Thinking about Progress

Progress. What does it mean? According Merriam-Webster "progress" is the process of improving or developing something over a period of time. The Progressive era, between the 1890s and 1920s, was a period of social activism and political reform across the United States. There were quite a few issues during this time period, which they 'fixed' with the following progressive reforms:

1. Suffrage
• Only white men were allowed to vote, but women demanded the right to vote (suffrage).
2.  Prohibition
• alcohol was the cause of many social problems, and divorces, so a lot of people in the country wanted to ban alcohol.
3. Race
• Slaved blacks became free and US citizens, which caused problems between whites and blacks. 
4. Children
• Children were forced into working long hours until a movement began to outlaw child labor.
5. Workers
• There were many people on the streets, so worker's compensation systems were created. 

(List from NebraskaStudies.org).

These progressive reforms all have the common theme of bettering society. They are providing jobs for the homeless, giving children a childhood, giving women the right to vote (in the process), banning alcohol so that people stop ruining their lives,& giving the blacks citizenship. 

Rankings of Progressive Reforms (Opinionated)

1. Outlawing child labor 
2. Suffrage 
3. Prohibition 
4. Race
5. Worker's compensation 

The Future

According to this BBC article, 10 of the predictions that engineer John Watkins made 100 years ago and came true were:

1. Digital color printing
2. Rising height of Americans
3. Mobile phones
4. Pre-prepared meals
5. Population growth slowing down 
6. Hothouse vegetables 
7. TV
8. Military Tanks 
9. Larger fruit 
10. The Acela Express

         The article included a few of Watkins predictions that didn't come true:

1. The letters 'C', 'Q', and 'X' being 'abandoned'
2. Everybody walking 10 miles a day 
3. No cars in large cities 
4. No mosquitoes or flies    

An article about Issac Asimov mentions a few of his predictions that he made about 50 years ago, some including: gadgets to prepare 'auto-meals', communicating will be 'sight sound' (you'll be able to see the person while talking to them on the phone), cars with 'robot-brain', school will be taught fundamentally on technology and computers, ships will land on mars. 

Some of these predictions seem like the people back then were hopeful. For example Watkins thought that people would walk 10 miles a day, he had hope that the people in the future were going to be healthy, because he also thought there was going to be larger fruit, hothouse vegetables, and also taller people. Which are all factors in healthy living. However Asimov seems like he's giving some kind of warning. His predictions are mostly based around the idea that people will more dependent on machines rather than humans. 

Most of these men's predictions came true. I find Watkins prediction of the letters being abandoned a little absurd, I wonder how he came to the conclusion that someday society will just stop using a few letters. The most accurate prediction, I think, besides the obvious ones, is Asimov's predictions that are machine dependency based. 

(Q.3/4)Like how there will be machines to prepare our meals, our education will be machine based, even our communications. I mean if you think about it, our society has become like this with face-time, fast-food restaurants, and technology based projects in school. 

I think that in the future, we will be 95% technology based. I think we will have some kind of device to complete all of our simple tasks. At the pace we are going right now, it doesn't seem like we are far from a society like this. I also think that in the near future we will have many environmental issues. We are already starting to see some, for example, lack of clean water , lack of natural resources, and the excessive amount of pollution. I think it will get worse before it gets better, and we will get better because there will be more environmentally friendly machines in our daily lives. I believe there will also be a larger variety of alternative machines that are better for the environment.

 How much control over the future do we actually have? As individuals, groups, governments?

I think we have a pretty decent amount of control over the future, because the future is based on what we do today. If we aren't taking care of the major issues, such as the environment, right now then the future won't be looking so great. Climate change is a big topic in the presidential race these days, because climate change is a major problem in the world today because our environment is getting worse day by day, and will have a major effect on the future if we don't try to control it. Like I said before in the near future we will be seeing large environmental problems, but based on what the presidential candidates are being asked/are saying, I believe alternative plans to prevent climate change from getting worse will be made. There have already been large meetings for this such as the one in France a few months ago. And if the government doesn't do anything to solve this crisis, we as individuals can take the initiative. There are many things we can do in our homes, in the way we travel, and in the way we live our regular, everyday lives to help better the environment. We can also join local communities that are helping the environment, to do the same. By doing this we can prevent our future from taking a turn for the worst. 

"How do you analyze a political cartoon?"

