Signing Off

Let me first start by saying that this year has been the first year I can say I truly enjoyed learning US history. From starting with the difference between empathy and sympathy to a grand finale of the showing of the movie 13 Days this year has certainly held a lot. I think my ability to retain and even discuss history reflects more on Mrs. Lawson's ability to find new ways to teach and engage a classroom full of teenagers, who haven't studied US history since approximately 8th grade. So thank you for that Mrs. Lawson! I miss your class next year. With your help I've learned to look at and write about movies and articles in a more analytical light but still keep my voice within my writing. Our watching of 13 Days is just one example. Even though I may not be writing about it in a full on paper or in a separate blog post I can still say that with Mrs. Lawson's help I was 1) able to see the movie in a positive light, 2) enjoy the movie, and 3) learn more about the political hierarchy in the Kennedy term. I learned that 'DEAFCON2' is a status of the need for protective measures during war time or coming to war. But out of all of what I've said I think it says the most that I remember the first activity we did and it still impacts to this day. I can't help but think about it each time I apply the term in my life. So thank you Mrs. Lawson, you've made my last year of History the best year I've had so far!

An Introspective Look into the Perspectives of Climate Change

To the readers of which this content may concern,

The year is dated 2016 and the world is finding itself amongst some of the most troubling times. There is no shortage of topics to debate and problems to solve in the twenty-first century, and climate change is one of these hotspot debates. Though it has been talked about for more than a decade, climate change, is still a sore spot amongst governments and national groups such as the EU (European Union) and the UN (United Nations). For years summits for the United Nations Climate Change Conference have been occurring to help settle the dust over global warming and how it can be stopped, slowed down, etc. but it not my point to discuss the minutia of a summit like the one in Paris France or even the real politics behind climate change. Instead I intend to bring forth the opinions of those who oppose the popularly held belief that climate change is real and explain the perspectives which they hold and are categorized into.

It would be easiest for myself to start in the category to which I first believed in myself – the skeptic. And though I do not categorize within this group any longer, it is their disbelief in climate change that has sparked many debates over the legitimacy of the science, politics, and media coverage of the topic. Conveniently, through my research I have found a well formulated chart of the most defined categories of skeptics. Some correlate and others seems to have no reference to each other, but they are all commonly linked by their denouncement of global warming in some shape or fashion.

Figure 1. Visible Organization of Sceptics

In brief, the way this chart is organized is from the bottom up. The bottom seven categories serve as the main objects to which skeptics argue against. If a skeptic fights "Trend", they believe that climate change is not actually happening and will sometimes go as far as to say there is an opposing, cooling trend:

"Earth's temperature is currently cooling slightly, ocean heat is declining, global sea-level rise has not accelerated (although the climate models predict that it should) and tropical storm energy is at a thirty-year low. (Carter, 2011, p.39)"

 "Cause" fighting skeptics do accept the theory of climate change and that it is actually occurring but they do not believe that humans are part of the cause. An example of this would be a person claiming that the world is just going through its cycle. They would say that there is nothing abnormal about the current conditions and that eventually it would revert back its lower levels as the earth starts to regulate the greenhouse gases once more. The final disinter on that prong is the "impact" skeptic. These people believe that humans do partially play a role in the rising temperatures but they say we are not the true problem. Common arguments would run along the lines of there being no scientific proof that humans are "causing more extreme weather events. (Rensburg, 2015, p.3)" And that the change being caused by humans is so small that the earth and its inhabitants will adapt "as [they] have always done.(Rensburg, 2015, p.3)" These three skeptics are classified more specifically in a centre group known as 'Evidence' skeptics. This means that these three categories formulate their opinions on evidence, scientific or not. These skeptics are the easiest to argue with because of the nature of their focus. 

