Three Strikes and You're Out!

Last week, I was dreading having to write my rough draft because it was just one of those weeks where I had something to do for every class! Well, it turns out that it went a lot better than I expected. I was aiming to get my whole paper written but time did not allow for that to happen but I was pretty proud that I got four pages written in one sitting. I must admit that the hardest and most time consuming part of the paper was finding the 20 sources, primary and secondary. Secondary sources are a lot easier to come across but I accessed the archives of the Chicago Defender and was able to get five articles. Sometimes it is hard to apply these sources to my paper but they do help me get some insight into the time period and the baseball industry.
I definitely learned a lot from writing this paper so far. I am happy that Dr. Chambliss told me I was off to a good start because at least that gave me encouragement. I was not really sure what to think of the material I had written but I guess it sounded better than I expected. Well, at least I have a solid thesis! :) I guess I just need to take it one step at a time.
I decided to discuss the topic of baseball in regards to racial segregation and gender inequality. Throughout the course of 50 years, African Americans were striving to find their place in the baseball industry, especially the major leagues. Women were given the chance to explore the baseball diamond as many men went off to war in the 1940s. Baseball owners were worried that the industry would lose popularity and not survive the war. Well, obviously as we see now, baseball maintained a great fan base.
On a side note, I must admit that I love the Encyclopedia of Chicago! It is a great source for secondary sources! YAY!

Paper

This past week, i began to work on my paper. Unfortunately,after getting a lot written, I sent the title page alone in as my rough draft. This sucks, because now my professor thinks I didn't do any work on my paper. This is not true, I just did not realize that I sent the wrong document. Anyway, what I wrote on deals with Jazz, as I believe very little is told on the effect Jazz had on America. This to me is amazing as Jazz had many social impacts early on, even creating a subculture in America that we associate with it. In a way, Jazz to the 1920's is much like what rap is to the 1990's. While there is a large following of this type of music, there is also a faction of the population that finds the music to be something destructive to society. Both also have deep ties with the underworld, such as with drugs and prostitution. They have both spawned new vocabularies that are unique to the culture which followed. In this way and many more we can draw similarities from both.

Big Bill v. Dever

This past week I completed my rough draft for my research paper. I decided to write about William E. Dever and Big Bill Thompson approach to dealing with prohibition. These two mayors had extremely different views on dealing with Amendment 18th. Big Bill Thompson was very corrupt; he developed a close friendship with Al Capone. Through my research, I discovered that when Big Bill died they found millions of dollars. The police never were able to trace it back to Al Capone but everyone is pretty sure that is where the money came from.
William E. Dever had a completely opposite approach in dealing with the 18th Amendment of Prohibition. Instead of aiding the gangsters in Chicago, he cracked down completely. He strictly enforced the law and stated at one of his conferences that not enforcing the law is being a traitor to the United States. What I found most interesting about Dever is that he personally did not agree with Prohibition.
Before I began my research, I thought it was going to be very difficult to find primary sources on these two mayors; however, I soon discovered that the New York Times database is a great website for primary sources. Also, thanks to Daniela’s pervious post, I found great primary and secondary sources on the Chicago Encyclopedia. Lastly, JSTOR and ProQuest provide great secondary sources.
I still have a lot of work to do on my research paper. I need to cite all of my sources, as well as, edit my entire paper. I was able to get a great start on this paper but I need more information and need to add about page to complete it. I appreciate the notes that Professor Chambliss emailed me about my rough draft and should be able to complete my paper with in the next two weeks.

Progress of the Research Paper and Other History-Related Projects

The past week definitely marked some significant progress in a number of projects for our class. I was able to further work on my research paper about Chicago and managed to compile all the information I will need to write the paper, including all twenty primary and secondary sources. In my last blog, I mentioned a number of websites that are especially useful in finding sources, but here are two web pages that have helped me significantly in citing these sources (in addition to the style guide we have gotten from the history department): The first page is a general citation guide that explains how Chicago citations are structured and how a variety of secondary sources are to be cited (much easier than the reference book you can find in the library) >http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html<. The second site is from the Library of Congress and gives detailed information of how to cite all sorts of primary sources (newspapers, pictures, videos etc) in different citation formats, including Chicago (>http://memory.loc.gov/learn/start/cite/index.html<). Using these websites in addition to the style guide we have been given proved much easier and quicker than using the confusing reference book in the library.

Regarding the actual argument of my paper, I have a thesis (as discussed in last blog). The second part of this thesis has proven to be somewhat more difficult to prove than the first. In the second part I am arguing that World War I breaking out sped up German-American integration into Chicagoan society. It has been really difficult distinguishing to what extent this is process of immigration was stimulated by anti-German sentiment associated with the war (German-Americans feeling the need to denounce their cultural heritage) or the decline in / halt to German immigration due to the war (the argument that German cultural institutions could not preserve their ethnicity and traditions because they relied on a continued influx of German immigrants to do so and that immigration flow was halted by WWI).

