erodriguez317 – Historical Thinking

Historical Event: Museum Of Tolerance

November 30, 2016erodriguez317

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

For my historical event I chose to visit the Museum of Tolerance which is a museum that focuses on the world problems and disasters but also has exhibits on the holocaust. I found the exhibit on the holocaust very interesting which is why I spent most of my time there. We started by getting a card of a jewish person, mine was a child named Emmanuel Alper (1927-1942) that lived in Pinsk, Poland and was under Russian Rule after the Soviet-German pact but later in July 1941 went under German command and father was murdered because he did not want to be Jewish Council for the planned murder, so he was killed by Nazis. Emmanuel, his sister and mother were sealed into the ghetto and eventually was murdered by Germans at the age of fifteen. This museum was very depressing but interesting to see the evolution of the holocaust. There were actual archival items from that time, one that I found interesting is a piece of braided hair in the display case; that braid represented a person that was once alive and experienced the holocaust, helping prove that it did happen. This class has taught me to see history in a different perspective. For example, the Museum was made in honor of Simon Wiensenthal which was a Jewish man who survived the holocaust but also went on to hunt for Nazis all over Europe and other parts of the world.One of them was the man who arrested Anne Frank, Karl Joseph Silberbaur. Lived in Vienna and when Wiesenthal sent him to trial, Franks father Otto Frank said he just did his job and it was the Gestapo’s fault. He wanted to bring justice for the Jews that past but also knowledge for future generations about the holocaust to prevent another genocide. Knowing where the knowledge came from is important to see if the museum is credible but as I did research it showed that there is credibility. Future historians can visit the museum and get a different perspective by getting a closer look into the holocaust.

The Rise to a Progressive Era

November 1, 2016erodriguez317

Steven Biel’s chapter, “Unknown and Unsung,” talks about the sinking of the Titanic but also how the ideology of the people was changing during that time. The way people referenced back about the Titanic was more than just a luxury ship. As we know the ship had different classes and the wealthier people got the best accommodations while the poor did not. People of color were not even allowed on the ship, but looking back at it now they were glad that the titanic saved their lives. During the sinking men acted as heroes and protected women and children the most. But back home there was a struggle of race, gender and class. So when feminists viewed the disaster they criticized how men cared so much about women on the ship. But as raldrich25 explains in “Capitalism Creates Disaster”, “Women and children were given little thought and rarely considered first by these same men when it came to business.” This was true, men came out looking like heroes and put women first but why could they not be seen as equal and given the right to vote as many women wanted it. This progressive era not only changed the way people started to view life but also history was starting to change as well. Just as we talked about Popkin’s From Heredotus to H-Net chapter 6, there was social and political change and the rise of history of gender starts to have more importance. There was a social unrest during this time and historians started writing history in different perspectives. Aside from gender, history of memory also becomes important. Oral history of people who gave their testimonies of the Titanic for example, gave historians a closer perspective although they did not make everything facts, they did write about how they could use the source of memory.

The Father of Marxism

October 18, 2016erodriguez317

In the “Communist Manifesto”, Karl Marx has social activist ideas that he shares with the world. He criticizes capitalism and says that is not the way people in society should live. He saw the Bourgeois as high-class oppressors and proletarians as poor class workers. He wanted to remove social classes from existing because he studied that Social classes only brought problems and war. As a Historical figure, Marx and his theories have changed the world and he has been a leader or at least someone to look up to . Although people like Stalin took his ideas to the extreme and made communism look like a terrible way of living, Marx’s ideas were not meant to become evil but more of a harmonious way of living where it was fair for everyone to live well and not have poor people mistreated by the rich.

As jessicak mentions in Escaping Static History , “In the 19th century historians began straying away from dry facts that may exclude certain facts percentages and numbers. By interpreting history we are able to find parts which were neglected because of their lack of “importance.” There was a change in how history was viewed and people like Karl Marx start to interpret things by how they intake it. I agree that we see things that are neglected through people who study events or situations and explain it and then other readers can see it through their eyes. To me Marx is an important historian that thought of things more critically and his ideas are studied throughout the world-changing the way they govern. He is an important figure that historians can look at and study his ideas and how they were adopted by many leaders and countries that till this day live by the communist law.

