The Meiji Restoration of Japan

Japan used to be an isolated island. There was no contact with the west or any othe country for that matter. This was a reason that their technology was not as advanced as it would be if they were in communication with other people. When the west came Matthew Perry was the commander of the fleet that came to Japan. He bullied Japan with threats of annihilation of their chain of islands, They then signed a treaty of trade. With the newcomers overthrowing the emperor of Japan, Japan knew it was time for change. They then overthrew them and emperor Meiji. He ruled the land by ruleing people's fear of becoming a colony. They then started to modernize Japan. Japan is an archipelago which is a chain of islands.

The Opium Wars

The opium wars were about the Chinese government did not want the Europeans to bring any opium into china. The Europeans did not want to stop because they used opium as a trade for china's resource tea. As the Chinese people were becoming addicted to the opium it brought in more tea for the Europeans. The opium wars included china and England. the English won the war without effort. The English had better weapons so the Chinese swords were no match for the guns the English had. So now the English now controlled China and able to take any resource they want.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

Europeans faced many hardships when they entered Africa. This is because the African people in the center of Africa have never seen a white man. They are also very territorial, and because of this then they attack any intruders that enter their territory. The geography of Africa was a hot and dry land. This cause a lot of people to die in the hot weather. The rocky terrain caused a lot of trouble traveling. The lake was named after a British queen because there were no other explorers that discovered the source (Lake Victoria) and the area that surrounds the lake. The middle of Africa was a unknown area because all the hardships. The reason for being superior than the African people was the European technology. The biggest technology gap was in the weapons. The Africans had spears and Europeans had guns. This led to an easy conquering over the African people. Thats why Europeans could take over the contenent.