Second Semester Speech

Walker Bragg

12/15/14

US History

I pledge

Second Semester Speech

The importance of history is very prevalent in our day to day lives. The knowledge I have learned this semester in American history has helped me to become a better and more culturally aware person, and I can now see the roots of American culture that I did not know existed. In this semester we learned about the development of America from 1865 to 1920. This time period encompasses some of the biggest changes in America’s history.

The most surprising thing that I learned about this semester in American history was the scale and impact of immigration to America. This point in American history was pivotal to the development of the United States as it is today, and is even relevant when talking about modern day immigration. Immigration was one of the driving forces for the modernization, and the creation of cities and industry in the 19^th century. Although this is the view of someone with hindsight, but people in the 19^th century were experiencing the same fears that people are feeling today. People today are worried that an influx of immigrants will cause a repeat of what happened in the 19^th century with the reduction of jobs and decrease in wages. Knowing the past is an important part of making decisions for the future.

I was also surprised to hear about the depth of racial travesties that occurred even before America was founded. The part of history that our class mainly focused on was the treatment and hardships of African Americans, Native Americans, and foreign immigrants. Studying this made me more aware of the fact that discrimination lasted even up until the industrial revolution. Knowing this terrible history helps me to better understand why there is still racial prejudice today, and also helps me sympathize with people who are going through struggles today.

The thing that has made the biggest impact on me was the subject of industry. The moral issues caused by intense wealth and power generated during the Industrial Revolution in the 19^th century will continue to fascinate me. This period in time is so impactful to me because it is considered both Americas highest and also lowest point in history. The immense growth that this industry caused shaped the face of America. Understanding the growth of America is one of the most important things to know from American history.

Considering this, I would call the era from 1865 to 1920 the “age of growth”. This point in time is the most influential part of American history. America changed the most it ever has in any point in time and it would not be what it is today if this had not occurred. The past two quarters learning about American history has made me realize that our country went through many hardships in this era but it made me pleasantly surprised to see that Americans are resilient and resourceful and have come together to form a strong and diverse community all throughout history.

Manufacturing and Distribution

I learned that Zara and H&M have very stylized marketing systems. Zara is focused on flooding the market with a constant stream of new clothes. While H&M focuses on cheap and planed out distribution of clothes on a longer time scale. Both these companies use a centralized hub that controls the marketing of the business. Both companies out source their manufacturing to foreign countries where labor is cheaper. With Zara's fast distribution chain they are able to have less clothes sitting in stores and just rely on weekly shipments. I am wondering how these big companies micromanage their small local stores.
  

An Immigrants letter

Dear family,

I have finally arrived in America after the long steamboat ride from Ireland. Once I arrived I saw more people at once than I have ever seen, people from all over Europe, Spain, Italy, and Jews from about every country I know. Since I have no money and no where to go I have decided to stay in New York. It is a wonderfully, beautiful city filled with lots of people and tall buildings. I have started to work in a factory that manufactures steel, he hours are long and the work is hard and dangerous but it is better than back home. I have rented a one room in an apartment building. A lot of my neighbors are from Ireland as well. The room is not that big and the building is not that great but I am able to have work and keep food on the table with my wages.

I saved up enough money to go to a base ball game it was one of the biggest specials I have ever seen other than cony island. There seems to be so many things to do in New York even getting through the streets is hard. Usually when I go out I  go with some of the Irish people from my building because some people, if they have had a bit to much to drink, don't take to kindly to Irish born. Other than that I love America and New York and hope that you can make the trip over soon.


from, Walker Bragg

http://www.92y.org/92streety/media/classes_events/tours_places/lg/tour_nyc_early20thcentury_lg.gif

Sources

Memory.loc.gov
I got basic information about Edward Curtis's travels and his photography of Indians.

matikawilbur.com/blog
This site is Matika Wilburs blog that talks about her project 562.

New York Times lens blog
This is a New York times article about Matika Wilbur's beliefs.

Indian country today
This site talks about some of Matika Wilbur's photos and her impact on modern Indian culture. 

Matika Wilbur ted-x talk
This is Matika's ted x talk were she talkes about the modern day Indian.

Edward Curtis images
This is where I looked at the photos by Edward Curtis.

http://www.fluryco.com/curtis/
I learned the life history of Edward Curtis from this web site.

http://www.edwardscurtis.com/curtisbio.html
I looked at more pictures by Edward Curtis.

www.matikawilbur.com
This is where I looked at the photos taken be Matika Wilbur.

seattletimes.com
This article talks about the goals of Matika Wilbur and her project.

beyondthebubble.stanford.edu
This article Points out that Edward Curtis Photoshopped one of his images
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/edward-curtis-epic-project-to-photograph-native-americans-162523282/
Gives more details about Edward Curtis's Photoshopped Image and his life.