Learning from Mistakes

October 4, 2016erodriguez317

Patricia Bellis Bixel points out how before the hurricane in Galveston, Texas of 1900 hit, no one was doing anything to prevent or take action against storms. After the storm however there were many ideas and changes that people wanted to make. The Deep Water Committee took charge and suggested change by having governmental changes as well as engineering projects. The plans made of building a sea wall and elevating the land brought hope to the people. There was an inspired confidence in residence and investors that were willing to rebuild their town. The different committees brought revenue from public officials to make the changes of the sea wall, raising the city grade and rock groins. The storm brought the highest flood which was 10 to 15.7 feet and the people of the town did not want to fear having inundations which is why actions was taken. In “Visualizing the Storm“, derekjahwu says,” Similarly, both of these disasters still have a positive aspect, where it shows the perseverance of the human beings. Mother nature, or a cow, had destroyed a large quantity of man made structures in the Chicago Fire and the Galveston Hurricane, but both the city and town had rebuilt itself with new buildings and improved safety measures in the new structures.” And I agree that even though these disasters did harm, the people were able to pick them selves up to rebuild and learn from their mistakes. They took action in to prepare for hurricanes in the future and when they did hit, the impact of destruction was very small .

The Disastrous Storm

September 27, 2016erodriguez317

This book by Erick Larson was a great historical narrative of the hurricane of Galveston. As a history major I like to look at the statistics of all the chaos but also learn the insights of the people and the personal stories. These kind of things bring new insights to people learning about an event. This way of writing gives details that helps a person that is not from that time see what life was like during that time. For example, people today will say why did they stay in their homes and not run, but it is learned that the mentality at the time was different and that men could overcome mother nature which is why people stayed in their homes. Or as Heaven01 mentions in a post that by having the letters and survival stories we are able to understand what is happening during this period of time. The only flaw it has is that it exaggerates on details making the reader question whether it is real or fiction or maybe that is how things were recorded at the time.

Lastly, this book shows that it is important to trust your own instincts and not what other people tell you because the people were trusting Isaac Cline and he was trusting the government weather bureau to tell them what was going on. The people were not prepared and that really hurt them because there were a lot of deaths. There was no communication between them and that is something that can be learned for future disasters; to take precaution when there is danger or disaster approaching.

The Reaction to The Chicago Fire

September 20, 2016erodriguez317

This Chapter by Carl Smith gave new insights to what the people of Chicago were dealing with during the Chicago Fire of 1871. At the beginning people were very optimistic and viewed the fire as a good thing. Fortunate suffering is mentioned as if the fire was a cleanse and they could start all over again. There was a lot of help that tried to get Chicago back on its feet. All around the nation money was being donated to stable their economy, around 5 million dollars of contribution. Food, supplies and other goods were given to them as well. But closer to the end more negative things start to come up. For example, Mary Anne Hubbard writes,” universal thieving propensities let loose…” Then she mentions that her possessions get stolen by her servants most likely(p.151). This starts to depict that there was a lot of crime and violence and there was not a lot of people whom could be trusted. With many delinquents out destroying the little that is left. Inmates were released because they felt bad that they would burn, so many of those were causing much harm.

Helmor mentions in his article that there is no precise reason of how the fire started only myths of a cow kicking a lantern, but as historians we find much interesting in learning all the facts of events from the past. Which is why we continue to study events and think critically to make sense of them based on the knowledge we know today. Just like mgandara mentions in her post of “A Narrative About the Chicago Fire,”For historians, its questions like these that drive meaningful research,” and going back to the natural and un natural, this disaster was an unnatural disaster that was spread throughout because of all the wood objects made humans.

Lastly, Smith uses primary sources to show what everyone was feeling and thinking during that period first hand. We can see anything from poems and newspaper articles everything that was vividly going on. For example, one of the poems by John Greenleaf shows that he had a feeling of optimism. These kinds of sources can be used for historians now and of the future that can go back to study an event like this and still have input on how they thought because people that did not live in that era will not have the same view or insights as someone who was there to witness it.

