First Industrial Revolution

Overview

The first industrial revolution, 1750-1850, profoundly changed the way that people in England and America lived their lives. Whether it was by the increased transportation, new efficient machines, the increase in urban areas, or the new job opportunities people were directly impacted by the transformation in technology.

Inventions

 

As Foundations of Western Culture states, “The coke fueled blast furnace, made by Abraham Darby, is one of the many inventions that shaped the modern world. The blast furnace revolutionized the way that pig iron was melted down for the production of steel. It was also a much easier and more efficient way of producing steel. The blast furnace was created […] as a way to use coke instead of charcoal, as a fuel Charcoal was becoming increasingly scarce and as a result it was also becoming increasingly expensive. This increase in price caused the production of steel to slow. This increasingly difficult way to produce steel created a demand for a new, cost efficient way to make steel. […] The success of the blast furnace would continue to make great strides in creating new jobs.” The invention of the blast furnace helped the industrial revolution progress. The picture below is from Adam Mossoff’s twitter page. He is a law professor and his page includes many patents from the industrial revolution. The picture of a patent below is of a new type of blast furnace patented in 1826. This new type of blast furnace improved upon issues of the old one. Inventions in the industrial revolution were constantly being improved upon to continue the progression of technology. The blast furnace was very important because it made the metals used for many other things in the industrial revolution, like railroads, cost less. Therefore, inventions in the first industrial revolution were very important because they were what created the new ideas and technologies for today.

Working Class

The book, Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels written in 1844 is a book that overviews the impacts of the industrial revolution occurring. Putting the book into Voyant, the top five most frequent words were: working (564), workers (436), work (429), class (408) and bourgeoisie (305). The top three words all directly relate to work, and the other two words both relate to social class. Therefore, it is likely that these are issues that many people were concerned about. All these words are expected to be mentioned in a book about the first industrial revolution because these issues were very apparent at the time. Many people were moving from rural areas to urban areas in order to find jobs because many new factories were being made. According to U.S. History Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium, “The impact of the creation of all these factories and corporations was to drive people from rural areas to the cities where factories were located. This movement was well underway by the Civil War. During the 1840s, the population of the country as a whole increased by 36%. The population of towns and cities of 8,000 or more increased by 90%. With a huge and growing market, unconstrained by European traditions that could hamper their development, the corporation became the central force in America’s economic growth.” This shows that urbanization played a major role in many people’s lives, as many people moved to find better jobs in the city. Some people found better opportunities, but for many the working conditions in factories were terrible and the pay was not great. Many women were taken advantage of because it cost less to pay them; therefore, many textile mills employed women to work for them. The Lowell Mill is a famous example of this. A letter from Mary Stiles Paul, a girl who worked at the factory, outlines their poor pay and working conditions in her letters preserved by the University of Massachusetts Lowell. One reads,

“Dec 21st, 1845

Dear Father

 I received your letter on Thursday the 14th with much pleasure. I am well which is one comfort. My life and health are spared while others are cut off. Last Thursday one girl fell down and broke her neck which caused instant death. She was going in or coming out of the mill and slipped down it being very icy. The same day a man was killed by the [railroad] cars. Another had nearly all of his ribs broken. Another was nearly killed by falling down and having a bale of cotton fall on him. Last Tuesday we were paid. In all I had six dollars and sixty cents paid $4.68 for board. With the rest I got me a pair of rubbers and a pair of 50.cts shoes. Next payment I am to have a dollar a week beside my board. […]

This from Mary S Paul”

Thus, the new jobs and opportunities during the first industrial revolution changed where people lived, and how they viewed society.

Trains

The invention of the steam engine train was a pivotal moment during the first industrial revolution. The train transformed the way that people traveled and assisted in the transportation of goods. George Stephenson was an English engineer that helped change transportation by making trains and railroads. The British Broadcasting Corporation explains, “In 1821, Stephenson was appointed engineer for the construction of the Stockton and Darlington railway. It opened in 1825 and was the first public railway. […] The opening of the Stockton to Darlington railway […] stimulated the laying of railway lines and the construction of locomotives all over the country.” His models also influenced technology and transportation in America. The first industrial revolution is often characterized by English inventions and ideas spreading and developing in America, which is the case with the train and can be seen with the GIS map from ArcGIS. There are two layers of the map. The red is of the railroads in America in the 1840’s, and the purple lines represent the railroads in the 1850’s. There are significantly more railroads in 1850 than there are in 1840. This shows that the train was very effective, so more railroads were made in America. The train not only transformed America, it transformed England as well. Both images from Aspects of the Industrial Revolution in Britain show the changes trains brought with them. The first one from 1848 shows the social reform that was brought. It exemplifies the progress that came. The second one from 1841-45 shows a broken stage coach. In the background a train is going by, showing how trains were the future. Overall, trains radically changed the way that people lived in America and England. Trains and railroads brought social change and helped transport goods faster and farther than ever before.

