Letter To Future: Climate, Economy, and Agriculture

While researching climate and effects of climate on a global scale, I was fascinated with the controversies, economic effects, and the overall views people have on the topic. I found myself most interested in the effect climate has on economic values such as commodity prices and the stock market. Growing up in a farming family fueled my interest toward this topic, mainly because I know the importance of the role climate plays on agriculture and also many other things.I found many great sources to help further my knowledge within this topic such as websites and several books on climate change and the change of economy due to climate change.

I started off my research by tracking climate change and finding evidence to support the claims made by scientist about the causes of climate change and whether or not climate around the world is still changing. I wasn't surprised to find many educational sources backing up the scientist theory but I was surprised  to see the groups being targeted and blamed for pollution and factors leading  up to the climate change such as the depletion of the ozone. Most researchers and scientist included farming and agricultural concepts in the category of the causes for climate change. I found this interesting because at first it didn’t make sense to me how farming could cause damage to the earth but after studying the topic for several classes and comparing ideas and evidence gathered from over the years and it made it more clear to me how farming can indeed impact the earth's climate in a negative way. I was relieved to find out farming is not nearly the worst for the climate  and pollution and deforestation from developing projects is much worst.

Climate basically controls lifestyles around the world and it most certainly controls agriculture and economics. Places in certain geographical locations can grow certain crops or raise certain livestock to sell. For example countries such as the United States, Brazil, and China produce the world's most grain annually. This is generally because the location geographically, and the climate in these locations inhabit fertile soils, precipitation, and warm sunshine for the growth of these row crops. The growth of these row crops  is very important for the world because it’s what the population eats and without them people would starve. That's why there are commodities and the commodities change rapidly due to how climate affects the yields of these crops. If a country such as brazil suffers a bad drought then the prices for grain in the US or other countries increases and the result is their being a risk for a shortage. Following that the research that I also looked into, the economic power and advantages some countries have due to climate and commodity prices. For example I was a bit scared after learning that China holds millions of bushels of grain each year instead of putting it all on the market like the US. After reading this I realized that if the stock market ever collapses we would be in a very large mess because the amount of grain that China obtains today would be enough to collapse the stock market if all of it was put on at once.

Overall I enjoyed researching this topic because i could relate to most of what I was researching and I learned an immense amount of facts about it portrayed to me the importance of climate on the economy and if climate continues to change then the earth will face more problems than just the economy.

http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/sectors/agriculture

http://climate.ncsu.edu/edu/k12/ClimateChange-Ag

http://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/effects_2012/CC%20and%20Agriculture%20Report%20(02-04-2013)b.pdf

Affects of climate on economy

After doing research on how climate affects economy I was very Interested in finding information relating to agriculture and commodity prices. I found several good websites and started by reviewing major events that have occurred due to the climate such as the dust bowl. I found that there have been many devastating droughts and many floods throughout the history of the United States and other countries. These droughts and floods have impacted the way we farm today very much depending on location. The droughts and floods i read about Impacted the price of grain and cotton and caused farmers to spend more money to prepare land for planting.

http://longfuture.org/antarctic/climate/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwmKG5BRDv4YaE5t6oqf0BEiQAwqDNfG1_pH2iZJFmvj-RWPkfFN9bwHeS5qmWq6levuTkq4gaAgFp8P8HAQ

http://enviroone.org/food/

Research topic for Climate project

I will be researching economics for this project.

Climate

economy- because climate effects the amount of food a country can grow and sell and climate also effects the economy by causing commodity prices to change due to floods or drought.

scientist- many scientist study climate and come up with different ideas about the earths climate and how it is changing

controversy- because of clashing views of the impact society on the changing climate and whether or not its changing at all

population- because the climate of certain geographical areas impact where people want to live in the world

discovery-  because many knew theories and ideas about climate are discovered frequently

Radio Advertisment 1930's

While doing my research I learned that the use of the radio boomed during the 1930’s. Advertisements became very common and popular during this time and most of the advertising included household cleaning items, food brands, and general goods. One thing that I  learned was that music was used a lot in these advertisements and brands such as coca cola began using popular music and themes in their advertisements on the radio. Another common advertisement in this time period included the use of celebrities and actresses and they would mainly be promoting weight loss and dieting or promoting a item or event such as Colgate toothpaste and Sporting events.

http://www.old-time.com/commercials/

http://www.old-time.com/commercials/Sounds/Coca%20Cola%20Signature.mp3

1920's Speech

James Webster

4/10/16

History speech

I pledge

American society in the 1920’s was filled with prosperity and expansion. The change and expansion was beneficial for the country but also brought many problems and controversies to the U.S.  Immigration, economics, race, religion, and sciences made up a large portion of these problems and advances during the new era.