In this past week, I have also been to the Fire Department and scanned five primary historical documents. The majority of my documents deal with the Great Mall Fire in Winter Park, but others deal with fire safety in the immediate Winter Park area (such as adequately equipping a nursing home with fire safety measures). As I continue to find out more about these photographs and artifacts in the following week, my next blog will deal with their historical significance.

Metropolis

Created in 1927, Metropolis is supposed to take place in the future in the year of 2026. What the movie really emphasizes is the great gap between the rich and poor as the poor work tirelessly in underground factories, while the rich prsoper off of the poors hard work which is located above ground. One of the main things the movie points out which was a concern during the 1920's were labor hours. Throughout most of the movie the workers are worked extremely hard even to points where some of them die from working too hard. Along with this notion is the fear of industrialization during this time as many feared the growth of a industrial nation as it was making the U.S. something that so many tried to leave when they left European states. It decreased the amount of freedom people had and it made work more like slave labor as they were treated horribly.
Politically there is a class struggle between the rich and poor, and class identity becomes really defined. Economically a class struggle is seen once again between the rich and poor as the rich seem to prosper over everything the lower class is doing. The idea of industrialization is also seen as a bad thing as it is portrayed as a very powerful and almost unstoppable entity that will only cause chaos and destruction. Obviously, the process of industrialization isn't something that has completely torn up the United States but it has definitely come with some costs, especially to minority groups as portrayed in the film.

Chapter 22: Imperialism and U.S. Power

During this time the idea of expanding the U.S. on a global level became one of Americas prime goals. Many people were involved in this process not just for economic reasons but for religion as well. Protestants were among the religous groups most known for doing so as there were also imperialists and business men involved in this exanpansion as well.
President Roosevelt was the main iniator of this process as he felt that in order to become a more prosperous nation we must conquer and control new territories and resources to become a global power. Not only did we establish better relations with other countries at this time but we made trade easier by creating the panama canal which allowed for more efficient transportation of goods from one part of the U.S. to the other.
It was also during this time that WWI broke out in which the U.S. really gained power from as they emerged as the new global leader. No longer was the the world multipolar but rather bipolar as the U.S. and Russia became the new global powers.

Chapter 20: Industrial Society

During the times of Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Ford economic growth in the United States was heralded among all other countries as new innovations like the assembly line, mass production, and unskilled workers allowed for industrial grwoth to occur at astonishing amounts. However with the rise of an indutrial society also came the rise in the gap between the rich and poor. Especially on immigrants was this gap seen as many were exploited or were denied jobs based on their race and ethnicity. For example the "Chinese Exclusion Act" declared that there would be no more immigration from China as people started to fear that their jobs were being taken.
The idea of eugenics during this time was also seen. Known as "quasi-science," it supported the idea of racial hierarchy. The goal was to increase the fitness of a nation by increasing birth and immigration amongst the fit and decreasing the amount of people who were unfit.

Chapter 19: HIST 143: Summary

Chapter 19 went over the "Century of Important People," where in addition to that it also went over some crucial events that led to Amrican prosperity into the 19th and 20th century. One of the main factors that contibuted to this rise in economic growth was an increase in a growing middle, but was also due to new innovations, inventors, and industrial entrepreneurs that became to go on the rise as well.
As these events took steam so did the railroad industry that allowed for transportation of goods, services, and people to be spread across the nation. Among the top entrepreneurs in this was a man named J.P. Morgan who establishes a huge trust in in the railroad system in addition to steel, which ends up bringing about a mass amount of centralization and power to many.
Another entrepreneur was Rockeffeller who made his living off the oil refining business. He also created new types of innovation like new management styles such as the "horizontal business" that basically monopolized everything in in oil refining. In contrast to this process another growing business person know as Carnegie controlled every part of the steel business through his mangament system know as "vertical integration". It was this system that allowed him to control everything from top to bottom of his business.
With these new innovations came more production and efficiency. Profits were increased and costs were low. All of these things led to America becoming what it is today but socially it would cause a large rift between the rich and poor as new innovations have the ability to create tensions among many people but especially employers and employees.

Jazz and politics

To me this period in American history, from the end of the First World War to the beginning of the second, has some of the most interesting times in the United States. Reasoning for this? To start this was the time when one of America’s greatest musical traditions began to grow and develop; it was in this period of time that Jazz became big. To tell the truth I was disappointed by the lack of information there was on this in either of the two books. For starters, Chicago was Jazz’s second home, where after New Orleans it grew into a national and international popular music style.

Another thing that caught my attention about this era is the importance of the mayors. It seems that the mayors of cities such as Chicago held a lot of power at this time, and were well known by the citizens of the city. I have no idea how much power mayors hold now, but they do not seem to have the same amount of power or publicity as I do not even know who our mayor in Orlando is or what he or she has done. This also includes the increase of the importance of the workers in politics, as politicians began to target them and their needs instead of the upper and middle class.