 

The invention of the steam engine train was a pivotal moment during the first industrial revolution. The train transformed the way that people traveled and assisted in the transportation of goods. George Stephenson was an English engineer that helped change transportation, by making trains and railroads. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, “In 1821, Stephenson was appointed engineer for the construction of the Stockton and Darlington railway. It opened in 1825 and was the first public railway. […] The opening of the Stockton to Darlington railway […] stimulated the laying of railway lines and the construction of locomotives all over the country.” His models also influenced technology and transportation in America. The first industrial revolution is often characterized by English inventions and ideas spreading and developing in America, which is the case with the train and can be seen with the GIS map. There are two layers of the map. The red is of the railroads in America in the 1840’s, and the purple lines represent the railroads in the 1850’s. There are significantly more railroads in 1850 than there are in 1840. This shows that the train was very effective, so more railroads were made in America. The train not only transformed America, it transformed England as well. Both images show the changes trains brought with them. The first one from 1848 shows the social reform that was brought. It exemplifies the progress that came. The second one from 1841-45 shows a broken stage coach. In the background a train is going by, showing how trains were the future. Overall, trains radically changed the way that people lived in America and England. Trains and railr

 

 

Bibliography

“1800’s Railroads.” ArcGIS. Accessed December 07, 2018. https://arcg.is/0bePni.

Engels, Friedrich. *The Condition of the Working Class in England: From Personal Observations and Authentic Sources*. London: Granada, 1969. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/condition-working-class-england.pdf.

“History – Historic Figures: George Stephenson (1781-1848).” BBC. 2014. Accessed December 19, 2018. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stephenson_george.shtml.

“Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution.” Foundations of Western Culture. Accessed December 19, 2018. http://foundations.uwgb.org/inventionsoftheindustrialrevolution/.

Koot, Gerard. “Aspects of the Industrial Revolution in Britain.” Industrial Revolution in Britain: NEH Seminar. 2006. Accessed December 19, 2018. https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/gallery/railways.cfm.

“LibGuides: Lowell Mill Girl Letters: Paul, Mary.” The Little Canada Story – Little Canada – LibGuides at University of Massachusetts Lowell. December 06, 2018. Accessed December 07, 2018. https://libguides.uml.edu/c.php?g=542883&p=3734537.

Mossoff, Adam. “On This Date in #innovation History: Cotton Foss Gets #patent in 1826 for His #invention of a New Type of Blast Furnace for Making Metals Necessary for Industrial Processes and Manufacturing #IndustrialRevolution #PatentsMatter #FireOfGenius @edisonnation @USPTO Pic.twitter.com/pkWPSiFo4q.” Twitter. August 02, 2018. Accessed December 07, 2018. https://twitter.com/AdamMossoff/status/1025091438781100032.

Stéfan Sinclar and Geoffrey Rockwell, “Cirrus”, Voyant Tools, accessed December 7, 2018, http://voyant-tools.org

“The First American Factories.” Ushistory.org. 2018. Accessed December 07, 2018. http://www.ushistory.org/us/25d.asp.

 

 

 

 

 

The Second Wave Feminist Movement and its Effects on Today

            Throughout history a woman’s place in society has grown, morphed, and shaped the lives of women today. Looking into history, women were viewed as property, to only be left in the house to take care of children, to occupy positions that cared for children, treated as less worth that a man in the working world. These exhibits will demonstrate and examine the growing involvement of women around the world in society throughout the Second Wave Feminist Movement up to our current time by looking at the steps taken to socially advocate for themselves and their rights.

           The Second Wave Feminist is said to take place somewhere around 1950 and lasted until roughly 1980. Second wave feminism can be defined by a question of what women can contribute to society. During World War II, women had proved themselves useful in the workplace, but when men returned from war, these same women were forced back into their domestic roles in society. World War II changed the world for women, and we can see its impact by looking at a Voyant word analysis of an article used later in this paper. The most common words are things like work, women, military, and service. Women played a huge role during World War II, and that forever changed social norms and roles of women. Second Wave Feminism most represents women who had worked during the war and housewives of middle class to upper class households who found domestic life not fulfilling. These are the particular groups of people who this exhibit will mainly examine. Through the Second Wave Feminist Movement there were many conflicts with race and inclusion of all women, but this is not one of the aspects this exhibit will tackle.

           In Melissa A. McEuens article, “Women, Gender, and World War II” she states that, “…American women would find that their individual and collective experiences from 1941 to 1945 prevented them from stepping back into a prewar social and economic structure. By stretching and reshaping gender norms and roles, World War II and the women who lived it laid solid foundations for the various civil rights movements that would sweep the United States and grip the American imagination in the second half of the 20th century”. What this means is that women were no longer satisfied with the ways things had been, and now was the time for change. McEuens also states that, “Susan B. Anthony II, great-niece and namesake of the women’s suffrage fighter, argued in 1944 that women had proven their abilities in every field and therefore deserved ‘equal pay for equal work, a right grudgingly acceded’ them during the war… Anthony was confident that war’s end would ‘mark a turning point in women’s road to full equality’”. Anthony was right, it was a turning point for women. The no longer wanted to be defined as housewives, as child care takers, women knew they could and wanted to be known as more.

