American-Cuban Relations

Walker Bragg

5/14/15

US History

I Pledge

American and Cuban Relations

For almost all of my generation we have known that we could never travel to Cuba. Relations with Cuba have almost always been rocky to say the least. Even years before the Cold War began America and Cuba struggled with each other over imperialism. These problems were amplified significantly because of the Cold War. All of these problems finally led to the complete embargo on travel and trade.

            The growing threat of communism scared American and in turn scared the president of America. At this point Dwight D. Eisenhower was the president and was looking at Cuba as a possible threat that could fall under the control of communism. During this time a man named Fidel Castro was forming a rebellion to over throw the leader of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista. Once Fidel Castro took over the Cuban capital of Havana Americas fears America’s fears were finally realized, Cuba was under control of a communist government.

Dwight D. Eisenhower decided that Castro was a threat to America and began to make plans to overthrow the new government that Castro had created. Castro angered Americans even more when he nationalized American owned companies without paying them. This caused America to place an embargo on Cuba.  When Dwight D. Eisenhower left office in 1961 John F. Kennedy became president and also inherited the plans to try and take down Castro. This plan was called the Bay of Pigs and it was the main incident that started the hostilities between Cuba and America. This was a CIA backed invasion of Cuba by Cuban rebels. This operation went horribly wrong when the Cuban rebels were quickly defeated by Castro’s forces. The failure of the Bay of Pigs led to Fidel Castro allying himself more closely with the Soviet Union. This led to Cuba becoming a proxy for the Soviet Union and started getting weapons and supplies given to them. This alliance led to the pinnacle of the cold war the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when an American U-2 spy plane photographed Russian missiles being made in Cuba on October 14, 1962. This sparked a global conflict that was the most volatile part of the cold war. This was the closest the Cold War ever got to becoming a nuclear war. America made negotiations with Russia to stop sending missiles to Cuba if America would stop sending missiles to turkey. Throughout this period conflict between America and Cuba worsened making America put a stricter embargo on Cuba.

Over the years following the Cuban missile crisis America has still had minor conflicts with Cuba. Several Cubans were arrested as being spies in America and were sent to jail. In Cuba several Americans were arrested and accused of being spies. The CIA has been known for trying to assassinate Castro many times over the years of his rule. None of these attempts ever came close to working.

American Cuban relations have only recently started to take a turn for the better with President Barack Obama meeting with President Raul Castro. America and Cuba have begun in recent prisoner swaps in an attempt to mend relations with each other. Obama has succeeded in passing reforms in traveling to Cuba as well as loosening some parts of the embargo put upon Cuba.

This topic has been fascinating to learn about. It holds some of the most influential parts of the Cold War and changed the affairs of the world for many generations. Researching this topic was fairly easy since it is an important and relatively current event in American history, and I was able to find several news articles on the topic. I found some videos on the Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs that really helped my research and helped me better understand how these events marked history.

Fidel Castro

Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis

rebels captured by the Cuban government after the Bay of Pigs

Images taken by the U2 plane 

 

Barack Obama shaking hands with Raul Castro

Works Cited

"The Bay of Pigs Invasion Begins." History.com. A+E Networks, 2009. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2Fthis-day-in-history%2Fthe-bay-of-pigs-invasion-begins>. I used this source to fine information about the Bay of Pigs. This side had text and a video on the topic that was very helpful.

Bohn, Kevin, and Laura Koran. "A New Era in U.S.-Cuba Relations - CNNPolitics.com." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 14 May 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/18/politics/a-new-era-in-u-s--cuba-relations/>. This CNN article had a lot of current information on modern day relations between America and Cuba. This website talked about how travel between America and Cuba was becoming more possible.

"Cuban Missile Crisis." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cuban-missile-crisis>. This website had a lot of information about the Cuban missile crisis. This website had text and a video on the topic.

Renwick, Danielle. "U.S.-Cuba Relations." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 14 May 2015. <http://www.cfr.org/cuba/us-cuba-relations/p11113>. This website was really helpful and gave a broad overview of the history of Cuba and America, as well as information about the current state of Cuban American relations.

