Sign off to US History

This year in US history has been awesome. I have learned so much and have enjoyed every minute of it. I also got to learn more about topics that I already knew about (i.e. slavery, World War) and got to go more in depth on those subjects. My favorite thing about the year would have to be watching movies. It is amazing how much you can learn from films especially when they are historically accurate. My favorite movie would have to be 12 Years a Slave. This is because the movie was so authentic and had so much  meaning to it. One of the themes that we talked about this year was empathy. Every movie that we watched made it easier to empathize with so many people living in these different time periods. Putting yourself in their shoes made it really easy to understand what we were learning about.
 On our last day of class we watched 13 days. This movie was about the Cuban missile crisis and how JFK and his team tried to solve it. It was a perfect movie to end the year because it ended with a very positive idea to send us in our senior year. This idea is that there is a solution for everything if you work hard enough to find it and trust yourself.

Letter to the Future (2216)

Dear person of the future,

Hello, My name is Alexa and I am a student in the year of 2016. In my history class we are currently studying climate. Climate is a huge topic in today's society for many reasons. One of which is because we do not know how the climate will effect the future. This causes much debate in our society today and has forced people to come up with their own predictions of the future. Most everyone in America has their own perspective when it comes to climate. This is why I decided to focus in the the topic of perspectives on climate because I wanted to learn about everyone else's opinion to hopefully develop my own personal perspective. Because there are so many different perspectives in today's society, it causes a lot of great debate amongst people all over the world because everyone wants to believe that their opinion is the right one. Thus, the great debate of climate change. People have many different views when it comes to climate change: Those who believe in it, those who don't and this is what I found out about the two opposing sides:

One of the top research data bases in 2016 is the Pew Research Center. On Pew Research Center's website, I found out a lot about what people thought of the general topic of climate change. According to an article on PRC (1), a poll was taken that asked about people's perspective on climate change. This poll says that in America, most people believe in climate change but do not prioritize it. Why is that? This is because people do not see any immediate effect from climate change and believe that no money should be spent to help prevent it if no damage is being done. However people who do believe that the climate is changing disagree with this. This is because although it may not be directly affecting you, it is affecting our world. According to NASA (2), the largest space exploration program in the world, evidence shows that sea level has risen 17 cm in the last century, the global temperature has risen, oceans have been warmed 0.302 degrees fahrenheit since 1969, ice sheets are shrinking, decline in arctic ice sheets, and the occurrence of extreme events.

Although all of this information was incredibly useful, it was too general for me. I wanted to dig deeper and find out what the greatest debate related to climate change was. After searching for many different topics, the one that I came across the most was the debate on Global Warming. Most everyone has heard of global warming but not a lot of people know much about it. According to wikipedia (3), a website used to present information on almost everything to the public, in our world today, the questions that most surround the topic of global warming are: Is it occurring? How much has occurred in modern times? What has caused it? What will it effects be? Should action be taken to curb it? If so, what action? For every single question there is a debate that surrounds it. Again, people believe what they want to believe with these topics because some people see and believe in the evidence that is presented and others refuse to believe in it. So, what were people of my time arguing about when it came to the topic of global warming? Here is what I found:

In the past, our media never covered Global Warming on the news or in newspapers until the drought of 1988. This is because it never seemed to be a problem until drastic changes in our weather began to occur with no explanation. Even British media began to report on climate change and global warming in 1988. But did people really take it seriously? People were staring to wonder wether or not global warming was actually occurring. According to an article on Pew Research Center (4), 63% of Americans believe in solid evidence of global warming. Things such as our global temperature rising along with sea level and others are considered evidence to these groups of people. However not everyone believes in this. On an interview that I found on Youtube (5) that was televised all across America between Bill Nye and Marc Morano, Marc Morano constantly disagreed with everything Nye was talking about. Morano says that it is natural for the earth to be warming as it gets older and says that sea level has been rising years before our time. He calls these claims "facts" and assures the public that none of which Bill Nye says is true. However, the interviewer interrupts by saying that nothing of which Morano was saying was actual facts, they were just personal opinions.

