Category: Uncategorized (Page 5 of 5)

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For this presentation, I am recalling the movie, The Last Samurai, or as some people like to say, yet another movie that Tom Cruise didn’t die. When this movie came out, I was amazed and amused. As we have recently learned once you become a historian you can go back at things that used to inspire you, and realize that they are wrong or distasteful. I went back and watched the Last Samurai, and it is a historical disaster. I watched this movie with a historical approach, which means reading or watching something and thinking about that moment in history. So, what from this movie is factual? I could pick up on historical facts that were wrong because this semester I signed up for a Modern Japan class. What I have learned is that yes, the Samurai did not want to modernize and they were unhappy. The 1977 Satsuma rebellion was a real historical event. The movie played this important rebellion down. The Emperor Meiji wanted to take away their titles, since the Samurai were no longer needed. The Emperor was trying to modernize, or “westernize” Japan.  While there is more in this movie that I could nitpick, the important concept I have learned from history is that it changes your view on movies.

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Popkin begins his book, From Herodotus to H-Net, with a preface that explains the history and beginnings of historiography. After his short preface, he starts off chapter one with explaining how historiography can help answer important historical questions. Popkin defines historiography as “the critical assessment of the ways in which historians try to reconstruct past events as distinguished from the statements they make about the past”. In other words it is a way other historians try to take a new angle at another scholar’s work or to try and disprove what their statement is with their own facts and interpretations. Historiography is the practice of historians asking questions, like how or why, about historical events to make new statements or perspectives on the event to try and find the true reason. Popkin goes on to explain why students hate historiography and want to focus more on the historical narrative that they have a fixation on for whatever reason. He also says that even though professors all hear about the complaining that they all can come to an agreement that students need at least some exposure to the style to be able to grasp the concepts it brings. Historiography can be used to help push “truthful history” versus the emotional and motive driven history that has been told in the past. Popkin wraps up his chapter with listing the different feilds that use historiograpghy alot, from social history to poltical history, and also cultural history. Popkin’s main idea, that historiograghy is important to the feild of History majors because of the way it allows for new discoveries and ideas to be formed to help get the closest truth about why, or how, something happened, is very important to students and how important it is to get a grasp as early as possible.

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As stated by Professor Shrout and the author Jeremy D. Popkin, a Historiography is the history of history. Popkin states that, “to study historiography is to begin to understand how historians think and how they do their work…,” or in a way everyone can probably understand a historiography is a way to help understand how past historians decided on their projects and the ways the historian went about making the project happen.

Popkin’s book is all about the concerns and different ways a historiography can be written. He also explains that while a historiography helps teach about history, it also helps teach the reader about the historian who wrote the historiography. These historians can range from the past with Machiavelli and Marc Bloch, to present day with filmmakers, historical websites and other such electronic-based tools. Having these sources of history will always help people to understand the past and how our present day world has come about. However that only works as long as each source is proven to be as accurate as possible to how the real history was played out and not the ‘emotionally charged myths’ that can affect the present day world. Unfortunately there are many different ways to interpret history. To quote from sevallos’ blog post, “Chicago’s geographic advantages as a city needed much improvement upon the land in order to be utilized.” This quote could be taken from: a geographical historian, a financial historian, a social historian, or even possibly a cultural historian point of view. Although it does not matter whose viewpoint it is from, as long as the reader takes the history presented from their own way of viewing the history.

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In chapter 2, Cronon discusses the key advantages and disadvantages of the waterways and geography surrounding Chicago in its early stages. Zhoeffken acknowledges that Chicago’s geography served as its boon and bane, and Cronon emphasized this through his examples of Chicago’s “Second Nature.” Second Nature refers to the state of nature formed after human intervention; whereas natural geography is “First Nature,” man-made geography or altered geography is Second Nature.

Within the context of Second Nature, Cronon emphasizes that Chicago’s geographic advantages as a city needed much improvement upon the land in order to be utilized. The river and lake system surrounding Chicago was not deep enough to sustain a harbor for large vessels. In 1835, engineers attempted to facilitate this problem by digging the waterways deeper, but each attempt was thwarted eventually by the build-up of sand in the water. The sand would have to be actively removed, becoming very costly to maintain the harbor. By the 1840s, the local government had already spent a quarter of a million dollars just on maintaining the harbor. The waterways should have been considered a geographical advantage, but were largely a financial burden.

Chicago’s key geographical advantage was location. Cronon emphasizes that Chicago connected the East to the West, even before the inclusion of the railroad. Farmers from the West would visit Chicago to purchase goods from the East since Chicago’s prices on these goods compared fairly with their local stores. Chicago was able to sell such products at lower prices because of its water transportation: the cost of transporting the goods was quite cheap. In return, the farmers of the West would sell produce to the local markets of Chicago, making it a bustling trade city. As such, the East and the West would trade together in the central hub of Chicago, setting the stage for Chicago to become a metropolis.