Of course, another trend in politics began around the Great Depression. When FDR was elected into office, the government became much more involved in the lives of the citizens. This is something I believe can be linked to today, where with Obama in office the government plans on making the United States a more socialized country. The times are similar to the great depression (although not as harsh). Whether or not a more socialized country is good or not is of course a sticky conversation, with America’s distaste for communism, but as the economy goes down, it seems that the government takes a larger role in providing for its people.

This change in politics, along with the growth of one of my favorite music styles gives me great appreciation for this era.

the great depression

In the year 1929 the a Great Depression hit in America. The cause is not sure, but could have been a couple of different possibilities. During this time unemployment rose sky high. Some of the causes could by that people were buying and selling stock and only putting a percent down of the total price of the stock. So when companies started demanding the money paid for the stock the buyers could not come up with the money. They had only expected to have to turn around and sell it for a bigger price, not pay for it in full. Another thing was the housing industry in Florida. There was a boom in land being sold in Florida, and people were looking to buy. Much like today, people began buying above and beyond what they could really afford, like the stocks, and thought they would just be able to sell it in return for a bigger profit. Some people began buying multiple properties with no intent on ever coming to live, and some corrupt bankers began selling the same land multiple times because the knew people were only buying them for profit. Then when people began to realize the fraud involved they stopped wanting the land, therefore people stopped buying, and the people that owned the land could not pay the banks for it. Also in the stock market, some people began selling stock for non-existent companies, and things. This was fraud in the stock market.

When the Depression set in, Hoover was president. And as a classic conservative president he did not want the government to step in and intervene. Instead he wanted to give encouragement and helpful advise to those in those in need. This caused people that were deeply affected by it to hate him. Those who were homeless made little 'towns' out of cardboard and called them 'hoovevilles' after the president who they despised.

So Franklin Dealeno Roosevelt ran for president and he won in a landslide because he was an advocate of huge government intervention to help sitituations like that. Being a classic democrat in favor of huge government control of everything he emplemented many reform programs to help get the country out of the depression.

Running Back-and-Forth

Last Wednesday morning, Nicole and I were determined to get our scanning work done. After class we made our way to my car and headed off to the Winter Park Fire Station. Driving was a lot faster than walking all that distance so we figured it was the most time effective way of getting things done. Once we were in the fire station, we made sure to ask for directions so we did not waste any time. We both discussed the best method of getting this project done and we concluded that articles made a lot more sense because the information is already written out, it is just a matter of summarizing the information.
We both had five articles in hand and made sure to note the materials we took so no one duplicated the articles we were about to scan. Of course, it had to a fairly windy day so we were worried about our articles flying everyone but we both held a tight grip on them. Then we got back in the car and headed to school but there was no parking! Great! Now we were going to have to walk from the parking garage to the library in the wind...not good! Well, we made it there in no time.
The scanning area was rather crowded but with no one who was scanning anything. There was a couple computers open but one computer would not turn on and the scanner attached to the other computer would not turn on. Plus we both are not Mac experts so the directions were hard to understand when trying to use a Mac. Nicole worked her magic and asked a girl to trade computers with us. She was not very happy but the sign clearly says that we have priority over other people who are not scanning materials.
Once we finally got started everything started to run smoothly. We borrowed Jump Drives from the Library, which was very handy! Just in case anyone forgets their Jump Drive, know that the library will lend you one for 24 hours! Also know that the articles are not in the best condition so sometimes the scans will not look perfect. We both agreed that we gave it our best shot with the materials we had in hand! I think the hardest and most time consuming part is making the trip to the fire house and then scanning the material. Once you get all the scanning done, you can do the summaries on your own time! :)

Research on the History of Chicago

This past week I have been focused on making progress in the research for our paper about Chicago. The topic of my paper will be the German immigrant community in Chicago between 1880/1890 and World War I. Even though I know that the main focus of our paper is supposed to be from 1900 onward, I am expanding the time frame to this earlier time period because the vast influx of immigrants, particularly German immigrants, was during the two decades before 1900. German immigration to Chicago encompassed a number of social groups from Germany, ranging from some academics to mainly skilled craft labor and industrial labor. Given the vast scope of German immigrants and the richness of German American institutions in Chicago, trying to portray the entire nature of German American immigration in Chicago would be too ambitious of an endeavor for a paper of five pages.