          In the 1960’s, second wave feminism gained momentum from influential writers, one of the greatest being a women named Betty Friedan. An article posted on DailyHistory titled “What was the Second Wave Feminist Movement?” tells a bit about her book titles A Feminine Mystique saying, “she questioned white, middle class ideals of family life and motherhood, particularly as domestic life had stifled women and their aspirations…Friedan includes interviews with women who were unhappy in their home life, debunking the ideals of the 1950’s that often showed a happy family with men at work and women focused on housework. The book fundamentally questioned if the 1950’s ideals were in the best interest of women”. Books such as this were the first starts to the second wave feminist movement, and they were the first battle cries for women everywhere. As women began to read these books, they began to question their own lives, and join together.

           Also in the 1960’s the establishment of the National Organization for Women took place. This later lead to the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1963. This act is explained in DailyHistories article as “This made it law for women to have an equal right to equal pay for the same jobs that men did. It made it possible for women to now not be prevented from joining the labor force due to depressed wages”. Another accomplishment of the Second Wave Feminist Movement was the introduction of the contraceptive pill and abortion. 

          Another accomplishment of the Second Wave Feminist Movement was the Women’s Strike of 1970. On June 26, women from across America could not be found in offices, homes, or childcare. That day they were parading the streets. Tens of thousands of women and men gathered to strike and support women’s rights for equality in the workplace. At the time this proved to be the largest women’s protest of all time.  Here are two images of the Women’s Strike, one from the Radcliff Insitute at Haverd, the other from CommonDreams.

 

          Second wave feminism was world-wide, and did not focus only on the United States. Around the world, women grew restless. From a book titled “Rad Women Worldwide” by Kate Schatz, I learned of the story of Wangari Maathai. Maathai was born in Nairobi, Kenya. At the end of her high school years she was chosen to be one of 300 Kenyans to study as a U.S. university. She became the first East African women to earn her PhD. She returned to Kenya and was an active supporter of women’s rights.  She went on to empower local women to help defend Kenya’s ecosystem, which was slowly disappearing due to deforestation. She taught women how to collect tree seeds and care for them. Slowly, Maathai’s plan worked, and these local women created tree nurseries,and created a healthier more sustainable environment and life for these kenyans. In south America, by looking at a Gapminder graph, we can see the level of education young girls were receiving skyrocket with second wave feminism. In Argentina, in 1970 only 34% of girls would go on to secondary school. In 2013, that percentage is now 100%. Worldwide, second wave feminism was affecting the daily lives of women.

           From the end of the Second Wave Feminist Movement to now, a new wave has taken place. This was titled the Third Wave Feminist Movement is focused on improving wages, overall equality, and not just for white upper class women, but all women. By looking at a worlwide map from, the Virtue Foundation, we can see the diversity and broadaning scope of womens rights and who is joining the fight. A simple definition for womanhood is not easily come upon. What defines a women today is some of the same aspects that define a man, that define any human. Who “counts” as a woman is no longer relevant in today’s society. Women can no longer be contained by certain traits, generalizations, occupations, even genetics can no longer contain who counts as a women. As we look through history, we can see how far society has come with women’s rights. As stated in article, “Raising Awareness on Women’s Rights”, “Life for women worldwide seems to be slowly improving as they struggle to secure their rights…By shedding light on gender inequality and creating empowerment through knowledge and resources, women’s lives will continue to improve. Recently we have witnessed significant progress, including, driving rights for women in Saudi Arabia, the new law in Egypt that bans Female Genital Mutilation, or in Iran, where women have been allowed into a soccer stadium”.  By looking at how far women’s rights have come, we can see what still needs to be accomplished, and dream about how far we can go.         

            All of these sources connect to my thesis by showing the steps women have taken through history to get to where we are today. Through primary sources such as photographs of women’s suffrage, current organizations, and demographics of women in school, we can see how history has directly affected the path of women. From looking at individual stories, articles and books, we can see how individuals played a part in taking small steps to creating the freedom women have today. Around the globe, a woman’s place in society has grown, and even though there is still much to accomplish, it is gratifying to see how far we have come.

 

Bibliography:

Schatz, Kate. Rad Women Worldwide. Illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl, Ten Speed Press Berkeley.

Virtue Foundation. “WorldMap.” WorldMap, worldmap.harvard.edu/womenintheworld/.

Gapminder. “Gapminder.” Gapminder, 2016, bit.ly/2AT2Uz4. Accessed 6 Dec. 2018.

