Author: gravity21

Can you find the Origin of the Source?

May 10, 2017 / gravity21 / 0 Comments

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What I found interesting the Wineburg’s reading was how he was quick to address the issue at hand with today’s society. Wineburg argues that historical thinking is not being done properly in the more recent time. One of the examples that he decided to use was a fourth grade textbook, Our Virginia, Past and Present, which incorporated a concept that has been rejected by all historians in the field. The reason for such a claim was made in the textbook Wineburg argues could be done with any person. In today’s society, Wineburg makes the point where one thinks going to the library means turning on our laptops and making sure that we have a wireless connection (Wineburg, 14). Wineburg addresses that when it comes to research on the Internet, anyone can make a website without authorization so the information there may not be proven but people are sometimes fallen to believe that it is; whereas a physical library has more archives that comes from someone of authority, historian for example. That is not to say all information on the Internet is inaccurate, especially with the more frequent use of the quantitative history. JUANROSASMP has mentioned this before in his argument, there are non-academic people who do not share in the same love for history, which could lead people to gathering the wrong information. Wineburg at the end of the writing gives some tips on how to identify whether the online source could be relied or not, which is similar to how it is done on the physical works of those of authority.

The Dust Bowl: Man, Nature, or Capitalism?

April 19, 2017 / gravity21 / 1 Comment

In Clayton R. Koppes’ Dusty Volumes: Environmental Disaster and Economic Collapse in the 1930s article he begins with how the Farm Security Association took all those memorable photographs and other sources that gave background information on the Dust Bowl. He then starts off by going how the Dust Bowl received little attention because of how it was a natural disaster with “social consequences” (pg. 535). What makes the reading more intriguing is how Koppes seems to bring in ideology into the reading by using Donald Worster’s work. Worster believes the Dust Bowl was the creation of man and their belief in capitalism. Worster then proceeds to give his reasons how capitalist farming has made the land into such a state where man can be blamed for causing the disaster.

Along with Koppes’ reading, there was another reading that also dealt with the Dust Bowl but in a different manner. Geoff Cunfer’s Scaling the Dust Bowl took a more quantitative approach dealing with the Dust Bowl. One of the issues with the usage of quantitative approach in history can be traced to what REBEKAHBENNINGER1 mentions how historians may tend to use the numbers approach as an experiment that could be recreated instead of focusing on the actual argument they are approaching to make. Cunfer does place quantitative data into his work but also places an argument that connects back to what Koppes wrote. Both authors make references to Worster, who seems to blame man and his capitalism for the natural disaster that is the Dust Bowl. If it is to say that Cunfer uses more quantitative data to make his approach on the issue, then Koppes that the more academic approach and presents more for his argument.

Did you just assume my gender-Post

April 10, 2017 / gravity21 / 1 Comment

The reading on Scott’s “Gender; a Useful Category of Historical Analysis” reading gives the audience some information when dealing with the theory of gender. The reading starts off with introducing the textbook definition of gender from Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage of 1940. But Scott goes even further by giving various usages the term “gender” was used throughout history.

What I found interesting was unlike the theory of class, which happens to be associated the most with the ideology proposed by Karl Marx, the theory concerning gender does not happen to have any sort of association that stands out. Different historians have attempted to from some kind of theoretical formula for gender.

Feminist historians employed various approaches to analyze gender to the point where they were able to narrow it down to 3 theoretical positions: the first attempting to explain the origins of patriarchy, the second lies within the Marxist tradition, and the third bringing in the concepts proposed by the object-relation theorists (pg. 1058). Feminist historians tried to analyze the theory of gender through various accounts of inequality as social experience as one of their theoretical formulations. Object-relation theorists such as Carol Gilligan have placed their focus on the influence of experience, in their case how the child sees, hears and relates to the ones they care for.

With the Marxist approach in defining the theory on gender, they try to look at gender through a more historical perspective. CLUNA3 mentions how Marxist’s states that “gender has had no independent analytical status of its own,” and follows with stating how class may have some active role in the topic of gender.

Gender itself can be view through these types of perspectives that previous historians have mentioned. As mentioned before, there is no ideology that closely associates with gender like how Marxism does to class, so there is not just one way to look at this concept that is gender and say their way is right.