Evidence based arguments with 'trend', 'cause', and 'impact' skeptics are considered the easiest to argue because they run on a pyramidal scale. This means that as you digress through an argument the skeptic is likely to change their mind and go from stating that global warming doesn't exist to accepting it as a trend, but remain rooted that humans didn't cause it. Because their argument was weak to begin with they are likely to persuaded by evidence of human affectation, but they will drop to humans not having been the main cause. And upon the revelation that humans are a larger source they will turn to the cost of fixing this problem, and cite it as being too expensive. But in reality most first  world countries like China and the United States, besides being the highest producers of green house gases, would also be the leaders in helping to reduce their industrial carbon footprint. This in itself would reduce their argument to merely just sticking to the idea that climate change isn't actually a problem, but they would have no evidence, forcing them begin picking apart policy and politics of climate change.

Figure 2. A pyramidal formatting of the three Evidence based skeptics

This brings us to the right side of the chart where it becomes much harder to argue with the skeptic. This is due to the fact that they begin to pick apart the policies, decision making, how climate change is handled and the truth of the scientific evidence. It is particularly hard to pick apart these arguments because skeptics and non-skeptics can hold these viewpoints, which gives the skeptic a better ground to fight on. To better illustrate the stances or points which these skeptics might take look into Table 1.

Table 1. A chart of reasoning for climate change Skeptics

Because policy and decision making in itself a topic that causes dichotomy between groups it gives a skeptic the upper hand because the logic behind the logistics of policy making is so muddled. Skeptics thrive on the confusion because in reality their assertions are usually a muddled explanation that utilizes the confusion of uninformed people and the division of groups on political matters. Another matter of controversy that is used against the popular belief is the distortion the importance of global warming by media and money-driven research. 

Skeptical viewpoints have always existed on the opposite side of any popular belief, but skepticism on climate change is particularly controversial because it is a massive problem that encompasses the whole of the world. Form first world countries to third world countries that are beginning their transition into a industrial era, meaning their carbon footprint is going to increase just as US's or China did when they industrialized. And the future to which you will live in I do hope that they will have taken charge and worked to decrease the carbon footprint of the world. And should you have the heart to charge into leading or taking part in this campaign for the earth's health I hope you find this helpful in fighting off the negativity and skeptics of your time. 

References:

1. 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference A wiki article on the on-goings of the UN CCC 

2. Climate Change Scepticism  A scholarly article written by Willem Van Rensburg on the different categories of skeptics. 

3. Carter, 2011 An article originally referenced in a quote that in my letter. Used to offer proper accreditation.  

Climate Unit: The Politics

I'm interested in focusing on the Politics of Climate because I want to know why it is such a decisive topic in the United States and whether this phenomena occurs world wide. I'm a lover of debates and open discussions and I'd like to see what other people think about climate and why they think it is such a controversial issue. It's very interesting to see what other people have to say about the issue and what other, new ideas they bring to the table especially with Climate being such a large topic of interest right now in the world, like the summit just held in Paris over climate change.

What I Think When I Hear: Climate

Earth
global-warming
climate-change
Conservation
National-Parks

When I hear climate I think of the controversy of the global warming issues and how they just held a summit and passed an act/law that commits all the countries to lessening their carbon-footprint. I also thought of conservation and national parks because these two words go along with the need to protect the little green space we still have in the United States.

Besides instituting protection of green space and shrinking our carbon footprint, what can we as citizens of the world do to keep our climate in better health? How can citizens of the world come together to keep the environment healthier and safer?

Reading Questions about the 1930s

Read about the Great Depression. 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?

• President Hoover took the issue too lightly, calling it a  "passing incident". And he did not take action to help stabilize the economy or banking system. Instead he instigated a trickle-down policy to help finance businesses and banks. Because of the American mindset "success was earned and if failure occurred it was deserved" it made many American's blamed themselves for the failing economy and loss of jobs. This rationale was not very rational since the failure was on the part of over production and too rapid of an increase in the market.

Read about Black Sunday.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?

• Had I been there during Black Sunday I think I would have been terrified. To be surrounded by utter darkness for hours on end with no light in sight would be smothering and I can get claustrophobic. If I were a farmer I would worry what my crop outcomes would be or whether my stock animals had survived, and I would worry for everyone else around me and hope that they had found themselves a safe place. I would wonder if this would be my death. 