Pasquarello, Carrie. “Raising Awareness of Women’s Rights.” WomanStats Blog, 31 July 2018,
womanstats.wordpress.com/2018/07/31/raising-awareness-on-womens-rights/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

“Voyant analysis.” Voyant, 5 Dec. 2018, voyant-tools.org/?corpus=d2d3fa4d5a106c7dd8b4593be88dc40d. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

McEuen, Melissa A. “Women, Gender, and World War II.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia, June 2016,

   oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/

   acrefore-9780199329175-e-55. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

“What Was the Second Wave Feminist Movement?” DailyHistory, dailyhistory.org/

   What_was_the_Second_Wave_Feminist_Movement%3F. Accessed 20 Dec. 2018.

Leinwand, Freda. Male Supporter at Women’s Strike Demonstration. 26 Aug. 1970. 26 Aug. 1970,

   www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library/exhibition/catching-the-wave. Accessed 20 Dec.

   2018.

Moyers, Bill. “The 1970 Women’s Strike: A Bit of History.” Common Dreams, 18 Mar. 2017,

   www.commondreams.org/views/2017/03/08/1970-womens-strike-bit-history. Accessed 20 Dec. 2018.

 

In this exhibits demonstrates that how important was in the Second Industrial Revolution to America.

Subject- Time

The needs to provide and build more railroads in order to reach California’s port cities to expedite the extraction of gold with that they could trade in the Pacific. The America economic did grow after the Second Industrial Revolution between 1870 and 1914. The increase of immigration from Europe did help with supply of labor, the market for manufactured good and capital for investment. After the Second Industrial Revolution, we can see that did increase the agriculture.

The Second Industrial Revolution did help America with roads, steamboats, railroads, Eerie Canal, linked distant, helping the communities to be together. Also, the Second Industrial Revolution was dominated by the production of steel, chemicals, electricity, and petroleum. The standard of living was not great but was better than the first Industrial Revolution.

“If a Western Rip Van Winkle had fallen asleep in 1869 and awakened in 1896, he would not have recognized the lands that the railroads had touched. Bison had yielded to cattle; mountains had been blasted and bored. Great swaths of land that had once whispered grass now screamed corn and wheat. Nation-states had conquered Indian peoples, slaughtering some of them and confining and controlling most of them. Population had increased across much of this vast region, and there were growing cities along its edges. A land that had once run largely north-south now ran east-west. Each change could have been traced back to the railroads.”  – Richard White, Railroaded

Ushistoryscene.com, ushistoryscene.com/article/second-industrial-revolution/

Subject- Image, map, and words

This picture was take in 1881 when they finish the Housatonic Railroad, in Massachusetts. This railroad was very important to help the United States with economic and helping trading in the Pacific. I choose to use this map because does show an expansion of railroads between 1830 to 1890. It does represent the importance for the United State that did grow of travel and development of industry, I thought was really nice to see how every year they did provide a new railroad to transport the merchandise. The analysis from the article on the Second Industrial Revolution between 1870 to 1914 shows of the main ideas of the changes and improvement that happened. Using the voyant I did notice that the most popular word was “technology” and the second most popular was “revolution”.

Subject – Number and Social Media

In this chart shows the human population growth. In the middle of the revolution had 700 million population. With the revolution, people came from all over the world. Some people from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. In 1800 did grow to 1800. Today the United States has 312,000,000 population. The population does grow every year about 0.1 percent per year.

In this YouTube video does provide a good explanation of the Second Industrial Revolution. Mr.Sinn does provide a good explanation of the important things that did happen during the second Industrial Revolution. He does provide a lot of pictures so it is easy to follow and understand better about the Second Industrial Revolution. Mr. Sinn does provide an explanation about the difference between the First Industrial Revaluation and the Second Industrial Revolution.

Conclusion:

My sources show how important was the Second Industrial Revolution for the United States both socially and economically. In my map, does provide how important was the railroads to improve economically for the United States. In the picture does provide a good explanation in how did look the rail that they made. We can see in all the sources that the Second Industrial Revolution did improve and helped with economically the United State.

Sources:

Ushistoryscene.com, ushistoryscene.com/article/second-industrial-revolution/

“Great for Teaching the Industrial Revolution. Progressive Development of U.S. Railroads, 1830-1890. From American Associat… | 4th Grade Social Studies | Pinterest | Map, Railroad History and History.” Pinterest, Pinterest, http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154389093454424717/?lp=true.

https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=a26c0a7997f9af865d5436d43b69d7da

Mokyr, Joel.” The Second Industrial Revolution, 1870-1914 ” August 1998 https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=a26c0a7997f9af865d5436d43b69d7da

“1881, Housatonic Railroad #12 Locomotive and Crew | Old Railroads | Pinterest | Locomotive, Train and Train Engines.” Pinterest, Pinterest, http://www.pinterest.com/pin/387028161703507957/?lp=true.https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=a26c0a7997f9af865d5436d43b69d7da

” Impact of the Industrial Revolution.” Ecology Global Network, 17 May 2014, http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/18/ecological-impact-industrial-revolution/.