Leave my Palatero Alone, Presentation Post

April 4, 2017 / gravity21 / 0 Comments

Over the course of spring break I went to the Museum of Latin American Arts (MOLAA) for the sole purpose of gathering materials for my Art 101 comparison paper. As I was allowed to take pictures of the artwork, I was able to focus on the concepts an artist would take when looking at the art piece. It was not until the weekend before break ended that I realized my presentation was approaching. As I looked back at the pictures I had taken from the museum visit that I realized something that could be looked upon from a historians perspective. One of the pieces by Frank Romero, The Arrest of the Palateros, depicted a scene where police officers were persecuting Latin immigrants who were trying to make a living by selling their commodities in the streets of Echo Park, Los Angeles. The artist made the painting in 1996 to depict a scene that is common in Los Angeles in the 1990s.

What brought me to think about the historical perspective of this piece relates back to the reading due for April 3^rd concerning the theory of race. The artwork and the little description below it show how the officers were able to take advantage of these immigrants because they do not have their documentation, leading the officers to exploit this weakness. It led me back to Coates’ reading. Coates refers to one African American, Clyde Ross, to show how those in authority would take advantage of those without power to do much in retaliation. Looking back at the work caused me to reflect on the theme of class struggle and race and how it existed not only back over 200 years but how it can still be seen in more recent times.

10.1 The Race Card and Its Theory

April 3, 2017 / gravity21 / 0 Comments

The readings on theorizing race showed two different aspects that I would like to address. In David R. Roediger’s Whiteness and Race abstract, the author addresses the issue of different immigrants and how they fare compared to the whites when immigrating to America. The abstract uses the oppression of African Americans as a reference point for how other white ethnicities are treated. One specific race I wish to touch upon is the Irish. According to the reading, the Irish immigrants have been through some not to say the same kind of mistreatment as the African Americans but can be compared to some degree. Frederick Douglas was used in the reading to show how he felt toward the treatment of the Irish people, which was a mixture of sympathy for the immigrants as well as some kind of worrying that they would treat his brothers in kind the same way the American whites do as well. The abstract talks how the Irish upon seeing their level of whiteness being questioned, rush to form some sort of status for themselves.

The other aspect I would like to address relates back to what JESSICABODE said about the concept of the Communist Manifesto, with the white people being the bourgeois and African Americans being the proletariat. In Coates’ reading, he uses one African American, Clyde Ross to show how exactly the concept of the bourgeois and proletariat play into effect. Many African Americans wish to own properties but can’t have mortgage on their own so are therefore forced into contract with white contracters, who are basically the building’s original who bought the building at a cheap price and make the African Americans pay for more than what the original building is worth, leaving them at the hands of the white people to do what they wish and bathe in their newfound wealth. The White people would find any way possible to keep the African Americans from doing anything which displeases them and can be seen not through the

Mid-semester Blog Post

March 14, 2017 / gravity21 / 0 Comments

Well I think I should start with how we use to write these blog posts from the beginning. On of the earlier readings we did in the class dealt with Cronon and his take on the Chicago Fire. In the beginning some scholars in the class, for example JESSICABODE decides to brief the audience on what is occurring the reading and what type of sources were used the author used to show the event. I would like to point that it was just not Jessicabode but also myself, GRAVITY21 who gives a briefing on the events and how the author decided to use the sources that he did in order to do so. This was in the beginning of the semester; as the weeks started to roll by, our ideas for what to blog about started to change or evolve if you would like to. Although some of the beginning posts were mainly briefing the audience on key points of the readings, there were some concern and themes that seemed to appear every so often that was then elaborated more in future posts. One of the key concerns that are often repeated is the topic of class and race. In Peterrossi1’s blog post, he addresses this concern when discussing why Mrs. O’Leary was blamed for the fire and it primarily cause she was a poor Irish immigrant. This is only one of the times that race and class was repeated throughout the semester. In CHRISCOBAR’s blog, talks about the topic of Chicago Fire through Faith and Doubt and mentions how the fire did not spare anyone even the high class.

Looking back to my blog posts, I am surprised to see how I was the little changes I had undergone through. As I mentioned before that in the beginning I used to summarize most of the material. However when I look in the last blog post that I have made with Isaac’s Storm, I noticed that I started to address more on the theme of race when talking about the black men who were looting and chewing bodies to take something. I am also glad that I started to address these topics because it looks like we might be addressing these topics in the next section of theories, and it looks like I might have some experience with them.

Isacc’s Storm- The Finale

March 6, 2017 / gravity21 / 1 Comment

The last two parts of Larson’s book covers over the events after the storm has passed by. One of the top priorities that were mentioned in the reading was the disposal of the dead. At first people attempted to bury the dead but as the stench of dead started to overpower the city and so many bodies remaining to be buried, they eventually resorted to mass burnings in attempt to quicken the process. Disposal teams were formed but could only work in shifts of 30 minutes because that was the amount of time they could handle the stench of dead people and animals.

