Niall Ferguson TED Talk Video

I agree with Ferguson with his reasons on the great divergence. His reasons seem accurate and are well supported with his examples of East and West Germany and North and South Korea. They support the idea that it's the government and the ideas of the people that induce prosperity and wealth contrary to the thought that property brings wealth and prosperity.

Anatomy of Revolution

Stage 1 (causes): the middle class must be wealthy and feel like they do not have justice economic wise, develops intellectuals and gains their support, and makes their economic power known my politicians, and the government must me financially weak.

Stage 2 (1st stage of revolution): They fight the difference in taxation, 2 groups begin to form, the revolution'a lead by a small body without centeralized planning, the government uses force to stop it which doesn't work leading to the monarchy being unable to rule.

Stage 3 (2nd stage of revolution): The moderate revolutionaries and the radical ones begin to fight, the radicals win due to organized fighting, and there is a period of radical power called Terror.

Stage 4 (3rd stage of revolution): The terror starts to end and the moderates come back into control kicking out the radicals from their spots in power and they become scapegoats for the new government, a uniform religion is established and life returns to normal.

Islam Empires Pocket Map

HW 3/8/14

Where is the silver going? 

Silver was going to China. China was the biggest buyer of silver in the world at the time the New World was founded.

Where is it coming from? 
Spanish America, Mexico and Peru, produced most of the silver in the world. It produced 15,000 tons of silver by itself between 1500 & 1800 and produced 80% of the world's silver.

Who are the major players in the 'silver trade'?
The mayor players in the silver trade were Europe, Asia (China), North America, and South America.

Columbus Day

It think that Columbus should deserve a day because it is unknown if anyone founded the Americans before he did. He is the only one that claimed it so it is unknown if he was the first one. He also doesn't deserve a day because there is evidence that he was not the first person to find the Americas. I am 50/50.

DBQ Reflection 3/4

I like the idea of the DBQ but I didn't understand how to write it. I think it would be easy to write if I knew how to write it. I think the most challenging part was trying to write the these since that is what everything is based off of. I think that the next time we do it, I will have a better understanding of it.