Therefore the research I conducted within the past week was focused on narrowing the subject down and finding a thesis. One thing that has been catching my eye while reading our textbook and also reading the “City of Big Shoulders” book is that these sources generally point to the fact that German immigrants where more widely accepted by American society than Southern European or Irish immigrants. These ‘textbook-like’ sources also assert that the lack of resentment towards German immigrants had to do with the fact that they adapted more readily to American society than other immigrant groups. While I can certainly agree that up to World War I, German immigrants were received well in Chicago, my research and reading of scholarly articles about the German immigrant community and findings from primary sources do not necessarily support the claim that German immigrant groups assimilated faster to American life than other groups. My paper will disprove this claim, showing that the German immigrants led a social and cultural life almost entirely restricted to the replica of German institutions in Chicago and that they lived secluded from Americans and / or other immigrant groups. I will show that the proclaimed “fast integration” into American culture and life did not actually take place until the onset of World War I, when anti-German sentiment and propaganda prompted German immigrants to renounce their own cultural agenda.

At the beginning, finding resources was a rather tedious process. My initial assumption that the fact that German is my first language and would make research easy for me did not necessarily hold true, because either the German sources I found were not accessible through our library or interlibrary loan, and many German sources were from an earlier time period or off-subjects. The majority of my scholarly articles now are some form of collaboration between German and American university scholars. Even though I had placed my interlibrary loan request before Spring Break, I am still waiting on some sources. In general, I can say that for very basic information and a starting point, the reference section was my best bet – and there are many more useful reference books besides the ones we were shown in the library session.

Regarding primary sources the Internet has proven very useful. Most of my findings come from the digital collection of the Library of Congress, specifically its “American Memory” or domestic history collection (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html). The collection is organized by topics, which makes searching far easier. The Chicago Historical Society also has what they call “History Files” on the most important subjects in Chicago History. It did not necessarily help with a topic as specific as mine but is a great source for more widely known events. The page also offers a photo gallery, compiled bibliographies and historic files regarding the topics (http://www.chicagohs.org/history/). Another very valuable source is the Encyclopedia of Chicago, which offers information on all kinds of topics as well as links to primary sources (http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/).

Post WWI Race Issues

If I were to post about the scanning project it would be drastically short, seeing as I haven't started yet. Instead, I would like touch on the racial climate following World War I. Once America joined the Allied effort in the first world war, the majority of middle and lower class workers answered the call to battle. This created a large void in jobs, and people who were early pushed away, were welcome in the work place. Immigrants for one, were finally able to gain more representation in the workplace. The demand for workers brushed away racial preference, and immigrants saw a significant rise in job placement. Southern blacks also took advantage, spurred by the push of racial discrimination in the south and the pull of higher wages in the north. African Americans in the South were able to find jobs, but their wages were significantly lower then there white counterparts. What they made in a normal work month were sometimes matched by a normal day's wage in the North. As more and more African Americans followed the Great Migration, they began to settle in Chicago's southern district. The African American population in Chicago doubled during WWI, which would fuel a housing crisis once the veterans returned. Following WWI, veterans returned to an overcrowded Chicago and a strangled work force. Angered by the prospect of competition for their old jobs, violent riots broke out all over the city.

Parking on Campus is Horrible

This past Wednesday, Felicia and I went to the Winter Park Fire Station to begin our scanning project. When we arrived at the fire station, the employees there were very nice and pointed us to the room with the scrapbooks in them. Felicia and I began to look through the scrapbooks for newspaper articles that were somewhat interesting and had lots of information on them. We recorded which articles we scanned in the binder in order to prevent a classmate from scanning the same article.
I selected five different articles from five different time periods. The earliest article I selected was from 1967 about Winter Park adopting higher pay wages for fire fighters. The article states that Orlando patrolman have experienced a higher increase in wages then Winter Park patrolman – “Orlando has set a starting salary of $5,678 for a patrolman with increase over five years to $6,988”. The second article I scanned was about the troubled times Winter Park faced in the mid 1970’s. The article explains the political missteps that city officials have taken during the mid 1970’s. The author of the article continues and states that at some point these city officials even the city commissioners will eventually need to take responsibility for the actions. The Winter Park Fire Station buys new super trucks in 1982 and then two years later one of those new trucks accidentally hits a man while responding to an emergency call. Lastly, a 1998 article, “Anti-terrorism training is next wave for firefighters” highlights all of the different responsibilities that fire departments have.
Overall, the experience of scanning was frustrating due to the scanners not working and the lack of parking on campus. The people at the library did assist us; however, they were not able to fix the majority of the problems that we faced. I wish the process was faster and less frustrating; however, we successfully scanned all of our articles.

African Americans in Chicago, Chapter 9

It is interesting that it took a World War to ignite black rights in the north. With the loss of Anglo-Americans to the war front and the decline of immigrants to America, African Americans enjoyed job opportunities. The Great Migration consisted of southern blacks moving north for racial equality and higher wages. So many African Americans flooded the “Black Belt” that they had become influential in many areas of life. Jazz music preformed by predominately black music players allowed for interracial conversing. Politically African Americans held a large percentage of the mayoral vote, influencing the electing of blacks to offices. A race riot in 1919 symbolized the power African Americans had gained by flocking to Chicago. Finally blacks had defended themselves against white racists and were not ignored. In Chicago African Americans had enjoyed many more privileges than they had in the south such as schooling, voting rights, job opportunities, and entertainment.

