Chapter 29

during all these powerful movements in america. Youth began to realize they had more freedom and power to do what they wanted. This was known as the Counterculture revolution, a time where youth did everything in there will to break away from social restriction and normal middle class life. youths would live in communities together, experimenting in drugs and sexual partners. They called themselves "hippies" and wanted to be completely free from materialism. Music became a popular thing in the counterculture revolution and songs were often about what hippies and those living this lifestyle were experiencing. Sex became a much more open and recreational. around this time the pill was created in order to stop unplanned pregnancies. People lived together and most slept with multiple partners at a time. the counterculture did not last very long but it has forever effected american culture. i find this time a really interesting time in US history because it has impacted culture today in so many ways. Before most only knew what was normal and proper but now a whole new world was opened up that basically anything was okay and you could be just how you wanted to be, even if it was frowned upon. If the Counter culture revolution never happened, i dont think our culture, music and media would be the way it is now. it seems as though, ever since the 60s media and culture has become more and more corrupt. It scares me what the next generation will be like.

Chapter 28

African Americans continued to fight for their freedom and equal rights. Martin Luther king became a powerful non violent leader of the movement. MLK led non violent marches, sit ins and praying in Birmingham. Even though these movements were non violent and just made so that the would get into the consciences of the white man, yet police still unleashed attack dogs and men with electric prongs on the protesters. Kennedy realized how horrible this was and proposed the Civil Rights Act. Kennedy was killed shortly after. The law was passed shortly after that gave blacks equal rights as white but it did not entitle voting laws. shortly after another law, the Voting Rights Act was passed which protected the voting rights of blacks. blacks could now be in office. 

there was a qoute in this section that i really liked. 

"white folks would drive past your house with a pick up truck with guns hanging up in the back and give you a hate stares... those same people now call me Mrs. Hamer." (692) 

i really liked this because it shows how the tables turned. They once believed that blacks were useless and now they got respect from whites. 

International view on Americans

For this assignment i interviewed my parents and family in South Africa because they conveniently were visiting in South Africa with my family when this was assigned. 

We just became US citizens a few months ago and my mom still wont stop talking about how lucky we are to be here. South Africa has become so corrupt she says, there is absolutely no opportunity what so ever anymore. She said " i could never live behind a 10 ft electric fence again. Everyone we know in South Africa has been robbed, mugged or stolen from at least once. When my mom went to go visit 2 years ago they had a problem with "holdups" which was when men entered into shopping malls with machine guns and robbing every store and terrifying all the shoppers there. When my mom was there 2 years ago she had just left the mall 5 minutes before there was a "hold up". after that trip she decided that we all needed to become citizens. My family also was saying how lucky we are to have gotten out of there, they said they would do anything to find a job out of South Africa and move. also my family talked about their fear for nelson Mandela and what will happen once he passes away. they said what is happening now is that the children from the apartheid that have watched their parents be beat or killed are now starting to fight back and get i guess revenge. Many fear that everyone is just holding together for Mandela but have no idea what it will be like without him. its so sad that the beautiful country has become so corrupt it breaks my parents hearts. I also was able to talk to my friend in South Africa who still loves the country and would never leave but she does say these things happen. she says that almost every week girls are raped on their way walking to school. also she talked about how different it is there work wise. i have been working the day since i was 16 and could work but she just got her first job at 20 and is one of the few out of her friends that work. getting jobs in south africa as a white is also very difficult now, my cousin was saying that even if you do have better qualifications and education a black man will get the job over you. 

there are lotteries in South Africa where you can win a green card to the united states. 

I thank my parents all the time for giving my brother and i the opportunities we have here even though their hearts are still in south africa they refused to let my brother and i grow up there. 

Chapter 27

In the 1950's there was a lot of tension about the US being the top of technology around the world. When the Soviet Union launched their there first satellite sputnik. This challenged americans and now americans felt the need to improve american education. federal government for the first time felt the need to fund higher education, and enforcing schools to focus on science, math, and foreign languages. Many adults were not used to this concept of their kids staying in school and not working, which made many adults skeptical. This is so different from now because now if you don't stay in school that is questioned. BEcause of all these culture changed, young adults now became "rebellious" in parents eyes. Young adults were considered dangerous. Young adults started to listen to rock and roll music which were seen by many parents as horrible, suggestive and inappropriate. Some parents feared that this was a plot to mix races because it was a mixture of african american music and white music. The more adults talked about rock and roll being wrong the more teenagers would listen to it.

Chapter 18

The transformation from working in a workshop to a factory was really hard for some to adjust to. Before the time of factories products were created by artisans who spent all their time on just one shoe and it was a form of art to them. With the change to factories products were created by anyone and now jobs were separated between multiple workers who each made a different part of the product. As time progressed factories filled with more and more unskilled workers such as women and children because they were okay with being paid less than other skilled workers. Working conditions in factories were also horrible. In the railroad industry 2,000 were killed during this time and 20,000 were injured. In the coal mining industry, workers often became infected with the black lung disease. Immigrants did not mind to work in these conditions because they were more desperate for work than others.
In these factories management was very manipulative. Many factories supplied housing for workers so that if they stopped working they would be evicted and homeless, so they thought this was a way of keeping them from leaving. Your color of skin determined where in Europe you were from and how you should be treated.