Immigration held many problems during the 1920’s, similar to the challenges faced in the U.S today with immigration. Throughout the 1920’s many “old stock Americans” associated immigration with radicalism and this became a popular and diverse topic within this time period. The problem resulted in acts, such as The Emergency Immigration act to be made to limit the number of immigrants into the Country.

The U.S faced immense growth during the 1920’s and in my opinion the most beneficial was the economic growth. Many families benefited from this and the jobs and opportunities available were much better than they had been before. Wages and working conditions had been much improved during the new era making working more personal and pleasurable for the society.

Race and religion played a large role in the 1920’s. Problems with racial differences were evident during this time period and groups such as the Ku klux Klan were formed making it a hostile subject. Following the problems with race there were many arguments and problems with religion. The diverse beliefs that now flourished the U.S. caused these problems and the traditional ways of the U.S were being tested and altered. As a result of this a new group known as the fundamentalist were formed and they questioned the traditional beliefs of Americans and focused their attention to science and new discoveries that consisted of proof.

 Overall immigration, economics, race, religion, and science had a huge impact on America in the 1920’s and these topics are still very important to the American society today.

Propaganda Poster Analysis

• The way that I would describe propaganda would be advertisement for politics and war in the late 19th century to early 20th century, mainly used for the army drafts and politics.
• According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda, the definition of propaganda is "Ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also :a public action having such an effect"

• The first poster in set one is titled " Wake up, America! Civilization Calls Every Man, Women, and Child" I believe that this poster is representing either a political campaign or the war. The woman on the poster is dressed in red, white, and blue and is depicted as sleeping. There is a white column in the background making it look almost like the white house. The poster uses the painting of the woman as the focus point and places the words on the top and bottom of the poster making the reader look at the entire poster.

• The second poster is titled "Destroy This Mad Brute, Enlist", this poster is advertising for men to join the army. The mad ape in the poster represents the opposing countries that are battling the U.S, and the women it is holding represents the American girl that is being taken and mistreated due to these opposing countries. The ape is most likely in the poster because during this time period the opposing countries people were commonly known as savages. The bat that the ape is holding has "Kulture" written on it and I feel that this is because the army wanted the people to believe that the opposing countries culture was very scary. 
• The third poster is titled "Beat Back The Hun With Liberty Bonds" and is representing the use of liberty bonds. The poster has a angry looking warrior from somewhere in asia in it and he has blood on his knife. The poster is most likely advertising liberty bonds and it is trying to say that if liberty bonds are bought then the citizens will be safe. 

Multiple Choice key

1.  B
2.  C
3.  B

Thesis with all topics

     The government during the progressive era experienced many new changes and problems that came along with it. Changes were made by the government to locate and solve obvious, important problems during the era. The health and safety reforms being made were meant to solve an issue but commonly these reforms caused further problems.

Multiple Choice questions

James Webster

2/22/16

History Lawson

Multiple Choice Questions Writing

1. “Crusading journalist” who focused public attention to social, economic, and political problems were known as the_______?

1. Progressives
2. Muckrackers
3. The Social Gospel
4. Social Darwinist
5. Newspaper Photographers

     2.  Progressives believe in all of the following except _______?

1. Social improvement
2. Political improvement
3. Keeping the government out of reforms
4. Natural laws
5. Stabilizing and enhancing Society

     3.  “_______” is the fear of concentrated power and practices the urge to limit and separate authority and wealth.

1. Progressivism
2. Antimonopoly
3. Social Darwinism
4. The Social gospel
5. Corporation

Living Essay

 Our group worked together to form a thesis with our information. We combined the affect of progressivism with our topics to create a balanced thesis.


During the Progressive era, 1880-1920, many changes were occurring as society was attempting to advance and move forward. However, many challenges arose with this new freedom, and the United States realized that people needed a superior power to step in to keep everything out of control. For example, the influenza epidemic of 1918 could only be helped by enforcing strict quarantines. The production of Coke a Cola was hazardous to the health of drinkers, and in other cases the wealthy and careless put others in harms way with their rash decisions such as the Johnstown dam breaking and killing hundreds of people. Through the progressive era, the government improved its level of aid on state and national levels, motivated by the notion of keeping people safe.

The increase of government control was a good thing for the era. People’s new ideas and wealth, and health needed to be monitored in order to keep everything stable. By introducing reforms, quarantine standards, and bans on hazardous substances, the government was able to protect America's health and well being.

Johnstown Flood and How it Relates to Progressivism

The Johnstown flood occurred May 31,1889 in Johnstown Pennsylvania. Killing over 2,200 people the flood was a catastrophic event that caused terror for the people of Johnstown and neighboring regions. After reading several articles from newspapers during the time of the flood, I found interesting articles, facts, and opinions documented in well known newspapers such as the “New York Herald” and the “Philadelphia Inquirer”. After searching theses newspaper articles in the archive I soon could see the relation with progressivism and the details that caused the flood.