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Historiography is the questioning of certain events throughout History.  It’s the idea of questioning what it is you are reading, and how credible the source is. For example, Popkin explains how different books give different insight on certain events throughout History. Stating that History books in Schools often give facts, hoping students just memorize the information so they could be good history students. Popkin then goes on to talk about how in order to because a Historian you need to Implement Historiography, or otherwise question where the author got his source, and if you agree with the statement. For example, ZHOEFFKEN mentions how Cronon states, “The development of the railroad systems helped make traveling into the city easier, at first the railroad did not have a hub in Chicago yet it still helped boost the economy”. If ZHOEFFKEN questions whether or not he believes railroad actually did help Chicago’s economy boost, whether he agrees or disagrees he would have to find evidence to support his idea. This is the idea of Historiography. Popkin also states that, Historiography questions are often the most difficult to answer, and often times go unanswered, causing many issues in the world of Humanities. However we should not let this discourage historians from questioning what we believe.

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In Nature’s Metropolis’ second chapter Rails and Water, Cronon speaks of the “second nature” that the new American city had created as it expanded its city limits and economic influence within the region.  Pertaining to the man-made creations that allowed for the city to expand its commercial opportunities, the “second nature” of Chicago changed the geographical landscape of the region to fit the economic needs of the city.  However, the growth of Chicago coinciding with the development of the waterways reinforced the boosters ideals of a “new Rome” as the city now had access to larger economic ambitions.  The growth  of the city also saw the rise of the farming class as a vital contributor to the growing economy, making use of the new waterways to transport their goods to the city to obtain better pricing for their goods.  Unlike the river fed cities of Peoria and Springfield, the desire for goods in Chicago created a large demand for crops and created a prosperous economic environment for the farming community that fed the city and the surrounding areas.  John Kane has said of Cronon’s view of Chicago to be a “romanticized emotion attached to [Chicago] and its history [creating] a bias toward the importance of the city,” however this would negate the influence that Chicago had as a cultural and economic center for the region.  Rivaling its East Coast counterparts in economic ability, Chicago became a center for cultural integration between different societal groups that would otherwise not interact.  With merchants and farmers exchanging goods, Chicago became a place in which both the urban and rural communities melded together and created a thriving economy not based on a single product.  Though Cronon does create a romantic image of Chicago as an ever changing city, Chicago itself is a city based in its own unique culture that combines both agrarian and industrial communities within its city to create a diverse and thriving economy.

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The second chapter in Cronon’s book starts with a focus on the natural benefits that the land around Chicago has. Cronon talks on the transportation helped Chicago become the large city it is. As peterrossi1 talked about in their post a geographical location will help a city boom and Chicago’s waterways were helpful. Though Cronon does not let us forget that the waterways and land surrounding Chicago that were its boon were also its bane. Cronon states that “nearly half the year, ice and storms, on Lake Michigan closed shipping,” and the river had sandbars causing the water to be too shallow. He also talks on how the rain caused the ground around the city to just become mud as the streets were just dirt roads.  The citizens tried a few things to help combat this problem like using canals or putting wood planks over the mud to make the area easier to traverse, yet still most of the businesses were slow until better weather arrived. The development of the railroad systems helped make traveling into the city easier, at first the railroad did not have a hub in Chicago yet it still helped boost the economy. As the railroad system grew in Chicago so did the economy of the city. It became easier for people to come to trade and sell their wares and helped Chicago become a railroad hub. How Cronon talks of the railroads helps to convince the reader that not only the natural resources of the land helped Chicago become a great city but also people helped by making more artificial ways of transportation.

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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.

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In this chapter, Cronon explains how the transportation competition between the water ways and railroads, were influenced by seasons as well as economic advantages to the merchants and farmers. Cronon talks about the railroads and expansion of the river as “second nature” because it shaped the landscape where ever it went.  He also explains that the city’s greatest strength was also its greatest weakness; during raining seasons, the flat land was tarnished with horrible muddy conditions and flooding in the cities. the problem with that was the water would not run into the rivers, instead it would just sit on the land and make deep mud pits that would be nearly impassable as Cronon explains.  Since the river that passed through the land was guarded by extended sandbars, bigger ships were unable to traverse through them.  People of Chicago tried many different projects to widen the river and expand the river but many were of no success and companies went bankrupt trying to complete the task. When Railroads began to rise up from the ground the farmers took advantage of the expedited means of transportation to send their crops to Chicago; this is because Chicago had the highest sells output for the farmers. as peter explained in his post on, The Theory of City Development, “it made sense for there to be a big city [Chicago] in that commanding of a economical position in the middle of the US. Since Chicago was the gateway to the west as Cronon declares it, The development of the city was crucial to the future of the United States.  The need for Chicago to be sustainable led to other great projects such as raising the city up more than 10 feet in certain areas to fix the sewage system were major investments that needed to  be completed. Overall, Cronon has a romanticized emotion attached to the city and its history and because of that there is a minor bias toward the importance of the city.