Along with dealing how to dispose of the dead, another topic I wish to bring up is the looting of corpses. The book talks about how black men were looting and chewing bodies to take something. (242) This mentioning of taking loots from dead bodies relates back to what CLUNA3 said about how people wanted to take something in order to remember the Johnstown Flood. What is different about this part however is how Larson specifies who was doing the looting. After word of these black men looting, word gets out and local papers decide to blow the story out of proportion.

Two key points I wish to address before ending this blog relates back to Isaac. The title of the work is Isaac’s Storm and in the beginning could lead others to question why it was done this way. It was towards the end of “Not Dead” do readers understand why, Isaac made a report, to which he was going to send to the bureau about the storm and called it his storm because he experienced the events. Also want to note how he mentions the report is personal because of the way he experienced. The final point I want to talk concerns on who is to blame. There seems to be a few directions in which this could go. Isaac filing the reports struggles in what to say when dealing with the failures. He thinks about the failure of headquarters and West Indies Service failing to recognize the storm as a hurricane; he also blames himself for not recognizing the signals himself earlier.

Isaac’s Storm first three readings

February 27, 2017 / gravity21 / 0 Comments

What is interesting about this reading is that it does not follow the same style of readings we have been done previously. Before we were given either primary or secondary sources that give out facts and analyze them. This reading is a nonfiction novel by Erik Larson, Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History. The Novel started off with a prologue giving a description of the protagonist to say, a meteorologist Isaac Monroe Cline, along with a little background information of what was occurring at the time with Galveston the day before the hurricane that would eventually take the lives of 4000 people. Shortly after that, Larson goes into the back into the past of Isaac Monroe and how it led to his decision to become a meteorologist. There are a few interesting points that is made in the first part of the novel. In the chapter, “What Isaac Knew” Larson talks about how men are stepping away from the realm of God and more into science to which some of the people find questionable. It relates back to what ZHEDRICK about “city searched for answers to the inferno, religion acted as a reinforcement of Chicago’s divine nature among the urban centers of the world.” The people sought towards the act of God as a way to punish those sinners. However thanks to the journals that have been passed down, the meteorologists have been able to conclude that the disasters are not from God’s will. I found this to be interesting because we can start to see some sort of shift from God’s Realm to more of the secular side in this reading. Besides this little portion of the reading, what I did enjoy about the novel was how it broke the parts into chapters, some of which dealt with Isaac’s training in the field. However it was the other part where it describes briefly how far the storm is from reaching Galveston. This fascinated me because Isaac was sure that a hurricane would not hit Galveston and even made the claim that even if did hit them, the damage will be minimal.

Setting the Scene for the Fire (Chapter 2)

February 6, 2017 / gravity21 / 1 Comment

Cronon begins the second chapter oh his novel, Nature’s Metropolis, with the boosters’ discussing all of the natural advantages that are seen in Chicago that they almost that people played a role in the scenario. Although the boosters discussed the advantages of the area, Cronon makes the reader aware that disadvantages also existed. Where citizens wanted to build a harbor in the mouth of the Chicago River, there was a hindrance preventing them from achieving their vision. This led to the Chicagoans to “take fate into their own hands” by constructing plans for a canal, which led to the creation of the first part of second nature. Although the creation of the canal allowed for improvement, there was still the issue of travel. Through the months of November through April, there was not much traveling because there was either too much water on land that mired wagons from traveling or too little water leaving ship stranded, hindering farmers who would want to sell their goods. There were first hand accounts from people such as Ralph Waldo Emerson who traveled to Chicago; who upon seeing the problems in transportation questioned why bother traveling. When Cronon introduces the next section of the chapter, Artificial Corridors, a solution was brought the traveling issue comes to light. Cronon introduces the improvement being constructed along the canal, railroads system between Chicago and Galena. With the railroad system, the issue of weather interferences is minimal and allowed for an increase in information influx and faster transportation. To the residents who have gotten used to the system, seeing the railroads became a natural occurrence. This chapter focuses on the will people have when fighting against nature and what they see as “nature” which was discussed a bit in the previous chapter. When dealing with the lack of transportation, plans were to build canals and railroad systems to improve the situation. Although not made but nature, people begin to see such things as a part of nature.