"Timeline: US-Cuba Relations - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-12159943>. This site showed the long history of Cuba and any events that might have affected U.S. Cuba relations.

Cinderella Man

Walker Bragg

5/1/15

I pledge

Historical accuracy of Cinderella Man

The movie Cinderella Man is a great movie telling the fantastic rags to riches story of the fighter James J. Braddock as he struggles to take care of this family in the great depression. Some people might say that this movie is only a boxing movie but I believe that this move shows a lot of insight on what life was like living in the great depression.

It appears that the director, Ron Howard, went to great lengths to keep the historical accuracy of this film as close to real life as possible. At points this movie seemed to even go out of its way to add historical information into the film. The whole character of Mike, Braddock’s friend, was added to the movie to provide a different look at the people in the great depression. Many of the historical points in this movie were provided by Mike such as the Hooverville, working on the docks, showing how low even business men fell during the great depression, and many other emotional problems that people had in the great depression.

Much of James Braddock’s own life shown in the movie was just to give incite on what his and others life was like living in the Great Depression. Even when the movie showed us James’ life in the 1920s and how good it was. The majority of the movie was showing peoples’ lives and how they were living and how James Braddock’s boxing had affected their lives. Such things like when Braddock’s son stole the meat from the butcher and how they could not afford milk or when the man came to turn off the power and he said he had to because he really needed his job. All of these things were showing what peoples’ lives were like in the great depression.

Through most of the film, Ron Howard, stayed historically accurate, but one character was portrayed completely wrong. The character Max Bear was played out to be the evil villain in the movie who just wanted to kill people in the ring. While it is true that two of Max bears fight led to fetal head injuries, Max Bear was a bad guy as the movie portrayed him. Max Bear was known to have become very distraught and sad after those fights and strongly regretted the accident. Max even donated the money from one of his fights to the family of one of the dead fighters. Another aspect of Max bear’s character that was changed was Star of David that Max wore on his shorts. Ron Howard kept the star in the movie, but significantly reduced the size and changed the color to make it not as prominent. This was probably done as a stylistic decision or to not make the “villain” have any redeemable qualities, since Max wore the star to protest the mistreatment of Jews in Europe before World War 2.The Cinderella Man was not just a great movie but also had great historical insight into the lives of people living in the Great Depression.

http://www.boxingscene.com/-biggest-thing-cinderella-man-got-wrong--1317

http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/rails-timeline/

questions about world war 1

1. World War 1 started on July 28, 1914. It was caused by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists. The war was fought by the central powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman empire, and the allied powers, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan.

2.The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917. The US entered the war because Germany sank ships trading with Great Britain and killed american passengers.

3.World War 1 ended on November 11, 1918. The war ended because the Central powers were running low on resources.

4.The terms of the armistice made Germany leave all territories on the western front. Germany had to give up most of its wartime equipment. All treaties made between Russia and Germany were taken away. The United states did not ratify the treaty because the United States Senate did not want to become part of the League of Nations.

5.Why did Germany take up fighting in the war so strongly when its allies were not as willing to fight.

Prohibition

Prohibition, also known as the noble experiment in 1920, was a time in history when the United States government passed the 18th amendment. This amendment to the constitution banned the production selling or transportation of alcoholic beverages. This issue was not something that just appeared one day, it had been a long fought issue pushed by such groups as the anti-saloon league and the more prominent Woman's Christian Temperance union.

     There were many different sides to the argument of prohibition some people and lesser known groups thought that tolerance was the best way to fight against alcoholism, and others thought that the complete outlawing of alcohol was the only way to stop the problems that alcohol caused. while the majority of people did not care about any sort of restrictions on alcohol and they were usually out spoken, the prohibitionists were known to make their views know and to make claims that alcohol was evil.

