Human civilization is constantly in a state of flux. It is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the ways that humans not only interact with one and other, but also with the earth on which we reside. We often call this evolving interaction progress. Progress can be defined as the destruction and re-building of social, political, and religious norms to promote a more prosperous and equitable society. Perhaps more than any other event in human history the European “discovery” of the New World fundamentally altered the social, political, and religious landscape the world over.
The European Discovery of the New World in and of itself was not so much progress but an inevitable extension of a world beginning to refine global commerce and economics. It was bound to happen, as the explorers of the world’s great economic powers strove to connect the Far East to Europe in more profit friendly ways. Events resulting from this discovery most certainly fall into the category of progress as I have defined above. As we discuss progress it is prudent to keep in mind that not all things deemed to be progress in the present are good, or have had a positive impact on humanity. In fact many things called progress have invited horrors upon those whom progress has been impressed upon.
It is an undisputable fact that the creation of the United States and the implementation of a republican form of democracy is one of the crowning achievements of human progress. The American form of democracy was more or less an amalgamation of Moses, Cicero, and John Locke; and propelled by the ideas of Adam Smith and his economic treatise “Wealth of
Chris Hoyt
History&156
Dan Grisham
Assignment 1/ Progress, The discovery of America, and Human History
Nations...
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...Ritual human sacrifice, cannibalism, slavery, and war were a normal way of life in most pre-Columbian cultures. European settlement and specifically the works of missionaries were able to educate, and civilize native populations to a great extent.
Often humans wish to see that progress happen overnight; however, true progress is not that simple, it is a slow and often painful process. The discovery of the new world and the founding of the United States is some of the best evidence of this. America has been an incubator for ideas that when finally put into practice spread like wildfire across the globe. There is no doubt that when the Americas were discovered it set in motion a series of events that brought about the destruction and re-building of social, political, and religious norms to promote a more prosperous and equitable society.
Works Cited
American Pageant
Present-day historians have shed the light of modern understanding to issues that plagued peoples of the past. One example of this can easily be seen in the ideals popularized in Europe from the late fifteenth to the mid seventeenth centuries regarding the Americas and its inhabitants. The Americas had a discernable impact upon Europe, and vice versa; though neither group initially set out to change the world that was the unforeseen and wholly "unintended consequence" of discovery. The discovery of the Americas and its inhabitants undoubtedly lead to changes in the intellectual, political and economic life in Europe.
Since the beginning of the 1500’s new concepts and new societies have emerged across the Earth. All of these new empires and nations appear to have been sparked with the founding of the “New World” by Christopher Columbus. Although many nations inherited many good things through trade and cultural interconnections, many contained corrupted experiences from these new connections, but in result, all the occurrences made the world interconnected between nations.
In 1924, the United States Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States making them the last individuals to gain suffrage. In its early days before becoming its independent nation, during its first colonial enterprises, only white males who owned a property had suffrage. This nation’s granting of voting to Native Americans is one of many events that demonstrates that the United States has always been a nation that is receptive of change. Ultimately, American History is a history of unequivocal advancement proved by the expansion of inventions during Market Revolution, the progress of liberty and civilization in the west through the Manifest Destiny era, and even through violent terms as evidenced
Throughout world history, progress has always been influenced by external factors, which shaped society’s experiences and actions, and which in turn reshaped progress. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines progress as “the process of improving or developing something over a period of time.” Early scientists and philosophers, such as Copernicus, challenged conservative thinking established by the Catholic Church. They pushed society to be more open minded and consider other possibilities. Over time, as society progressed, many became concerned with how progress was taking place. It seemed to have no consideration for what might be right or serve the greater good. Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein, represented an uncontrolled advancement
At present day, our worldwide civilization of the human race continues to surpass many achievements of other past societies. Everyday, new technological advances are being achieved and the population is growing faster than it ever previously has. We must look back at past civilizations and analyze them to understand what is in store for us in the future. In the pursuit of progress, human societies create problems they do not have the resources or political motivation to solve, for fear of short term losses in status or quality of life, which prevents further advancements and sometimes leads to collapse.1 Three factors that have enabled past civilizations to fall into progress traps and ultimately contributed to the collapse of those societies are social conflicts, ecological depletion, and overpopulation.
The term, progress, is synonymous with phrases that denote moving forward, growth, and advancement. It seems unorthodox then that Ronald Wright asserts the world has fallen into a progress trap, a paradox to how progress is typically portrayed as it contradicts the conventional way life is viewed: as being a natural progression from the outdated and tried towards the new and improved. Wright posits that it is the world’s relentless creation of innovative methods that ironically contributes to the progress trap rather than to progress itself, the intended objective. Wright’s coinage of the term “progress trap” refers to the phenomenon of innovations that create new complications that are typically left without resolve which exacerbate current conditions; unwittingly then, matters would have been much better if the innovation had never been implemented. In his book, “A Short History of Progress,” he alludes to history by citing examples of past civilizations that collapsed after prospering, and ones that had longevity because they avoided the perilous progress trap. Wright recommends that societies of today should use indispensable resources, such as history, to learn and apply the reasons as to why certain societies succeeded, while also avoiding falling into the pitfalls of those that failed, the ones that experienced the progress trap. This can easily be interrelated with Godrej’s concept of “the overheated engine of human progress,” since humans for centuries have been risking environmental degradation for progress through ceaseless industrialization and manufacturing. This exchange is doomed to prevent improved progress and will lead to society’s inevitable decline since it is unquestionable that in the unforeseeable future, cl...