Sinn, Mr. “The Second Industrial Revolution.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 Apr. 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6JUoJDiYPw.

Impacts of Slavery 1765-1865

During 1765-1865 the impact of slavery had detrimental effects for slaves with the physical struggles and internal struggles it caused.

Physical Struggle of Slavery: 

The image from the Library of Congress, Stowage of the British Slave Ship Brookes under the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788 embodies how the treatment of slaves was inhumane during the slave trade. The diagram of the Liverpool ship, Brookes, shows the number and placement of Africans in the ship’s hold in contrary to the legal regulations of the slave trade. The personal narrative from The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano: Or Gustavus Vassa, the African written in 1756 by an 11-year-old captive and published in 1793 provides a personal understanding of the standard of living for slaves in the slave trade. He says, “I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and with my crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat […] I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and on my refusing to eat, one of them held me […] and laid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely […]” (Equiano 32-37). Equiano graphically describes the conditions he and all the other slaves faced; many became sick and died because the transatlantic slave trade was a brutal passage in which the slaves were treated poorly with a low standard of living. The text of Equiano’s book into Voyant projects the standard in which the slaves were treated. The words captain, time, mr, master, ship, god, board, people, man, men were words that were used most frequently in the text. Master, mr, and captain all show the authority of the slaves superiors: white people. The words god, time, ship, board all show how helpless the slaves were. They spent much of their time, countless hours, on the ships and boarded onto many ships as they were sold and transported across the world. The word god was used to show the plea the slaves had, they were hopeful that god could stop the brutality they faced. The words people, man, men all represent how many people were on the ships and how crammed the ships were to maximize space for slaves.

 

Internal Struggle of Slavery:

In the autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs a fugitive slave published in 1861 puts a new perspective about slavery; one from a female figure as many male narratives emphasize the physical endurance of slavery. Instead, she shows that all female slaves suffer mental torture. She states, “Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own” (Jacobs 119).  She emphasizes no matter the physical punishment, all female slaves suffer horrible mental tortures which are just as difficult as any physical punishment. She portrays the emotional distress of mothers whose children are taken from them, and the guilt of slave girls who are sexually victimized by white men. The tweet from the Boston Globe, Reckoning with Slavery: The trans-Atlantic migration of a sculpture depicts the internal struggle of slaves, specifically women. The mother holding her child in shackles appears distraught with the situation. Much like the depictions in the book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl the most difficult pain being not physical but the emotional separation from her husband or another person she loves. In the sculpture all the people are in chains and shackles that connect and form a circle. This imagery also shows how slavery was a circle that continued and pain was an internal struggle with a cycle that repeated as the baby in the mother’s arms would go through the same cycle of brutality and suffering.

Impact of Slavery: 

According to graph by According to the interactive map, The Spread of U.S Slavery 1790-1860 by Lincoln A. Mullen depicts how prevelant slavery was in the United States. The map shows the progression of the increase in slavery in just 50 years. During this time slavery was at least doubled. This is also supported by the Voyages table of the number of slaves disembarked in various countries. The table shows that most slaves disembarked in the U.S during 1801-1825 which makes sense because the map shows how slavery spread intensely during that time period. The high slavery rates also contributed to the steady increase of slaves as they reproduced and were sold off to more slave holders. Then the table shows how fewer slaves arrived in the United States during 1840-1865 which makes sense because people began learning about the hardships of slavery. People began to understand the wrongs they were doing when many slaves protested about their physical and mental pain that they were enduring. According to the book, Chronology of Slavery by Junius P. Rodriguez, “The American Anti-Slavery Society became the single largest and most influential organization against slavery […] Begun on December 4, 1833 […]” (Rodriguez 290). This helped spark a change in the country. People began protesting and fighting to emancipate slavery. This eventually led to the Civil War, “1861- Confederate forces began the bombardment of the federal garrison at Fort Sumter […] This incident marked the beginning of the American civil war” (Rodriguez 351). The war went on with the Union and Confederacy fighting for their sides purpose; the Union to abolish slavery, and the Confederacy to continue slavery and life the way it was until, “1865- Confederate Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant […] This event marked the end of the American Civil War” (Rodriguez 362). This marked the beginning of slaves being free and the United States reorganizing the country. Some people slowly started understanding the perspectives and brutalities African-Americans faced. Unfortunately some people were still marked with prejudice which contributed to the harsh racism and seperation of groups of people that existed with segreagation.

Overall, slavery had many horrible effects on slaves physically and mentally. However, over time they recieved better treatment, but they are still striving to be seen as equals by everyone.

