Dominion status (effective independence) in 1907.
+Canada achieved effective independence (as a Dominion within the British Empire) in 1867, but remained within the British empire (Newfoundland was a British territory and did not join Canada until 1949).  Australia, which was originally settled by prisoners from England, did not obtain home rule for its separate colonies until the 1850s; it obtained independence as a united Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.  New Zealand also won home rule in the 1850s and Dominion status (effective independence) in 1907.
 In France, its Third Republic ruled from 1870 until the German Occupation in 1940.

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 “Latin America” includes all of the Americas south of the United States.  Put another way, Latin America consists of the Spanish-speaking countries in Central and South America, plus Brazil, which speaks Portuguese.
-Prosperity did not come to Latin America when the people won their independence from European powers.  Even after successful revolutions, land ownership remained in the control of a very small group of people.  Even today, almost half of the nation’s wealth in Mexico is owned by only 10% of its population, and 20% of the people earn too little to pay for a healthy diet.  The country as a whole is not poor, it is just that the wealth is poorly distributed.
+Prosperity did not come to Latin America when the people won their independence from European powers.  Even after successful revolutions, land ownership remained in the control of a very small group of people.  Almost half of the wealth in Mexico is owned by only 10% of its population, and 20% of the people earn too little to pay for a healthy diet.  The country as a whole is not poor, but the wealth is poorly distributed.
-For hundreds of years, Latin Americans have accepted rule by an elite, and often corrupt, few.  The revolutionary leaders ruled as caudillos (dictators).  Eventually democracy took root, but a narrow few would still hold power no matter what the outcome of the voting was.
+For hundreds of years, Latin Americans have accepted rule by an elite, and often corrupt, few.  The revolutionary leaders ruled as caudillos (military dictators).  Eventually democracy took root, but a narrow few would still hold power no matter what the outcome of the voting was.
 Few Latin American countries developed their own economies and banking after obtaining independence.  Instead, they would import goods from the United States and Europe and take on large foreign debt that they would be unable to pay.  Latin American countries did begin to export agriculture to the United States and Europe once the refrigerated car was invented in 1882, which kept the food from spoiling.  The weather seasons are the opposite in South America from the United States, enabling us to purchase fresh fruit (like grapes) in the wintertime from South American countries such as Chile.
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 Some in Latin America complain about imperialism by the United States there.  After the French unsuccessfully attempted in the 1880s to build a canal across the thin isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Americans were ready to apply our “can do” determination and innovation to the project.  President Teddy Roosevelt rejected a demand by Colombia to sell the land to us, and waited until after Panama won its independence from Colombia.  Panama then granted the United States a ten-mile-wide path across its country.  The United States completed the Panama Canal in 1914 and it became an instant success for shipping.
-Democratic President Jimmy Carter arranged for the United States to agree to give the canal back to Panama in the late 1900s, even though Americans paid for its construction.  President Carter claimed the Canal was part of improper imperialism or colonization by the United States in Latin America.  In New Jersey, a Republican Senator who favored the give-back treaty was defeated in his own primary for reelection, reflecting enormous public disapproval of the treaty.  Today Panama allows communist China to run the canal.
+Democratic President Jimmy Carter arranged for the United States to agree to give the canal back to Panama in the 1970s, even though Americans paid for its construction.  President Carter claimed the Canal was part of improper imperialism or colonization by the United States in Latin America.  In New Jersey, a Republican Senator who favored the give-back treaty was defeated in his own primary for reelection, reflecting enormous public disapproval of the treaty.  Today Panama allows communist China to run the canal.
 The Monroe Doctrine has an important corollary today, known as the Roosevelt Corollary, announced by the aggressive President Teddy Roosevelt in 1904.  Under the Roosevelt Corollary the United States may intervene in and occupy any country in Latin America to protect interests of the United States.  Communism remains a threat to the United States in the Latin American countries of Cuba and Venezuela, and in 2006 the president of Venezuela (Hugo Chavez) called President Bush the “devil” in a speech given before the United Nations.