This week I was struck when reading by a number of considerations made within each article that I personally had not actively considered myself thus far in studying.
The first of these that I found interesting was the consideration between differences in the northern and southern hemisphere. As an area of divide, especially when considering imperial and colonial narratives, we are often sucked into a division between the east and west. While this East West divide is apparent, I found interesting to think more of a North and South division. When taking this consideration into the spread of people and ideas and movement I find myself thinking more about the effects of different climates, traditions and cultures and languages, all things that meant that the people and communities in these areas developed completely differently from how we have. While I believe the east-west divide will still always hold a place, the North-South differences will now create a new area of consideration in my studies.
Something else that I found interesting during the reading was the consideration of the development and impact of penal colonies on transnational and global developments. Although something I have always been aware of, studying the penal colonies of the British empire is not something that I have done in depth. When I think about it, it makes complete sense that they would have had a massive impact on the development of the communities that grew from these colonies. What I don’t think I had fully considered was the extent to which many of these would have becoming a melting pot, filled with people from many more cultures and communities from around the empire than even some trading ports may have been.
I have always been interesting in the travel and movement of people. This idea of a forced migration and how people adapted and influenced a communities development I find particularly interesting and am definitely considering researching further to maybe eventually use this area as a broad theme for my coursework going forward.