Read about The Drought. 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 western third of Kansas, Southeastern Colorado, the Oklahoma Panhandle, the northern two-thirds of the Texas Panhandle, and northeastern New Mexico. The dust bowl was caused by overuse and over grazing, and the fine silt that had been held by the grass was free to float out on the wind and drown the area in dust. I think the author was correct in doing so because it related to the over production of goods and the lack of regulation on the economy that lead to the Great Depression.

Read about Mass Exodus from the Plains. Were 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?

• It is the biggest migration within the US. It hard for people to assimilate because there were so many moving in that it also became very hard for them to find employment in CA as well. Farming was a corporate job rather than small, personal farmers. These people were also facing harassment from Californians.

Speech Reflections

I think Ward did a wonderful job of looking about and speaking clearly and Carson did a really nice job of doing voice inflection and sounding excited/passionate about what he was saying. Everyone at least tried to have an air of confidence and kept pushing on even when they messed up a word.

I think the speeches went really well, everyone definitely knew what their speaking on.

Doing these speeches made me definitely think about my control and nervousness. I was being more conscious of the way I sounded and looked to everyone else.

The Politics of Radio

Radio - a new source of media that crisscrossed the entirety of the United States. In the 1930's radios were in almost every household in America. And presidents like FDR took full advantage of this opportunity. And one of the first major political casts on the radio was of President Coolidge's inaugural speech  and one of the most well known radio broadcasts was President Roosevelt's Fireside chats. These talk shows consisted of Roosevelt talking "one-on-one" with the American people about concepts and problems in the US like The New Deal and soldiers fighting in WWII. Besides having just direct connections to presidents it gave America the chance to hear about everything in a more personable way. Political life became more personal and it became a source for presidential candidates to open themselves up to the American public. The parties (Republican and Democratic) began to broadcast their candidates across their own stations and across public ones as Radio became more and more accessible.

Five Point Speech

It’s the roaring twenties, the time of everyone’s life. Amid the raging parties and Gatsbyesque lifestyles was the tumultuous over turn of the fundamentalist Klu Klux Klan, the desertion of the disenchanted, the rise of consumerism, the creation of the “Flapper”, and the idea of professional women.  This decade was a melting pot of ideas that clashed against each other ideals, but more than that these five points in the twenties fed the creation of each other. One could not have happened without the other and the society of the 21^st century would not be what it is without the nascent of these five points.

The Klu Klux Klan – a long standing congregation of fundamentalists most well known for their fight to cleanse America of ‘alien’ groups they saw as racially impure. African Americans were a target in the first part of their history, but when the Klan came back in the twenties they began to boycott not only blacks, but also Catholic, Jewish and other minority groups. The Klan is seen as a blight on history, but look at them in the context of being able to change with the time period. The Klan remains a practicing group in the US and that shows resilience and a form of flexibility to bend to the time period. This flexibility and resilience can also be attributed to consumerism. Besides creating a wide spread cultural phenomena of buying for pleasure, Consumerism also helped widen the gap between ideals, which helped create the disenchanted. I think it is important to note the uninvolved and darker sides of American society because it was those groups that helped push for a betterment of society as a whole. These artists helped the United States to maintain a form of individualism in the world of consumerism. And in its own right, Consumerism created a cultural norm that still exists well into the twenty-first century.

To end on a more positive note the twenties introduced the “Flapper” – a woman who lost the rigidity of the Victorian ideals and fell into loose morals, wore seductive clothing and makeup. For the first time the women were starting to gain a social standing without a man on their arm. And if a lady had enough ambition she could find herself in a profession. There began to be the occasional success story of a woman doctor or woman lawyer. These two types of women were important to American history because this would be one of the first steps towards equality of genders. These are two separate, important parts because they allowed any woman to become what she wanted. There was not just the “Flappers” or professional women, it was a wide variety and some who even balanced both. But the important take away from this is that even when surrounded by conflict and disruption American culture and mindset kept pushing to better its self.

Editorial Reviews on Mini Books

In Prohibition: "A War" the author Carson Hall portrays the conflict that arises among the average US citizen and the empire of illegal  alcohol cartels. Blaze Butler, the protagonist and one of the only survivors of his band of transporters, paints a picture of the back-woods lifestyle that many of the bootleggers seemed to live. And also relays the struggles of competing with an empire and city boss like Al Capone. Through his struggles there is a high point, but it the end the repeal of Prohibition is too late to save many lives that were lost in the fight. Hall's use of the 1920's slang shows his grasp on the era, but still keeps a simple, straight forward plot line.