      Supporters of prohibition used all of their power to change peoples view on alcohol.The groups such as the Woman's Christian Temperance union and the anti-saloon league when to great lengths to try to cover up the use of alcohol by historical figures. In one instance supporters of prohibition altered a photo so that George Washington was not holing a glass of whine while he celebrated his generals. Other instances of supporters of prohibition altering historical documents is when they changed stories in the bible to not include alcohol. this was important to the prohibitionist movement because they were telling people that drinking alcohol was a sin. There were also rumors started that having a high blood alcohol level could make people spontaneously catch on fire. Some supporters of prohibition were known for poisoning some batches of bootlegged liquor killing most of those who drank it.

       Prohibitionists thought that getting rid of alcohol would solve all the problems such as crime impoverishment, increase the health of America, gambling, and all around what they believed to be sin. This belief that all crime was caused by alcohol even made a few towns sell their jails thinking they would not need them any more. This was not the case, crime evolved into organized crime because of prohibition. People like the gangster Al Capone rose to power in this time on the opportunity to sell and transport alcohol illegally. Since it was actually not illegal to drink alcohol in this time there were many people willing to drink illegal alcohol. Another thing that came out of prohibition were the speakeasies, which were secret bars that sold alcohol. These places were even worse then bars and saloons before prohibition.

      Prohibition also had a negative effect on the economy by shutting down the brewing industry and the saloon industry putting many people and businesses out of work. prohibition also had a major effect on the government. The US government lost around 11 billion dollars in tax from alcohol during prohibition. The US government also spent about 300 million dollars on enforcing prohibition.

       During the span of prohibition the amount of alcohol that the average person drank a year was only halved. During this time many people still continued to drink alcohol, the best way that prohibition hurt alcohol was because the price increased so it was more expensive to buy. Prohibition was considered a major failure and was repealed by the 21st amendment after only 11 years of being in use.

Prohibition images and work cited

Picture of the woman's christian temperance union

People drinking around a no drinking sign

Al Capone

Woman's christian Temperance union supporting prohibition 

Drawing supporting prohibition

Works Cited

"Apparent Consumption 1850-1983 | Temperance& Prohibition." ApparentConsumption 1850-1983 | Temperance & Prohibition. N.p., n.d. Web. 19Feb. 2015. From this source I got a lot of information like the amount ofalcohol the average person drank during prohibition. I also got the amountbefore and after prohibition.

Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print. The text book have very little information about prohibition.

"Digital History." Digital History. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2015. This site had a lot ofresources concerning the goals of the prohibitionist movement.

Eighteenth Amendment (1919). Print.

Hanson, David J., Ph.D. "Prohibition: The NobleExperiment." Prohibition: The NobleExperiment. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

Kerr, Austin. "Why Prohibition? | Temperance& Prohibition." Why Prohibition?| Temperance & Prohibition. Ohio State University, n.d. Web. 15 Feb.2015.

"Prohibition." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2015.This source gave me information about how prohibition changed the economy.

Thornton, Mark. "Alcohol Prohibition Was aFailure." Cato Institute. N.p.,17 July 1991. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. This source told about the people behindprohibition.

Thornton, Mark. "Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 157: Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure." Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 157: Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure (n.d.): n. pag. Web. This document talked about why the concept of prohibition failed. 

How to analyze a political cartoon

To analyze a political cartoon you have to first find out what it is making fun of. this can be done by reading any caption that the cartoon has. Then you have to look at the cartoon for small details.
this link is a guide to analyzing a political cartoon guide

looking at this picture you see a glove that represents america and a man on a toy horse that says dictatorship. He is in a country called the Philippines and a sword with the name Aguinaldo. This is making fun of the Filipino rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo saying he is like a child and a dictator.

This picture shows a woman in a frying pan that says Spanish misrule and a fire under it that says anarchy. This is saying that america needs to save Cuba by defeating Spain and ruling Cuba while also making a play on the phrase out of the frying pan and into the kitchen.

This picture shows Teddy Roosevelt swinging a big stick at Spanish controlled countries and making  deals with other European countries. This is making fun of one of Teddy Roosevelt quotes.

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.