The Renaissance was a time of great intellectual change and achievement. Beginning in Florence, this cultural movement later spread throughout Europe. The Renaissance profoundly affected European beliefs; it was one of the most significant periods of growth and progress in Western Europe and has been described by Wilde as “ending the medieval era and heralding the start of the modern age.” A number of factors contributed to the conditions which enabled the Renaissance to take place and must be considered in any broad analysis of causes. At the time the growth of the economy and trade enabled ideas to spread throughout Europe. Additionally the reintroduction of classical works encouraged the search for forgotten knowledge, whilst the creation of the printing press enabled works to be mass produced and allowed knowledge to spread effectively.
Western Europe experienced the largest amount of changes because the main countries that were becoming involved in international trade were located here. These countries include England, Spain, and Portugal. After contact had first been made with people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the first stock exchange was set up in 1538, which represented a steady economy and businesses that could be trusted to continue success within the companies. Along with the new businesses and technology, through international trade, new products were introduced to Europe such as tobacco and potatoes. Companies that focused on trade were also introduced, such as the Dutch, English, and French East India companies.
During the 1800s autocrats made many sweeping changes, such as the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. Russia also participated in wars such as the Crimean War and the Napoleonic Wars. Western influence spread new ideals throughout nineteenth century Russia and exploded in the Russian Revolution of the twentieth century. While autocrats altered politics and engaged in various wars, Russia enjoyed a golden age in literature and art. Russia also prospered from a long awaited growth in industry.
By doing so, the furthest reaches of the world were brought to light and the world was slowly pulled together. Once the 1800s hit however, Globalization 2.0 took over. Multinational companies were beginning to form and with this came industrial integration. These companies were constantly in search of new outlets for markets, ideas, or even laborers. Because of new technology, such as railroads and steam engines, transportation became a more available option, this jump started globalization 2.0.
Willis U.S.History since 1865 Technology during the Industrial Revolution Around 1850s, America was on the move towards a new living and the large migration to the west allowed an abundance of foreigners to immigrate into America. With such a large population, people needed to work and mouths needed to be fed. As industrializing began, technological advancement helped transform the quality of life for the American during the late 1800s and early 1900s known as the gilded age. Railroads and other vast resources linked America’s society together. The development of an industrial society began with the vast amounts of natural resources that were discovered across America.
It also owed to foreign influences. The transcendentalists rejected the theory that all knowledge comes to the mind through the senses. Truth, rather, transcends the senses and can't be found just by observation. Associated traits included self-reliance, self-culture, and self-discipline. ﻌRalph Waldo Emerson- transcendentalist poet and philosopher; urged American writers to forget European traditions and write about American interests.
What was the key invention that helped America chug ahead in the industrial race around the world? The railway system ignited many other inventions in the last third of the nineteenth century, and helped America grow into the strong industrial nation it is today. The railway system helped “the movement of settlers further and further west accompanied by technological advances led to the major growth of cities and industries across the American frontier,” (Transportation and the Expansion of America). Railroads improved how we communicated as a nation, and helped us transform our economy for a regional agrarian economy to a national industrial economic superpower. The communication in America increased immensely due to the growth of the railways.
The Italian High Renaissance was a revolutionary movement in art history where scientific inquiry and a newfound interest in observing the natural world shaped the course of the development of modern art. A new feeling for classical antiquity embraced artistic sides. An artistic revival powered the transition from medieval art where lifeless, still, and traditional characteristics dominated artwork, to the deep and emotional paintings of the Renaissance. Before the Renaissance, paintings were simple and primitive; they lacked shape and luster and were flat with little to none detail. People believed that only religious figures were worthy of reproduction and therefore artists drew subjects mainly from Christian sources and their work revolved around painting walls of churches, palaces, and civic buildings of Italy.
This movement is one of new ideas, expansion and technology with new money and wealth acquired through trade. Education was on the rise since the Renaissance period; with the source of new money and the affordability of books and engraved drawings, it was easy to spread the Neoclassicism philosophy. With the “endless flux of event and feeling” (Brooklyn College, 2000), a new emphasis on strict conventions and forms is expressed through the revival of classical styles, personifying harmony and unity, order and balance. Artists used Greek and Roman art for models using their works as an expression of their world around them, sometimes accepted and others times challenging the status quo. The Neoclassical movement known as the “Age of Enlightment” is prefaced on the sense of reason and logic.
This left the American artist in a state of limbo, and the 19th century saw a philosophical battle for the soul of the artist exemplified through the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Hawthorne’s piece “The Artist of the Beautiful” and Emerson’s essay “Art”, one can see the conflict of whether or not the artist would have a place in America, whether or not they will be like the European artist, and how the artist will have to change and adapt in such a fledgling democracy. Hawthorne began work on “Artist of the Beautiful” in 1844, shortly after his wife Sophia had their first child, Una. He and Sophia were to have a child before Una, but she miscarried after slipping on ice near their home, the Old Manse. Before this miscarriage the Hawthorne’s viewed themselves as Adam and Eve, walking in their own Eden, and considered this miscarriage as their own original sin and expulsion from perfection.