Chapter 19

Urbanization in America caused social change amongst citizens. With the new prosperity citizens were now able to enjoy more luxuries. One of these luxuries included Department stores. Middle and working class would go to department stores to buy luxuries that showed their wealth and social class. Department stores also offered women entertainment and adventure that they before could not experience because they had to work long days. Another thing that progressed in this time was education. Very few before this time even had a high school education. Higher education became so popular during this time because it showed you had money and where your social standing was. As time progressed schools because more and more available to citizens. Women now could attend colleges and some colleges were even made for just women.

It is crazy to think that once there was a time that education was not important and was just luxury. Today if you say your not going to college or doing anything past high school you get frowned at.

primary source. the 60s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUc2eLe-ruI


I wanted to watch something about the sixties, because i think the sixties was the most culture changing time in American History. It was a time where many citizens who's opinions were once over ruled by authority now spoke up and fought for change. During the 60's there was a war going on in Vietnam, African Americans were fighting for equality, youth fought for peace and change, and students fought for changes as well. it was a time of empowerment and change. I find this time in America so interesting because before the 60's most just followed the social norm and how society always was. Now the norm was to go against the culture they grew up in. The Youth of the 60's have shaped society so much today. The 60s showed that youth could make a difference and could cause change. If the 60's never happened i think culture would be so different today. Youth would continue to be under authority and never argue for what they want, and i think that is an important part of today, being able to be who you want and how you want to be.

Chapter 24

Franklin Roosevelt was the best president possible during a time of need. Franklin Roosevelt had always had it all, until he became paralyzed one day. After endless Therapy he was able to get back into politics again. Being once paralyzed made him and much more down to earth, compassionate and understanding polititcian than any politician before. I think that is the reason, he was the best president possible to get the country out of the Depression.

Because of his understanding of being helpless i think that he had strong compassion and relatable feelings towards those hit hard by the depression. Because of this care for the people hit hard by the depression, he set up The Social Security Act which reached out to those who were unemployed, suffering old age, or disabled. this established the federal responsibly over the welfare of people. FDRs compassion to the helpless created something great that is still used today. If we did not, have Social Security today so many would suffer and be be struggling, especially when the economy hit us hard a few years ago.

Chapter 17

This chapter was very hard for me to read. I always knew that European settlers we're horrible to natives but I never really realized how horrible they were. Plains Indians relied on bison and migrated with bison to provide food for them. Native Americans had been living by this concept for many generations. But when Europeans settlers came they began to kill the bison dramatically to provide for the market. Many army commanders encouraged the mad killing of bison because it would help undermine Indian resistance to become civilized. Then the fort Laramie treaty was created which was a treaty that removed plains Indians to reservations where they would try and civilize the Indians. One chief was able to remain on his land, sitting bull. He was one of the few native Americans that defeated George Armstrong clusters force. This was a big event for native Americans.  Shortly later the Dawes severalty act was placed which was another attempted at civilizing Indians. This act distributed land amongst Indians which was once their land, in hopes that they would leave there nomadic ways. It didn't stop there the last final event against the plains Indians was the killing of Sitting bull And then the battle at wounded knee where 300 Indians were massacred. I cannot believe what settlers put native Americans through. It was there land first it's horrible that it was taken so violently.

Chapter 21

During the progressive era, luxuries for citizens began to flourish. Department stores, vaudeville, music halls, and amusement parks flourished during this era. Amusement parks allowed families to escape their day to day life at home and an opportunity to socialize with friends and for women to show off their new outfits. Soon Henry Ford came out with the model t car which allowed average income families own a car as we'll allowing them to travel easier. Reformers feared that these luxuries would cause immorality and social disorder so they campaigned to regulate these pleasures. One big problem during the progressive era was prostitution. Males would take women and take part of their income. Some women saw this as an easy money maker while others were kidnapped and forced into it. The Federal Mann Act was passed in 1910 which made women trafficking illegal causing the red light districts to shut down. I didn't even know there was ever red light districts in places other than Amsterdam.

Another problem during this area was abuse of drugs and alcohol. Drug companies could freely prescribe or sell opium drugs as well as morphine and heroin. In 1914 the Harrison act was passed making those drugs only accessible with a doctors prescription. Also coca-cola contained cocaine in until 1900. I found this interesting because I had no idea that drug abuse was around for over 100 years.

Chapter 12

The first thing I think when I think old south is slavery but slavery was not the only problem in the old south. I found it really interesting that white men were very violent with one another and fought over power. They called it dueling and sometimes it was so violent that men fought until death. I found this really interesting because I think that when one has a lot of power over people it goes to their head and they become out of control. I think that because plantation owners had such a power over their slaves that it completely went to their head and effected them outside the plantation.