The Life of Robert Williams, by Austin Lu, portrays the hard life that Americans suffered through but also the grand rise out poverty that was the 1920's. We meet Robert a tween heading into adolescence, the years that will formally become known as the teen years. Lu uses his grasp of the rise in economy and of the creation of the teenager to formulate a well written story about a boy who understands hardship and hard work.

The Mini-Book about the 1920's

My mini book, Professional Women & The "Flapper": Image vs. Reality, is a small story about woman, Ms. Evelyn, who finds herself amidst the reality of being a flapper and what the reality was for most women as seen in her friends life, Betty Sue. With a use of slang terms and a modern view point this story shows the journey through the twenties with a twist.

WWI Perspective: Poison Gas Warfare

Poison Gas-a lethal yet more human way to dissuade an entire army from attacking. Or at least that's what people told themselves. The first versions of poison gas were Chlorine gas and then phosgene gas to replace that, though these were nothing in comparison to the monstrous gas that would become known as mustard gas. The Germans were at the head of chemical warfare throughout the first portion of the Great war. None could keep up with the chemical engineers like Dr. Viktor Meyer. The man who would eventually create mustard gas. Mustard gas unlike its predecessors was more fluid-like and would remain in trenches and puddles for days after it was released. By the time mustard gas had began to be produced the US had stepped into the Great War and would feel the deadly affects in the first major battle US men participated in. The Third Battle of Ypres.

Poison Gas

Masks that had developed could not with stand the murkiness and deadliness of the mustard gas, most soldier didn't even know what the substance was when it first rolled into their trenches. Many wouldn't even reach the doctors stations because they would go blind so quickly from the gas. Soldiers skin would blister and fester, burning from the chemicals that touched their skin. To combat this American and British scientists began to formulate their own mustard gas. Zinsser was the first successful mass production of mustard gas, so much so that they could not meet the demands by themselves. Within the formulation of a way to make mustard gas the US began to quickly out produce the Germans, who could only muster about 6 tons of gas per day. American factories could make as much as 100 tons.

Gas Masks

The US played a major role in the final push for victory because had they not joined in during the stalemate of the Great War, the Germans might have been more likely to overpower the Allies with their poison gas. The US, as well as helping push favor to the Allies also brought about a major overhaul of military weaponry and tactics for their own forces.

Poison Gas Comes to America
How Poison Gas Works

WWI Poster Analysis

Madi Smith

2/29/16

USH 1 – WWI Poster Analysis

Group 7 – Forrest & Victoria

1) Propaganda was a form of advertising that would draw attention to it through pictures, bright coloring, and key phrasing.

2) Propaganda - ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc. (Merriam-Webster)

My focus is first drawn to the large, red letters "BOYS and GIRLS!" These posters appeal to a very specific crowd, the children. They highlight their focus with the red coloring of the letters and then their want is understated in a smaller black font underneath it. The centered picture interrupts the reading, to show the towering figure of Uncle Sam holding a little girl and a little boy is beside him looking on with an earnest gaze. This is meant to appeal to the masses because it depicts the children doing something for the better good, it appeals to the empathetic and philanthropic side of the readers. The red coloring of the letters stands out the most against the white background and it more appealing than the black lettering below it. 

The first thing my gaze is drawn to is the word "Food". It is the largest font on the poster and the coloring highlights and is similar to that of the men's skin. My eyes are drawn to the depiction of strong men laboring for food, with an outline of corn crops behind them. They appear to be a family and it is noted that everyone is keep their "home" gardens going. The artist is appealing to farms families and any family that might have someone in the service by showing them that they too can help by providing food for the soldiers. There is a sense of pride that is invoked by staring at this poster and the reader too could hold this feeling if they supported the war effort of supplied food. 