Another big question that is widely debated is who caused it. The general answer that seems to be debated the most is that climate is caused by humans.Al Gore released  a documentary that suggested that human caused climate change was real. Bill Nye and other active climate debaters say this too. According to Procon.org (6), climate change is caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases that come from human activity such as boring fossil fuels. This is the case of the drastic weather changes and rise of temperature and sea level. Because of this people want to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emission. People who disagree with this argument say that it is not human made because the planet is capable of increasing things on its own through a natural process. Their argument states that the people whose argument believes in human caused global warming is questionable due to inaccurate measurements. However, according to grist.org (7), 97% of scientist say that man is changing climate.

The next big questions are what are the effects of global warming and what will we do to fix it, if it needs fixing. There are many predicted effects of global warming that serve as huge environmental risks. NASA says that the effect will be more drought, heat waves, a rise in sea level (1-4 feet) by 2100, and stronger weather changes.So what will we do to fix it? According to a study on Pew Research Center (8), although Americans believe in global warming, the do not see a need to fix it. This is because it is ranked at the bottom of the priorities lost in 2014. Even for Obama and Congress, in 2014 Global Warming was at the bottom of his list of priorities for America. Less than half American rated it as a serious threat to our country, the rest see it as something that can be looked over. Wikipedia makes this great comparison as to why we should take action on preventing global warming. It says to think about a child getting sick. You do not wait to see how bad it gets before you treat them, you treat them early to kill any possible threat of harm to the child. This is the same argument that people who believe in global warming and want to fix it has. This wikipedia article also suggest that the reason behind people not wanting to fix global warming issues is because the public lacks a understands of the science behind global warming and how seriously it could affect the way we live.


So you are probably wondering what my views on global warming are. I believe that wether or not it is happening, we should begin to take measures to prevent it in order to protect our world.

People discuss climate everyday. In 2016, we have the internet and most people use it as a form of communication. On websites like topix.com (9), people are able to leave their opinions about climate and global warming for the whole world to see. Here is an example of one: People are very protective over their opinions. As you can see, they are no afraid to say what they think to prove to people that their perspective on things is the correct one.

So, my questions for you are how accurate were we? Did global warming really affect us? what caused it? Which side was right?

                                                                                                          Sincerely,
                                                                                                          Alexa
P.S.
I also used some other websites on the internet that had similar information to what I already typed. But, I thought they deserved some credit too. To learn more about the effects of climate change, I went on National Geographic (10). It gave me a lot of background information on the topic and helped me guide my research better!

Footnotes: 

(1): “The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank which is based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world.” This article titled is dedicated to a poll that was taken by Americans to see how many American believed in Global Warming and how they priorities it. 
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/23/most-americans-believe-in-climate-change-but-give-it-low-priority/

(2): NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA is part of the United States government. NASA is in charge of U.S. science and technology that has to do with airplanes or space.
http://climate.nasa.gov/

(3):  "Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia, written collaboratively by the people who use it. It is a special type of website designed to make collaboration easy, called a wiki. Many people are constantly improving Wikipedia, making thousands of changes per hour."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy

(4): Article on Pew Research Center that talked about the Partisan Divide on global warming
http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/the-partisan-divide-on-global-warming/

(5):YouTube is a global video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States. The service was created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005. In November 2006, it was bought by Google for US$1.65 billion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWT-EWKIR3M

(6): "Procon is a non-profit charitable organization headquartered in Santa Monica, California in the United States. It operates the ProCon.org website, an online resource for research on controversial issues."
http://climatechange.procon.org

(7):"Grist (originally Grist Magazine; also referred to as Grist.org) is an American non-profit online magazine that has been publishing environmental news and commentary since 1999. Grist's taglines are "Gloom and doom with a sense of humor" and "A beacon in the smog". Grist is headquartered in Seattle, Washington."
http://grist.org/climate-energy/reddits-science-forum-banned-climate-deniers-why-dont-all-newspapers-do-the-same/

(8): An article on Pew Research Center that talks about the global warming concern all around the world
http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/global-warming-a-global-concern/

(9): "Topix is an American internet news media company. Topix LLC, the controlling company, has its headquarters in Palo Alto, California. Topix began as a news aggregator which categorizes news stories by topic and geography. In the last few years, Topix changed its focus from aggregation and curation, to content creation."
http://www.topix.com/forum/news/global-warming/TI8DR7KA8NGKRBIBP

(10): National Geographic is a global nonprofit membership organization that focuses on science, exploration, and storytelling.  
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/