Digital History, The Winter Park Fire Department, and Student Action

Despite what people might believe, this is a blog about the digital project for HIS 143. The problem is that students work on their own schedule. Without a concentrated effort that forces them to think about the project or events directly linked to the project--no project posts. They are required to post however, so we get some very interesting post on the weekly readings. As always, this a failure of the professor (it always the professor's fault) and I will get my usually negative feedback in student evaluations and deep feeling of shame that come from not realizing the full dream associated with the original ideas behind the project. Digital history is the future, there is great stuff all over the web. Nonetheless, the humble projects associated with my classes are works in progress. The idea is solid. Use students to create an online digital archive based on the City of Winter Park Fire Department's scrapbook. We are working with the Winter Park Public Library and our project will fit nicely with other online content they offer the community. Indeed, our goals are modest and the students can complete the project as designed. It is just a question of timing.

I'm working with them on the project. The Winter Park Sinkhole remains one of the most memorable events linked to the city. It is also something the Fire Department documented closely( it a truth of urban life--if it not a crime--odds are they will send the fire department to do it). The images you see were taken by members of the Fire Department in 1981 when the sinkhole suddenly appeared in Winter Park. The Fire Department monitored the sinkhole. These are great images and as I work with the scanner at our college to make sure they are formatted as great digital images, I get a sense of the problems and triumphs by students face. I'm sure the students will blog about the digital project. I and anyone who reads this blog will be impressed. I'm sure....willing to bet money...not my money, but somebody's money.

Jumping In

Woodrow Wilson intended for the United States to stay out of the First World War but nothing everything went as planned. His promotion of neutrality soon started to take a different path. Propaganda started being produced to convince citizens that getting involved in the war was necessary because it was a way of protecting the safety and security of the U.S. Germany started playing a little dirty, which just makes it hard to resist the temptation to get involved in the war. No one wants to be stomped on because a country is trying to overpower the world.
Journalism played a huge role in the early part of the 20th century but then again the media still has a way with words these days. It seems that journalists are considered to be authorities are various matters that can sometimes be out of their expertise. For instance, during the early 20th century, there were muckrakers and yellow-journalists. Words are powerful tools and can easily persuade the opinions of people.
Working conditions were far from perfect. It just seems like the U.S. had a hard time getting the workplace to be a friendly environment. Racism and sexism stood in the way of developing working places fore everyone. Young men would serve as soldiers but once they returned to the homeland, it was assumed that their jobs would be handed right back to them. What did they expect everyone else to do? Meanwhile, African Americans did not get the same treatment! They were efforts to keep these men out of the military so IQ tests were used as justification. Without a doubt, that did not last long. It seems hard to imagine experiencing freedom abroad but then your own country limits your opportunities. Why did African American soldiers want to come back to the U.S.? Their lives seemed to be better abroad! What was intriguing about the United States throughout history?
The imperialistic approach the U.S. took during the early part of the 2oth century seemed to help define the United States today. We still find ourselves looking to be involved in the lives and experiences of our global neighbors. The coastlines on the Atlantic and Pacific do not serve as our boundaries of power. U.S. imperialistic thoughts have continued to expand our coastline abroad.

(catching up on old blogs) WWI

At the beginning of World War I, America, under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson, tried to remain neutral. But this proved very hard, because many Americans were immigrants from western European countries that were in the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France and Russia) against the other countries in the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and The Ottoman Empire/Italy). The fact the many Americans shared a lot of cultural similarities with Great Britain, and had a lot of banking investments in with them made it hard for them to stay neutral. However for Wilson’s first full term he kept the United States out of the war, declaring he wanted a “Peace without Victory”. But this did not look to be possible.

After Germany began using submarine warfare as a way of combat, the blew up one of Great Britain’s passenger ships (because they thought it was transporting a large store munitions, which it most likely was) the Lusitania, many American’s were upset because there were American passengers on it. As well, the American’s intercepted the ‘Zimmerman Telegram’, which was from Germany to Mexico, telling them to attack America. The German’s said that if they did, they would help them regain lost provinces. This was disconcerting to America, so we declared war, and became officially on the side of the Triple Entente.

The war effort in America was a ‘Total’ war effort. In past wars, America had not had tough times as they did during the World War, with the fact that they had been mainly fighting small wars against Indians and such. In the total war effort, they rationed food and clothing and other things, with all industries helping out the war effort so that we could most effectively win the war. We created things such as the War Industries Board, the National War Labor Board, and sold liberty bonds to make money.

(catching up on old blogs) Imperialism

The United States began looking abroad into global expansion once the “frontier” was completely conquered. According to Turner, the United States economic and social growth heavily rested on the fact that we were expanding westward. He wondered how The United States was going to continue to prosper now that the frontier was gone. So people began looking globally. Specifically the protestant missionaries who wanted to save the souls of the ‘ignorant Asian’, and the businessman who wanted to have contacts in other countries and build lucrative businesses there. These helped to create the idea in America for ‘Imperialism’.

