Blog Ten 03/26

Module 2

Read the poem on page 798 by Nguyen Khuyen, a Vietnamese official during French colonial rule. If you had the opportunity to share a glass of his “fine wine” (or a cup of tea) with Mr. Nguyen, what would you say to him? How might that conversation go?If I had a conversation with him it would generally be about life and the idea of ‘friends’. 

I would say something like, “Why do you feel like you should only drink the fine wine with friends? Why don’t you think you deserve some just on your own? Even today there are many people who don’t like doing things simply because they refuse to do it alone. Myself included. I am indeed guilty of this act. I can relate with you when it comes to the idea of having money. Because I’ve always been pretty good when it comes to saving so when I want something or want to go do something I’m always fine, but then it goes back to the whole not wanting to do it alone. But, it is something that we should all get used to. I’ve learned, well still learning that it’s good to get used to spending time with yourself. It’s how you are really able to learn who you really are. There’s no one around that could potentially change who you might be which may sound a little scary and may be the reason you feel the need to be around someone but getting to know who you are and learning to enjoy your own company is great. And same for the poem. You shouldn’t have to feel like the only way you can write one is if it’s going out to someone. You should be able to express yourself simply just because. You would think that you would have even more of a reason to want to write it since no one else is seeing it. I think it all goes back to the idea of not wanting to be alone with yourself, and it’s okay. It just takes time.”

Why might subject people choose to cooperate with the colonial regime? What might prompt them to violent rebellion or resistance?Many cooperated with the authorities with intentions. They realized there was employment, status, security while being the European led armies. The use of locals was due to the shortage of and expense of the European administration. The colonial rulers did also have to heavily rely on locals due to the boundaries forged by cultural communication. Many families like, Indian princes, Muslim ermirs, and African rulers were able to remain in the status they were in and kept the same privillages, all while gaining eve more wealth. Both the colonial government and private missionary organizations wanted to promote a measure of European education. Subject people overall decided to cooperate because at least for some period of time they were in a way allowed to work the system in the sense that they were able to get work when others who decided they didn’t want to cooperate were not. In this case, a big thing that prompted them to the rebellion/ resistance was the whole colonial rule and how it would enlist the ones who did cooperate and was not in favor of those who were against it. It led to rebellion groups both big and small in colonial regimes all over. 

How were the lives of African women in particular altered by colonial economies? Being a woman in these times in these places led to some different opportunities and hardships than the men would endure. In precolonial Africa, many women were active farmers everywhere. They would tend to planting, weeding, harvesting, preparation of the food, and of course childcare. Whereas the men would handle clearing up the land, building houses, herd the cattle, and occasionally help out with the field work. In most cases, women had their own fields that they would use to be able to feed their families, with of course the assistance of trading if they were a part of that. When the economy rose, the lives of women had increasingly diverged compared to the men. With the Ewe people, men had highly profitable cacao farming, and women were responsible for domestic food production. In Ivory Coast, when cotton was seen as something with cash value, men believed that it should be produced in their fields. Women’s workload had been increased, and differentiated from the men's. The men were able to find jobs in places like the cities or settler farms, or in the mines, and the wives were left to stay and manage the domestic economy on their own, and in some cases still had to supply the men with food in the cities due to the very low wages.