3rd Quarter Reflection

This quarter, I feel like I have really improved my reading and multiple choice skills. The reading questions have been a challenge for me, but I believe they will help me in the long run. I really enjoyed analyzing the political cartoons and being able to learn this new skill. We are currently learning about the Progressive Era which I find extremely interesting. This era is what made America how it is today. I also enjoyed watching the High Line documentary. It was interesting to see how these people turned something run-down and old into a modern park that improved the entire neighborhood in New York. The documentary helped me to understand what factors were necessary to create this park, and what factors were also necessary in the Progressive Era.

Thinking about Progress

1. I would define progress as improving from one point to another to reach a goal.

2. The 1890's to the 1920's is referred to as the Progressive Era because "it was a period of social activism and political reform in the United States".

3. Some of the achievements and issues that were associated with the Progressive Era was the passing of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote to end women's suffrage, children's working hours were limited and their quality of education improved, they passed laws to protect the environment and address the problem of pollution, rise of crime during American urbanization, and alcohols effects on society and the call for prohibition.

4. All of these progressive reforms have in common the want for better living conditions for Americans.

5. Some of the four major goals of the progressives were protecting social welfare, promoting moral improvement, creating economic reform, and fostering efficiency. I have ranked them from 1 being essential goals that are worth striving for to 4 being a less important goal.
 1) Creating Economic Reform
 2) Protecting Social Welfare
 3) Promoting Moral Improvement
 4) Fostering Efficiency

The Future

1. One of the people making predictions about the future 100 years ago was John Elfreth Watkins . His successful predictions from 100 years were digital color photography, pre-prepared meals, mobile phones, the rising heights of americans, slowing population growth, hothouse vegetables, television, tanks, bigger fruit, and the Acela Express. His unsuccessful predictions were no more C, X, or Q in the alphabet, everyone will walk 10 miles a day, no more cars in large cities, no more mosquitos or flies. Other predictions from a 19th-century German Chocolate Company 100 years ago was that the police would have x-rays, flying machines, movable houses, airships, undersea ships, North Pole trip, a water walk, a ship railway, a roofed city, theater, moving sidewalks, and good weather machine. Predictions from 50 years ago from Robert Heinlein was that there would be interplanetary travel, contraception and control of disease, the U.S. will start a "preventive war", intelligent life will be found on Mars, mankind will not destroy itself nor will civilization be destroyed. Predictions by Isaac Asimov about 50 years ago is that robots will neither be common or good, appliances will have no electrical cords, vehicles will have robot brains, wall screens will replace the ordinary sets.

2. The 19th-century German Chocolate Company predictions seem to be a wish-list of what they hoped to have for the future because they were extravagant dreams, but the predictions from 50 years ago are more accurate to what our generation is trying to produce. An example of a car with a robot brain is the Autonomous Car that drives itself.

3. The predictions that have come true are mobile phones, television, digital color photos, bigger fruit, tanks, appliances without electrical cords, and vehicles with robot brains. Some of the bizarre predictions were the good weather machine, and the U.S. starting a "preventive war".

4. There is a trend of us being able to fly, and devices helping us to communicate with each other. They seem to be focused on innovated transportation. Yes, people seem to be anticipating a better world because they are planning to travel all over the world in different ways and even to different planets.

5. Our future world will be shaped around our ideas and goals of the changing what we have now. I predict that we will have holographic devices, flying cars, no need to drive or walk anywhere because of actual hovering boards and cars. Almost like something indoor brain that will just pop up, not needing any devices or anything just thinking about it and it will be searched or defined for you. i see a whole different world with people not depending on things they normally depend on like cars, TV’s, phones, and other devices people can’t stop using today.

6. The future is in our hands because we will be the ones having the ideas to change the world. The future would not change if we did not continue to come up with ideas and put them into action. The government and the people decide what the future of our country is. The future is completely up to us and how we want to make it.

The Future is Coming

How do you analyze a political cartoon?

2. On the guide to analyzing political cartoons that I found, I already knew to look for the irony in the images, the labeling of certain objects to give them more meaning, and the use of symbolism for an object to stand for a certain idea. I learned about exaggeration, where the physical characteristics of something or someone can be changed to make a point, or that each cartoon has an analogy to it to make their point stand out.

3. Going forward when I look at political cartoons, I will look for the exaggeration of the physical attributes in the images, and look and see if I can find the analogy to the message of the cartoon. The guide I will use is The Library of Congress Guide.

4.

This cartoon is meant to symbolize that the Americans were giving Hawaii, the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico lessons on how to become civilized and like America. In the background I observed a Native American boy reading his book upside down. This shows irony because the Americans also tried to teach the Indians to become a part of their society. The children who represent Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Cuba are drawn smaller because they are less powerful territories, whereas Uncle Sam is tall and towering over them because the US is such a super power. At the bottom of the cartoon Uncle Sam is saying "Now children, you've got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not! But just take a look at the class ahead of you, and remember that, in a little while, you will feel glad to be here as they are!"

This cartoon shows the Philippines or the Filipino people depicted as a wild dog barking "WAR". Uncle Sam is standing to the left of the Filipino dog cringing up at the dogs barking. The Philippines is shown as a wild dog to show how the Americans believed they needed to be civilized to the American way of life. 

This cartoon shows Uncle Sam chasing a wasp and trying to catch it under his hat. The sign in the corner says "The Philippine Islands". I believe the wasp is being used to portray the Philippines, and how the United States was trying to catch the Philippines and take them over.