The is a pull between the words  "ENLIST NOW" and the depiction of a school girl pushing a plow. Her cheeks are highlighted red in her effort, but it brings forth the idea that women are a driving force (driving the plow) in the war effort. The poster appeals the adolescents, male or female. The ladies are driven to help by preparing food and sending it towards the war effort but men are drawn in by the large red lettering saying "ENLIST NOW". The color of the poster is very mute otherwise and is used to bring out the red letters and the young school girl who pushes the plow. 

I hold no qualms with the idea that propaganda is used to help enlist people in a common goal, but it would be more suspicious to me if it was used for their own personal gain. 

I think the production of Propaganda was used to unite the people of the United States in an effort to help bring the war to a quicker end. 

Common Theme Thesis

Ideas to tie Together:

• Reformers and public figures promoted changing views/attitudes about health/fitness.
• People started to have new expectations about the role of government in promoting higher standards for society.
• People taking measures to protect themselves from new threats/modern issues.
• Innovations in transportation allowed people to move around in new ways
• All-encompassing wave of reform included a variety of strategies to attack problems of all kinds.
• Innovations brought improvements and provoked new fears/anxieties, many of which turned out to be unfounded.

Connections:

• betterment of society as a whole for the people through their active participation, innovations and the active cooperation of Government

Thesis: 

 

Progressivism was movement driven by active participation on every spectrum. As a whole, the movement of forward thinking and positive reformation would not have been possible without the cooperation of the government, active participants in the community, and the great innovations of the time period. Progressivism cultivated the United States into a society more aware of its needs socially and economically and overall it proved to be a positive movement.

Answer Key to Progressivism Questions

1) C
2) D
3) D

Progressivism Multiple Choice Questions

1) Progressives were rather impulsive in their reforms, mostly due to the fact that they did not always agree on the form on intervention that they should take. Each of these choices would be reasons for their reforms except:

         a)      The fear of concentrated power, the need to balance out wealth distribution, and limit authority.

         b)      The belief that the codependency of a singular person was determined by the welfare of the society as a whole.

         c)      The principles of natural and social sciences were not applicable to society.

         d)     The uncontrolled growth of 19^th century.

         e)      Women, children, industrial workers and immigrants were victims of industrialization.

2) All of these women are examples of the new woman, except:

          a)      The single, middle-class woman who never married

          b)      “Boston Marriage” women who lived and maintained long-term relationships with other women.

          c)      Women who initiated their own divorce.

          d)     A “stay at home” mother.

          e)      Highly educated women that were active participants in reformations.

3) The author notes that “Party Attacks” were prominent even in the late 19^th century, in what way did they continue to attack parties in the early 20^th century?

          a)      A discontinuation of the “secret” ballots

          b)      Urban middle-class progressives and powerful aristocratic families remained outside of “vulgar” politics.

          c)      They wrote of their good deeds in influential newspapers.

          d)     Breaking “Party Rule” by permitting people to circumvent partisan institutions with a decrease in their power.

          e)      Break “Party Rule” by giving power to nonelective officials who were also nonpartisan and were insulated from political life.

Living Essay's on Progresivism

I worked with Karen and Thomas to join our Progressive topics together.

• Annie Oakley: Encourage women to take care of themselves
• Spanish Flu: Mass disease control, health regulation
• Gillette Razor: Personal Hygiene, streamlining the razor design 

-Intro-

During the Progressive Era masshealth regulations along with recognition of the benefits of a healthier lifestyle lead to a more informed society that was more conscious of their personal hygiene. The innovation of the Gillette Razor helped lead men to create a better standpoint of personal hygiene, while women were looking up to Annie Oakley as a role model for women’s health and respect of their bodies. The Influenza pandemic of 1918 lead to an overhaul of health regulations that would help increase the quality of life of everyday citizens, men or women.

---

-Conclusion-

Had it not been for the quick thinking and influential figures of the time period like Annie Oakley and King Camp Gillette the importance of personal hygiene would not have been so widely accepted. These steps towards betterment of health made the mass reformation of health regulations, after the “Spanish Flu” pandemic more widely accepted and easier to enforce. Had Progressivism not taken such drastic measures to change the way American’s live, would we still be living in third-world conditions?

The "Spanish Flu" and Progressivism

"I had a little bird

And its name was Enza

I opened to window

And in-flew-enza"

'Enza' the bird.

