Progressive Era - The Jungle

Progressive Era - The Jungle

By: Alec Winsor

1. What qualities did Sinclair believe that a person must have to succeed in Packingtown?

• He believed that the person is a knave, a liar, and a deceiver.

2. According to the passage, what is the plant owners main goal?

• All the plant owner cared about was making as much money for himself as possible, no matter how bad working conditions were.

3. What does Sinclair mean when he says, "…there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar…?"

• It means that nobody in the factory cared about anyone else, all they cared about was themselves and the money they were making.

When it was published, The Jungle was so shocking that it launched a government investigation of the meatpacking industry.  The investigation eventually led to the establishment of laws regulating the industry.  Using the internet, research an area that our government enforces now (meat packing, environment, pharmaceuticals) and report how this is enforced today.

• With global warming, pollution, and growth of industry happening in the world, people are not very concerned with the conservation of the environment, so the government had to intervene. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), enforces environmental laws by using administrative and civil actions, along with traditional police-type enforcement. 

 Source: http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/391.html

Imperialism

U.S. Imperialism

By: Alec Winsor

               Imperialism, by definition, is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries. In my opinion, the U.S. should be an imperialist nation, only if it is necessary, meaning that we should only imperialize another country if it is crucial for economic or military gain, or is needed to protect the country from a possible threat to the population. But in 1900, imperialism was a good idea for the U.S., because it helped it expand its territory as a newer country, and assert itself to other countries. Not everyone had this viewpoint of imperialism in the 1900's, some people thought the idea was wrong, and others were in the middle, liking ideas from both sides.

          In 1900, three of the most influential voices on the idea of imperialism were  Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan, war hero/vice-presidential running mate Theodore Roosevelt, and Senator Orville H. Platt. Not all three of them had the same thoughts on imperialism: Bryan did not approve of it, Roosevelt, with his Anglo-Saxon viewpoints, liked the idea, while Platt thought that making a compromise would be the answer. In the presidential election of 1900, William Jennings tried to appeal to the anti-imperialists by relating to Filipinos to early American colonists and saying that they should be given a chance to develop themselves. On the other side, Theodore Roosevelt stated in response to Bryan that, with the Filipinos being underdeveloped, they are unfit to govern themselves, and the U.S. needs to supervise and govern them so that all the work of ridding "Spanish tyranny" from the islands does not go to waste. On the issue of what to do with Cuba, president McKinley and others thought the Cubans did not have the ability to govern themselves.

                         

Lynching

Lynching

By: Alec Winsor

               Lynching is a type of murder carried out by a mob by hanging, burning at the stake, or shooting,in order to punish an offender, or to intimidate, manipulate, or control a group of people. It is used more frequently in times of economic or social tension, by a politically dominant party to suppress social challengers. Though it is used in many different countries, it is known best for its use in the United States southern region, after slavery was abolished and Black Americans were given the right to vote. 

               In America, lynching was really only prominent during the 19th and 20th century, after slavery was abolished. White mobs used it to spread terror through out the Black American population. The whites did it because they feared the rise of prominence of the blacks, as far as economic power and their rights. Even living with the fear of being lynched, facing segregation, and dealing with Jim Crow laws, the Black population was able to overcome and succeed by actively protesting, creating many organizations, including The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and voting to pass anti-lynching laws and bills.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/peopleevents/e_lynch.html

Workers of the Central Pacific Railroad

Workers of the Central Pacific Railroad
By: Alec Winsor

               
               In 1850, Chinese workers arrived in California, with hopes of escaping the poverty and overpopulation in their homeland. At first, they worked in the mines in 5 year segments then started to find other jobs, working as laborers, fishermen, and domestic workers. As more and more Chinese came, they started to face prejudice and laws limiting their opportunity, placed by the government. Slowly over time, more and more Chinese workers were getting hired because the contractors discovered that they had a better work ethic and did more than the Irishmen, along with working for significantly less. They also were healthier because they ate nutritious food, bathed, and drank purified tea and water.

What do you think the attitudes of the owners of the Transcontinental Rail Road were about their workers?  Who do you think they hired?

• The owners probably preferred the white Irishmen over the Chinese at first, but probably started liking the Chinese more after they proved their worth, so started hiring more of 

them.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-cprr/

The Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg
By: Alec Winsor 

          The battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the entire Civil War and was by far, the costliest. It took place in Adams County, Pennsylvania from between July 1st and 3rd in the year 1863. There was a total of 165,620 soldiers engaged in this battle, 93,921 of the Union and 71,699 of the Confederate forces, and an estimated total of 51,112 casualties. In the end, Union Major General George G. Meade brought his army to victory over Confederate General Robert E. Lee on the 3rd day, July 3rd, 1863.

          According to common belief, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought over a shoe supply, but that is not true. The battle really took place at Gettysburg because General Lee wanted to take the fighting away from Virginia, and and it was the perfect place due to its road system. He also wanted to threaten northern cities by winning a battle on their own soil. On this first day, the 30,000 Confederates ultimately defeated the 20,000 Union solders, causing them to fall back to Cemetery and Culp's Hill. On the second day, The Union defended a range of hills near Gettysburg and held strong all day through attempted Confederate assaults. On the third and final day, July 3rd, 1863, the fighting kept raging on Culp's when 12,000 Confederates charged the Union's center line (Pickett's Charge), but were repelled and forced into a full retreat. A total of 51,000 soldiers from both sides were killed, wounded or missing in action by the end of the battle. Four months later, President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg's Soldiers National Cemetery to honor the Union soldiers who fought, and to explain the intent of the war in the Gettysburg Address. 

This map shows movement of troops during different times.

Sources: http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html?tab=facts
                http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/assets/ten-facts-about/ten-facts-about-                                   gettysburg.html