Eddie Aikau

1. The filmmakers call this film Hawaiian, The Legend of Eddie Aikau because he saved surfing in Hawaii from getting overrun by the Australians and became the hero of Hawaiian identity and surfing.
2. Topic: Eddie Aikau
    Focus: The Hawaiian identity and surfing career of Eddie Aikau
   Angle: Eddie was the embodiment of Hawaiian identity because of his dedication to the Hawaiian culture and his compassion for others.
3. The films content was shaped by Eddies surfing career and his saving of Hawaiian surfing. The filmmakers assumed that the audience was more interested in the sport of surfing and his success in surfing.
4. The film, if made by PBS or the History channel, would have focused more on the background history and culture of the Hokulea and Hawaii. They also would not have focused on Eddies surfing career and how he saved surfing from being overrun by the Australians.

Eddie Aikau

6. Topic: Spanish- American War

Focus: Media in the War

Angle: The medias false information about facts and stretching of the facts caused an unnecessary war.

The media took the information about the explosion of the Maine and turned it into an attack on the U.S. by the Spanish. This was false information and caused a war that was completely unnecessary. The medias involvement causes bigger issues than the real issues themselves.

Phrenology

My group and I discussed the interesting division of the human brain and how each part related to a different action or emotion of humans. After researching, I learned that each part of the brain was considered to be an "organ". Each organ was a different size based on the power it had in the humans body. It was interesting to me how "selfish" was one of the biggest organs on the bust. Lorenzo Fowler was the man who created the artifact. I learned that the bust is a secondary source based on what we were searching for, but if the question we were asking was changed, then it could be a primary source. The definition of provenance is "the place or origin or earliest known history of something."

Phrenology Bust

The Rise of American Football

     Between the 1880's and 1920's, the quality of jobs increased, and people were given better work hours with more time off. Increased time off made people more interested in public leisure, thus leading to the rise of spectator sports. Also, the better quality jobs provided people with more money to go and attend sporting events. Out of these sports came football. Football is a mixture between soccer and rugby. The rules were changed by Walter Camp, otherwise known as the “Father of American Football”, who made the game more like modern football today. Football quickly caught on in several colleges and became one of Americas most popular sports.

     One of the main reasons football became so popular in the United States is because it captured the true masculinity of a young American. Men attend their jobs during the day and it takes away some of their manly pride, but leaving work to go play football helped them to reinforce their manliness. The uniforms themselves helped to show off their broad shoulders and small waists, truly capturing their male physique. Another aspect that made the game so manly is the violence that was happening out on the field. This made them feel tough and powerful by having to fight their way to a victory.

     Even though some of the violence made the men feel more powerful and tough, it was extremely dangerous. In 1905, eighteen college players died and hundreds of others had football related injuries. Many colleges, one of the biggest supports being Wisconsin, fought to have the game removed from colleges everywhere, but the love of the game was too strong for many players and spectators. In reaction to this, President Theodore Roosevelt called a meeting at the White House with representatives from Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, which were the biggest college football teams at the time. After talking it over, Roosevelt created a seven member “Rules Comity”, which later became know as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This comity made rules to make the game safer for the players. They made rules like the line of scrimmage, which set the offense and the defense apart from each other by the length of the ball, and forward pass rule. Even though the game can be quite dangerous, the brutality and fight is part of what people enjoy so much about football.

     The brutality helps to add to the intensity and excitement of the game. The spectators love to watch a group of men giving all of their might to fight and preserver for a common goal of winning the game. This attitude of perseverance creates leaders and disciplines the teams to learn to work together. Each player has a certain position and purpose to help win the game. This gives each player a sense of belonging and purpose because without each position, winning the game would be nearly impossible. These aspects of football have shaped some of America's greatest leaders. For example, President Dwight Eisenhower played football at West Point in 1912. Without football, Eisenhower may not have gained a sense of leadership or continue on to be the President.

     Football was not only a fun game to watch, but it was considered a social event. It initially attracted an upper-class group of people because of its start in colleges and universities. Both men and women attended the games, and it was considered sophisticated or glamorous event. Ads for football often had images of women on them to add to its sense of sophistication. The game was not only popular for the men, but for most of the women too. Football then quickly became not only a game, but a part of American culture.

     Americans have such a fascination with football because it is a game all our own. It defines American cultures strive to be the best and to do things our way. The game of football helps to set us apart from other countries and create fine leaders. 

Football game in 1905.

One of the first Princeton Football posters.

Yale and Princeton Football game in 1900.

President Dwight Eisenhower (2nd from the left) on the West Point football team in 1912.

First College Football game between Princeton and the Rutgers on November 6, 1869.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

I used this website to learn facts about how American football was created and who created it.

Sports in American Life

I used this book to learn reasons why football became so popular and the danger of the game.

Into the Endzone for a Touchdown: A Psychoanalytic Consideration of American Football

I used this book to learn about the psychology behind football and how violent the game is.

A Brief History of the Game

I used this website to get a general background about the game and how the NCAA was created.

Embassy of the United States

I used this website to learn more about how it became so popular.

Shaping of College Football

I used this book to learn about how American football transformed from soccer and rugby to american football.

The Library of Congress

I used this website mainly to find pictures and primary sources from this time.

American History: The Age of the City

I used the history book to learn about how leisure impacted the rise of sports.

For The W!n

I used this website to learn about what American Leaders played football.