 

Bibliography 

Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano: Or Gustavus Vassa, the African. London: Printed For, and Sold by the Author, 1793. September 16, 2015. Accessed December 7, 2018. https://www.amazon.com/Interesting-Narrative-Life-Olaudah-Equiano/dp/1517442370/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2NDH23ZCEKAXV2YGAWFW.

Globe, The Boston. “Reckoning with Slavery: The Trans-Atlantic Migration of a Sculpture Https://t.co/FbrEXgm13J.” Twitter. May 30, 2018. Accessed December 07, 2018. https://twitter.com/BostonGlobe/status/1001928251453923329.

“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. : Jacobs, Harriet A. (Harriet Ann), 1813-1897 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Full Text of “Passing”. January 01, 1861. Accessed December 19, 2018. https://archive.org/details/incidentsinlifeo1861jaco/page/n7.

Lincoln Mullen, “The Spread of U.S. Slavery, 1790–1860,” interactive map,http://lincolnmullen.com/projects/slavery/, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.9825.

Rodriguez, Junius P. Chronology of World Slavery. Santa Barbara (California): ABC-Clio, 1999.

“Stowage of the British Slave Ship Brookes under the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788.”

Digital image. Library of Congress. 1788. Accessed December 12, 2018. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a44236/.

“Voyage.” The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database. Accessed December 07, 2018.http://slavevoyages.org/assessment/estimates.

Voyant Tools. Accessed December 07, 2018. https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=7b1796bc20ece86df41d6a38c58619f5.

 

The Affects of The Civil War

This exhibit demonstrates the affects the Civil War had on the citizens of the United States during and after the war.

Overview:

The Civil War is the bloodiest battle in American history. Many men lost their lives fighting for a cause they believed in, though one side of this war had an unethical cause it is still a part of the United State’s history. With many men heading off to war it would leave an effect on the communities and the economic state of both sides of the war. The Civil War would also have an affect on the men who fought in the war with most never regaining their personality they had before they entered the war. The Civil War had a big impact on the nation and played a key role putting the nation on track to become what it is today.

Affects On Soldiers:

The Civil War got the name “The Bloodiest Battle In American History” due to the amount of casualties. Many claim this is due to both sides being American so the death count would be higher than America versus another country. Another claim is due to the new weaponry being introduced at the time, but regardless of the cause it was the bloodiest battle in American history. The total casualties of the war according to the USDVA was 780,213 on both sides from both the Union and the Confederacy. Only 214,938 of the casualties were on the battlefield. Many men were injured and sent to the infirmary where most would die of their wounds. Many of the men would die under watch of a medical team, many of the most traumatizing stories were from medics during the war. The men on the battlefield would be traumatized by some of the things they witnessed and because of this many returned home with a new permanent personality. An example of one of the bloody battles fought during the war was the battle of Honey Hill. There were many strategies implemented during the battle of Honey Hill and the strategies that failed would lead to death and destruction. The Union would lose the battle of Honey Hill soon after the “March To The Sea” from General Sherman.

Affects On Families:

The families of the men fighting in the war were affected by the war as well. When the men left to fight in the war it left many of the women to tend the house alone and raise the children. This is a hard task to accomplish and not every family was able to do it. With there being 780,213 casualties any families would lose their husband/father and it would cause even more suffering to the families. It was a hard life for the children who had to be raised during this time and even harder for the mothers to raise them. With homes being ransacked for supplies and battles taking place near towns and cities it would cause another hardship for the families to have to get through. Families on both sides of the war were affected by the Civil War. With battles being fought both north and south (map below) of the border and close to homes, families would be affected by the war and the skirmishes that came with it. Each family had to adapt in their own way just to survive.

Others Affects Of The War:

Former slaves who didn’t have the ability to vote were affected by the war as well. In a letter by Eugene Gray, tweeted by American Civil War Museums twitter, a former slave, he writes how the Union’s cause is a strong and powerful movement and how some of the battles they are winning can help attribute to Lincoln’s reelection. Eugene also goes on to write about how with him and many other not having the ability to vote it will be harder for Lincoln to be reelected. The Civil War is affecting every citizen in the United States even those not given legal citizenship during the time. In a Voyant analysis of the book Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson, a book on the civil war and how it affected those in the era, there was many words used on multiple occasions that can give insight to the era.