The newspaper article “Widespread Fury and Destruction” by the New York Herald on June 02, 1889 goes into a summary of the destruction and lives lost because the flood. After reading the article I got a better understanding of what the flood actually was and the how it impacted not only the town, but many other systems within the town. An important point made in the article explained that the flood caused the railroads to shut down in high populated areas. This also caused the stop of mail and goods from entering certain places that needed the goods. After looking it over I believe that the use of the Article was not only stating news in the country but making a point that disasters such as this one impact a wide variety of things.

I also read an article named “The South Fork Club Sued” by the Philadelphia Inquirer on July 29, 1889. This article contained information about a lawsuit and the reasoning behind the flood. The article contained information about the Dam and the South Fork Club. A woman by the name Mrs. Little wanted 50,000 dollars from the rich businessmen involved with the club.

and she stated that the flood was caused by the hunting club reserving a ridiculous amount of water causing the dam to burst due to misuse and neglect by the club. I believe that the flood relates to progressivism through many different ways. After researching I got a better understanding about the rich businessmen of the club and how many of them were indeed progressives. This finding brought up the question that the wealthy progressive men caused this disaster due to too much power and carelessness brought on by their wealth. I also read where many lawsuits were created and this relates to progressivism because the reforms that were created. Many progressives and other politicians began to try to fix the problem by creating new laws and standards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood

http://www.toledoblade.com/Movies/2007/05/31/Revisiting-a-flood-116-years-before-levees-gave-way-in-New-Orleans-a-rushing-wall-of-water-obliterated-Johnstown-Pa.html

http://www.infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX-K12&p_theme=ahnp_k12&p_nbid=V5DW4FLMMTQ1NTYzMjkyNy4xNDE3MDI6MTo4OnJhbmRvbHBo&p_acn=timelinetopic&d_topic=Johnstown%20Flood&d_era=Gilded%2

Third quarter revision

The beginning of second semester started with me completing make up work due to illness in the first semester. I worried that I would fall behind but managed to complete the assignments such as the Eddie Aikau research, the Spanish american war, and other components relating to these topics. I found the Eddie Aikua assignment diverse and interesting compared to most the assignments we have worked on previously. I believe that this assignment was a good change to study more about a individual then a group. All the assignments we have gone over in the third quarter have been helpful to me to understand more about the research and techniques to better myself in the class.

Progression

• I would define progress as receiving success for a certain thing over a period of time.
• The progressive era refers to the 1890’s to the 1920’s because of social activism and political advances.
• Widespread social activism and political reform were problems during this time. Social problems were caused by industrialization
• They all have social problems that all are caused by disagreements about the reforms.
• The essential goals include
• Health
• Economic efficiency
• Womens Rights
• Prohibition

Thinking about Success

     Success can be portrayed in many ways and contains many different stages and parts that have to be figured out by the individual trying to become successful. Three people that I researched for this essay include Malcolm Glad-well, Angela Duckworth, and Bill Gates. These three individuals all have helpful, true, and different views on being successful and gaining success. Malcolm Gladwell presents a very persuasive argument that success comes from passion and desire, through books he has written and interviews he has participated in. Angela Duckworth presents a similar argument but incorporates the importance of motivation over the more basic IQ's of individuals for success in school. And Bill gates thoughts on success include hard work and intelligence towards whatever goals an individual has.

     Malcolm Gladwell was born September 3, 1963. He is a fictional writer that incorporates his thoughts about success through the books that he writes. He has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996.  He has written five books including two that portray what he thinks about success. These two books are The Outliers and David and Goliath. Both these books go deep into what it takes to be successful and key aspects of it that are helpful and interesting to anyone that reads them. A quote from Malcolm Gladwell stated in the business insider is "Its very hard to find someone who is successful and dislikes what they do". This quote brings out a very important message that is saying a person has to enjoy their job or else they wont become successful as easily. He also states that a person has to adapt and work hard to receive success its not just given away. Another important point explained by Gladwell includes fear and why fear can hold success back for an individual. In the business insider page about Glawell I found that he doesn't let his fear overcome him and he makes it clear not to be afraid to change your mind in a situation. From Gladwells point of view he explains how attending a big name University such as Harvard is not a wise choice for most that attend schools like this. He states that the pressure and the comparison of theses schools cause some of the smartest students to give up their goals.

