Cool History Sites

The cool history sites I found! -

http://www.besthistorysites.net/

http://www.edu.aceswebworld.com/best_history_sites.html

http://history-world.org/

http://www.historyworld.net/

http://www.articlemyriad.com/history.htm

http://www.besthistorysites.net/index.php/american-history

Progressive Era - The Jungle

1) What qualities did Sinclair believe a person must have to succeed in Packingtown? 
You had to be a knave. A man who had been sent to Jugis's father by the boss. You had to tell tales and spy on your peers. Nobody rose in Packiongton by doing good work. A man who would mind their own business doing their work would wear him out. 

2)According to the passage, what is the plant owner's main goal.
They tried to squeeze as much work as possible out of the workers. Always pushing the man below you to be better than you are. The owners just wanted money so he tried to have the best workers that could get the job done.

3) What does Sinclair mean when he says, "...there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar....?"
The owners didn't care about the workers, they were worthless. As long as the job got done the owners were happy. The workers hated their job. All they wanted was their money out of it. 

Government regulating meat packing - 
When the "Workers Bill of Rights" was published in June of 2000 it set some guidelines. It created safe work conditions, organized employees, and help from the state if needed. There were signs that were posted to caution the workers if it is a hazard or dangerous. Overall the workers had better working conditions and were more safe after the "Worker Bill of Rights" was published.

Imperialism and Industrialism #3

Industrialization was the development of industry. In this period industries started implementing new inventions and made workers less important. The new inventions often times lightened the work that the workers had to do. This era had more people living in the cities and working in factories. The income for the workers increased because the overall economy was rising. Industrialization made many immigrants come over to America because they were hoping to find jobs which led to urbanization. New technologies and new big business helped the economy. Laissez-Faire started to come into play and change the game with industrialization.

Source 1 - "labor -saving inventions would lighten the toil and improve the conditions of the laborer." These inventions started making workers worth less because the machines could do the same work without having to pay them.

Source 2 - David A. Wells was one of the first people to realize that machines were taking the jobs of workers. Wells believes that technology has begun to change society. Before these inventions were made only certain people had the special characteristics to complete the job. Those people were valued back then but got replaced by machinery. "The result has been that the individualism or independence of the producer in manufacturing has been in a great degree destroyed."

Source 3 - Industrialism has changed the productivity of a person. The new inventions sped up work so they can get more things done in a certain amount of time. Railroads help connect people so they aren't isolated like they were before in their living area. The markets for products increase because of transportation through railroads.

Thoughts as an industrial worker - Industrial workers have it rough at this time. Before machines they were very valued because of the skills they had. Now that machines are here its like the whole staff has those characteristics and they aren't special anymore. This doesn't really make a need for workers anymore because the machines can do the same thing without getting paid. If I was an industrial worker I would feel very sad because I would most likely lose my job because of these machines. Feeling unworthy in a job that I once felt praised. Workers should be treated with great respect. If i was an owner of a factory I would see why they would only want machines because they have more of an income. The workers shouldn't be taken out of the equation because all of the work before the machines wouldn't have been done without them.

Radio

The radio was the first device that made mass communication possible. It was one of the first devices to be able to communicate internationally. In the 1860's, a Scottish Physicist named James Maxwell discovered radio waves, electromagnetic waves that have the capacity to transmit music and speeches. The first development of the radio began in 1893 when Nikolai Tesla demonstrated wireless radio communication in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1896, Guglielmo Marconi was awarded with the official patent of the radio by the British Government. 
Without the telegraph and the telephone the radio would be nothing. Radio-telegraphy is sending radio waves that contain morse code that is used in a telegraph. The first use of radio transmitters was used for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication. When a ship was sinking it would use the radio to reach nearby stations to call for aid.
In 1912 The Radio Act required all land radio stations and ship stations to be staffed  24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the late 80's and 90's the radio started expanding with radio stations that broadcasted sports and comedy acts.

Sources - 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/jtk187/art2/radio.htm

http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/radio.htm

Links for Transcontinental Railroads

Dealing with workers -

http://austinsandsness.blogspot.com/

Life in The Camps and Transcontinental Railroads -

http://eliushistory.blogspot.com/

Lets look at an owner -

http://www.usjamie.blogspot.com/

Hiring Workers -

http://www.kaylacarroll4200.blogspot.com/

Life in The Camps

     Eli Warmenhoven

Period 5

 Life on the trains was describes as "Hell on Wheels." Miners and traders were scattered across the countryside, getting used to their new outpost. Gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels were all assembled from wood or canvas to support their needs. The train serve brought in carloads of migrants to settle in. People would settle in with the workers to make a couple bucks. 
      These colonies of workers were very portable. One day they could be working and the next they could be on the road. All they had to do is pack up their things and dismantle the shacks. Once they packed up everything they followed the newly-laid track. Once the group of railroaders left the town they were working in the town dried up. It acts as if the town is abandoned. They moved to a location in Wyoming territory that was near a military post. They used that as their protection from claim-jumpers on the railroad property. Once the "Hell on Wheels" set up their shacks and got to work the town often grew tired of crime, Murders happened nightly. 
      The life in the camps was very rough. They constantly had to be ready to move. Never having a true home, but having a portable shack. I imagine the workers had very little supplies or food to get through the job. Death was a common thing in the camps, diseases going around with the workers and murders happening every night. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-hell/

Riley Courteau

Period 5

Transcontinental railroad

This article is talking about how they created railroads across the nation allowing them to trade between states and the transfer goods and material from over seas. Within ten years of having the railroad up in America they have transported about 50 million dollars worth of freight from coast to coast each year. People could even travel across the country to see other places and other stuff like books ended up in other states like New York. Railroads were a big impact back then because it allowed them to transport material and items that were sent from over seas. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-impact/

The Battle of Gettysburg 1863

       General Robert E. Lee led his confederate army around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania against General George Meade's army. The battle began on July 1st, 1863 when the Confederates drove through Gettysburg to Cemetery Hill. The Southerners gained some ground but were unable to dismount the Union from the top. On the afternoon of July 3rd an artillery struck while Lee attacked the Union Center on Cemetery ridge. Theres was 12,000 Confederates that attacked the Union line. Lee's army resulted in some heavy losses that is now known as Pickett's Charge. Lee led his army in a retreat back to Virginia. Around 51,000 soldiers from each army suffered many casualties and wounds.
       People from the day of the battle to today still argue about the significance of the Battle of Gettysburg. Before this battle the South was winning the battle. This battle acts as a turning point for the war, when the North took the lead. Gettysburg was a three day fight that has still been one of the bloodiest and biggest battles in American history. By the end of the third day around one quarter of the Northern soldiers were killed. People have compared this battle to Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815. The most talked about topic on the war is the third day of battle. There were artillery strikes and a confederate infantry attack to the left center of the Union line. Still to this day the Battle of Gettysburg is still known as one of the deadliest battles that happened in that short of time.