3/1/16

1. Propaganda- The spreading of information to either help or hinder a person or idea.
2. Merriam-Webster
4/5/6. Link

Image 1: My eyes are immediately drawn to a mother holding her children in what appears to be a battle field. I believe that this is used in order to create fear in the viewer, so that he/she will buy liberty bonds in order to protect something like that from happening to them. This poster is designed for the husbands and wives who are at home and desire to continue to live in the freedom won for them.

Image 2: I notice the woman pointing into the distance with an American Flag draped over her, slowly my eyes glance down the image and I notice a seemingly infinite sea. I believe that this method of propaganda is used in order to emphasize just how much the soldiers have done for us, traveling a seemingly infinite number of miles to go to god knows where in order to protect us. This image is made for everyone at home to reflect on what others have given up for them so that they too can give something up of themselves.

Image 3: My eyes go to the dead soldier. This image is simple on purpose so that the viewer feels somber. It really brings home the idea that the soldiers in this war are giving up everything for us so it makes a lot of sense for us to be willing to give up something for them. This image is targeted at anyone who has a heart, to be frank. It helps to emphasize what soldiers are doing for us, and what we should then in turn do for them.

7. I am not comfortable with the idea of the government using propaganda to convince me of something because throughout history that has been abused to make the general public believe facts that are not necessarily the absolute truth. It skews information that the public then doesn't know the truth about.

8. I think that the government felt it was necessary to invest money into propaganda campaigns during WWI because they were fighting in completely foreign lands for the first time and were most likely in dire need of money to continue that fight.

Key

1. B
2. C
3. A

Questions

1. Which of these did people believe did NOT create intolerable problems well before the end of the 19th century?
a. industrialization
b. progressivism
c. immigration
d. urbanization
e. child slavery

2. Which issue was NOT in debate because of the progressive movement?
a. role of women in society
b. the ways to deal with racial difference
c. what power the judges should have
d. the question of how to govern cities
e. the fairest way to organize the economy

3. Who were the muckrakers?
a. progressive journalists
b. progressive politicians
c. those in favor of Theodore Roosevelt
d. progressive athletes
e. people in favor of suffrage

Living Essays about Progressivism

I worked with Austin Lu and Skyler Eastin in order to combine three excellently worded "body paragraphs" in order to formulate not only an effective thesis but also a conclusion as well. 

               The focus of progressivism throughout the early 20th century was about protecting the well being of communities around the world and the citizens of those communities. This is evident in movements such as shutting down schools and public places to protect people from disease during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, changing food laws to protect people’s health, and people educating themselves through the press about bombing precautions in London to prepare for possible attacks in America.

                In conclusion, the primary directive of the progressive movement throughout the early 20thcentury was focused around protecting the well being of people in American communities. They tackled this with a wide range of reforms and raising awareness to the general public. There were reports of the lack of London’s safety in American newspapers that raised awareness of what to do during a possible attack. Along with awareness campaigns, they shut down public places to protect people from disease during an epidemic of influenza, and changed laws about regulating contents of food to protect the health of the public.

Clean Food Laws

                 I researched about the clean food laws put into affect after Upton Sinclair published a book entitled, The Jungle, detailing the horrible conditions of food plants in Chicago. These laws were in large part facilitated by Theodore Roosevelt, an outspoken Progressive. I analyzed a political cartoon in which Roosevelt was literally running the Beef Trusts out of town with his ever famous "Big Stick". (1)

                   Interesting fact, Theodore Roosevelt actually invented the term Muckraker during a speech condemning the work of Upton Sinclair on the bias that he wasn't speaking truthfully. Upon further research, however, it was determined that the conditions inside of these meat packing factories wasn't exaggerated by Sinclair. It was only after he made sure of these conditions that Roosevelt started the fight for clean food. In fact, Roosevelt made a speech in Congress simply titled "A Revolting Story of Filth and Pollution". (3)

                  I really got to see what the "muckrakers", or reporters, thought of what Roosevelt was doing at the time. I got to see if they believed it to actually be an important issue because of things like how long the articles were and how big of a heading they received. I got to see these reporters slowly turn around what they were saying about Roosevelt and Sinclair, in an article titled "Thanks, Not Blame Due Roosevelt and Sinclair", which is a really fancy way of saying what they did is good for everyone and they should be praised for it as opposed to being condemned. (2)

                    Another fact that I found interesting is that Sinclair's book was literally so controversial that some libraries banned the reading of it and books by other "muckrakers". This is so crazy because it is against the 1st Amendment, and I think that it is crazy that big political and business bosses had the kind of power to make things like that happen, even such a short time ago. (4) (5)

                 I believe that it is obvious how my topic is relevant to the discussion of Progressivism in that this law would not have come into being without Progressive people wanting a change. They had to publicize what they believed to be wrong in order to gain the support of the people, and then they had to fight the people in power who didn't want the laws to change. Also, this effort was led by Theodore Roosevelt, a man who we studied because of how strong of a Progressive he is. Honestly I'm just glad we got these laws passed, because the thought of eating a group up human finger makes me gag.

Archive

Articles:

1. Cartoon: Pure Food and the Big Stick
2. Thanks, Not Blame Due Roosevelt and Sinclair
3. A Revolting Story of Filth and Pollution
4. Library Bans Book
5. Sinclair Presses for Publication of Report

3rd Quarter Reflections

I like the harder reading questions. I hope that we still watch movies in order to learn about historical biases. I really enjoyed learning about people challenging government because of the elections going on right now. I think that the constitution does follow the flag. I enjoyed talking about Imperialism because I didn't know that the United States was so involved in becoming an empire. I also really liked learning about what native Hawaiians thought about United States involvement in the documentary about Eddie Aikau. I also liked analyzing the documentary in order to bring to light the biases that the film makers had. I liked talking about the powerful images and sounds in order to help make a stronger argument for Eddie. The documentary helped show that they were a people who did not believe that they in any way needed to be governed. I hope that we will spend more time going over things involving government in preparation for the upcoming presidential election.