Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Geography

Causes of the Great Depression

• Over-expansion of Credit
• High Capital Surplus
• Industrial Over-expansion
• Technological Unemployment
• Agricultural Over-expansion
• Imbalance in International Trade

A New American Paradox: Breadlines and Soup Kitchens

Although soup kitchens were not unknown to the American lower classes before 1929, they grew as the economic depression intensified and peaked by 1932.

When soup kitchens first appeared, they were run by churches or private charities. The Capuchin Services Center in southeast Detroit, for example, served 1,500 to 3,000 people a day. That center opened on November 2, 1929.

Private volunteers were also important in setting up soup kitchens all over the US. By the mid-1930s, state and federal governments also were... Continue reading "Great Depression: Causes, Soup Kitchens, and Hoovervilles" »

Feudal society was essentially rural because urban life has declined since late Roman times. A lord's fief was usually a rural estate:

• The demesne was the land that the lord used directly. It consisted of his castle, farmland, fields, and forests. It was farmed by serfs.
• The lord also granted plots of land to free peasants. In return, they had to pay farm produce as taxes and provide services to the lord.
• Feudal lords had absolute authority in their fiefs and administered justice.
• The lord owned the mill, the presa, and the oven, which the peasants had to pay to use. Merchants had to pay a toll when they crossed land or bridges on a fief.

Each fief also contained one or more villages, where the peasants lived.

Agricultural Revolution

The Agricultural Revolution was a series of profound changes in the primary sector during the 18th century. It encompassed technical advancements and alterations in rural land management (plots and buildings). The driving force was population growth, spurred by improved hygiene, better medicine, a decline in major epidemics, and fewer wars. After the abandonment of mercantilism, an increase in productivity became essential.

First Industrial Revolution

The First Industrial Revolution was characterized by a series of transformations resulting from the introduction of machines into workshops. This led to the emergence of new social classes and political institutions. It began in the 1760s in England and concluded around 1830.... Continue reading "Industrial Revolutions: Key Developments & Impacts" »

The Second Industrial Revolution and Imperialism

The Second Industrial Revolution (1870-1914)

The Second Industrial Revolution, taking place between 1870 and 1914, was characterized by rapid industrialization. This was primarily due to the increased importance of the financial sector in industry and the rise of finance capitalism.

Innovations and Changes

Production increased because of the following factors:

• New sources of finance: To establish businesses, owners had to find new sources of finance, such as joint-stock companies, the stock exchange, and banks.
• New technological advances: Improvements to the Bessemer converter, dynamite, stainless steel, and artificial fibers.
• New business structures: Cartels, holding companies, and trusts.
• New sources

Importance of World Trade

International trade is important because of the unequal distribution of natural resources, the differences between the economies of different states, and the interests of large companies in capturing part of the world market.

Key Global Trading Regions

• USA: The world's main importer and the second largest exporter. Its production is higher than any other country.
• EU: The world's largest trading bloc. Member states are small but wealthy, and they import and export a great many products.
• Australia: Does a lot of trade in the Pacific and with East Asian countries.
• Africa: Contributes little to international trade because of its level of poverty.
• Middle Eastern Countries (Saudi Arabia): Primarily export oil.
• Southeast Asia: Do

Modes of Acculturation: Opening New Horizons

The Origins of Orientalism

• The beginnings of an academic interest in Oriental languages and literature in Britain can be traced back to the early 17th century.
• There were both secular and religious reasons for this interest.
• Following the Protestant Reformation and the challenge to the doctrinal authority of the Latin Vulgate, a knowledge of Arabic had come to be seen as an important adjunct to the philological skills of Hebrew and Greek Bible translators.
• At the same time, there was renewed scientific and medical interest in Arabic, once it was recognized that the Latin translations of several important medieval scientific treatises were of questionable reliability.
• Chairs of Arabic were established at

What Was the Enlightenment? (La Ilustración)

• It was a period characterized by:
  • Confidence in reason to understand the world.
  • Faith in human progress, science, and education.
  • Criticism of the Old Regime, specifically:
    • Privileged estates.
    • Religious intolerance.
  • Emphasis on equality and liberty.
• Enlightenment ideas were spread through academies, books, newspapers, and salons, which were meetings organized in people’s homes.
• Some thinkers, such as D’Alembert and Diderot, created The Encyclopaedia, an extensive collection of writings which summarized knowledge from many areas of study.

Political Ideas of the Enlightenment

• Enlightenment thinkers wanted to abolish the estates system (sociedad estamental) and make all citizens equal before the law.
• Montesquieu

The Iberian Pig

The Iberian pig has dark skin with a sparse coat, a pointed snout, and long, slender legs. The genetic trait of this breed is its ability to store fat in muscle tissue, the key to the unmistakable flavor and texture of Iberian hams.

Grazing in the Dehesa

Here, pastures are in fact open woodlands of holm oaks and cork oaks. A traditional, well-balanced diet that is essential to the quality of its meat. The dehesa pastureland is one of the best-preserved ecosystems in Europe, where Iberian pigs breed side by side with wild species, such as rabbits, lizards, or imperial eagles.

Forest Exploitation

Advantages

• The production of wood (to create houses).
• The production of paper (to write).
• The production of furniture.
• Cork
• Resin

Disadvantages

• Forests