3,2,1

3 Things I learned
1) Countries can be controlled indirectly by other countries
2) Thomas Edison's inventions are almost all used today or took part in the making of a more modern invention.
3) Countries will do whatever they have to to gain control of land for resources to make money.
2 Things I found Interesting
1) Gandhi has a ton of inspirational quotes and he was ahead of his time
2) France actually thought that they could control the culture of Africa
1 Question I still have
1) Why did the people of Africa believe that magic "maji maji" water could repel bullets? Why didn't they try it out first before running straight into a group of machine gunners?

Words of Wisdom

Gandhi once said "Hate the sin, love the sinner."

I believe that this quote means that no matter if someone sins or not, you should still love that person.

My opinion of the quote is that it is completely true. Sin tempts people and if they are not smart or strong enough to resist the temptation, they will sin. However, after they sin they should be forgiven and you should still love the sinner regardless of the sin.

The Suez Canal

The Suez canal is an important waterway in Egypt, and controlled by Egypt,  that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The canal is important because it is one of the world's most frequently used shipping lanes. The canal is the shortest route between Europe and land around the Indian and western Pacific oceans. It also separates Africa and Asia. Egypt makes ships that pass through pay tolls to collect money. Over 18,000 ships passed through the canal in the year of 2007. It is very important in today's world because a very large amount of oil is passed through here daily. If the canal would no longer be of use, this would cost anyone who buys anything that passes through here a ton of money because it would take so much longer to reach its destination.

Ethiopia's Resistance

The only African nation to resist the Europeans successfully was Ethiopia. Menelik II was the emperor of Ethiopia and the power behind their success. He had tricked Italy, France, and the British against each other because they were trying to bring Ethiopia into the spheres of influence. While doing this, he bought a supply of modern weapons from Russia and France. When Menelik was about to sign a treaty with Italy, he realized it had different wording than the treaty did in Amharic. In Amharic the treaty stated that he was giving up just a tiny portion of his land. However, in Italian, Italy claimed all of Ethiopia as a protectorate. As this was going on, Italian forces were advancing into northern Ethiopia. So, Menelik declared war on them called the Battle of Adowa. As one of the Greatest battles in the history of Africa, Ethiopia defeated the Italians and kept their nation's independence. 

Paternalism

The French and other Europeans wanted direct control of their colonies in Africa. To them Africans were children who were too ignorant to run their own country. By using paternalism, Europeans governed in a fatherly way but only provided needs and no rights. They brought in their own people and did not teach the locals the methods of governing. An example of this is Somaliland which was controlled by the French.

Imperialism: Helping or Hurting?

Helping

 -Technology spreads along with literacy

-Quinine protected people form malaria, a disease carried by mosquitoes.Spread of health clinics

-Obtaining control of the Suez Canal allows us to transport goods faster.

-It helped the United States because Liberia promised to only trade with us and no one else. 
-Spreads democracy

Hurting

-Europe thought themselves to be better than everyone else because of their advanced technology. This formed the idea of racism.

-Many missionaries tried to Christianize the people of Africa because they believed that their religion was the only one that should be practiced.

-African culture was destroyed as the French tried to control it and their way of life.

-Spread of slavery. Africans were shipped to plantations in Europe and America.

The Automobile Assembly Line

Henry Ford created the first car and wanted a way for people to produce the car that he invented, only eight times faster. The assembly line was a line of workers who each put a piece onto an unfinished car as they passed on a moving belt.With this line, a complete Model T Ford could be made in less than two hours. He reduced the time it took to make a car from 12.5 hours to 1.5 worker-hours. When the car first came out is cost $850, when the cost of production fell so did the price. Eventually it fell to $300 where it could be purchased by the middle class. This changed the world because other factories adopted this idea, allowing them to produce a lot more and to set their prices lower. By 1914, over 600,000 cars were sold, and they are still being sold today.