Friday, October 16, 2009

Age of Empire 3

This weeks reading was a direct result of last week's. With rise of the working class, nationalism followed. The working class was growing and getting stronger and the upper class were not the only people in power anymore. With the masses gaining more and more say in the countries politics, unification began to form. This unification caused nationalism. Everyone was beginning to have pride in their country because for the first time they were dictating their own lives. However, this immense pride also had the effect of a xenophobic population. Immigration was frowned upon and outsiders were the new second class citizen. No longer were people open to new people, they just wanted to focus on their own solid country. This really blocked off any chance of expansion or globalization. A good thing did come out of the national pride of the country. Education and Technology boomed and were taking off in advancements.
With the change in society, also came change with women. For centuries women's only role in life was to stay at home and have children, but not anymore. They were leaving their homes in search for jobs and roles in their local towns and politics. This new turn for women really made a huge impact on their future. Birthrates were substantially lower, so women had more time to do things for themselves, not just stay at home and watch the babies just pop out of them. Women began marrying later in life because they wanted to pursue their goals and then settle down. This social change brought the beginning of a fight though- women's suffrage. This was around the time that they were truly fighting for their right to have a say in government and what was going on around them. Although the result took some time, without these strong ladies to begin the surge, our life today might be extremely different.

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