Because the idea of Imperialsm was becoming so popular, people began thinking about what it would take for this to actually happen. Writer, Alfred Thayer Mahan, realized that the only way to truly become a super power would be to have control of the seas, and this could only be done through a strong navy. This would also mean having swift travel thought the seas, including a canal thought Panama (to travel easily from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic).

The United States began gaining provinces and countries as spheres of influences and places to hold naval stations. These included, Cuba, the Philippines, and Hawaii. Roosevelt, during his presidency, wanted to make sure that the world knew how powerful that America had become, and sent the United States navy “The Great White Fleet” on tour around the world. This was in response to the fact that he, Roosevelt, had struck a deal with Japan saying that he would make sure American’s would be nice the Japanese Immigrants here. But he did not want the Japanese to think we were a weak/wempy nation, so he sent the navy on tour around the world. Part of his policy “speak softly and carry a bid stick”.

 By World War I, the United States was a world power with a lot of weight in discussions help by the other world powers at that time including Great Britain, France, Italy, etc. 

metropolis!

I really enjoyed the movie metropolis. I love watching old movies. It was just as entertaining as the old Buster Keaton movies. The movie was very informative of German’s view of that era. I really liked how the main character was holding onto the clock, trying to make it time to go, but it would never get there. The dancer girl, that all the men were lusting after was strange. That whole scene was kind of weird. I think the movie, with what it was showing about the era and all the workers, and their lives would have done without that odd scene.

I liked the way they showed how the big business factory owner did not care one bit what happened in the explosion of at the factory until he heard that his son was involved. This is a great description of the business owners of that time. They had little care for the safety of their workers, solely wanting to make a large profit. They did not take into account the long hours and low wages, and how it affected the workers lives.

It was interesting that this was a view of the future of that time. It was not accurate obviously, because we have so many laws about how workers can be treated and what wages ought to be, that few people are treated unfairly. And workers compensation allows the workers to have money when injured on the job, to pay for their doctors bills and time to recover. This is differently from how the movie depicted that the workers were still treated poorly, however at the end of the movie they showed that one day the workers and the factor owners would come together in harmony.

All in all I enjoyed the movie, and can’t wait to watch the next one! J

Metropolis

Unsure what to expect from Metropolis, I was very surprised of the course the movie actually took once we started watching it as a group. For some reason I associated a silent movie more with a documentary genre of movie but did not expect to see a science fiction film in silent – probably partly because we are so used to science fiction films having all these special sound and visual effects nowadays, and take these for granted, that at times we have to really remind ourselves that technological means in 1927 differed. So I was surprised to see Metropolis be so fiction-based.
Metropolis was filmed in 1927 but the screenplay is envisioned to take place in 2026 and the film portrays the producers view on how society would look by then. In my opinion, the movie showed a view of the future that was too dark and too pessimistic. Maybe I can only say this with so much certainty because I live close to the projected time period and the dark premises foreseen by Metropolis do not seem to come true anytime soon. However, even if I had lived in 1927, I would probably not retract or alter the statement. While it is true that the 1920s were characterized by somewhat of a class struggle between wage labor and industrialist, increased unionization and increased industrialization, the film fails to take into account the positive societal movements that took place during the era. Certain aspects of the Progressive Era were designed to directly counter the adverse effects of industrialization and promote better living conditions and greater social equality for all. An example could be laws regarding occupational safety standards many progressive legislatures as well as Congress passed during the time period. These measures were able to offset some of the harsh working conditions once can see in the movie. In addition, these movements were largely driven by the middle class and often supported by philanthropist capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie and his gospel of wealth. This contradicts the movie’s assumption of total class struggle at least to some extent.
Overall, watching Metropolis was a more enjoyable experience than expected. While certainly not my choice of movie for a weekend or leisure, the content of the movie actually related very well to the material covered in class.

Freder looks like a girl

The notion of a group project about a silent, science fiction film did not excite me in the slightest. No offense to anyone in my group, because they were great, but I can't stand group projects. The film itself was okay, I definitely wouldn't watch it again anytime soon. The theme was clearly about the struggle between the upper and lower classes. The film was definitely a criticism of capitalism and the fact that the rich enjoyed lavish lifestyles while the working class slummed away in terrible working conditions just to scrape by. I found it strange that all of the men and the women kind of looked alike in the film. I'm not sure if anyone else found this to be true, but Freder was extremely feminine to me. One day, Freder ventures on down to the lower city and witnesses the everyday life of a lower class laborer. He was so appalled that he decided to switch places with one of the workers to establish equality. Everyday, the workers would listen to Maria speak on their breaks. She preached patient in leu of the arrival of a mediator, but the workers wanted to revolt and bring down the upper class. Rotwung, a crazy inventor who had a vendetta against Mr. Fredersen, the factory owner, decides to give a robot the appearance of Maria in order to convince the workers to attack. In doing so, the city was flooded and destroyed. During the 1920's, when this film was released, capitalism was taking advantage of the lower class for the benefit of the upper class, which was mirrored in Metropolis.

