FRIDAY - MARCH 19, 2010

   Happy Friday, you guys!  Today, we continued learning about the Industrial Revolution and started class with Mr. Kameika telling a story about his grandmother coming from non-industrialized Russia to "pick up the gold in the streets of New York City."  Needless to say, she was very disappointed when she arrived in New York.  Anyway, during class, we answered the following basic questions through discussion:

1)  What was the Industrial Revolution?

•  Basically a period in time when people began to invent a lot of technological advancements to make life easier and business flourished.        

2)  Why did the Industrial Revolution develop in certain countries and in others not?

• War & revolution hurt industrialization.
• Geographic "luck" - some countries have better climate, resources, locations, terrain, etc.
• Cultural reasons, contact with other cultures.

3)  What is Capitalism?

• Basically, an economic system based on making money.

4)  What is Laissez-Faire Capitalism? (pronounced: "lay-zay-fair")

• Laissez-Faire means "free will," basically meaning that the government will just let you and your company do business however you want, without interference from them

5)  How did the Industrial Revolution affect families & lifestyle?

• Families moved to the cities from the countryside where life was usually much harder than they expected.
• Women started working outside the home in large numbers for the first time ever.
• Children either worked also, or they ended up on the streets because they were pretty much left at home alone.
• Crime went up in cities and education was not really going on much.