My topic is on perspectives about climate. First, I decided to research the first things that came to mind when I thought about controversy in with the climate. First I thought about global warming. Is Global Warming real? How and when will it start affect us? After searching on google "Global Warming Controversy", I found a Wikipedia page that had informational about it. This did not surprise me at all because Global Warming is a topic that is discussed often. On this article the first thing I read was what the actual controversy was about. The controversy focused on whether or not global warming was occurring, how much has occurred in modern times, what has caused it, what will the affects be, whether or not we should take action, and if action is took, to what measure? A few of these I already knew about but a lot of them I did not. Next, I looked at the public opinion section. In this section I learned about the opinion of the US, Canada, Europe, China, and Japan. I also learned about how they took action in dealing with it and also, what the press covered. One thing that surprised me was all the evidence that they had of global warming happening. It is surprising because even with evidence, there is still so much controversy.
     Next, I looked at a debate forum. This forum had debates on climate in general, technology, climate policy, consequences, and much more. This website was not all surprising for me. This is because of the way people talked to each other on this forum. They were being very rude and also were hardly even discussing climate. However, I found some interesting things. I got to see people's opinions that were publicized by the media which gave me an insight on what normal people thought about climate change.
     On this last website, I was researching the controversy that surrounded the idea of whether or not climate change is caused by humans. This website was very helpful because it presented a issue and told both sides of the perspectives. It also included some very general yet informational facts such as that the global temperatures in the 20th century rose 1.4 degrees fahrenheit. This is also more evidence of climate change.
     Next, I will continue to look into these topics and get a better adea of what i want to really focus on in order to develop a great paper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy

http://www.climate-debate.com/forum/

http://climatechange.procon.org

Climate Topic Focus

In this unit of climate, I would like to focus on the topic of perspectives. I chose this topic because I feel that everyone has a different belief or perspective when it comes to climate, change, and environment. There is also a lot of controversy and debate over different perspectives, theories, and ideas that focus on climate. I think it will be very interesting to learn about many people's perspectives and eventually develop a perspective of my own.

Question for the future

How will global warming affect us in the future?

climate

1. Change
2. controversy 
3. Leonardo DiCaprio 
4. 2 degrees celsius 
5. Global Warming 

These words were the first 5 words that came to mind when I think of the word climate. I chose change because when people say climate, the word that often comes next is change. This is because the climate is slowly changing. I chose controversy because there is much controversy behind the idea of climate change. People are blaming humans for it and are doing everything they can to protect the climate however, many people do not want to. I chose Leonardo DiCaprio because he is a celebrity who talks about climate change often. Not only was it mentioned in his Oscar acceptance speech, but he posts about it on social media almost everyday because he believes that it is the most important issue our country is facing today. I chose 2 degrees celsius because there was an article on CNN that talked about Global Warming that I read once that was titled 2 degrees celsius. My last word was global warming. This is because when i think of climate change, I automatically think of Global Warming because it is not only a controversy and change in the climate but is the probably the most popular topic talked about when it comes to climate. 

Dam Museum

For this project we had the choice of focusing on either the building of dams or the dust bowl in the 1930s. I chose to focus on the building of the dams because I thought it was a perfect example that showed how the past can effect the present and eventually the future. The next step was to do research on your topic. Now we are to imagine that we are designing an interactive space that not only engages the pubic but teaches them about our topic. This is what I came up with:

     In my dream museum, I would have it focus mainly on the Hover Dam. My space would be an indoors museum that also included a memorial on a special section. I chose to have it indoors because it allows you to be more flexible with technology and makes it easier to display things. My museum would consist of three floors. The first floor would consist of primary sources and facts, the second floor would be about the people of that time period who experienced the building of theses dams, and the third floor would be an interactive experience. 