The influenza pandemic of 1918 was so catastrophic to the United States and the world that a child's jump rope rhyme was sung throughout the time period. It was like "Ring Around a Rosie", the rhyme which had been created during the Bubonic Plague. The "Spanish-Flu" is a misnomer considering the contagion actually started in Kansas, in the winter of 1918. Doctors had been dealing with bouts of pneumonia all winter and with the coming spring, the military base Fort Riley became a hot bed for the development of the rampant and mutated form of influenza known as Influenza A (H1N1). Doctors were continually perplexed by this new disease because it showed signs of a normal flu, but the patient would develop brown spots on their cheeks and would eventually die from suffocation, because of fluid and blood in their lungs. 

Infected rates of international cities.

I learned that the Influenza pandemic was a wake up call to health officials. The initial understanding of influenza was very limited, and this new strain of the virus was more than anyone could have expected. H1N1 was so  infectious that it was a pandemic rather than just an epidemic. That made all the difference. The level of infection was world-wide making it a pandemic. Had it just infected Fort Riley, Kansas like the Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, it would have remained a small epidemic limited to the state. Seeing this made me understand the difference between pandemic and epidemic. This in turn also made doctors of the time period work vigorously to disinfect the population and find a cure. This fit into the agenda of progressivism because it pushed for the betterment of public health and living conditions for citizens.

Laws of this time period became very extreme to aid in the sanitation of living conditions and to help kill off the virus. Laws would have included the banning of gathering in groups, coughing in public without properly covering your mouth, and even spitting 'carelessly'! Progressivism was a very aggressive movement and so were the procedures that were put into place during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. Many of these procedures are still in existence because they were placed as measures against the spread of a highly infectious disease, should one appear yet again. 

• Raymond C. Bloom Dies of Pneumonia At Camp Funston, March 14, 1918, Alburquerque, NM
• Strange Disease Is Sweeping Spain. Mysterious Plague Resembles Influenza--Nearly Half of Population Affected, May 28, 1918, Trenton Evening Times
• Spanish 'Flu' Spreads over All of Europe. 600 Deaths from Epidemic in London, August 8, 1918, Columbus Ledger
• The Spanish Epidemic of Influenza and Its War Aspects, July 11, 1918, Macon Telegraph
• Boston Is Hard Hit by Flu. Schools Closed as Death List Mounts, September 24, 1918, Salt Lake Telegram
• Beware of the Kiss! Germs of Deadly Spanish Influenza Spread by Osculatory Performance,September 20, 1918, Salt Lake Telegram
• Infowebs Website Link to The "Spanish Flu"

3rd Quarter Reflections

Reflecting over third quarter we've gone over a multitude of topics, many of which fell under Imperialism. One of the biggest improvements I noticed overall about my understanding of history is that I want to know the information and I've retained a lot of what I've learned. In previous I was not particularly interested, nor had a teacher that piqued my interest in the subject we touched over like Mrs. Lawson has, and because of this I am absorbing the information and remembering it long after we've moved on! You would not believe how happy this makes me.

I do not want to sound arrogant when I say I don't believe I struggled with much this year. The way the class is taught really lends itself to the way I learn and understand things, which has made this class one that I enjoy coming to. The questions that Mrs. Lawson had applied to help us learn our material this quarter has pushed me to better understand what I'm learning, but is still enjoyable. The discussions elicited out of these homework assignments is even better, because we the students can understand each other views and understandings of the chapter and sometimes gain new insight that we might not have previously understood.

Improving Randolph

Our image of Randolph after 20 years include improving the athletic programs and offering incentives like scholarships. With this in mind it would also be beneficial to expand the college counseling arena and give students more help and contact specific colleges on their behalf. To help create a more global mindset we should teach more language, expand our campus ad facilities and in that light bring in more students and faculty.

