In the reading for part 5 I found several things to be interesting and that caught my eye. In the first part, chapter 17, what caught my eye was the Feminist Beginnings. I keep finding myself leaning towards things that women do. So continuing in what keeps catching my attention was the movement following the French Revolution. In the twentieth century, the thinking of women started to change “the way in which women and men work, play, think, dress, worship, vote, reproduce, make love and make war” (520). On both sides of the Atlantic women began to introduce feminist consciousness which viewed women as individuals that had equal rights to the men. Women actively started to take part in temperance movements, abolitionism, charities and missionary work. In 1848 the first organized women’s rights conference took place in Seneca Falls, New York. I thought it was amazing how the women supported each other, both in European and American women would attend conferences and read each other’s work. I think that’s what was needed to be done. I liked what the French feminist Olympe de Gouges said “Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe; discover your rights”. That quote just says a lot that it’s time for women to stand up and get what they deserve. Such as opportunities to attend schools, universities or even to have a profession. That was something that was very important to the early feminist. I think this movement is very important, especially for me as a woman. Of course the feminist were thrown a lot of negativity but it’s important to see that they worked through it and allowed us as women today to even have the rights we have. I am very thankful for these early feminist that took a stand for what they believe in.
Continuing along with the reading, in chapter 18 what stood out to me was the Laboring Class. I could not believe that they made up 70% of the population. The Laboring Class was made up of mostly manual workers that worked in the mines, factories, ports, construction sites, and farms to better Britain. I could only imagine everything that they were put through, the book even said that they were the ones that suffered the most and benefited the least in the transformation to the Industrial Revolution. The resist of the laboring class results in the texture of the first industrial revolution. Though in 1851, Britain’s population grew, so the development of cities and towns changed. They were very impacted along with many other things. Their water supplies became bad because of all the overcrowding. Benjamin Disraelis said “ two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones or inhabitants of different planets” (538). I thought that was well said, and important to realize that the laboring class and the upper class were very much divided. There was no personal contact between the rich or the poor cities. I could only imagine how things were back then, and to think that we are very lucky we did not have to go through such division like that.
And last in chapter 20, going back to women, I found that women and the colonial economy: an African caste study to be very interesting. In pre-colonial times, the African women were everywhere as active farmers. They held responsibilities in which they planted and harvested. As where men they cleared the land, they more of a construction (as what we would call it today). What I found to be interesting was that women grew cotton to help provide for their families “but when that crop acquired a cash value, men insisted that cotton grown for export be produced on their own personal fields” (604). I could not believe that women were pretty much left out of the deals, when they themselves knew how to produce cotton and could have sold it to make a source of income. And also what I couldn’t believe was that women in the pre-colonial times worked about forty-six hours per week and it increased to seventy by 1934. I could not believe that, whether its women or men, I don’t think anyone should be required to work such long hours, especially if its labor. That was a little to intense. And not only did they have to work more hours they had to supply food for their men that worked in the cities that made low wages. Not only are these women working hard, they still had to make their men food? I thought that was unbelievable that they could do that. I can’t imagine what these poor women had to go through. And like I said before I’m so thankful I did not have to experience what they had to go through.
Overall I really enjoyed reading about women and the laboring class. I really find things like this in history to be fascinating, to think what these people had to go through in order to survive or to make a difference for the future.
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