 

 

 

Bibliography:

Book: McPherson, James M. McPherson, The Battle Cry Of Freedom. Oxford University Publisher, PDF version of book: http://ouleft.org/wp-content/uploads/Battle-Cry-of-Freedom_The-Civil-War-Era.pdf

Voyant: Voyant Review of Book. December 6, 2018. https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1b837e8bd455b22c8793697863a2994e

Map of Civil War Battles: The Battles Fields of the Civil War,” Story Maps. https://storymaps.esri.com/stories/civilwar/

Primary Source Images: Photographs of the American Civil War. CBS. https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/photographs-of-the-american-civil-war/

Twitter Post: Excerpt. American Civil War Tweet, November 6, 2018. American Civil War Museum. https://twitter.com/ACWMuseum/media?lang=en

Casualties Data: “America’s Wars”, USDVA. Accessed December 6, 2018. https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf

Dates During War: “Carrie Berry Diary August 1, 1864-January 4, 1865” American Civil War.com,

https://www.americancivilwar.com/women/carrie_berry.html

More Dates During War: “Bittersweet: Black Virginians in Blue at the Battle of Honey Hill and Beyond.” UVA Center of Civil War History, December 4, 2018.  http://naucenter.as.virginia.edu/blog-page/936

 

Spies and the Success of the Revolutionary War

This exhibit demonstrates how the Continental Army Used intelligence and Counter-intelligence to win the Revolutionary War.

How the Revolution Started:

The American Revolutionary War was possibly one of the most influential periods of time in the last three hundred years. The Revolution didn’t just take place overnight though, it was the culmination of years of tension that resulted in warfare that carried on for several more years. An example of this tension can be seen in possibly one of the most famous images from the Revolutionary War, the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre was the result of a mob which was starting to become out of control and a group of scared British soldiers fired into the mob killing multiple individuals. This, combined with many other incidents, was what triggered the American Revolution. The American Revolution spawned out of people’s angers, frustrations, and grievances that amassed themselves in a desire for independence and rights. This can be seen in a word analysis of the Declaration of Independence, a primary source document from the era, as some of the most frequently used words in the document are independence, rights and powers. This is significant because the colonies wanted to separate from Britain in order to form their own nation where they could have individual independence and rights, but Britain didn’t allow the colonies to do this and instead declared war on the rebelling colonists.

How The Americans Fought Differently:

According to this American Revolution WordPress Blog, when the war started out, the British seemed to be the obvious victors, because they were considered to be one of the most powerful militaries in the world and they were fighting against a handful of militia members, or at least that’s how Britain addressed the war. After achieving many early victories in the war, the British began to not take the patriots quite so seriously. Despite being written off as merely a nuisance the former-colonists continued to battle on, but since they lacked in military power, they had to use some less than orthodox methods to gain an advantage. Particularly this included guerilla warfare and the use of a secret supply line from Spain. The Spanish actually supplied weapons and ammo in secret which caused the British to underestimate the colonists supplies and then be taken by surprise. The war dragged on for many years and throughout the course of the war it was estimated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that over two-hundred thousand soldiers fought against the British. This was another Important aspect of the revolutionary war was the willingness of the soldiers to fight, because these people weren’t fighting for a country or a king they were fighting for themselves so they would do whatever it takes to win, such as the aforementioned abnormal warfare methods.

The Importance of Intelligence:

One of the main advantages that helped the revolutionaries win the war, was the use of intelligence, in particular scouts and spies. This document was a letter signed and dated by George Washington himself to form the first American intelligence operation. The operation was immensely successful at not only informing the American army of general intelligence information about the British, but it was also successful in stopping enemy intelligence. Many American spies contributed significantly to catching enemy spies and preventing enemy sabotage which allowed the main army to perform with much less resistance than they otherwise would have faced. In fact, a British intelligence officer was quoted as saying, “Washington didn’t really out-fight the British. He simply out-spied us,” signifying that he believed that the spy operations carried out by the Americans was a major factor in the war. An example of this use of intelligence based warfare can be seen in the Battle of Trenton. Before the battle, the Continental Army’s morale was miserably low and men had begun to desert the cause, but a spy George Washington had put in place in Trenton used this to his advantage. It was Christmas Eve and the spy convinced the Hessian Soldiers stationed in Trenton that the Continental Army’s morale was so low that they wouldn’t attack. Thus the Hessians let their guard down and became an easy target for General Washington’s Forces whose easy victory can be seen in this interactive map. The battle became a pivotal point in the war as a whole and the Continental Army went on to claim their independence thanks to their superior intelligence and spy-work.

Bibliography:

Strochlic, Nina. “The Letter That Won the American Revolution.” July 3, 2017. Accessed November 7, 2018. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/george-washington-spy-letter/.

Library of Congress. “The Boston Massacre.” March 5, 2018. Accessed November 7, 2018. https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/march-05/.

Rmanzanares. “The American Revolution.” November 3, 2012. Accessed November 7, 2018. https://americanrevolution1.wordpress.com/.

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. “Declaration of Independence.” The American Pageant, 2006, A29.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “America’s Wars.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 2017. Accessed December 19, 2018. https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf.

Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. “Battle of Trenton.” George Washington’s Mount Vernon. 2014. Accessed December 19, 2018. https://www.mountvernon.org/education/image-explore/explore-the-battle-of-trenton/.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885: A Historical Analysis of Colonial Sexual Repression in India

A digital exhibit dedicated to deconstructing British Colonial Sexual Repression that Regulated the Autonomy of girls, women, and queer men in India in the late 19th century. Underneath the mask of a “progressive” law, was a prohibition that harmed poor populations of girls and women, and queer men.