The Great Chicago Fire

September 18, 2016September 18, 2016erodriguez317

William Cronon explains in his book how Chicago expanded and developed in his book Nature’s Metropolis. With the development of canals and then railroads to transport goods and the elevation of the city, the chicagoans were expanding fast. Even with the horrid weather they had and floods they were able to make it work and become successful. Just like Oosegueda comments in “Chicago vs. Nature,” when there were disadvantage they they made it fit their needs. And that was very true true until the Chicago fire in 1871. A fire that starts near the O’Leary farm and spreads throughout all of Chicago. It consumed everything from the buildings, sidewalks and even bridges that were all made out of wood(Bessie Bradwell Helmer). All the people were scattered all over town trying to run from the flames that eventually gave out on Tuesday morning. But as a historian one has to think why was this event important. And I believe it is important because we learn how no matter how much you try to fight nature, it can not go away which leads us to the topic of natural and unnatural as we spoke in class. Since Chicago was very dry and everything was made out of wood, any fire would spread rapidly. This incident is seen as unnatural because people had something do with it and it is not something that could have happened a lone. Although some might argue that is was inevitable because how bad the climate was. But again, everything built was human made which makes it unnatural on how the fire spread.

A Rural to Urban Change

September 11, 2016erodriguez317

It is very interesting to read about how not only Chicago, but also how America has changed over the years. It is like the author explains the rural and the urban areas are like two sides of a coin. This means you need both and both are important. Since Chicago was changing, it would expand connections and help the economy grow exponentially. The primary sources used to store, and ship are grain, lumber and meat. Another thing that grabbed my attention were the Potawatomis who did not want to sell their land. It gives a look into the troubles they had and how they were essentially forced to sell their land and move to northern Illinois , far side of Mississippi. It’s remarkable how far we have come and how we have revolutionized from the past. As everything started to change there would be no more, “tall grass prairies, oak openings, white pine forests or herds of bison(p.54)

We can tie all of this back with our readings on historiography. An analysis of how historians try to make meaning of the past. The book, Natures Metropolis shares how the past has been analyzed and how there has been change of how people live over the years. It shows how there was discovery of cultivation and capitalism in America. In order for that to happen, historians had to analyze and debate on the things that happened and how they have changed. Just like Mvandursdussen’s “Historiography, complicated, yet important explains that, “Although this concept seems a little awkward, it is very important because it allows historians to gain a better understanding of history, and helps continue to encourage historical research and debate, helping to maintain the discipline as a whole.” In order to continue to expand in the world, we have to keep analyzing how we have come this far.

Historiography: Thinking in Depth

September 6, 2016erodriguez317

It is always interesting learning about past events that happened and sharing them with others. But when you get in-depth with history you have to think of historiography which is a deeper analysis of how historians make meaning of the past. Just like Christi Terry posts in her blog”Historiography:More Than a Love of History,” People can love history and absorb it as a “sponge” and intake all the events and details without thinking critically or even acknowledging how the source was found. Historiography is thinking outside the box and questioning how we got to know the facts and what purpose do they serve. The author talks about how the extermination of the Jews was never a “Hitler order” and the conclusion of it came from his actions. Meaning there was debate on how everything got understood and transmitted to the world. Hitler and his men tried burning all the evidence of everything they did, but it was not hard to figure out what he did and why he did it. It is not true that history that is known cannot be repeated, but it brings new insights in certain outcomes and how events turned out in the past. It can help historians research in-depth and preserve the knowledge from the past for future generations to study. It is easy to in take everything you learn in your history classes but to debate and question if everything is true is not something everyone does, but it is important to analyze how historians reconstruct and interpret the past. Just like we mentioned in class that disasters help us understand society better. As people we analyze events that happen and how the people act about it. For example, during the Gilded Age there were a lot of horrible things happening but after seeing how events played out like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire there were regulations for the workers. Events like these changes how workers are treated and we have come a long way with unions, and over time after eight hours. People do not want the same things to happen therefore the history is preserved and kept to address and study.

Historical Thinking – Fall 2016

Author: erodriguez317