Rist, Gilbert. 2002. “Some Thoughts on What is to be Done.” Pp. 238-248 in The History of Development: from Western Origins to Global Faith. London, England: Zed Books.
There are some notable occasions in the modern human history when the world took a massive leap forward. The industrial revolution of the 18th century, the technological revolution of the 20th century and the commencing of the 21st century are among them. Where they have taken the world forward, they have also contributed to the rise of a certain amount of disparity amongst the people. The world of today is divided between developed and underdeveloped countries. Where the Middle East and the west are highly endowed with resources, others like the African countries do not have sufficient resources and technological means as well. As a consequence, inferiority complex among nations begins. From there, nations begin to change their systems to
When analyzed extensivley works of art can be used to reflect different time periods of history. Some works of art that represent the image of the American West in different periods of time are: Thomas Cole’s View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm, commonly referred to as The Oxbow (Painting, 1836), John Gast’s American Progress (Painting, 1872), and Dorothea Lange’s The Road West, New Mexico (Photograph, 1938). Each of these images capture the progress of the settlers journey westward in different periods, and their shifting views of the West as dangerous, tameable and tame.
The hinge of the nineteenth and twentieth century’s coincided, in the United States, with numerous social changes of great significance. The eminently agrarian society that had always been turned urban and industrial. The farmers stopped being those producers of the first wave, who cleared the land to speculate with it, or those of the second wave, who made it fertile. They were growers who acquired machines and produced on a growing scale. Companies also grew to unknown sizes. Railway companies, oil producers, steel producers, car manufacturers, pharmaceutical and chemical companies formed large corporations orchestrated by banks, which took time in their own process of nationalization and concentration. These companies and a myriad of new businesses attracted the cities to the children of the farmers, and to a new population. The natural growth did not satisfy the shortage of labor. There came, in new waves, workers from half the world; of zones different from those of the first migrations. They came with new ideas, strange to the political tradition of the United States. And they raised new problems. Also emerged a new social class, that of professionals, who held positions of responsibility in companies, or institutions. Its importance grew faster than the economy itself.
“History may be a succession of absurdities, tragedies and crimes: but everyone insists – the future can still be better than anything in the past. To give up this hope would induce a state of despair.” (Gray 4) This quote, delivered by John Gray, a professor of Western Thought at the London School of Economics, describes the importance of faith in progress, and also reveals the vast agreement that humanity is on a path, and that path is progressing. However, as modern western culture struggles to obey the instinctual necessities of the human animal, and rather decide to place the focus on materials and money, the future of humanity as always progressing is seemly a dim prospect. The endeavor of illuminating whether human progress is a myth, a concentration must be placed on the most important categories. The most important categories to be discussed, with a focus on western culture are: where the idea of progress came from; scientific progress pertaining to technological advancements; and, the decline of acknowledging humans as an animal with instincts that cannot be logical or religiously controlled, curbed or cured.
The two main arguments of this ideology emerge from two great philosophers their time, Voltaire and Immanuel Kant . Immanuel Kant, was German philosopher well-known on his thoughts over the idea of progress, he believed that more than the constant struggle to be better on all areas, it's more the ability of humans to learn from their mistakes. His ideas were highly opposed because people thought that events like the civil war and the two world wars defy that continuous forward motion that the idea of progress explains. The other ideologist who also spoke about this ideology was François-Marie Arouet also known as Voltaire, was a French writer, historian, and philosopher of the Enlightenment, he argued that the idea of progress was more centered on advancements solely based on science and technology rather than a general human
Before one can look at the consequences of progress it is important to understand the concept of progress. As a concept progress is the changing of an aspect of society that would move the people forward to better technology, economic prosperity, faster motion of good, people, and ideas in a shorter amount of time. One example of this concept in action is the use of the idea of progress to justify the building of the Erie Canal. Practical republicans believed that good for the nation depended on three things, individual opportunity, prosperity, and the growth of both rural ...
Throughout history many things in general have been improved upon. Four major improvement areas are: warfare, medicine, education of society, and technology. All of these improvements have brought with them positive effects. Warfare has allowed oppressed people to rule themselves; medicine has saved countless lives with vaccines and treatment programs; education of societies has allowed people to make their dreams come true; and, advancements in technology have made the previous three possible. With these positive effects also come negative effects, which are seen on a grand scale. Advancement in warfare has caused numerous deaths, medicine has advanced to the point where ethical questions arise because of cloning and stem cell research, the education of society in addition with the advancement in technology have allowed these negative advancements to be achieved.
We have progressed immensely since time began; either good or bad, it made the world what it is today. In the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, is about a futuristic society called “The World State”. In this novel people are modified to fit a certain role in their organized society and have certain moral and ethical beliefs that will be beneficial to the people in charge of their country and those around them. The embryos are modified in a factory-like building to fit into one of their five castes in their society. In this novel, they also do things that may seem inappropriate in today 's world but considered progress in theirs. Progress is all around us and whether it 's depriving us of being free or helping us scientifically, it 's something