Takaki — Chapter 14

1. Why did President Roosevelt agree to break the Constitution and “place” the Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans into the camps?

I could see why he would do that if many of the American generals and governors didn’t see the Japanese in America as threats to America and her people. Only a small minority of government officials considered that it would be best to send them back to Japan. I didn’t think that President Roosevelt was going to actually support that group and require that the Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans be placed under constant surveillance in the camps.

2. Why douldn’t the Americans higher blacks to work in industrial jobs if they needed workers because they were fighting in a war?

I couldn’t understand why Americans would still push away people who are looking for work and who are more that willing to help when they actually need the help because there is a war. It’s not like they had to ask the blacks for help so why not accept the help that they were offered? It just seemed kind of puzzling why in a time of war the Americans would still turn people down based on their race. Though when it came to actually signing up for the war the Americans supported other race for participating.

3. Why did everything (racism) go back to the way it was prior to the war?  

The people from other races fought for America because its their home and they have families there. During the war they were treated like heroes for protecting their country. After the war they went back to being treated like outsiders. It felt like people of different races deserve to be treated equally and like citizens during a time of crisis, but during a time of peace they are considered to be outsiders with no rights.

 

I was a little disappointed with this chapter because of the how the immigrants, their and grandchildren were treated. It seemed to me that they had a greater sense of nationalism and pride in their country than the people who considered themsleves purely American and who tried to keep all immigrants and their children from becoming citizens. These people didn’t go to fight in WWII because they wanted to receive medals or be called heroes, they went to fight for two reasons 1. because America was their home and they wanted to protect it, and 2. they wanted their families to have better treatment. During the war they were called heroes and someone even said that they earned the right to be called citizens. I don’t think that a young man or woman who was born in the U.S. of immigrant parents has to go fight in a war in order to earn that right to become a citizen. It’s like they say: you don’t earn your parents love, it’s given unconditionally. And your country is like a parent, it’s a parent to all the people who live in it. You shouldn’t have to earn your parents love, and a person who was born in America should have to earn the right to become a citizen just because he or she is of a different race.

Takaki — Chapter 13

1. When Takaki quotes the blacks coming to the North he just quots the happiest one’s, the one that make more money than they would in the south and have free living quarters. Why wouldn’t he quote any of the blacks who are not happy, who have to struggle to find struggle to find a place to live and pay rent?

I’m sure that coming to the North wasn’t a perfect for everyone. Not every person’s future employer paid for their bus fair, gave them a free place to live and provided them with a job that paid well. Some blacks had to pay for their own bus fair, they had to find a place to live on their own and pay for it. While they were searching for a home they probably had to stay somewhere and I’m sure that not all the white landowners were ready to accept black tenants with open arms. So I’m pretty sure that many blacks struggled in the norht before they were able to enjoy the same success of the blacks whose employers provided apartments for them and bus fair.

2. Hughes said that no black man could become a truly great artist or poet if deep inside he wished he could be white. Why did they want to be white?

I really didn’t understand why the black man said that he wanted to be a great poet like the white man. Which Hughes interpreted as the black man wanted to be white. It’s who this black man truly is inside and out that makes his poetry great. Did he think that being white was better because they made more money and maybe lived better? I really did not understand why the poet wanted this.

3. Why did it take a man like Garvey to make the blacks see that they were people and that they were not inferior and could do anything they set their minds to?

I think that the racism made the black people feel inferior. When Garvey told them that they were beautiful it made them feel see themselves in a new light and feel a sense of pride and nationality. I don’t think that Garvey was necessary for this event to take place because when the blacks begin to migrate north I believe that for the first time they see themselves as free people and they gain a sense of pride and nationalism. It’s the racism that kills that. Garvey acted as a pep-squad for something that was already there, but I think that anyone could have done it.

Takaki — Chapter 10

1. When the Japanese knew that their daughters would never return to Japan when they sent them as “picture brides” to America, why would they still arrange marriages to men overseas?

I think that the parents wanted what was best for their daughters. They wanted men who could afford to give their daughters a good life and sometimes these men were across seas. They knew that only one son could get his father’s inheritance and all other children would have to work for their future and by sending their daughters away to men in America they were hoping that their daughters would have husbands who had more land and money, even if it meant never seeing them again.

2. The Filipinos and Japanese immigrants finally get together to strike against their employers, why didn’t they do this sooner?

I think that it was a misunderstanding of language and culture that led them to not ask each other for assistance. It could have also had to do with racial dislikes that they brought with them when they immigrated. If the people in Japan hated the Filipinos because of some previous misunderstanding, then the immigrants will hate the Filipinos because in their opinion that’s the right thing to do. 

3. It seemed like the Chinese worked as laundrymen and helped build railroads, the Irish worked in mines and as maids, and the Japanese work as planters. Why did the Japanese story sound so brutal?

