Author: Lillian Dunning

Little is known about the Dunning’s (my paternal familial lineage) prior to their arrival in the United States in the mid 19^thcentury. Our family has yet to do extensive research about the genealogy. However, what we do know is that our family originated from several parts of what is known the United Kingdom, came to the United States, and first settled in southern Indiana. They bought a small farm with a large farmhouse without electricity or running water. The family remained on this farm until the outbreak of World War II. During this time, my grandfather and his 8 brothers were subsequently drafted into the military and deployed to various parts of the world. Following the war, my grandfather moved from Indiana to Dayton, OH to begin a career in the growing auto industry where he would eventually meet my grandmother and established our immediately family in Ohio.

The Valero’s (my maternal familial lineage) are newer to the United States having only immigrated here less than 100 years ago from Italy. Much like my paternal grandfather, my maternal grandfather came to the United States, specifically the Midwest, to take advantage of the growing manufacturing industry.

While very different regarding culture and family structure, both sides of my family are very similar in the sense that they both came to the United States for the vast amount of opportunity that was present in this country. Simultaneously, while they remembered where they came from it was very important for them to assimilate into their new home once they came here and have great pride in being American.

Both Declarations of Independence resemble each other as they both have a tone of rightful ownership to the land the claim. They both discuss how their people have been forced out of the land discussed for significant lengths of time and a sense of birthright ownership over the territory.

The Israeli document is more influenced and supported through religion than the Palestinian document. The argument for Israel is entirely based in the idea that the Jewish people, a population centered around many things but religion being primary, as exiled and coming back to their land on which the religion was founded. However, the Palestinian document does include religion with giving praise to God at the beginning.

Both groups define themselves as an ancient people with as previously mentioned, birthright to the region. They also both identify as being exiled and punished from their land early on, and independence would mean gaining where their “people” originate from once again.

The Israeli’s do not outwardly mention or blame the Palestinians for the situation of their community, however the Palestinian’s reference the Jewish people and several decisions made regarding Israel by outside entities multiple times in a scornful manner.

Finally, both the Israelis and the Palestinians view being able to have their whole community, who both feel has been exiled from the land, all together once again in the region will bring prosperity and repair to their group and provide positivity they had not otherwise experienced since being forced to leave.

Throughout the last few weeks of class we have learned about the various implications of colonialism and how they affected the entire continents of Latin America and Africa.

To begin, it is valuable to compare the two areas of the world due to the similar experiences and suffering they have faced. Both Latin America and Africa were arbitrarily divided by European powers purely for the purpose of extraction and to increase the wealth and domain of the colonial powers. Additionally, both regions were ravaged by the effects of slavery. Africa suffered as the natives were kidnapped and exported and Latin America suffered as their natives were also enslaved while simultaneously dealing with the influx of Africans brought against their will and inserted into the economy.

This was further explored and explained by Professor Holt and she discussed colonial life in Latin America and presented what she called the “Legacies of Colonialism” that included the different ways negative effects took hold in the region such as through the economy, politics, and society (economic, political, and social). Additionally, she discussed transculturation which is the idea that when two cultures are forced together both experience an exchange of culture from the other. Both of what she described is evident throughout the two continents as well as in other parts of the world.

It is important to understand these experiences often forgotten about in modern historical commentary due to the power and influence colonial powers maintained over the lands they controlled.

1. One of the thematic shapes Judt identifies is the reduction of ‘master narratives’ within European history. These narratives were the driving force behind much of the conflict that destroyed Europe in the first half to the 20th century. In a sense, especially after the dissolution of USSR and liberation of Germany in 1989, Europe began moving away from intense focus on politically philosophic disagreement and moved towards centrism.
2. Somewhat similar to how Europe began moving away from focus on extreme political philosophy, European political intellectuals also lost most of their influence over public policy. However, while they lost most agency over domestic issues, they did retain some control over issue areas such as foreign policy. This shift was heavily focused upon ensuring the ‘public intellect’ had more control than old-style political parties
3. Organizations like the European Union as Judt points out, are not the conventional state. They do not have the ability to protect their citizens. In a time following the September 11 attacks where global terrorism is prevalent, the ability to protect its citizens is necessary to ensure faith in government. Thus, when citizens feel as though their government is not able to protect them, it is able to see how xenophobic and racist posters, such as the ones presented in the World Transformed article, it is a civilian response to trying to resolve what they believe to be the biggest threat to safety.

Many issues that plague Africa today are the result of decades of imperialism, exploitation and misrepresentation of the continent. To begin, too often the entire African continent is discussed and analyzed as one nation or entity. Where in fact, the continent is made up of over 50 very diverse countries that contain countless communities. Following colonization where various European powers stole control of vast areas of land solely for the purpose of extraction, African states have been characterized by media as backwards, lazy, and  unable to achieve prosperity due to their nature. However, the stifled growth much of Africa has experienced is actually a result of severe exploitation experienced by many native Africans since the mid 19th century.

As discussed in our lectures, colonialism disrupted the natural progression of society that was taking place across Africa at the time. Indigenous groups were in the process of state building, however, once Europeans arrived economies in African states were forced to become commodity export focused while also being introduced ethnic and religious divisions not previously considered an issue. When African countries were finally able to gain independence from their colonial masters, the remnants of colonialism still were felt. For example, as also discussed in another lecture,  since many economies within Africa had become dependent on trading almost exclusively with European colonial powers, many states were not able to begin growing their economy and gain true independence.

Finally, as seen in the Economist article about Africa’s development in the 21st century, it is obvious that most media still views all African nations as desolate and unprosperous places where in fact many states have rapidly growing populations, GDPs and are making massive strides in improving quality of life for themselves and their communities.

One could make the argument that the women of East Asia were most negatively affected by the Japanese Empire throughout the early 20th century. While the rest of the region was beginning to grant women equal rights and opportunities, Japan used their control over the area to continue exploiting and oppressing women.

After reading the three stories from women of different origins in East Asia, it was clear they all suffered horribly at the hands of the Japanese, but at the time felt as though there was nothing they could do, no matter how much they wanted to help themselves. These survivors decades later were able to come forward and tell their story but not before irreparable psychological and physical trauma occurred.

Most of the women included in the primary sources have now come to terms with their experiences not wanting to hold grievances or anger for the faceless soldiers who traumatized them. One individual woman, Kimiko Kaneda, even expressed feeling sorry for the injured soldiers who she heard screaming in pain from the trenches.

The events described in the primary sources were not unlike the Nanjing Massacre, or Rape of Nanjing, that we discussed in class. It is obvious that throughout East Asia the Empire of Japan metaphorically and literally violated the people and land of East Asia in order to assert their dominance and continue their reign of power.