     As soon as you would walk into my museum, you would enter into a large elevator that would take you to the very top floor of the museum. As soon as you walk out of the elevator, you would enter a maze filled with artifacts, facts, primary sources, pictures, and much more. The maze would go in a specific order starting with the beginning plans  of the dam and ending with pictures and artifacts of the finished dam. In the first part of the walk- through maze you would see the beginning of a timeline. This timeline will make it easier for the visitors to follow the process of the construction of the dam. The first date that would appear is 1902, when the engineer Arthur Powell Davis had the idea of building the Hoover dam and why it was needed. The purpose of the Hoover dam was to electrical power and the supply of water for people in the community, make it easier for farmers to irrigate their crops, and to provide flood control. The next date would be 1922, when the plans for the Hoover Dam actually were put into action. Following 1922 would be 1928. This was when congress passed the bill that allowed them water rights to the Colorado river (where the Hoover Dam was to be built). Congress were also the people who funded the Hoover dam. In 1929, president Hoover signed the Colorado river compact. President Hoover said that it was " the most extensive action ever taken by a group of states under the provisions of the constitution permitting compacts between states." Next would be 1931. This is when the actual construction of the dam began. This portion of the time line would include pictures of the construction of the dam. It would also include a picture diagram showing the steps that the took to build it. This included the four diversion tunnels that were driven through the canyon walls, the clearing of the rocks on the dam sight,  and the adding of the concrete that took two years to complete. Another thing that would be highlighted in this portion of the maze would be some of the challenges that they had to face while building the dam. This included the 120 degree summers, the freezing winters, the cabin monoxide poisoning, electrocution, and heat prostration. The very last part of this timeline / maze would be the final product which would be in 1936, when the dam opened. This would also include many pictures.  After you exit the short maze you will encounter a small room filled with artifacts from the construction of the dam, newspapers and even the act passed by congress to serve as the primary sources, a mini diagram of the hoover dam made out of actual concrete, a block of extra concrete from the construction site, a television that showed footage of the building of the dam, and a brief description about the controversy surrounding the naming of the dam. The dam was built in Boulder county therefore, they wanted to name the dam Boulder dam. However they changed it to Hoover dam because president Hoover played a huge role in the making if this dam. After visiting all of these fun things, you would take the stairs down to the next floor. 

     This next floor of the museum is dedicated to the people who not only experienced the building of this dam, but also the construction workers, the leaders of this project, and those who risked their lives. In a dream world, I would have every name of every person who participated with the Hoover dam written on all of the walls. However this would be hard because there were 2100 construction workers on the sight and even more people that were not actually doing the building... but we will make it happen. Over the names there would be water coming from the tom of the ceiling all the way down the wall to the ground. On a special wall there would be a large piece of concrete that was curved like the inside of the dam that listed each persons name of the 112 deaths that occurred while building this dam 96 of which were construction workers. This portion of the exhibit would not be anything fancy, but would show the visitors of today how the people in the past were so dedicated on making the future better. They were so dedicated that they even risked their lives to make our world a better place. After paying your respects on this special floor you will take the stairs down to the final floor which is where the interactive portion will take place. 

     This floor is my favorite floor. As soon as you walk down the stairs you will wait in line to enter a large room that looks similar to the room in the Disney ride Soarin'. Unlike Soarin', instead of having multiple section of seats, we will only have 2 that will consist of four rows each. The rows will be stacked like floating rows of movie theatre seats that way everyone can see. In front of the seats the will be a large screen in a dome shape ( just like the Disney ride). After sitting on your seats, buckling up, and listening to the safety instructions, the ride will begin. On the screen your "tour guide" will appear and will explain the journey that you are about to embark on through the Hoover dam. The tour guide will also continue to narrate throughout the video telling you interesting facts about the Hoover dam such as how it will last around 2000 years, how it was a major target in WWII, how it supplies water to large cities such as Las Vegas, how the 17 generators supply 100000 home with electricity and many more. facts about its lasting effects. As you fly through the Hoover dam, you will see when it was first built all the way to how it looks today. You will even get to hear the sound of the 20000 gallons of water per second going through the dam. Along the way you will even get to meet President Hoover and have him explain to you why the dam is so important. Towards the end of this flying, virtual tour, you will get the opportunity to fly to other Dams such as the Grand Coulee Dam which is the largest dam in the Colombia River Basin. Not only is it the largest concrete building in the world but Woody Guthrie even wrote a song about it. After seeing this you will fly back to the destination of the museum. Here your tour guide will remind you of the hard work and the thought that was put into the buildings of these dams and how the past and even today can affect the future in life changing ways. After the ride ends, the seats will lower back to the ground and you will exit the ride completely. Right outside the exit door will be a gift shop with t-shirts and mugs that say "Yeah, I visited that Dam museum!" After buying everything in the store, you will exit the museum feeling appreciative of the past and excited for the future. 

