Monday, February 14, 2011

3.2.1.

3 things I learned...

1. Collective bargainaing is negotiations between workers and their employers, bargaining for better working conditions and higher pay, and people still use it exactly the sane way today.
2. Living and working conditions in the Industrial Revolution were awful. It was very dirty, and there was a rise in disease.
3. Karl Marx lived an entire life of struggling and poverty, even with all of the selling of his writings.

2 things I found interesting...

1. Slavery was first abolished in Great Britain
2. How the invention of the railroad was made through a bet.

1 quesition I still have...

1. Why did people automatically hate communism? It could of been not so bad if people actually gave it a chance while it was still good. But now that there are such hateful dictators associated with communism, I don't think that communism will ever be good.

Connection across time: Communism

Communism, alhough the United States tried to stop it years ago, it still exists today. Communism is a form of complete socialism in which the production of goods would be owned by the people. The people, meaning everyone. There is also absolutely no private property. Communism is thought to of been created by Karl Marx, after he wrote his book, Communist Manifesto. So, communism has been around for over a century. Today, communism doesn't exist in too many countries, becasue so many people find it so wrong. This is probably because most of the communist countries are controlled by an awful dictator, making the type of government seem so bad. But if it would of turned out the way that Karl Marx wanted it to, then it might not be so bad at all because everyone would be equal! Today, communism only exists in a select few countries. Some are: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam.

Capitalism

In capitalism, business owners don't particularly care about their customers. They don't care if their products that they sell to them help them in the least bit. All that the business owners care about is the money that the customers give them! In capitalism, money is invested in business ventures with the goal of making a profit. The creator of capitalism was Adam Smith. Another term that is said with capitalism that comes from the french, is laissez-faire, meaning "let them do as they please". But, another one of capitalism's focuses is individual rights, hence the term laissez-faire. Capitalism is actually what we practice today here in the United States!

The Bionic Arm

The Bionic Arm is a prosthetic arm that is controlled completely by a person's brain. The arm was created by The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency. This system uses a microchip that is implanted into the brain, and all the person has to do is think of doing the motion, and the arm will do it. The goal of this arm is to give the people in the need of it a "near natural" way of using their arm, as they once had. This new invention will change the world completely. It will give people with a disibilaty in their arm a more life like experience, and way to live. It also in the future could change medical breakthroughs, and create more advanced prosthetics for humans. It also can help show us how we can learn about our body, and can give scientists more knowledge that they can branch from to create more beneficial inventions.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The Spinning Jenny

The spinning jenny was created by James Hargreaves, named after his daughter, Jenny. He created this machine because the people who worked as spinners could not keep up with the new weaving machines (such as the flying shuttle). So, in order to help solve this problem, a cash prize was being given to the person who could produce a spinning machine. After this deal, James got right to work. in 1764, he created the spinning jenny. This machine allowed one spinner to work with up to eight threads at a time. The spinning jenny increased the amount of work that was done by the spinners, and allowed them to keep up with the weavers.

The Flying Shuttle

This strangely named invention was created by John Kay in 1733. The flying shuttle was on four wheels and it sped back and forth. It had a boat shaped piece of wood where yarn was attached to, and it would double the work of a human weaver in a whole day! Now this machine one did the weaving, it did not spin the fabric. But, the invention of this flying shuttle, ended up increasing the productivity of weavers back in the Industrial Revolution.

The Railroad

The invention of the railroad was huge during this time period! The creator was Richard Trevithick, and he invented this machine through a bet. He won this bet by hauling ten tons of iron over ten miles on a track in a steam driven vehicle! After this thousand dollar bet, other inventors began to create an even better version of this railroad. The first railroad line was built by George Stephenson, and was 27 miles long, running from Yorkshire cornfields all the way to a port of Stockton by the North Sea. By 1825 this railway opened, and there were four trains that ran on it. The idea of the railroad quickly spread to other countries, as well as other continents. Eventually, the railroad was nearly all over the world! But, this new invention was very beneficial to so many people. it was an inexpensive way to transport materials! The railway also created so many more jobs for people. Finally, people (not only products) began to travel on the railroads. The invention of the railroad was a very useful, and wise invention, and it was a huge part of the Industrial Revolution.


Monday, February 7, 2011

Chapter 9 Introduction


We are studying the Industrial Revolution and how it spread from country to country. The Industrial Revolution began in England and managed to spread throughout Europe. During it, living conditions changed, new inventions were made, and the world really became something different. With this blog I hope to learn all of the aspects that the Industrial Revolution added to the world, and how it helped make a change that is still applied in today's world.