1.  I learned that when looking at political cartoons it is important to look at the symbolism in the cartoon, because all cartoons use simple things as symbolism which makes it easier to understand the meaning of the cartoon. It is also important to look for any irony, exaggeration, and any labeling. 
2. When looking at political cartoons in the future I will refer to this Analysis Guide  which states all the things I said in the question above. I will also look at what is happening in the word currently, because by knowing current events it is easier to connect the cartoon to its real mean  

         

This cartoon depicts the Americans coming to the Philippines, and "robbing" them of their freedom.

This cartoon depicts the war between America and the Philippines and how uncivilized it was.

This cartoon depicts how the Americans came into the Philippines and tried to educate them and convert them.

Eddie Aikau Documentary Questions

1. The filmmakers called this film Hawaiian, the Legend of Eddie Aikau, because he was Hawaiian and he preserved the Hawaiian culture. 
2. The angle of this documentary was; Eddie Aikau was passionate about what he believed in, and he believed in preserving and sharing Hawaiian culture/surfing culture. He was believed in preserving his ancestors stories, which he did by recreating them. 
3. ESPN helped us understand that sports are more than just the sport and its competition. There is a story behind each sport, a culture, and someone fighting to preserve it.
4. If PBS/The History Channel had made this documentary, they would have focused less on the sports aspect of the story, and aimed their attention to the Hawaiian culture, and we probably would have learned more about the story of Eddie's ancestors, and their search for new land.

 

Phrenology

     Today in class Mrs. Lawson presented us with a porcelain bust, and we were told to come up and write some notes down, and research what we saw. On the bottom of the bust there was the "Phrenology" written and big blue letters, and that is what most of us started our research with. Dictionary.com  phrenology is "a psychological theory or analytical method based on the belief that certain mental faculties and character 
traits are indicated by the configurations of the skull". We then discussed our findings such as what its "provenance" was. (Dictionary.com defines provenance as "a place or source of origin"). We discussed that the provenance for this skull was Oregon, and that the bust was not authentic. The bust presented to us was  a reproduction of the originals created by the Fowlers in the 1800s. The Fowlers created the bust when they researched the brain and discovered the different functions of each part of the brain. 

Similar bust that was presented to us in class 

Urbanization- Canned Goods

Urbanization provided many things in the early 20^th century, leisure time and mass production being the main things. The presence of leisure time allowed people to go out. People went out tot eat at restaurants with family and friends. The innovation of canned food allowed food to be preserved better added more variety to what people in America ate. The social aspect of urbanization allowed people to talk and share recipes which also altered what, and how people cooked their food.  Mass production changed the way of buying food. The creation of tin cans, changed the way people stored food, and the creation of the lithograph machine, changed the way companies advertised their products.

The can was invented a lot earlier than what I thought. The first idea of the can was made by Appert, who was a chef for the French nobility. He was interested in the study of food preservation and had done many experiments. His first experiment was with a champagne bottle sealed with a mixture of cheese and lime. He improved on this experiment and later his factory had packed meat in tin cans, and observed which ones would stay fresh the longest. He was later awarded with the Directory Prize for his genius idea. Later he published his method in a book named The Art of Preserving for Several Years. All Animal and Vegetable Substances”.

            Advances in technology created a faster way of transporting goods, canned food for example. Not only was the food going to stores a lot quicker, there was more food going to stores because of mass production. Based on a newspaper article written in 1910 by Ruby Bashford, canned goods were the most dependable source of food. Canned goods were revolutionary to this time period. These days we consider canned goods are for those who do not  have access to fresh food but for some people in the Victorian Era, they were considered to be an extravagance. People depended on canned goods very heavily. In the same newspaper article, Bashford discussed what would happen if you were to take away canned goods from a woman. Bashford says “What would she do without canned goods? The only alternative is to live in a boarding house which she can  never, under any circumstances, seem like home And there she would be served with the same canned goods anyways.” This expert from the article shows that there really isn’t an escape from canned goods in this time period, even if you were to get rid of them in your home you would be given them somewhere else. That’s how big canned goods were. However there was a downfall to these canned goods. The presence not knowing what was truly inside the can was frightening to some, and this changed the way many food companies packaged their goods.

