In the 1400’s, only three things mattered to European countries; God, Gold, and Glory. They all wanted as much of these as they could have, so various countries sent out explorers in search to find and claim new lands and riches. Eventually, they reached the Americas and started claiming land. They moved at a rapid pace, taking whatever they could find. "This led to cultural diffusion between them and the indigenous people they encountered" (Chewie14 2). Even though most of these encounters were friendly, some were not and many of the indigenous people were killed during these conflicts from weapons and disease. "These countries wanted this land for one reason; to be better than the others" (Chewie14 4). If one country could take more land, they would be superior in America, and Europe. In order for a country to be superior they needed the land and the riches, the fame and their religious beliefs spread in the conquested areas.Posted by Geoffrey at 6:18 PM

Intro and conclusion paragraph

In the years before 1492 no one in Europe knew about a land on the other side of world. Seems hard to believe but in 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed across the ocean and ‘discovered’ America but his intention was to reach China. Many other sailors heard of this land and followed in Columbus’ footsteps. The reasons all the sailors traveled to this land was for god, gold, and glory but the effects of the exploration was the mixing of cultures and societies. The general welfare of the human race also got better through these explorations because of an increase in food and resources.

The America’s were harmed by these explorations because the Europeans used there guns and germs against the natives. Even the Europeans suffered greatly in this new land. Although these deaths were in big numbers, the benefits of the colonization helped the entire world. Since the Europeans wanted the riches, the fame and the spreading of their faith, they went on the voyages. The causes of these explorations let people learn about different cultures, the population increased, new crops were produced, and people got healthier. Columbus, Pizzaro and Cortes changed history and set the course for the world we live in today.

Notes 2

• Most of European profits came from farming and agriculture. Colonization allowed for more agriculture.
• In the Americas a social hieracrchy was formed which put the Europeans on top
• Another factor was countires were rivals such as the Dutch and the Portuguese
• England became one of the world powers through colonization. It conquered many terriotories. Jamestown, Virginia was one of the British locations in the Americas
• All the Europeans left was an identity that was theres. They came for the power and wealth and left countries with just the European identity
• Lives were lost through germs, guns, protests and much more

all of these notes came from the website:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6046459/European-Colonization-Essay

Notes

• Pizarro objective was to sail west until he reached Asia (the Indies) where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited.
• Pizarro "discovered" the Inca empire and conquered it brutally and quickly, stealing immense hoards of gold, silver, and other treasures.
• Leading nations like Spain, France, England, Portugal, and Netherlands were the top European leaders.
• They were all interested in trade and profit.
• Portugal was responsible for triggering the colonization of countries.
• economic opportunities
• Asia tried to explore but could not invest its time into exploration

Over coming the odds

This week the NCAA basketball tournament started and of course there is always some big upsets. On Friday Wake Forest ranked number four lost to a team ranked 13. This was a huge win for Cleveland State. There is an article on this win in the Star Tribune. It was written by Associated Press. Cleveland State or the Vikings have upset teams in the past. "Cleveland State's only other apperance in the tournament upset Indiana and Bob Knight in the first round. This happened in the year 1986." (Star Tribune c14). With that being there first apperance and this 84-69 win over Wake Forest being the second Cleveland has shown how to over come odds. "Cleveland State got out to an early 17 point lead and was able to keep it that way pretty much to the finish" (Star Tribune c14). How far will this under-dog team go? No one really knows besides they weren't supposed to win in the first place.

Work Cited

1. Chewie14. "European Colonization Essay." Scribd. 20 Mar. 2009. http://www.scribd.com/doc/6046459/European-Colonization-Essay.
   
2. "Christopher Columbus Discovers America, 1492." EyeWitness to History - history through the eyes of those who lived it. 2004. EyeWitness to History. 20 Mar. 2009 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm.
   
3. "European colonization of the Americas - USA." United States - USA. 20 Mar. 2009. http://www.w4.aspoleczny.pl/European_colonization_of_the_Americas.html
   
4. "Francisco Pizarro: Explorer - EnchantedLearning.com." Enchanted Learning Home Page. 2009. Enchanted Learning. 20 Mar. 2009 http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/p/pizarro.shtml.
   
5. Matusevich, Melissa. WWW Server for chumby.dlib.vt.edu. 2009. 20 Mar. 2009 http://chumby.dlib.vt.edu/melissa/posters/ReasonsEnglandColonized.pdf.
   
6. Nosotro, Rit. "The Long-Term Effects of Colonization." World History course and essays in Biblical perspective. 20 Mar. 2009. <http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/comp/cw27colonizationeffects.htm>.
   
