thecrashcourse:

Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History #32

The Industrial Revolution turns out to be very interesting and important. On some level, you can’t really understand tumblr until you understand Europe’s rapid industrialization in the 18th century. So watch the video and grow in appreciation for tumblr!

fedoramation:

I love this series.

Aww, thanks! Here’s the new Crash Course video. It’s about the revolutions in Latin America. We should’ve devoted three or four videos to these fascinating independence movements, but unfortunately I am attempting to introduce you to the history of humans on this planet in about 420 minutes, so…yeah.

thecrashcourse:

Haitian Revolutions: Crash Course World History #30

Ideas like liberty, freedom, and self-determination were hot stuff in the late 18th century, as evidenced by our recent revolutionary videos. Although freedom was breaking out all over, many of the societies that were touting these ideas relied on slave labor. Few places in the world relied so heavily on slave labor as Saint-Domingue, France’s most profitable colony. Slaves made up nearly 90% of Saint-Domingue’s population, and in 1789 they couldn’t help but hear about the revolution underway in France. All the talk of liberty, equality, and fraternity sounds pretty good to a person in bondage, and so the slaves rebelled. This led to not one but two revolutions, and ended up with France, the rebels, Britain, and Spain all fighting in the territory. Spoiler alert: the slaves won. So how did the slaves of what would become Haiti throw off the yoke of one of the world’s great empires? John Green tells how they did it, and what it has meant in Haiti and in the rest of the world.

This week’s crash course was really fun to make, because I learned a lot. Of course my pronunciation still sucks.

thecrashcourse:

The Amazing Life and Strange Death of Captain Cook: Crash Course World History #27

In which John Green teaches you about the life and death of one of history’s great explorers, Captain James Cook of the British Navy. He charted large swaths of the Pacific ocean, laid claim to Australia and New Zealand, and died a bizarre death in the Sandwich Islands, which are now called the Hawaiian Islands. Exactly how and why Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii is a long-running historical debate. John presents two interpretations of the event, and talks about what the differing interpretations say about history. It turns out how the story is told depends on who is doing the storytelling, and people from different backgrounds can interpret events in very different ways. Also, there is a celebration and a moustache involved in this episode, so you definitely don’t want to miss it.

This is my favorite episode we’ve ever done, I think.

The traditional study of world history tells us that history is made primarily by people wearing funny hats. In today’s episode of Crash Course, I argue that history is actually made by people like us.

Thanks for watching and sharing Crash Course. I hate encouraging people to share stuff they like—I mean, obviously if you like something you will share it—but…yeah. If you like Crash Course, and you want it to continue to be a thing, sharing is the most efficient way to make that happen.

vondell-swain:

Crash Course is SO GOOD

I wager that it is impossible to watch Crash Course without enjoying it at least a little bit

impossible

Thank you, Vondell. Stan and Danica and Raoul and everyone at Thought Bubble work incredibly hard on Crash Course, and I really hope we get to keep doing it for many years, because it’s some of the most fun and rewarding stuff I’ve ever had the chance to help make.