Metropolis

This past Wednesday my group watched the movie Metropolis for our history through film assignment. To be honest, I was not looking forward to this assignment for many reasons. First, I really do not enjoy watching movies. Second, group papers are very difficult to accomplish due to different people’s writing style. Lastly, I have never watched a silent filmed before and I believe that it was going to be extremely boring and not engaging.
When Metropolis began I was confused about the direction of the film in relation to what we were studying in class. I researched the film and found out that the film was made in 1927 but was set in the year 2026. The film depicted what the director and the novelist believed was the direction of America. They based there interpretation of the future on the political, economical and social events of the current time period – the early 19th century. The city Metropolis was physically split between the underground industrial world and the above ground managerial world. The film highlighted the major economic class problems that were promoted in the early 19th century through this physically separation of the rich and the poor.
As the film continued, I realized that the directors and author of the novel that the movie was based on were pretty much wrong in the direction our society took. They completely disregarded progressive of society and industry. Currently, when we think of what America will look like in a hundred years, we think of a Jetsons futuristic vision filled with flying cars. Metropolis demonstrated that the people in the 1920’s did not have the same vision of progress in technology and social areas that we currently do in the Untied States.
Overall, the film was midely entertaining but more important highlighted the major issues that Americans faced in the early 1920’s. There was prosperity during this time period; however, many Americans were not able to partake in the consumer culture because they work in the industrial sector, like coal and textile, they were minorities or lastly they lived and work in rural communities.

Metropolis

Metropolis, a silent science fiction movie from 1930, seemed to have many underlying issues that reflect society at that time. Some of the underlying parallels to real life in the thirties were the corporations, flappers, worked children, laborers, and religion. Although all those topics weren’t specifically addressed, all of them were symbolized in the movie. The main character, Freders, was interesting as an upper class citizen. His caring for the lower, working class was not only surprising but also inspirational. Joh Fredersons’ pick of his corporation over his son, was a symbol of how greedy the corporations were and their lack of caring for their employees. Something that especially stuck out to me were they way the laborers looked, tired and drained. When Freders pretends to be an employee and says, “ten hours never end”, which is one of the most important symbols of society in this movie. The problems between corporations and laborers often were surrounded on the length of the workday. I thought this movie was a good reflection of the history of the early 1900’s.

American Neutrality

Chapter 23, entitled "War and Society 1914-1920", was based on events during World War I. An interesting theme in this chapter was America's neutrality during the war. Woodrow Wilson, the president at that time, worked hard to keep America out of what he called a "European War". Many Americans disagreed with this view, and found that they sided with Britain. America’s neutrality actually hurt ties with the Allies, which were countries that many corporations traded with. Even though Germany had been using submarines to check the flow U.S. goods to the Allies, Wilson would not go to war. Woodrow Wilson believed that problems between countries should be dealt with through negotiations. During the war, Wilson tried to establish the League of Nations, which would give peace, security, and justice to all countries. It wasn’t until the Zimmermann telegram, which had instructed the Mexican government to attack the U.S. in the event of war between Germany and the U.S., had been decoded that Wilson was ready to go to war with the Triple Alliance.

Metropolis

I viewed the film on Wednesday and I actually enjoyed it. I thought it would be painful to watch, but I really liked some of the points that were made and how it was directed. It showed how tough the working class had it and how poorly they were treated by their employers. Everyone had become part of the machine. Most of the workers were easily replaceable and just did the same motions over and over like a machine. The workers were very dirty and had to work in very dirty and unsafe conditions. Many workers were injured or killed while working and this was not a big deal the the boss's because these employees as individuals meant nothing and could be replaced at any time very easily. The conditions were extremely poor and everyone was becoming machine like and part of the machine of industry. It was interesting to see how similar this film was to what our working society is like today. I am not looking forward to writing the paper on this, but I think it will be easy and there will be many topics I can easily elaborate on.