Sources: 

1. http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-Hy/Hoover-
2. Dam.htmlhttps://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=64 
3. https://www.internationalrivers.org/environmental-impacts-of-dams
4. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/hoover-workers-strike/?flavour=mobile 
5. https://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/140hooverdam/140hoover_dam.htm
6. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/building-of-hoover-dam-begins
7. https://www.nwcouncil.org/history/GrandCouleeHistory
8. http://digital.library.unlv.edu/objects/lv_water/605 
9. http://www.hooverdamtourcompany.com/hoover.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam#Dedication_and_completion 
11. https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=64
12. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/building-of-hoover-dam-begins 

1930s Article Questions

Read about the Great Depression (Links to an external site.).  According to this article, what was wrong with President Hoover's response?  Why did people blame themselves when things went wrong, and how valid or invalid was this response?

What was wrong with president Hoover's response was that he underestimated how bad it was and assured the Americans that the crisis would only last 60 days. He also did not think that the federal government should offer relief to the poverty stricken population. Americans blamed themselves for the crisis  because they were not able to provide for their families. This response actually made them stronger because it made people take more responsibilities and also taught them careful savings and frugality. 

Read about Black Sunday (Links to an external site.). How would you have felt if you'd been there on that day? What kinds of fears, concerns, or questions would be going through your mind during, and after, the event described?

If i had been there on Black Sunday I would have felt as I was about to suffocate or as if the world was ending or something. During the storm, I would be hoping that my family would be okay. I would also be thinking about those who might actually be suffocating and not able to breathe. After the storm, I would be thinking about the lasting effects such as the damage it had done to my home and to other people. 

Read about The Drought (Links to an external site.).  What areas were affected by it?  What caused it.  The author ends this article with a pithy quote.  Do you agree or disagree with this historian's perspective? Why or why not?

The areas that were affected by the drought were the western third of Kansas, Southeastern Colorado, the Oklahoma Panhandle, the northers two-thirds of the Texas Panhandle, and northeastern New Mexico.the Dust Bowl caused it. I agree but also disagree with the author. I do agree that people were going through life especially in the 20s with careless disregard of nature's limits but I do not agree that people were not thinking about the future. I think that they were thinking about the future however, they were not thinking in the right direction.

Read about Mass Exodus from the Plains (Links to an external site.).  Where does the migration of people out of the Dust Bowl rank in terms of other migrations in US History?  What made life hard for people once they arrived in California?

TheThe dust bowl was the largest migration in American History. Once they arrived in California, life was hard because they did not know how to work the more modern farms. They were unfamiliar with land and the plants and were unsure how to do things. Also, pay was not very good. Most even gave up farming in general. 

20 min Entertainment and Radio Research.

I did my research on radio entertainment in the 1930s. This time period was referred to the old time radio era. This lasted from early 1920s to the 1950s. Radio was used for many things at the time such as war, advertisement, and entertainment. Because of the radio, people were able to tune into their favorite programs. The was live drama, comedy, and music. There were classical musical programs such as: The voice of Firestone and the Bell Telephone hour. The metropolitan Opera radio broadcast was also very popular. Popular Songwriters such as George Gershwin were also featured on the radio.However, there was no program dedicated to classical music until later. Country music was also popular and so was radio comedy. The First soap opera was Clara, Lu, and Em in 1930. It premiered in Chicago. Some of the outstanding radio dramas were 26 by Corwin, NBC short story, and Arch Oboler's Plays. The first commercially licensed radio station in America.

     One of the most popular American radio soap operas was Painted Dreams. It was the first daytime radio station in America. It premiered in October 20, 1930 and ended in July 1943. Iran Phillips not only wrote it but also acted in it. The show followed the relationship of Irish working widow mother Moynihan and her unmarried daughter. Here is some of the dialogue: 

