Massaro Section 5 and 6

These two sections of Massaro's article were by far one of the most interesting things I've ever read. I found it interesting because I actually never knew how involved the Catholic Church was in making sure that the working classes got what they deserved because they are the ones that provide everything that people have. It also talked about how God wanted all of these people to be equal. In other words, someone should not be rich if they are hurting their neighbors brought it. Section five also talked a lot about socialism and how it is something that is completely unnatural in the world and how it is unjust to people who own land. The people who had a higher position in the working world needed to think of the needs of those who worked for them. Section six talked a lot about the rights that workers need to have. Workers should not be looked at as just a part of one big machine that produces material things, they still need to be looked at as people that work their blood, sweat, and tears into the work they do everyday. It was said that the reason why people worked was not to have a job or career, but as a way to follow God in the path that he set out for them and what they were put into this world to do was to make material things for the population. I was really surprised at the involvement of the Catholic Church in making workers have the rights, working conditions, and appreciation they all deserved for their everyday hard work.

Chapter 20 Part 2

Education, religion, and race and tribe took a major turn after the second wave of European conquests. The education took a big role in the change in societies because it caused a lot more people to be literate which was big deal back then. A very big amount of the population was illiterate and being able to get a real education made it possible for a lot of people to finally be able to read. While many people saw the European colonial rule as a negative thing going on in their countries, a lot of other people viewed the colonial rule as a way to  better future because of all the better education that was brought with the colonial rule. Another thing that came along with European colonial rule, was religion. Christianity spread along with the European conquests. Although Christianity didn't spread widely in every single country the Europeans came across, it spread in most of the countries. The reason why Christianity spread so popularly, was because Christianity was part of the education that the Europeans brought, and since a lot of countries thought that the European education was a new, bright path to the future, they went along with religion because it was taught with their education.

Chapter 20 Part 1

If I could take one thing away from this reading, it would be how powerful the British were when it came to ruling other countries. It is really eye opening how easily the British took over everything and everyone and pretty much no one could do anything to break out of their control for many years. But they were smart. They did not want to take over large masses of populations all at once. They went village-by-village so they could make sure that there was never too many people to take control over. Except for India. The British tried to take over India as easily as they took over other countries, but they had a bit more of a struggle. The Indian population decided that they were not going to just stand by and the Britain take over their beloved country, so they started a revolt against them. Because the Indians made it so much harder for the British to take over their country, Britain decided to take direct control over India. But by the time that India had won their independence, they had become one of the poorest countries in the entire world, and the British never helped. Obviously the British were a force to be reckoned with if they were able to extend their power all the way to the Americas and rule over the United States for years before they were able to hold their own independence. That was what opened my eyes the most in this section of reading: British power.