Elan said 2/25...

In the beginning of class today we discussed what we did yesterday very briefly. Our main focus was that the United States’ motive for imperialism was that we saw an opportunity to make money. Due to imperialism, the boundaries of the U.S. stretched from the east coast and Puerto Rico all the way to the Philippines. Since the Caribbean and the Philippines were very far apart, with Mexico and South America between them, it often took a while to travel between the two places because you would have to go around South America. The U.S. then thought of making a canal in Panama to make traveling easier. The U.S. went to Panama to ask if they could buy the land in order to make the canal, but Panama told the U.S. you need to ask Columbia for the land because Columbia at the time controlled Panama. The U.S then went to Columbia to get permission for building the canal, but they said no. We then made a very smart move by telling Panama if they rebel against Columbia, the U.S. would be there to back them up. Sure enough Panama revolted, and we helped get there independence. We then paid Columbia 25 million dollars for the land to build the canal on for the same reason we paid Mexico for California and New Mexico, so we don’t seem like the enemy. Next we discussed how Teddy Roosevelt added to the Monroe Doctrine. It basically stated that we have the right to be the police force in any of our foreign territories. To back this statement up with proof, Teddy Roosevelt allowed the U.S. navy to go on a tour of the world to show off our ships. By 1905, the U.S. had become a huge world force.
After reviewing yesterday’s lesson, Ms.Separ explained the adventures she went on trying to find the right vanity for her husband to go in their down stairs bathroom. Ms.Separ is also thrilled to go home today and search for the supposed leak in the wall with her hard hat and head light. Good luck Ms.Separ. After Ms.Separ’s story we reviewed the dynasties in China.
1. Xia
2. Shang- 1st dynasty to monopolize bronze production.
3. Zhou- 1st to use the mandate of heaven.
4. Qin- Legalist dynasty with the ruler of Shi Huangdi.
5. Han- Around the same time as Rome and traded silk and paper.
6. Sui- Legalist dynasty and lasts for 30 years.
7. Tang- Merit system.
8. Song- Cosmopolitan era and more advanced than Europe.
9. Yuan(Mongols)
10. Ming- Exploration then progressed to isolation.
11. Qing(1644-1911)
*During the Han, Tang and Song there was a golden age.

The last thing we discussed in class today was the Qing dynasty which is in the reading due tomorrow. The Qing dynasty started out politically stable, had fair laws, reinstituted the merit system and increased in agriculture production. An important thing to remember is that trade between the Americas and the Qing dynasty was still happening, however, the Qing remained isolated as to who they allowed in their country. A big problem with this dynasty is that they were so obsessed with political stability that they neglected economic growth and technological growth. They were also very ethnocentric so they didn’t take any advice or ideas from other countries.

Remember that the outline for part A) under Civilizations in Crisis on the textbook worksheet is due tomorrow. I hope this summed up everything that was discussed in class today. The next person to blog is Aaron (You lucked out Alex C.).