Podcast Draft

The English industrial revolution began in the late 17 century. It was a period where there was major changes in many things like social conditions, agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation. It was a major turning point not just for England, but for mankind. The industrial revolution began after the 1688 "Glorious Revolution", the British kings lost power and the aristocratic landholders gained power. The landholders tried to reason their landholdings and started the Enclosure Movement to bring more and more of their own land under tighter control, this process went on through the 1700's. Population increased because industrial resources like coal and iron were in central and northern England. A shift in population from southern England northward took place in northern cities like Manchester. The people would be moving from farm land to the cities. These cities grew larger in population. Important inventions like the "Spinning Jenny", which was an invention that produced yarn began to be made in 1760s, and soon the British textile industry was booming, aided by Eli Whitney's invention of the "Cotton Gin" in America, which provided a ready source of cotton. Some negative aspects of the industrial revolution were that whenever new inventions arose, nearly everyone was forced to begin a new career within a factory. Some other negative aspects would be the life expectancy decreased to be 15 years of age. Also women and children were expected to work 16 hours a day doing work that could cause serious injuries. Now some positive aspects of the industrial revolution were that many jobs were available. Also the prices of goods decreased because of extreme availability. Knights of Labor (formed after the Civil War) were a loose federation of workers from all different trades they allowed women and African-Americans. They worked for better working conditions, an 8-hour day, the abolition of child labor, and equal pay for equal work. A strike is when employees refuse to work, hoping to force their employer to meet their demands. Some examples of this are The Haymarket Square Affair in Chicago. A bomb was set off that killed many police officers. Many people think that the bomb was set off by striking workers as retaliation for a previous clash with police that killed several workers. Another example would be the Pullman Strike in Illinois. Pullman railway workers had their wages cut, yet were supposed to pay higher rents in the company owned town. The strike led to violence. In 1886, labor leader Samuel Gompers helped found a new national organization of unions called the American Federation of Labor or AFL. Gompers served as AFL president for 37 years. The AFL focused on improving working conditions. By using strikes, boycotts, and negotiation, the AFL won shorter working hours and better pay for workers.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

Nationalism is the belief that one’s greatest loyalty should not be to a king or an empire but to a nation of people who share a common culture and history. An example of me being nationlistic would be that i always go to the Colombian independence parade in Flushing, Queens every year. Nationlism was used to create the nation of italy because between the years 1815 and 1848 the italians were getting tired of foreign rulers. Before the italians grew tired italy was just a bunch of kingdoms ruled by austria. Two people had a major influence on the italians. There names were Giuseppe Mazzini and Camillo di Cavour. In 1832 Giuseppe Mazzini organized a nationalist group. In 1848 revolts broke out on the italian peninsula. Giusepperan a republican government for a while. However the rebellions failed and Mazzini was drove into exlie. Camillo di Cavour became the prime minister of sardinia in 1852 by king Victor Emmanuel II. With careful diplomancy and well chosen alliances, he achieved the expansion. With the help of his french allies Cavour was able to dive austria out of italy.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

Simon Bolivar was an important part of south america's history. He is well known for his victories over the Spanish armies. He also liberated many countries from the Spanish. After his trip to europe he returned to Venezuela and declared independence from the Spanish. He then left Venezuela and went to what is Colombia today. Soon after the Spanish reconquered Venezuela. Then he began to command a Colombian army. He tried to enlist people from Cartagena in order to capture Santa Marta, but he had too many political and military conflicts there so he fled to Jamaica. There he made a deal they would supply him with an army and he would free slaves. With a victory at the Battle Of Boyaca he added new granada (Colombia) to the countries he had freed from Spain and created Gran Colombia which consisted of modern countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador. Though he wasn't finished yet in july 26 and 27 of 1822 he met with Jose de San Martin who was the protector of Peru because he had only partially liberated them. Bolivar took over the task to free Peru. He defeated the spanish again in 1824 with the help of Antonio Jose de Sucre. Thus on 1825 the republic of Bolivia was created. Which was named after Simon Bolivar. This explains why he is so famous he is mostly famous for his well thought out political and military thoughts. Also for defeating the spanish time after time, but of course he couldn't have done it without the people who helped him all throughout the wars.