Industrialization

      Industrialization was when the making of things went from being hand made to being made with machines. Industrialization made a huge impact on, not only the growth of America, but also the growth of the world. The amount of things that are done by machines has grown immensely. It has helped bring in money, things became cheaper, easier to get, and the process of making things was sped up a lot. Although there were many positive changes from industrialization, there was also changes that had a negative impact. Due to the quick growth of factories, there was a lot of air pollution from the smoke that was filling the air. Many people had different opinions on industrialization and how it was effecting America. People like Henry George were for industrialization because he thought it would end poverty, which was a big problem in America at this time. Another group of people, including David A. Wells believed that machines were taking away jobs from people, because machines were faster and easier than hand made objects. Finally, Andrew Carnegie who really enjoyed the idea of industrialization because things were made easier, like the transporting of goods. As an industrial worker, life would be really tough because the respect that the owners and bosses had for workers was very low once machines were brought into the picture. Although it was a hard transition in America, I am very glad that industrialization did occur, as we would not be where we are today without it.

The Jungle

Skye Burket

1. Sinclair believes that the qualities people needed to have in order to succeed in working in the Packingtown’s was the ability to mind your own business and just do their work, without any distractions. People working in Packingtown’s generally had no loyalty or decency. The young man, Jurgis Redkus realized that to succeed in working at these Packingtown’s, the work didn’t matter it was all about who you knew and how you associated yourself with these people.

2. The Plant Owner’s main goal was to make as much money as they possibly could. It didn’t matter how they made that money, or who it hurt, they just did everything in their power to make lots of money.

3. When Sinclair says “...there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar…” he means that the workers didn’t matter to them at all because the money was more important than anything else.

Fortunately, the Meat Packing industry has changed a  lot since the 1900’s due to how poor working conditions were, and how many people were injured or killed while working for these factories. The most common thing that happens are cuts from knives and other big machinery. Industries today are inspected almost daily to ensure that places are safe enough for workers, and also owners are a lot more careful and aware of the things that could happen while working for these industries.

Ida Tarbell

1857-1944

     Graduate of the Allegheny College- Ida Tarbell was the only women graduate of her class in 1880. Ida Tarbell was a very famous journalist from Erie County, Pennsylvania. Ida began her writing with biographies and after that her articles were mainly against big business', including the unfair practices of the Standard Oil company. Tarbell grew up with her father as an oilman, so she was pretty familiar with the oil business. This helped her as she looked into the Standard Oil Company and helped begin her best-known project, in which Ida looked into the Rockafellers' family oil monopoly and came across the realization that they were a very unfair business practice. All of Ida's discoveries were published into a book called The History of the Standard Oil Company in 1904. In 1911 when the U.S Supreme court was making a decision on breaking up the Standard Oil monopoly, Ida's findings and book helped contribute to the Supreme Court's decision and ending the monopoly. Ida Tarbell was one of the best journalists of the twentieth century and a very good investigative reporter. Ida Tarbell is now in the National Women's Hall of Fame, along with being honored by appearing on the U.S. postage stamp as part of the Women in Journalism stamp series. Women today can look up to people like Ida, who proved that regardless of her gender she could go to school, graduate, and go down in history as an outstanding journalist.

Life in the Camps

Life in the Camps

Skye Burket

Many camps during the Transcontinental Rail Road were known as Hell-on-wheel camps, as they were always moving and not ideal. Workers for these railroads only needed a place to sleep at night, because they would work from sun up till sun down. As the construction of the Rail Road grew workers would continuously be moving farther towards their Rail Road destination. Many people looked at these camps as the most undesirable and inconsistent locations in the country. Unexpected things happened at these camps, including large amounts of drinking, gambling, and murder occurred almost nightly. Few of these camps became permanent towns and grew in population and land. Although some places remained permanent and industrialized, others are completely gone or still there but they're "ghost towns".

http://rsirailroad.blogspot.com/2012/02/closer-look-railroad-camps.html 

Group:

http://haydencoleman.blogspot.com/2013/10/understanding-owners-of.html

http://rickeyricardoridiculous.blogspot.com/2013/10/hiring-workers.html

http://ussummithistory.blogspot.com/2013/10/dealing-with-workers.html

http://summithistoryus.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-impact-of-transcontinental-railroad.html

African Americans in the Civil War

African Americans in the Civil War:

Alec Martin

            Towards the end of the war, African Americans started fighting for the union. More than 200,000 blacks fought for the Union, and 38,000 died, the majority of disease. They faced many prejudices while in the army. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first military unit consisting of black soldiers.

This created a lot of controversy. Many people questioned if blacks could fight in a “White man’s war.” After this regime was created, thousands of other African Americans joined in on the war.  Beginning in October, approximately 180,000 African-Americans served in the U.S. Army. The union debatably could not have won if they did not recruit them. Many Blacks escaped the plantations, over 500,000, and many enlisted in the union military, greatly increasing the manpower.

The increase in manpower helped the union win the war, later leading to the victory of the union and the emancipation proclamation. That led to the 13^th amendment, which freed all slaves. They played a large role in obtaining their own equality.

Sources:

·      http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/

·      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_African_Americans_in_the_American_Civil_War

·      http://www.history.com/topics/african-american-soldiers-in-the-civil-war

·       

The Fort Pillow Massacre

Battle of Fort Pillow

April 2, 1864

The battle of Fort Pillow was one of the largest encounters between the Confederate Soldiers and the Black troops during the Civil War. On April 2, 1864 at 4:30 A.M., the Confederates attacked the Fort Pillow Fort, in which the Union used for protection of their supply lines. Confederate General, Nathan Bedford Forrest sent 1500 men to assault the fort that was manned by 295 white troops of the 13^th Tennessee Calvary and another 265 blacks men of the 11^th U.S. colored troops.  The confederates and Union troops continued to fight until 3:30 P.M., and then General Forrest finally showed a flag of truce and demanded the surrender of the Fort. The commander of the fort got killed in the massacre, so the Fort’s second in command, Major William F. Bradford, had to make the decision. Forrest gave Major Bradford only 20 minutes to decide, and he refused the surrender. The Confederate soldiers then, charged the Union soldiers and ran them off the bluff and down the river bank of the Mississippi River. “The river was dyed with the blood of the slaughtered for 200 yards,” Nathan Bedford Forrest stated after the battle. The Confederates came out with only 14 killed and 86 wounded, while the Union troop lost 231, 100 soldiers were wounded and 226 were captured by the Confederates.

There was controversy after the Battle of Fort Pillow, that Forrest and the confederate troops massacred the Union troops in “cold blood” even after the Union troops surrendered. Also, after the fight had ended, several of the wounded black soldiers were burned to death or buried alive. The Battle of Fort Pillow will remain one of the largest and most brutal war between Confederate and Black soldiers. Controversy over the battle still continues today, due to the horrific outcome, and violence towards the Black soldiers.

http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/fort-pillow-civil-war-dishonor

.http://www.dce.k12.wi.us/historyday/Topics/CivilWar.htm