(Kitchen: Irene and Sue arguing. Mrs. Moynihan preparing breakfast.)
IRENE: I tell you, Sue, it won’t work. I’ve never worn that shade of orchid in all my life. I’d look like a perfect washout. Besides, that’s your very best special occasion dress. I wouldn’t think of taking it.SUE: Don’t be silly. A wedding is a special occasion, isn’t it? And as long as I won’t need to wear it, you might just as well. If you’re a bridesmaid, you’ve got to look the part, kid.IRENE: But I don’t look good in that color. I’d look faded or something.SUE: Cracked ice! You can’t tell. You’ve never had it on. Gee, with gold slippers and a gold turban hat, you’d be a wow! Wouldn’t she, Mrs. Moynihan?MRS.: Won't you be wearing it, Sue?SUE: Why no; there's no reasons for my dressing up. I'm not in the wedding party. And I think that it would be just right for Irene, if there were a few tucks taken in around the waist. Anyway, it would save her from buying a dress.IRENE: Well, who says I don't want to buy a dress? It's about time I was getting a new formal, anyhow. I haven't got a rag that's fit to be seen.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_Dreams
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old-time_radio 

Chapter 24 Speech

     The 1920s? The Roaring 20s? Or the New era? Call it whatever you want, but the 20s were perhaps the most notable time period in American history. This was not only because America was experiencing a great deal of economic growth and development, but it was also because the 20s was a time where new ideas could finally be heard. It was time for change and people were finally starting to realize it. Although there were many important parts to this time period, the victory of the modernists, the demonstration of African American Pride, the fail of prohibition, the fight for birth control, and the image of the flapper were the most important parts of this time period because each one clearly demonstrates the idea of change in this new era and also showed how people started to stray away from tradition and presumed cultural values.
     Many people believed that that the bible should be interpreted literally. There were even laws that were passed to prohibit any teachings in public schools that went against the Bible. The victory of the modernists proved that not all-religious dogma was subject to only one interpretation. People tried as hard as they could to keep tradition alive, but these traditions were tested daily with new ideas that could not be ignored. Because of this victory, new ideas about higher beings could be introduced to society and allow people to think freely about their religious beliefs.

     Another important part of this time period was the demonstration of African American pride. In Harlem, NY, the Harlem Renaissance was a place where black artists could flourish. Black artists noticed the presence of racism and immediately began to work towards change. These amazing artists and musicians did everything they could to prove their worthiness and richness of their own culture and heritage so people could finally accept them.

     The fail of prohibition was also one of the most important parts of this time period because the people were finally taking back what the government took away from them. People not only began to rebel but also continued to push the boundaries of certain laws in order for change to occur.

     The fight for birth control was very important because it finally gave women the freedom and recognition that they deserved. Margaret Sanger was the pioneer of this movement. She saw that a change in society needed to occur because women should have the right to control their own bodies. Not the government or society. This is how the flapper image came to be. Women were able to drink, smoke, dance, and wear whatever they wanted. They expressed themselves thorough multiple things and a liberated lifestyle. 

     The 20s was a time for change and a lot of things did change because people were dedicated to making the world a better place to live in. And these five things are clearly the most important parts of this era because they demonstrate the idea of change perfectly. 

Mini Book Review

Whoot Whoot Advertising, written by the prestigious Raquel Scherlis, is a fun and exciting story about the life of one of the founders of Time Magazine, Briton Hadden. This new novel takes you on a journey with Briton that tells you all about the things that go on behind the scenes at Time magazine! This humorous character really gives the reader a feel of the time period because of her liveliness and playful personality! A MUST read for readers everywhere!- Alexa

Technology and Economic Growth, written by the lesser known author Brooks Johnson, is a novel all about the life of Jenifer, a young woman living in the time of Economic growth. This book is very informational and very fun! I recommend it for readers everywhere! - Alexa

Mini Book Project

For this project, I wrote a mini book about the Harlem Renaissance using 12 slang words from the 1920s. My book is about a jazz singer named Joe who meets a flapper named Darla and they fall in love.

WWI Poster Analysis

1. What do you already know about propaganda?

I know that propaganda was used in both World Wars, mainly on posters, as a way to not only get people to join the army but to also persuade people to pay and donate to troops. They often have absurd pictures but with a catchy phrase written on it to distract but to also be memorable. They are also directed towards the reader in order to make them feel as if the poster is talking directly about them.

2. Definition of propaganda:

Propaganda is the spreading of ideas, information, or rumors for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a case, or a person.