7. Williams, Schott. “World History.” World History course and essays in Biblical perspective. 24 Sept. 2002. 20 Mar. 2009 <http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t4w25spanishcolonization.htm>.

Love

Love is one of those terms that no one can really give a definition to. So what is the definition of 'love'??? I found another blog out there on this web that gave an opinion about the term love. Love has many different meanings to all different types of people. The definition for this person is "There are many stages of love at different ages and different types of love. My definition of love is caring about someone so deeply that your like would be very different with out them there would always be a little piece of yourself missing" (Blade). Looking at this definition it is mostly an opinion so everyone is going to have a different way of expressing or finding the meaning of this word. What is the actual definition well I really don't have an answer for you but if you really want to know there are plenty of books that are filled with love so take a look inside a book.

I got this information from:
http://www.purpleslinky.com/Jokes/Relationship/The-Real-Definition-of-Love.126789

War

For this blogging assignement I watched an episode of the Band of Brothers. This movie really gets into and shows the lives of fighting in World War 2. The dangers, death, sadness and the good times are all shown in this movies. In the Band of Brothers they show the concentration camps and how bad they look. The camp smells terrible, the people are in horrible health conditions, there are dead bodies everywhere. Also shown was a train car and it was locked so the United States army opened it to find dead bodies all inside it. War as shown is not a fun thing or experience for any side but countries still decide to enter these bloody battles. One thing that really took me for a suprise when watching the movie is that the people fighting against Germany had no idea that these concentration camps existed. When they first encountered the camps they had to ask the people inside the camps what is going on and where are they.

Colonization

Africa was a place for imperialism. In the book that we are reading now are just beginning to see the people who will help shape there future. In the book Nectar in a Sieve the idea of colonialization was huge and how it changed the lives of Rukmani and Nathan. In history class we have all learned of the Berlin Conference that split up the land of Africa for the European powers. Of course the people who traveled had very good reasons and were after the riches of the world. "The discovery of diamonds and rich gold, deposits brought both European settlers and dramatic change to the region" (Bently 909). People were mostly after the riches of the land and Africa is known for its diamonds and gold. "Cecil John Rhodes an eighteen year old boy supervised African laborers who worked his claims in the diamond fields" (Bently 909). People who were eighteen got pulled into the rush for possessions and the want to become rich shaped the future for Africa.

Global Issue

United States is a world leader today and almost every country relies on the United States in one way or another. Yeah its great we are number one right now but with our economy troubles we are bringing the world down with us. There is an article in the Zephyrus paper about the economy and how it is going. The first line of the paper is "the recession continues to spread through the economy, leaving no one safe" (Carney 1). With that quote it makes you realize that is there a place to hide from this storm. "Some statistics of how are economy is doing is 500,000 jobs were lost in the United States, Target laid off 1,000 employees, Fairview Southdale Hospital had to lay off 50 employees, and 3M had to lay off 1,800 workers" (Carney 1). How are we doing? "Well Edina has an unemployment rate at 5% copmared to the national average of 7.6%" (Carney 1).

Presidents Day

Presidents day was not actually called that when it originated. "It was called Washington's Birthday" (Wikipedia). "During this time congress was trying to push a bill that wanted to switch the name officialy to Presidents Day and make the date the third monday of February. At first this gor rejected but states started coming up with different names for the holiday. One example is in Massachusetts they actually called it Presidents Day. In the state of Alabama it was called 'Washington and Jefferson Day' even when Jefferson's birthday was in February" (Wikipedia) This name seems kinda weird but Alabama probable had there reasons to call it that. Some traditions that happen on this special day is the closing of public buildings. "School districts in New York shut school down for that week and call it a mid-winter holiday. Business' used to be shut down but over the years less and less are closing. Public transportation has even continues its regular schedule on this day" (Wikipedia). In my eyes this day seems important to some and to others just another day to get off work.

Bollywood

In the book Nectar in a Sieve there is a lot of love traiangles and romance. For example Rukmani and Nathan are able to form a solid relationship. We also see this love in movies that are called Bollywood. "This term Bollywood is a term that is used for the Mumbai-based Hindi language film indusrty in India. It is the biggest film producer in India. This name, Bollywood, seems a like the place Hollywood in the United States. It is named after that as well as Bombay" (Wikipedia). Something that I thought was very different is they actually tie music into the story instead of dramtic effects that are in the background. "Even though the films are created in India the language spoken can still be English. Some films are entirely english" (Wikipedia). "The Bollywood plots have tended to be melodramatic and usually include love and angry parents" (Wikipedia).