Europeans first began entering India in the 15th century. But, England prevailed against its contenders, Portugal and France, as the ruling power in India in 1763. When British interests transitioned from “commerce to control” in the late 18th century (Salisbury), intending to colonize as much Indian territory as possible.

By 1907, as indicated in the map at the link below, Britain had control over a significant portion of India. The massive population of India drew in British colonizers, enticed by it’s market potential. During the 1880’s, ” 20% of Britain’s total exports went to India (national British Archives).”

Red blocks indicate British territory, which is overlapped with modern-day India:

http://worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/1947partition/crp/embed

With British colonialism, came British laws instated in India. Britain controlled Indian life ranging from etiquette, to food, and sexuality.

Britain established the Criminal Law Act of 1885, which sought to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16. Beneath the guise of protection from sexual harm was a prohibition drafted by colonial desires to control the bodily autonomy of girls and women in the global south because of the fact that the former restricted their power to define sexuality.

“British women cared most about age of consent, because both prostitution and the child-bride threatened their power to define the parameters of sexual access.”

The Legacy of Colonialism: Law and Women’s Rights in India, 64 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1315 (2007)

” ‘Any male person in public or private committing any act of gross indecency with another male person.’ Misdemeanor…“

The establishment of the 1885 act by the state was depicted as a law that would protect and serve girls and women. The law was a compromise between supporters and opponents, the compromise being that Indian men wanted to maintain structural power over girls and women, and British women’s desires to maintain power over sexual access. The child-bride phenomenon threatened British ideals of sexual restriction and Indian patriarchal family ideals into conflict.

Ultimately, the act harmed poor, working class women and girls, and queer men. Working class and poor women and children were subjected to “far greater summary jurisdiction (Chitnis & Wright)” by police. Furthermore, this act included a clause that criminalized consensual, homosexual acts between men (as seen in the image above).

Graphing the words: “criminal,” “girls,” “male.”

Frequency of word usage and their correlations to other words in primary source texts can be interpreted to answer questions about power. The above graph displays the frequencies of the words “criminal,” “girls,” and “male” in the original text of the Criminal Act of 1885. Word proximity creates implicit associations for readers, and often reveal the implicit associations of the authors. Given the high frequency of “criminal” and the word “girls,” one can say that an implicit association is made between criminal and girl. This is important, because girls of who lived at the margins were criminalized, as the act of 1885 maintained male colonial and patriarchal power. This association can be linked back to the act’s intention, which was to assert power over sexual access via the restriction of consent laws, directly maintaining British power over girls’ bodies. Thus, thorough analysis of language that considers how power regulates it can reveal the intentions of the author; in this case, we can see how an act was established with the intent to protect girls [and women], but resulted in their criminalization.

Decolonizing the Colonial Legacy of Sexual Repression in India

On Sep 6, 2018, Section 377 was ruled unconstitutional.

Section 377 was a section of the Indian Penal Code that criminalized same-sex sexual relationships. The conversation has often been framed to identify India as “catching up” to the West. However, the Western world has been establishing and influencing sexually repressive laws, prohibitions, and acts since the 19th century. The abolition of 377 is an example of decolonizing western sexual repression and imperialism.

Citations

1. Salisbury, Joyce E. and Andrew Kersten. “Introduction to British India.” In Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2018. Accessed December 19, 2018. https://dailylife2-abc-clio-com.ndcproxy.mnpals.net/Topics/Display/1426845?cid=41. [Time]
2. The Legacy of Colonialism: Law and Women’s Rights in India, 64 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1315 (2007)
3. Chrisj. “Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885.” Summer Of Love. December 29, 2016. Accessed December 11, 2018. [Images]
4. “India Political Map 1907.” Welcome! – WorldMap. Accessed December 11, 2018. http://worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/1947partition/crp/embed. [Maps]
5. “Full Text of “The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885: With Introduction, Notes, and Index …”” Full Text of “Passing”. Accessed December 11, 2018. https://archive.org/stream/criminallawamen00bodkgoog/criminallawamen00bodkgoog_djvu.txt. [Words]
6. “Learning Curve British Empire.” The National Archives. Accessed December 11, 2018. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/g2/cs4/background.htm#bullet3. [Numbers]
7. Jogani, Rupa. “India Was Openly Homosexual…” Twitter. September 06, 2018. Accessed December 11, 2018. https://twitter.com/r_jogani/status/1037709850011156480. [Social Media]
8. “RIP, Section 377: As India Decriminalises Homosexuality, Celebs on Twitter Rejoice.” News18. September 06, 2018. Accessed December 11, 2018. https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/supreme-court-scraps-section-377-1869493.html. %5BSocial Media%5D