Chapter 11

In this chapter we read about how theatrical performances became a popular form of entertainment. I thought that it was interesting that the audience was very diverse and was not for just high class citizens but low class citizens could go. Their were prostitutes in the crowd and rowdy men who often threw things at the stage that they did not like. The most popular theatrical show was called minstrel shows which were shows that reinforced racial stereotypes. In these shows they depicted African Americans as clumsy and stupid and made fun of their roots and called their shows african related names such as "Nubian Jungle Dance". Another Popular kind of show were the shows by P.T. Barnum who introduced fantasy and weird wonders to people. His goal was to interest people and not educate them so he purchased a museum where he had all sorts of wonders of the world, almost like a freak show.

Chapter 10

In this chapter it talked about public schools and how they started. I thought that this part was really interesting. Schools used to be really small and students ranging from 4 to 20 years old we're jammed into one small class room. In 1837 Horace Mann tried to better education. He goals were to shift financial support for schools to state, making the school year longer, having standardized text books, and dividing students into different grades depending on their age and education level. All these things that Mann had instituted into schools is still in effect today. Also even back then majority of teachers were women and I think today as well their are more women teachers than men. The schools wanted to integrate all people living in America and create a more diverse society but schools still excluded African Americans and if an African American entered the school people often acted violent towards them.

Age of Jefferson

Jefferson believed that the most virtues and loyal people to the government were farmers. Jefferson says that when people are in a big city people go crazy and become corrupt from one another, he believes that is what happened in Europe. This was interesting to me because I feel like farmers and people out of the city don't care as much about government because they are not exposed to it every day like people in big cities are. So of course people don't have a whole lot of bad things to say about the government if they are not exposed to it every day and hearing the negativity of it every day like those in big cities.
Also in this chapter we read about one of Jeffersons slaves Sally Hemings who is rumored to be Jeffersons mistress. I had never heard anything like this about Jefferson before so it was kind of shocking to me that in a time of slavery and serious racism that a powerful leader would involve himself with a women of color. There is no evidence of it being true but if it is that would be very shocking.

Chapter 6

This chapter was interesting to me because for the first time in all our readings so far Americans are making progress to gain freedom from Britain. I found it very interesting that Americans teamed up with France and became allies with them. This was interesting because the French once fought for American land but now just want to take down the British. Also in this chapter women are becoming more heard about in history. Women serve a point in the war and care for the men fighting by feeding,laundering and nursing soldiers. This is also the first time we see women fighting for more rights. Abigail Adams writes about how she wants more of a voice but her husband ignores her plea. She then said that property will remain in mans power because that is what authority says. This was really interesting to me because women wanted more rights this far back in history and still women continue today to fight for more rights.

September 15th

“In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throws mankind into confusion.” 
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense

I found this quote really interesting. Back in times where there were no kings or people of power their is no history really of war or violence like there is now and in the time era we are reading about. Before America was taken over by the Europeans the Native Americans lived much more peacefully and didn't think to cause wars or betrayal with one another. Once the British had so much power over the states, the power went to their heads and they became almost greedy wanting more and more power and advantages because they had the power to. I can understand why the colonist became so angry and violent towards the government because they were not treated fairly. It would be interesting to see what the world would be like if their was no government or anyone who controlled us now because the government does do a lot of good in our country and we have say in our government for the most part. but in countries like China where it is Communist I wonder what if would be like if they didn't have anyone to control them anymore, what would it be like.

Chapter 5

After reading chapter 5 i have become completely shocked in the british. It amazed me that they went to so much effort to get money from the colonist to help them get over their debt. They made so many attempts to control the colonists and get more money from them. Even though the colonists were fighting back the British still would keep showing their power over them and set up more laws. Things really started to heat up around the Boston Massacre when the colonist faced the British for the first time but failed and lost 5 colonists. After that the British still continued to make laws that made the colonists even more mad. The Tea Act was the last straw for the colonists because they shortly after went to the harbors and destroyed all the tea that had been shipped in by the British. I enjoyed reading this chapter because i have heard and read about it so many times but this is the first time i think i really understand why all the events that took place did.

chapter 3

In this chapter I read all sorts of interesting information, but what stood out to me the most was the part about women in Chesapeake Bay. I found it very interesting that the male to female ratio was so low that men had a really time finding brides, so many women from lower statuses were actually able to marry into higher class. Many men also wrote in the will that if they were to die that women would inherit their estate. I found this so interesting because all throughout history you read a lot about how women have little to no rights and for many years women could not own land so I thought it was really interesting that women in Chesapeake Bay in this time could. I also found it interesting how slavery changed over the years in Chesapeake Bay. In the beginning not every slave was a slave for life, a slave could gain freedom and some even owned land. Later a law was placed which stated that slavery was lifelong and inherited based on ones skin color. Slavery only happened to blacks or indians, whites would never enslave their own colored people. When slavery first began, their were fewer then one thousands slaves but as the slave industry grew there were approximately twelve thousand slaves making them one fourth of the population in Chesapeake Bay. The was amazing to me how slavery became so big so fast.