Metropolis

"Metropolis" was a rather interesting film. It was a silent film, which made it a rather long two hours but it presented a lot of ideas of the 1920s. Even though, the film was written by Germans, it was able to be connected to American society. Americans were experiencing economic prosperity after World War I but there was still a great deal of class separation: working class and business class. Women were still battling for equality even though they were granted with the right to vote. Evidently, in the film, the woman was name "Hel," which portrayed how women were seen throughout this era. Men did not see women as equals plus women were abandoning their original roles of raising the children and staying at home.
Women were "rebelling" by becoming more provocative with their outfits and actions. This was portrayed in the "eternal gardens" of the film or the "upper world." After all, this was the era of the flappers. The film also expressed the political corruption unfolding at the time. There was a great deal of power lying in the hands of the elite, not in the hands of the working class. The film presented the battle between capital and labor.
When the film reached the United States, it had been altered, which I think allowed the movie to hit home for many Americans. After all, many Americans took offense that the film was belittling the importance of mass production, especially with the help of Henry Ford. Americans felt society was improving but little did they know it was going to collapse soon enough. It was almost too good to be true. The 1920s were definitely transitional years in American society and the World War played a role in these changes. Businessmen were making continual efforts to prevent rebellions yet it was bound to happen this relates to how Americans were trying to unionize. The film depicts a situation where the group of factory workers join together as one.
As a read through Chapter 24 about the 1920s and then related it to the film, it was interesting to see how many parallels I could find! I was not expecting to be able to write a paper that used a film as a gateway to researching a period of time. Apparently, the world was not blind to the changes happening even if it was across an ocean.

The US's role in WWI

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Autrian-Hungarian throne, was assasinated. This marked the begining of WWI between the Central Powers and the Allied Powers. Initially the US wanted to maintain a neutral position, but after the uncovering of the Zimmerman telegram President Wilson felt the need to take part in the conflict. The telegram was basically an offer from Germany to Mexico, to attack the US which would result in Mexico gaining the southern states of Texas and New Mexico, to name a few. This not only outraged the American public but it was a slap in the face to President Wilson who resisted involvement at al costs. The use of sonar technology was a great advantage in combating the Germans who had developed the submarine; this gave them the advantage of covert attacks on marine vessels. The US warships began to guard the British merchant and civilian ships while also destroying many U-boats. This war was the first total war for the US. Total war; this means that all of the country's resources were funneled into production geared for war industries. A new sense of patriotism and racism also emerged. German books and goods were burned and banned while German Americans were targets of the frustrations of the American people. Now that the US was so focused on the war and it's efforts, this gave African Americans the ability to gain new jobs and fight in the war. Even though African American troops were hailed for their bravery in countries like France they were still treated like 2nd class citizens in the US.

Chapter 23

At first, Wilson was known as the president that will keep the U.S. out of the war so he became known as the "peace president." The United States recognized it was its time to enter the war when Germany tried negotiating with Mexico, which surrounds the U.S. on the southern border. Wilson persuaded American citizens with rather convincing words: "peace without victory" and a "war for democracy." War is a pretty powerful tool and has a way of changing the minds of many. It is all about security!
The United States entered the war on the side of the Allies, who ended the war in 1918. Unfortunately for 18 year old men and older were subjected to the Selective Service Act, which is still a huge landmark in a young man's life. Even though the military represented the government, discrimination was still evident and practiced. IQ tests were used a justification for discrimination, which does not seem appropriate at all since there was not even equal opportunities to get an education.
In today's day and age, the Prohibition Act would not have gotten by at all. Many people would be outraged by such an idea. College students would argue without the manufacturing and distribution of alcohol, college life would not be the same. Whether that is true or not is always open for discussion.
Meanwhile, the Red Scare also became a problem during the early part of the 20th century. Some would have preferred the government to be controlled by the Socialist party rather than a Republican or Democratic candidate. Ironically, the American economy was one of the strongest in the world a year after the war ended. The war allowed manufacturers to master their productivity skills, which was still put to use after the war's end. There was no need to put a stop to something so successful. Going into the 1920s, there was a push to decrease the differences between the two classes. Soldiers were returning back to the homeland so the social aspect of the country was about to change yet again. The United States seems to be a country that continuously experiences change! We just do not settle for anything less than the latest and greatest! Why not strive to succeed?

Chapter 23

Chapter 23 begins by discussing what caused war to break out in Europe. The book points out that one of the most important factors in Europe's "descent into war" was competition among European powers, the most significant being Germany and Britain. These countries were competing with each other to have the strongest economy, the largest navy and army, and the biggest colonial empire. Also important in the breakout of war was each countries belief in its own superiority. Germany England and France all believed that the war would be quick, and in their favor. Apparently, the realization that there had to be a loser eluded them. 

 Next, the chapter goes on to talk about the Peace Movement, which was an effort by president Wilson to keep the United Sates out of a "European war" by proclaiming a state of neutrality. His peace effort failed however, as it became impossible to ignore that the United Sates must intervene. 

The Zimmermann telegram was an important aspect of the United States aggressive attitude towards Germany. Not only did the telegram outrage congress, but also the general public. The other reason for American intervention was the change in government in Russia. A new liberal-democratic government had been established, and the United Sates felt that it was in their interest to support that government. Now, a defeated Germany would be a beneficial step towards democracy in Europe, as there was no longer a Russian autocratic aggressor on the sidelines.

For these reasons, president Wilson declared war on Germany on April 6th 1917, bringing America into one of the worst conflicts in history.