4. In the first image, the very first thing that catches my attention is the words children and die. The picture is very dark and has almost no color. However as you look toward the bottom, in bright red letters are the words: Buy more liberty Bonds. On the poster, there are two mothers. They look as if they are crying and pleading for help. There are also dead or injured babies in their hands. This caught my eye because of how sad it looked. Around the mothers and children is a town that looks like it has been raided because of all of the dishes and house supplies surrounding them. The next poster is a yellow poster that on the very top and bottom of it has the words: His Liberty Bond Paid for in Full. In the middle of the poster is a dead soldier who I assume has been killed in combat (because of the gun in his hands) laying on top of the rock. Underneath the dead soldier is a paragraph basically expelling how if you buy liberty bonds you will be saving more young lives. At the top of the last poster are words written in red letters: Remember Your First Thrill of American Liberty. At the bottom in blue letters are: Your Duty- Bay United States Government Bonds 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917. In the middle of the poster is a drawing of immigrants coming to New York City on a boat with Lady Liberty as their view. There is also a color scheme of red white and blue, even on the immigrants clothing.

5. The artists intention in the first poster was to make the audience feel sad and responsible for the sadness in the picture. In order to do this he focused on something as depressing as dead babies in order to promote Liberty Bonds. In the second poster, I feel that the artist is doing almost the exact same thing as in the first photo. I feel that the artist knows that people already feel sympathy towards young men who are at war fighting for their country. By making this the main focus point of the poster, it would make people feel sympathetic to the cause and feel as if they need to buy bonds in order to save the loves of many young people. I think that the authors intentions for the last poster was to bring up emotions about how coming to America felt to them. I think his intentions were also to make immigrants feel as if  they were true Americans and that if they bought Liberty Bonds they would be helping Americans.

6. I think that in the first poster, the artists was trying to target a more family based audience such as mothers and fathers. I think this because the main focus was babies and in order to make someone feel bad about something the artist needed to add an element that would make people feel sympathy. In the second poster, the artist was trying to target an older audience. This is because the photo of the dead young person on the front was meant to make people feel very sad. Also, older people could have sons fighting in the war which could cause them to also have sympathy to the cause therefore they buy Liberty Bonds just as the poster suggests. In the last poster, the audience that the artist is trying to target is the people who have immigrated to the United States. This is because a lot of immigrant long to be like normal American citizens which means that they will do whatever it takes to feel apart of the nation.

7. How comfortable are you with the idea of the federal government spending tax dollars to create a propaganda campaign to convince you of something?

I do believe that it was a smart way of getting a point across, however I do not agree with the government spending tax dollars to do so. They are taking American's money only to force them to think a certain way and to not have a mind of their own.

8. Why do you think the federal government felt it was necessary to invest in producing propaganda posters during WWI?

I think that the federal government felt it was necessary to invest in propaganda posters during WWI because it was the easiest way to get a menage across a wide range of people a lot faster and more efficiently. Also I think that they did it in order to reach out to a wide range of audiences in a more relatable way. I also believe that the federal government invested in propaganda because it was a easy way to get everyone thinking the same way.

Progressivism Group Thesis Statement

Alexa, Sarah Margaret, and I have combined our progressive topics to form a thesis.

Alexa- electric chair
Sarah Margaret- Brooklyn Bridge
Cameron- "The Jungle" and Pure Food Laws

Thesis: "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair (focusing on pure food laws), the Brooklyn Bridge, and the electric chair, while very different, all have the intentions of moving forward, improving life, and increasing efficiency during the Progressive era.

Conclusion: Pure food laws were created after "The Jungle" exposed the horrible conditions of the meatpacking industry, which attracted publicity and investigations of all food industries. The Brooklyn Bridge created a large, new, and efficient way of transportation in the city. The electric chair began to be used as a form of execution because it was thought to be a quick and relatively painless death and created a more effective and efficient way to deal with criminals. All of these progressive reforms are connected by their goal to improve efficiency and life of the people.

Multiple Choice Answer Key

1. A

2. C

3. C

Thesis for Progressivism Topics

The different theses that each group came up with:

1. New expectations for government to act like a referee, promoting fairness. 

2. People solved problems but also their solutions sometimes created new problems. 

3. People looked to the government to protect the physical safety/ health/ lives of citizens from a variety of modern threats. 

4. People wanted to really improve society, moving forward, improving people's minds/health/ and lifestyle. 

Grand Thesis: 

In the progressive era, many new reforms were made to help protect and improve society's everyday life by focusing on the health and well being of humans. However, while solving issues they created new ones on which people looked to the government to serve as a referee to solve and promote fairness among individuals. Solving these issues helped introduce new technologies and helped the society move forward as a whole. 

