Western Development - Change over Time Essay

Intellect was one of the many things that changed in the West, and was especially important in the period between 1750 and 1914. It was in 1859, that up until then, everyone thought everything existed because of God. But Charles Darwin disproved that with his theories and evidence in his book Origin of Species. It changed the way people looked at the world and how it worked. Then, Louis Pasteur discovered germs, which was an amazing cut-point in intellect and general welfare. Because he discovered germs, hygiene was improved and people experienced longer lifespans and better health. Populations increased in mere decades, and less than 33% of children didn't make it past the age of 10. Education came compulsory in the 1870s, spreading across the West, and more children became more intelligent, receiving schooling up to the age of 12, which stimulated a thirst for more knowledge, thus giving families the ability to receive new information in how to improve their lifestyle. Then, after 1900, Albert Einstein came up with the Theory of Relativity, which made time a factor when experimenting and learning things, when before it was not accounted for and could make such experiments inaccurate.
Economy was another thing that experienced revolution during that time period. In fact, the start of the time period was marked with the Industrial Revolution, which completely changed how people worked and the types of jobs they have, and the invention of the steam engine and railways, which greatly improved the way people traveled - not only was it faster, but it could hold more passengers more efficiently. This industrialization spread to the U.S. in the 1820s. Then in the 1900s, a major cut-point was the Mass Leisure Culture change - suddenly leisure was a very attainable part of life, for people with poor or normal lives - you didn't need to be rich and living in the good life to have pleasure and fun. This was stimulated when everyone gained a certain equality with each other, and the change of government from the aristocracy to a nationalistic type of government. With huge stadiums and teams to support, the Mass Leisure Culture gave people something to have in common with each other and enjoy at the same time.
In Politics, a major factor in this time period, experienced serious changes. In 1789 through 1799, there was the French Revolution, a major cut-point in Industrial history. With the idea that people are equal and that they have the right to have power and influence over the government, the French public fought for their right to be part of decisions for their country. This inspired nationalism, the pride of being part of this or that country, with started with the first national anthem and a motivation to be involved in the country's government. Then another cut-point in political history is the rise of democratic suffrage in the U.S., during 1810 through 1826. Going back to the Constitution, people wanted the right to vote, and with nationalism flowing in from Europe, the feelings of voting rights became stronger as their pride for their country did too. In England, its major cut-point was the Reform Bill of 1832, which was the parlimentary vote to middle class men. This led to a strong government with firm laws that people could understand and follow, especially when its them who are voting for them. Because the laws are no longer being decided by old men who are seperate from the general public, the laws more easily apply to them and benefit them. From 1870 to 1879, France established the Institution of the French Third Public, which strengthened the government. From 1864 through 1871, Germany experienced a unification that made them a whole country, with the help of some nationalism. The same went to Italy, several years before during 1859 to 1870 when they experienced their own unification.
However, despite all that has changed, the desire for a stable government never changed. In fact, this was a basis for many of the revolutions in the countries. People do not want to live in a country where everything can fall down on them and through them into chaos and poverty.

Educational Opportunity in The United States, Europe, and Japan - DBQ

The leaders of Europe, the United States, and Japan expanded the educational opportunity in the 19th by upping the standards and reaching out to women, and justified it with the reasoning that a stronger, healthier community could be held with more people that have higher intellect.

This justification is broken into two categories. The first is about society. In the year 838, France, Albertine-Adrienne Necker de Saussure (Doc#1), she describes how men see women merely as wives, and daughters as future wives to be married off, but she states that men overlook their potential in education and knowledge, and how beneficial and useful they could be to society if they were taught in school. She believes this because women had barely any rights in those times, they were often seen as inferior, and that women didn't need the support of men to live. In 1840, Reform Leader Horace Mann (Doc#2), believed that people needed to learn the laws and be educated, because that would end the "evils of anarchy and lawlessness." Indeed, if people did not learn about the laws, they wouldn't know what to follow and why they should. Horace Mann was a reform leader, and educated people would help reform and establish new rules - basically, educated people would help his cause. In 1874, Eliza Duffy (Doc#3), said that the women of today, that are strong, smart, and don't follow conventional rules are the "mothers" of the future. She believed this because she was a woman, and again, women did not have the same rights as men back then, and she believed the future will be bright if the women of "today" are strong and smart. In Japan, the Imperial Rescript on Education in 1890 (Doc#4), the people in their country were educated, and that education morally furthered them and gave the utmost honor to the Japanese Empire - they improved it. Educational reformer Yukichi Fukuzawa's autobiography in 1899 (Doc#5) saw the success in the Western cultures in managing their national affairs, and how well the country ran, and realized that if Japan was to become the same thing, they must give better education.

The second category is intellect. In Doc#1, Albertine-Adrienne Necker de Saussure said that women had the capacity to be educated. In Doc#2, Horace Mann said the that people needed the rationality in order to be educated - basically, you cannot believe in radical myths and stories that explain natural things with unsound proof and not be smart. In Doc#3, Eliza Duffy explained that men and women learn differently, but that does not mean women cannot learn at all - women can, in fact, learn if they have the perseverance and the determination to do so, and should be treated equally in the region of education. In Doc#4, they know that with intellect comes with sophisticated, which will make them pursue more learning and cultivate the arts of their culture. This is understandable because they were proud of their country and know they have to compete with other countries to keep up with them. In Doc#5, Yukichi Fukuzawa realized that the Japanese education was mostly Confucian, which lacked in numerical, material, and spiritual independence. He knew that Japan was a great country, but he also knew it wouldn't amount to anything if they were stupid and narrow-minded, and that would mean his country would collapse in on itself as the world around it progressed.

The justification for the expansion of educational opportunity in the United States, Europe, and Japan was that with better educated people in greater numbers are beneficial to the country's state. A document that could help with this evaluation would be another European country other than France; perhaps England or Germany, who were very influential and were going through many reforms and changes.