Upton Sinclair published an eye opening book named The Jungle in 1906. Critics say that this book was a “grim indictment that led to government regulations of the food industry”. It was because of Sinclair’s book that the government made changes to the way food was packaged, shipped, and sold, and because of this, The Jungle  is known as “one of the most impactful book on American history”. According to an article called “Purity as Life”, Sinclair’s book focuses on the “anxiety” and “distrust” consumers had with unknown places of food production. This sparked the attention of the US government, and thus the change in food regulations. The biggest change was the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This act was the commencement of federal regulation on the nations meat, egg and poultry supply. This law requires inspection on all ‘meat-processing plants’. And any article of food that had been adultured or misbranded was considered unlawful. If someone was found guilty of doing so they were to be fined al least $200 on their first offense and any offence after that would be $300, and there was a chance of one year in prison. Food companies had to change many things in order to meet the requirements of the law, including packaging and advertising.

H.J Heinz also helped with creating a healthier way of producing canned goods. His religion of Christianity is what motivated him to find a way to purify these goods. According to “Purity as Life”, Heinz says the following: “the people in the United States are willing to pay for the quality [sic] and, it is not necessary for us to lose money because we are giving the best. When we simply advance the price on an article we don’t tell you we are giving it away, we tell you we are giving you quality, the best money can buy”. Heinz is referring to the improvements made to the production of canned goods; they were now being made with double seamed packaging, and there was now a proper label on cans. It was important the food companies included what was in their cans, because if not they would now be following the proper regulations. Branding the cans also showed the quality of the food. Cans were made of tin-plate containers and covered with paper which had information about the products. Due to urbanization and advancement in technology, a machine was built to trim and stamp tins. Later a lithograph machine was invented to directly transfer images to the can. These innovations created a trust between food companies and their consumers.

The innovation of canned goods was only successful because of urbanization. All of the machines, realization, advances, and innovations were all key factors. Food preservation and health issues were brought to the attention of the public. By doing so the government was able to improve the way of packaging with effective regulations. Without urbanization, these changes would not have been made. And without urbanization we would not be where we are in the food industry today.                                                           

                             

                                           Can Labeling

Salmon Tin Can 

Tin Cans Displayed in Alaska State Museum

Armour and Company 

Lithograph Machine

                                                                                                                                                       Sources:                                                                                                                                                    

Britannica; food processing

• I used this source to find information on the methods of food processing.

school.eb; George Wells Beadle

• I used this source to find information, on bacterial discoveries.

Ebscohost; H.J Heinz

• I used this source to find information about H.J Heinz, and how he created a way to purify food, and his reasoning behind it.

Library of Congress; newspaper 'Canned Goods' article primary source

• I used this source to find a newspaper about canned goods in the time frame of 1910-1920. This source also was a reliable source for a primary source.

Alaska Historical Society; Labeling Cans

• I used this source to collect information about how the workers would label cans, and what the cans were made of.

History.com; History of Cans

• I used this source to find information on when and by whom the first can was created.

FDA; Food Regulations

• I used this source to look up early food regulations, and used this source as a "key terms" source so that I could further my research.

armour-star; Armour and Company

• I used this source to get information on the Armour and Company. I learned from this source that this company was the first to produce canned meat.

nolo.com; Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (condemned meat industry)

• I used this source to further my knowledge on the meat inspection act, which I found on the FDA website.

collectorsweekly; Advertising Tin Cans

• I used this source to find out how food companies labeled cans, process wise, and what was on the labels.

online-literature.com; Upton Sinclair- “The Jungle” 1906

• I used this source because the website where I found information about H.J Heinz referenced "The Jungle". I wanted to know what effect this book had on the government and changes in food regulations

Latin American Immigration

           Today we researched about migration, and at first I thought about researching about the migration of Muslims from India to Pakistan,  but decided against it. I thought I should learn about something other than my own culture. So I looked at this interactive graph, and looked at the immigration patterns from 2005-2010. The immigration path from Latin America to Europe stood out to me the most. Why were the Latin Americans traveling so far? What were the conditions of Latin America? What opportunities were in Europe? I did some research and according to this snippet of an article Spain has a "permissive" immigration policy which allowed immigration associations to cooperate with employer organizations and service providers. Which makes it easier for immigrants to get jobs. My question about why Latin Americans were leaving still remains. However, I can infer that there probably weren't many job opportunities in Latin America.

Latin Americans Migrating