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In Cronon’s, Nature’s Metropolis, in his second chapter of the book, “Rails and Water”, he talks about the development of canals and railways that helped Chicago develop as one of the most successful trade centers during the 1800s.  As peterrossi1 stated in his post that Chicago’s landscape fit the economic needs of the area.  Through the development of a canal between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River. Cronon uses accounts of the people that lived in Chicago during the time of the development of the canal and the railways to back up his statements of how the city began to flourish as farmers began to trade more of their produce in Chicago. Using first hand accounts in the second chapter of his book to explain the people that lived in Chicago during the development of the canal and railways that crossed through Chicago was very persuasive ways of convincing me as the reader that without those developments that Chicago would not have flourished as it did. The points that Cronon points out is that the creation of the railways and canals changed Chicago in a positive way and that  One argument that Cronon proposes is that Chicago’s development happened not just because of its location but because of the people that lived in Chicago. This is because many people that lived in Chicago were the ones that contributed money for the railroad by the rural communities that were to be along the railway line. After 10 railways were built that would go through Chicago, the people of Chicago were excited at the new technology that allowed them to benefit from more trade in their city.

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In Cronon’s book, Nature’s Metropolis, he spends the introduction and the first chapter talking about what made Chicago the great city it was and posed the question; why do cities form where they do?  Cronon presents the idea that there are two factors that lead to great cities geographical factors and economic factors, but Cronon believes that in the modern era economical factors become more important the geographical ones. I agree with this belief and you can see real life examples in it when you look at a city like Constantinople. Constantinople was the biggest and richest city in the western world in the early medieval era,  built in a very geographically strategic position between Europe and the middle East . The superior geographical position of the city forced them to be an economical hub of trade, it was the stop between two major markets for both sea and land routes.  The same could be said for any preindustrial city, all successful cities were either on the coast, along a major river, or a geographical stop between two major economical markets.  However once the industrial revolution happened and the way humans became to grow and consume agriculture grew and people began to move into the cities and away from rural areas as Jessica Abode said on her blog post.  As things changed people began to shape the landscape to fit the economical needs of an area, as Cronon said. Chicago isn’t a coastal city, doesn’t have a wide and flowing river, and is built on a swamp, but it made sense for there to be a big city in that commanding of a economical position in the middle of the US. Chicago wouldn’t have been able to be exist a couple hundred years ago but with the new technology and advancements it allowed the city to flourish

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The Gilded Age was a time in American history shortly after the Antebellum era and right before the Progressive era, when urbanization began to increase throughout the nation. This urbanization is because of the easier means of transportation as well as the overproduction of crops in the agricultural sector of the nation. As Calhoun describes, many cities were being created with a more modernized organization and innovation. Cities had sewage systems, lighted streets, parks, and other amenities being constructed to enhance urban life.  Before historians began to actually research this era in American history, there were many negative associations with it; such as corruption from government officials and wealthy corporations. The interesting fact is that this is not the case, more so that there had been many great developments such as a more structured economic environment for citizens, which also helped for them to travel and go on vacation with higher frequencies. With more people traveling around more museums and other historical landmarks were created or preserved which also benefited future generations of historians to understand the past. What Calhoun says in great, is that more scholars are beginning to teach there students about different aspects of the Gilded Age, and not simply skimming through the era or completely skipping past it. I also agree with Calhoun, the best way to understand things that are happening today or cultural norms that are practiced is by understanding what the generation before it had done or major events that occurred to shape society. Then repeating that process for the generation before that and so on. The gilded age helped shape society to place it on the track of innovation and modernization and is an era that should be focused on more to better understand what the healing era did after the war.

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The Gilded Age was a time period that is usually not taught, but was a time of accomplishment. The Gilded Age was a time period between 1870 to 1900. This time period was marked with several accomplishments, which were railroads, factories and the industrialization of the economy. This was also the time of the industrial revolution, which was when many people that lived in the rural areas left their homes for the cities in search of work. This was due to the increasing amount of agricultural productivity that was seen that required less people to man the agricultural fields. The Gilded Age was also a time where the politicians that were in office during this time period were actually sincere and dedicated to being public servants. This resulted in the creation of a stable monetary system and the beginnings of federal regulations that would become the Commerce Commission and the Sherman Anti-trust act.  The Commerce Commission would set rates for transportation of goods. The Sherman Anti-trust act’s purpose was the protect consumers from any efforts restrain trade, to preserve economic competition between companies; And made it so monopolization  could no longer occur within businesses.  Finally the Gilded Age is known for the expansion of transportation the led people to go to more museums and theaters, which were funded by big business leaders, such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie being the one that expanded the American Steel Industry and Rockefeller who made his wealth in the American Oil Industry.  Both are regarded as the richest men in modern history.