The first half of the chapter, before the first strike, seems so brutal. It just reminded me of the concentration camps that are yet to come in Germany only a few decades later. The way people are kept in barracks, 50 people per room. No matter what the weather they still have to come out and work breaking their backs in the heat, men and women. It just reminded me of my visit to Fort Breendonk. It’s not until the second half of the chapter when there are strikes, that people the Japanese people in America seem like they have a normal life: they begin to share their food, holidays, and cultures with the other immigrants.

Takaki — Chapter 6

1. Why did the Irish allow themselves to be treated so poorly by the English?

I couldn’t understand why the Irish people let themselves be treated so poorly by the English and the noblemen (which I assumed were not Irish). They were forced to pay rent and they their diets were mainly of potatos probably because potatos were the cheapest source of food that all Irish people could afford.  But it was their country and there were so many of them, I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t riot against the outsiders and take back what was theirs? The best products were exported to England and the Irish people lived in little huts where they either starved to death or froze to death, wasn’t that reason enough to fight for survival?

2. When the Irish immigrants arrived in America they treated other immigrants as badly as they were treated. It was hard for me to understand why they would rather treat other immigrants poorly rather than befriend them?

I assumed that their bad treatment of other immigrants was their way of trying to fit in with the Americans. They wanted to be accepted by the people for whom they worked. Also the other immigrants were their competition and in order to get a job they couldn’t befriend other immigrants or else they wouldn’t get jobs. But I thought that if they had put in the effort of befriending the other immigrants, they might have been able to get raises at their jobs when they went on strikes because they would have had support from the other immigrants  rather than competing against the other immigrants.

3. When I read the description of the Irish women working for American families, it sounded like the American families paid to “use” their Irish workers to the fullest extent. If the families had hired these women to clean their houses, raise their children, and live with them, why not accept them as part of the family and not as a piece of property?

When I think about the people that I know who clean houses today or babysit for an American family, they are considered part of the family. They are invited to all the parties, weddings, and children’s recitals. So why couldn’t a family who had a live-in maid accept her as part of the family. I’m sure that the children who were raised by the maid loved her like a mother. 

Takaki — Chapter 8

1. Why wouldn’t “Chinamen” question this method of easy money before they leave China?

I thought that it was ironic that most of the immigrants had just left their homes without even thinking about what life would be like in America. The previous immigrants made it seem that all they had to do was go to America and money was given to them. When in fact the immigrants had to work under harsh conditions and they made less money then the Americans doing the same jobs. Sometimes the immigrants never returned home and still many more Chinese immigrants kept coming in search of money.

2. Why would the American’s try to keep everyone out? They try to keep the blacks from achieving freedom of any rights. Later they try to keep the Chinese from achieving citizenship and the rights that citizens have by saying that the Chinese are not white men.

It seems like the early American people are trying to keep anyone who looks different or speaks a different language out of their society. From the beginning the indentured servants worked a number of years and then were able to have the same rights as other white men. The blacks on the other hand were slaves from the very beginning and any that were free were not allowed to buy white indentured servants or have any of the rights that whites do. When the Chinese came the Americans made laws that they have to pay taxes because they are citizens and they couldn’t have the same rights as white people because they are not white. It just seems like the Americans were trying to keep everyone who is different from their society.

3. When the “Chinamen” finally go on strike, why won’t they accept the money and conditions that their employers try to settle on rather than continue to ask for more?

I couldn’t understand what the Chinese men benefited from their strike. They wanted to be paid $45 like the white people instead of $31. When they were offered $35 I thought that they should have accepted this amount because later they could ask for more, but instead they continued to strike which led to employers isolating them without food for a week until the strikers gave up. I think they lost everything they worked for including the $4 raise. I just couldn’t understand why they wanted a strike all of a sudden and why they wouldn’t consider settling for the amount offered for at least some time.

Takaki — Chapter 3

1. When the number of African slaves became the majority of the population, why didn’t they revolt or fight against the white settlers?

 

Slavery was the only form of life that the Africans had known in the new world. Since the Africans were from different countries they didn’t speak a common language and they couldn’t communicate with each other to form plans to break away. Also, uprising and trying to escape was punished by lashing and more labor. The African people in America were afraid of being punished and those who had families were afraid that their families might be punished.

 

2. From the moment the very first settlers stepped onto American soil they were searching for what seemed the “American Dream”, was the idea of the American Dream born with the birth of the land is now considered America or did it come with the settlers? (pg. 62)

 

It seems that the idea of the “American Dream” came with the settlers. Takaki says that only a few of the settlers were elites and some were middle class people, but the majority of the settlers were indentured servants. These servants had the dream that they would pay off their debts by working and then receive their own piece of land and maybe start their own plantation where they could have a family business. I think that the idea of the American Dream came with the settlers each of them dreaming of how they could better their life and thinking that America was the place to do it.