Progress, Progressives, Progressivism

The definition of progress, as defined by Dictionary.com is "growth and development", "continuous improvement" and "advancement in general". It can be applied in various forms to anything that can improve like the Progressive Era. The Progressive Era. This era in the United States was between "1890's to 1920's". Based on The Eleanor Roosevelt papers project, the era was deemed the Progressive Era because it was the broadest term that could be applied to the mass reform of social and economical processes going on. It also goes on the describe what was going on during this time. Progressivism was the broad term applied to the way people went about trying to fix the social and economical problems that abounded in the United States. People had begun to reject Social Darwinism as an excuse for problems such as poverty. racism, and class warfare. Much of these goals were achieved when Americans started to face their fears of immigrants and with the help of journalists like Jacob Riis and Ida Tarbel. These two journalists were leaders in helping to expose the corruption of corporate companies and through their writings many people were forced to think about "what democracy [actually] meant". One of the largest proponents for this reform was President Theodore Roosevelt. During his presidency he made sure to put federal regulations on large corporate companies to keep them from building trusts and not get out of hand in their dealings with workers.

In a quick analysis of what I've read, progressives pushed for large social reforms to help raise the living standard of everyone in the United States. It was like a large cleansing of the American mindset. Through outlets like newspapers and even the government people were shown the horrors of factory work, our terrible treatment of immigrants and the greed of the corporate world. With this information in mind and my research I will attempt to separate the goals into separate categories.

Essential Goals: Reformation of Federal Regulation on Corporate Conglomerates, Getting back to Democratic Republic roots of government, localized political parties more connected to public opinion.
Lifestyle Changes: Acceptance of Immigrants, erasure of racism and social Darwinism
After Thought Goals: "universal military service" (Encyclopedia Britannica), equalization of genders
Don't Try This EVER: Urge of "'enlightenment' rather than... political sovereignty" (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Prediction of the Future: True or False

Predictions in the future range from scary to realistic. Some of these predictions include Isaac Asimov's prediction of video-calling: "Communications will become sight-sound and you will see as well as hear the person you telephone. The screen can be used not only to see the people you call but also for studying documents and photographs and reading passages from books. Synchronous satellites, hovering in space will make it possible for you to direct-dial any spot on earth, including the weather stations in Antarctica." Today that would the equivalent of Skype on your phone or computer! Predictions like the automation of jobs like tailoring and haircuts still remain to be done by humans rather than machines as predicted by French artist Villemard. Most of the predictions made seemed to hopes and dreams for the generations to come, but writers of Utopian novels like Isaac Asimov dreamed up ideas that the overtaking of technology would be the demise of the population. Predictions that take away the jobs of the people are the least realistic because we as a society still need human contact, and technology is slowly taking that away. The most standard trend seen in these predictions is the steady rise and growth of technology and population size. None of the sources I have seen predict a decline or set back in humanity. 

To take my own view of predictions, I believe technology will advance to be so encompassing that we as humans will have created a robot companion that had artificial intelligence comparable to the of a human. Even so much so that the technology that is at our fingertips will be available in the blink of an eye, or a thought. The social skills and niceties of conversation will also be disappearing with the translation of words into pictures. 

Can we really predict the Future?

To say that the individual had control of the entirety of the future is an overstep and overreaching ideal. As a whole there is a leading system of government, research facilities that would be the flood gate holding back these ideas and would release them to their own benefit. There is a rare case where the creator is your average human that hasn't already been swept up by the higher-ups. In the eyes of the government, world or national it would be utter chaos if they did not control a majority of what goes on. The future is shaped by its leaders, and based on their personal motives any new technology could be a good or bad thing.

Post-Film: "Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau"

The title of the documentary, Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau was chosen in the mostly likely cause that Eddie imbued what it meant to be Hawaiian. Throughout the documentary Eddie Aikau's love for Hawaii, it's culture and people constantly shine through as major characteristics of himself. Eddied was the embodiment of being Hawaiian from his legendary surfing to his attempt on saving the his fellow crew members on the Hokulea. Eddie Aikau is a legend and guiding spirit on the island and in the ocean. With this in mind I believe the angle of the film was that Eddie was the embodiment of what it meant to be Hawaiian through his love for surfing and helping others.