Multiple Choice CH.21 Questions

1. The Muckrakers are described as all of the following except that they were...:

a. journalist who started extreme rivalries with important political figures by telling lies and distorted information about them and "mucked up" false information about leaders.
b. journalist who published information about important issues that was happening behind the scenes that the public needed to hear.
c. journalist who reported news on economic issues and social issues that they found unfair or cruel.
d. journalist who inspired others to speak up about their opinions on problems happening around them.
e. journalist who raised awareness to the public about corruption in the 20th century.

2. Which of the following is false about the "new woman"?

a. disapproved of marriage so they could be whatever they wanted to in life regardless of gender role.
b. most were factory workers due to less need of a woman figure in the house because advances in technology and education reforms.
c. They lived longer lives because having less children made them healthier and stronger.
d. more women wanted divorces
e. spent less time at home because they were out working for an income.

3. The author states that some less impactful reasons for support of women's suffrage was:

a.  It would help other movements because women were a huge percentage of the population
b. They had qualities from working at home for so many years that seemed useful for the public.
c. Because other minorities were given opportunities there was not any reason to hold back the women.
d. because they claimed their maternal influence, helped curb the aggressiveness of men
e. it would not effect or challenge the roles of men because they would stay on their "separate sphere"

The Electric Chair and how it is related to Progressivism

What were you able to discover, learn, and understand about the electric chair by examining primary source evidence in the newspaper archive? What did this topic have to do with Progressivism as a movement in the late 19th century/ early 20th century America?

Newspaper Links:
- Summary of Electric Chair 
- Wheeling Register- West Virginia, Wheeling, May 04, 1890 “ A New Era in Capital Punishment”

  New York Herald- New York, New York, July 24, 1889 "A Fight between Two Electrical Companies" 

     In my earlier research, I learned that the progressive era was the era of progress. It was a time when multiple economic and social issues were being debated and industrialization was being introduced to America. Many new reforms were made that affected people's everyday life. Some were happy with these changes and some were not. New technology was also being presented during this time period to make life easier for Americans. The telephone, the light bulb, and many more new inventions were rapidly being introduced to Americans in order to advance their lives in a positive way. However, some of these inventions were very controversial and not everyone saw them as a positive change. One of these inventions were the electric chair. The electric chair relates to progressivism because it was a new form of technology and was controversial throughout America. 

     The electric chair came to be in the late 19th century. Before then, most executions were done by hanging those who were deemed guilty. If one correctly, hanging someone was relatively painless and quick. However, if done wrong, it took a long time and was very painful for the rope's victim. Many Americans saw it as torture and wanted to find a new way to execute that seemed more humane. In 1886, the state of New York created a commission to do this. They researched and tested many methods but decided on electricity because it seemed the quickest and the least painful. In 1888 they passed the law that replaced hanging with electricity. This is how the idea of the electric chair came to be. Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse came up with two different methods in order to make this work. Eventually everyone came into agreement that Westinghouse's method was the cheapest and most efficient. Westinghouse came up with a new form of technology that had two alternating currents that would send multiple volts of electricity through them. I began to want to know more about the construction of the electric chair so I looked at the Wheeling Register on the article entitled " A New Era in Capital Punishment". This article gave a pretty good description of the chair. The chid was designed to look like a recliner. It had a footstool like a barber shop chair and a cap on it, similar to hair dryers in salons today, that had wires in it. Along the back of the chair was more wires that sent thousands of volts through it. It was a single chair in a cell that was made out of hardwood. It also contained multiple leather straps. This chair was a new form of technology because not only did it contain the two alternating currents but i was a quick process to end ones life that seemed the most humane to many people. However, there were some who did no think that was the case.

     The electric chair's first victim was a murderer named William Kemmler. The first time they placed him in the chair and flipped the switch it took 15 seconds for the electricity to fully pass through his body. They thought he was dead but then he started breathing again. They had to try another time in order to end his life. Their predictions of a fast and painless death had not been right. Many began to wonder if this was humane. People began to dislike the electric chair and many articles were written about the electric chair that made it seem very bad. After rethinking the technology the electric chair is still around today but is not the most popular or liked form of execution because many thought that it was torture. 

A photo of William Kemmler facing his death as the first victim of the electric chair

The first ever electric chair

William Kemmler