 

3. Why did the settlers think that the white indentured servants were a threat to them and the order in their society, but African slaves wouldn’t cause any rebellions? (pg. 65)

 

I think that the settlers thought that the indentured servants would always try to rebel in order to gain their freedom. And they assumed that the white servants were smarter than the black slaves that the slaves themselves couldn’t think of something that would lead them to rebel or that they would be too afraid to rebel unless they were led by someone who was white.

Zheng He

Questions:

1. The pusposes of Zheng He’s voyages were to trade with the ‘barbarian’ countries. When the people of Zheng He’s land prayed to the goddess of Celestial Spouse, she answered their prayer by sending ‘barbarians’ from their countries with precious gifts which led to trade between the two lands. The different groups of people would then trade back and fourth.  

 2. Tribute is a gift that one person or group of people gives to another person or group of people as a sign of respect in order to form an agreement. In the Chinese world foreign princes would send tribute to the emperor of China. This tribute would consist of rare and precious local items.

 3. In order not to forget the voyages that they made, the Chinese decided to record them onto the stone.

 4. We find an account of East Africa from an oral record that was written down. First it was passed down for many generations through story telling. One person would memorize the exact account of what occurred and would pass it down to someone else who and this continued for many generations until eventually someone was interested in studying East Africa and heard the story. This person probably thought that it was very important to East African tradition and decided to write it down for others to read. 

5. When you click on the link of Mohammed it mentions the city of Mecca. I don’t think that it’s just a coincidence that this was the link that mentioned Mecca. Mohammed is a prophet in the Muslim religion and he plays a very important role in the worshippers lives.

 6. The father in law is highly respected by his son-in-law. If there is something that the son desires of the father-in-law then he must do what the father-in-law asks.

 7. They traded precious goods. These included gold, silver, other sotnes, as well animlas such as giraffes.

DeToqueville — Introduction

The author writes about a political science that is necessary and this political science is democracy. The reason he goes to America and writes a book about is because of its democracy. Democracy is a form of government that Europe had not had at that time, it was governed by monarchy and so he thought democracy was very important to the people and for the people.

He believes that a brand new world like America can’t have a form of government like England or France because it’s new and it needs something that will define it. It also broke away from this monarchy so it can’t construct its own monarchy, and the only solution would be to create a new government where all people would have an equal say in this government. This government may be weaker because the power won’t be in the hands of person but in the hands of all the people but this is also what will make the government stronger.

I think that DeToqueville believes that democracy is what America needs and what will make America an individual. He has seen that in a country like France where one person holds all the power people will revolt and this will lead to revolutions, whereas if people have a chance to equally hold the power then there will be no need to revolt.  

Two Weeks in the Wilderness

The author goes to the Wilderness to find the original land to which the settlers had come. He seems very disappointed when he finds that the original people, the Indians, are no longer ‘wild’. They no longer dress the way they used to and they no longer live the lives that the author had heard so much about. These Indians have been Americanized. They are forced to wear the same clothing that the settlers wear and they have given up their lands on which they pay to work. The author goes to the Wilderness to find the land and people that used to be before the settlers arrived.

          

The author seems to dislike the white Americans. He thinks that they have ruined the lands by cutting down the trees and building towns on top of them. He also thinks that America is made up of one society. He believes that Europe is better, because no matter how bad Europe really is at least it has many different societies while in America it didn’t matter who you were or what you were like, everyone was the same; including the Indian Americans who dressed like the white Americans and acted like the white Americans. The Indian Americans were part of this society where everyone was alike, but they were all treated differently some were treated as if they were superior and others as if they were inferior.

IBN BATTUTAH — Chapters 6-8

It was interesting to see that just about everyone that Ibn Battutah met offered him a place to stay, fed him, and sometimes even clothed him. I had a hard time believing that so many people would be so kind and generous, especially the sultans and other people of upper class. But I read all the passages with an open mind and thought how hard it would be to find someone who would welcome a stranger into their home and take care of him without expecting any type of payment nowadays.

Then I became a little disappointed with Ibn Battutah. He is traveling through many countries and people are offering him their homes, clothing him, feeding him, and even giving him donkeys and money; yet sometimes he comes off as being ungrateful and very conceited. When the sultan invited him to stay at his home on the mountain, after a few days Ibn Battutah complains about being bored. The way he wrote that he was bored or that something happed (like when he said something to the Jewish physician) it makes Ibn Battutah sound like is very self-centered. When someone who has such high standing in a country welcomes you of all people to his home and treats you like his equal, not to mention also gives you clothing and food, you enjoy your stay and say thank-you. The way he elaborates on some of the simple sentences, like “I was bored”, he makes them very negative and makes himself look very bad.