Knowing that this documentary was created for ESPN's sports entertainment it would be hard to ignore the fact that the documentary had parts that would have been dramatized to elicit a response from the target sports audiences. The documentary would have also been focused around the surfing aspect of Eddie's life and not so much on personal and social life. Filmmakers would have mostly likely assumed the audience watching would have been surfers and understood most of the history behind the sport, they might not have needed to explicitly explain some parts of the movie, like the history behind the Hokulea. Had this movie been produced by a company like PBS or the History channel the documentary wouldn't have focused so much on the importance of the surfing competitions in Hawaii. The documentary also wouldn't have focused to much on Eddie as the main character but rather the view would have broadened to the Hawaiian population and how society changed through the fluctuation of American involvement.Surfing also wouldn't have been as big of a focus, the Hawaiian identity would have been more centered through more perspectives and other large figures in Hawaii's history.

Eddie Aikau the day the Hokule'a set sail

If I was to make a documentary based of the reading, I would have chosen to follow Theodore Roosevelt. My focus would be to follow his rise of power while in the Presidential seat and how he changed the US into a Global Leader. I would do this by highlighting his career and how he "inherited an empire-in-the-making" when he came into office. I would follow through with his expansion and development of the United States Empire, highlighting the fact that he served in the military and understood what it was like in war and understood how to use tactics of force. Only when necessary. The angle of my documentary would be through Roosevelt's love for america and how he wanted to help America be the best it could possibly be and be able to contend with foreign powers, and still retain American values.

Theodore Roosevelt: A Rough Rider

"How do you analyze a Political Cartoon?"

Before I opened the guide I had learned, in class, that an easy way to indentify the meaning of the cartoon was to look at the picture as whole and the details. By reading the words on the picture you could also figure out the two contrasting points that the cartoonist was trying to make. We understood that most cartoons point out the irony in a situation by using visual cues, and specific phrases. The guide that I opened on the Library of Congress pointed one more major theme to look for in the cartoons: the exaggeration of certain attributes like facial features or objects key to the meaning of the cartoon. Using the knowledge I had before the guide and new information from the guide I will look at political cartoons as a visual representation of literary elements like irony. It follow in steps like 1)observe cartoon as a whole 2) look at fine details (i.e. exaggeration, irony, etc.) 3)use prior knowledge and hypothesize what the meaning is and 4) finalize a theory on the meaning.

The picture shows the contrast between Cuba and the Philippines when America tried to civilize both countries and give independence to the. The Cubans are given independence (the pie) by the US because eventually they gave up and let the US take control and reorganize their country. The Filipinos on the other hand fought the Americans for a while before finally giving in. I came to this conclusion based on prior knowledge I had the contrast the cartoonist portrayed by exaggerating the different facial features of the two characters.

This image represent the bombardment the US recieved when they attempted to civilize the Filipinos. The man sitting to the side is the revolutionary leader Guinaldo who had gained a mass following from the population (the insects swarming Uncle Sam). This was fairly easy to deduce given the knowledge I had from reading the textbook on the Philippine war that America started. 

This image captures the aggression of the US Army to fight off Spain and take away the "Spanish Misrule" from Cuba. But American President McKinley is pulling back and portrayed as a coward to the situation. I deduced this from looking at the picture and seeing the obvious conflict over Cuba, between Spain(the vulture) and the US (Uncle Sam), but there was an internal conflict between Uncle Sam and President seen in McKinley pulling away from the war, against imperialism.

Phrenology

In our search for the Phrenology busts use and what it is we used google to find a scholarly article on the bust and its creator. The bust itself actually originated with Franz J. Gall in Germany in 1796 and eventually came to the United States. The Fowler brothers took this to the US and expanded it into a primitive nueroanatomy study. Our group found this knowledge by using terms in the scholarly article and google searching them. We also used knowledge that we had observed during our visit up to the bust. We would then discuss ideas about how people would have used this during the time period and how it was or wasn't related to science. My research proved to be better when I used key words and more specific ideas related to Phrenology or the Fowler's. The time period also depended on what physiologist you searched in combination with the terms.

After this exerscise we debated whether it was primary or secondary source. It could have been either, but in the context of our research it was secondary. If the time period had been set to when replicas were being made and its use to collectors it could have been a primary source. An important part to all of this was provenance. Provenance is origin, and the earliest known history about the object like the owner and where it was manufactured/created.