Matika Wilbur Vs. Edward Curtis essay

Walker Bragg

10/28/2014

History photography essay

I Pledge

Edward Curtis Vs. Matika Wilbur Photography

            Edward Curtis and Matika Wilbur are both famous for their many years of photography. While Matika Wilbur is an artist in present day Edward Curtis did most of his work in the early 1900s. Just by looking at some of their pictures, it is easy to see the differences in their style and technique of photography. It might be easy to think that these physical differences are because of the differences in time periods, but looking closer at the photographers themselves, it is easy to see that most of these differences came from their own personal beliefs, their goals for taking the photos, and their view of Native American culture.

            Edward Curtis had always loved nature, going on many hikes up in mountains he was even known for finding lost hikers in the mountains and bringing them to safety. Edward photographed many things in nature from plants and rivers to sweeping landscape shots. Because of his love of nature Edward Curtis started to photograph Native Americans.  J.P. Morgan was the main beneficiary for the entirety of Edwards work. Little Money came from the books he sold called “The North American Indian”. Edward took pictures of over 80 different tribes in his life time, even going up to Alaska on an expedition. Matika Wilbur, who has Native American lineage, started out as just a normal photographer never wanting to photograph Native Americans. Matika said that she got the idea to tell the story of Native Americans from her grandmother. After that Matika started a kick started to raise money for her three year trip photographing Native American tribes. The name of Matika’s project was 562, the number of Native American tribes when she started the project.

            Edward Curtis wanted his photos to get people interested in Native American culture by showing them the simple and peaceful life of the Indian. Edward went to tribes that he thought kept most of their own culture with little outside influence. Edward viewed Indians as an aspect of nature there for he saw them as different from modern society and wanted to capture what he thought was the purest and true version of Native American life. He was known for altering some of his photos so that objects from modern day civilized life would not be shown in the photos. One example of him altering his photos is when he cropped out a clock between two Native Americans. Almost all of Edwards’s photos had a light orange brown shade put on them to make them look older and more natural. Edward’s main goal for this was to preserve the Indian way of life. Edwards was a man who believed that the Indian culture would be assimilated by the new American culture and would be whipped out.  Matika Wilbur’s feelings are similar to that of Edward Curtis in that most of the Indian culture has died out and has stopped being expressed. Matika wants to bring back and to show that that culture is still alive in the Native Americans that are living today. Most of Matika’s photos show Native Americans participating in everyday life while also practicing in their Native traditions. Matika feels that the aspect of Native Americans is out dated and needs to be refreshed to show that the Native American culture is not dead and has just changed form but kept its roots. She said that if you try to look for examples of Native Americans all you will find are pictures from someone like Edward Curtis and none from modern day. She wants to be able to express Indian culture as it is now and trying to encourage more Native Americans to embrace their heritage. Matika Wilbur and Edward Curtis both tried to preserve Native American culture through photography even though they are almost 100 years apart they both care about the preservation and salvation of the culture of Native Americans.

Images of Native Americans then and now

Native American medicine ceremony photographed by Edward Curtis.

Modern day Native American woman photographed by Matika Wilbur

White Deerskin Dance Costume

Altered photo by Edward Curtis

Unaltered photo by Edward Curtis

Marva Scott, Talowa. Photograph courtesy Matika Wilbur

Tolowa Tattooing

History picture

Sources, Film Research – Glory & 12 Years a Slave

IMDB – List of 12 Years a Slave Awards

The New York Times-historical accuracy of 12 years a slave

Ash Brook University-historical accuracy of Glory

YouTube- Interview with Steve Macqueen director of 12 years a slave

IMDB- list of Glory awards

Boxofficemojo- box office numbers 12 years a slave 

Box officemojo- box office numbers Glory

Film essay

Walker Bragg

September 15, 2014

USH

I pledge

History through Film

            Watching historical movies is a very good way of getting a good depiction of what life was like in the point in time that the movie is based in. Although, watching movies alone is not a sure fire way of learning all the facts that you should learn from a history class, you must also make sure that the movie you are watching is accurate. Both the movies Glory and Twelve Years a Slave are accurate depictions of life around the civil war. Glory had a few more historical inaccuracies then Twelve years a slave. One large inaccuracy was that most of the soldiers in the 54th all black regiment were highly educated free men and not just runaway slaves like the movie Glory depicted them as. Another smaller detail that was passed over by the movie director was that General Shaw was not the first choice to lead the all black regiment and even when he was asked he was hesitant to say yes. Historical facts that were wrong in the movie were small things such as the union attacking the fort at the end from the north when they actually attacked from the south in real life.

            Twelve Years a Slave was a more personal account of history and most of the facts were from Solomon’s book. Twelve Years a Slave was a very accurate representation of life of some slaves and most importantly Solomon. The director of Twelve years a slave, Steve Macqueen, said that he wanted to tell the story of Solomon; He wanted to keep the movie as historically accurate as possible. A few of the scenes especially in the beginning of the movie were added into the movie by the director and were not in Solomon’s original story. These stories were added to show more of the life that Solomon and people like him could have lived instead of the life that he did live. The rest of the movie was very accurate to the story that was in Solomon’s original book.

            These movies were all very good pictures of history with a small number of Hollywood changes. With a bit of research historical inaccuracies in the movies can be distinguished, and watching a movie in class can be a fun and informative look at the past.