Globalization is everywhere, it's our history and it has been around for such a long period of time. Our country and globe plays a huge role in globalization, whether it is good or bad. There are many different opinions on when globalization started and what had a negative impact. I personally think the Indian Act, the Silk Road and the Scramble of Africa. The Indian Act was passed in 1876 and was used as a method to assimilate Indigenous people into European culture. In this act the government forbid certain activities, applied strict rules and set up residential schools. Residential Schools were schools used to assimilate younger children. Children were abused, raped and not treated like an individual. This act was simply designed to wipe out the Aboriginal culture completely. The Indian Act was a cultural genocide. In my opinion, I disagree with this act, it was a completely wrong and shouldn't have been a method or even been considered. The rules that they had to follow were so limited and didn't give them any opportunity. For example, if and Aboriginal woman were to marry a white man she would lose her Indian status. Aboriginals could not be doctors, lawyers or even attend a university or else their status would be taken away. During this time, to the government a person meant an individual other than the Indigenous. The Silk Road was a network of trade routes. Many items were traded such as silk, precious gems, spices, art, literature, knowledge and languages. Another key concept that was travelled down the Silk Road was diseases. Such as smallpox and many more. These trade routes went from China all the way to the Mediterranean. In my opinion the Silk Road was a new and interesting concept to view and learn about. It was interesting to hear how the Arabic system was adapted and that different languages and cultures were passed on. The Scramble for Africa, this topic was probably one of my favourites to learn about. This event took place in the 19th century when Europeans found gold in Africa and invaded the space. They destroyed the land and the Indigenous peoples freedom. King Leopold sort of started or "sparked" the scramble when he claimed all of the Congo as his personal land/property. Once he claimed the land he forced the Indigenous people to work for him. Millions upon millions of Indigenous people died during King Leopold's takeover. The globe started to hear his claims and representatives from all over started dividing Africa among themselves. In my opinion, I believe this is a huge negative impact. They had to regard to the people living in Africa. Before the Scramble for Africa, it was loaded with plenty of natural resources! Now look it. The natural resources was stripped from their land, and now they're left with the bare minimum. All of these topics that I chose to talk about are legacies of historical globalization. To what extent should contemporary society respond to the legacies of historical globalization? I personally believe that justice should be served to those that went through the tough ways of the Indian Act and the Scramble for Africa. The Canadian government has looked over and made a few adjustments to the Indian Act, but the act still exists to this day.
1 Comment
London
5/8/2017 03:30:27 pm
It is a positive effect of the Silk Road that different languages and cultures were passed on and knowledge and new ideas and religions and food - always awesome to share different kinds of food from other cultures eh? I agree with you that "justice should be served" to those who were exploited for the purpose of the gain of wealth and status of others. The "scramble" for anything is wrong if it exploits and harms.
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