     Angela Duckworth expressed her feelings and ideas towards success in a ted talk video. During the beginning of the video she explained her background and how she began working at a demanding job that she didn't enjoy very much. She later went to be a teacher and noticed many things while teaching. She explains these findings in the ted talk and talks about the patterns and themes she noticed some students were following. She explains how IQ isn't always the determine factor of a students ability. She explained that she was certain that most if not all students could succeed at the work they were doing if they were more motivated. A more bold word for motivation that she used was "Grit". She explained that grit is what students, adults, and anyone searching for success needs. She talked about how grit is passion and perseverance brought on by a individual. Duckworth quit teaching and went back to school to get her degree in physiology. After gaining the degree she studied students and drew a conclusion. She states in the video that successful students aren't always the smartest with the highest IQ but the ones with most grit and determination towards a goal. 

     Bill Gates is a very successful business man and engineer that has overcome bumps in the road to have received his success. Bill Gates was born on October, 28, 1955 in Seattle Washington. He grew up having a rather successful family dealing with a business background. Bill explains in his success story that he gained his success through very hard work and his Intelligence. By intelligence he didn't mean that an individual has to be a genius but must know how to use their intelligence to further their success in life. Being competitive, ambitious, and motivated has helped Bill Gates a lot. He said that without  his friend Allens motivation for him he might not have stuck with building and creating computers and computer software. Bill enrolled In Harvard University in 1973 and enrolled his name for pre law not knowing what he wanted to do. He makes it clear that changing your mind and exploring ideas will guide an individual to personal success such as the success that he as a individual has received. He states in the "Success Story of  Bill Gates" that an individual must have a vision in mind and with time, hard work, and intelligence the individual can gain the success they want. 

     Overall the three people talking about success consist of great ideas for success and great points that should be studied by anyone having trouble with this topic. The ideas on success are somewhat different but all help with the goals of people.

 http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-most-important-factor-of-success-2014-10 - I used this source for information about Malcolm Gladwells most important factor of success

http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwells-david-and-goliath-2013-10 - I used this source for information about the book David And Goliath written by Malcolm and his other theory's.

http://theadventurouswriter.com/blog/10-tips-for-achieving-your-goals/ - I used this source for information about Malcolm's tips towards a persons goals.

https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit?language=en#t-352711 - This source included Angela's theory about children's motivation and IQ in school.

http://greatsuccessstory.weebly.com/success-story-of-bill-gate.html - This source includes facts about bill gates and his idea about success.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iADTpgRXYrk- video including Bills motivational speech for Harvard grads.

Eddie Aikau Questions

1.       The documentary filmmakers called this film Hawaiian, The Legend of Eddie Aikau because the film was based in Hawaii and Eddie was a native from there.  I believe that they added Hawaiian in the title to add respect towards Eddie being one of the best if not the best native Hawaiian surfers that could out surf the Australians and California surfers. Hawaii was very important to Eddie and I believe that in the documentary the filmmakers wanted this to be clear. I think that adding “The Legend” in the title also marked a reason such as Eddies heroic actions.

2.       Every documentary has the following elements:

a.       Topic:  Eddie Aikau was born and raised in Hawaii and trained and practiced surfing basically everyday. He was loyal and loving towards his family and helped many others. He struggled to win a surf contest on his home ground of Hawaii but later

b.      Focus:  The focus of the documentary was the struggles that Eddie faced. It focused mainly on the surfing and the struggle to beat white surfers coming to the island. Not just to beat them but he wanted people to know that the natives have been surfing for decades.

c.       Angle:  The angle of the documentary changed from this happy surfer trying to be the best, to a Hawaiian native surfer struggling to gain back confidence and dominance over other surfers.

3.       Since the film was made by ESPN the filmmakers may have believed that the audience was more focused on the competition and sport aspect of film. Most ESPN documentaries include mainly sports related cases not containing as much detail and historic evidence as the Eddie Aikau film.

4.       The Eddie Aikau film could have been very different I believe if it was filmed by PBS or the History channel. If done by the history channel I believe that many other cultural and historical aspects would be added. If done by PBS I believe that more of a biography would occur and witnesses and family members wouldn’t be included as much in the actual film.

Phrenology Bust Post

     Today we observed an object to later do research on the object. The object was a porcelain bust of a head with writing and a diagram appearing to separate certain regions of the human brain.The head had a Title of phrenology near the bottom and it was labeled as an authentic model. I learned after some research that phrenology was studied around the 1800's and that the real antique bust were solid porcelain and the one we observed was hollow meaning it was not an antique. The porcelain head that we observed was made in Oregon making impossible to be real due to the time period the real ones were made. Doing research for this was interesting because there were many different models of this object. I soon realized that the name Authentic Models was actually the brand of porcelain heads and I found their website by researching the name.

US History Research Project: Crime From 1880 to 1920

 

Crime and violence in the US quickly began to rise in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Cities were most impacted by the violence due to new gangs forming and  riots occurring over political and racial affairs. During the time period from 1880 to 1920 much urbanization was happening and the crime and homicide rate went up heavily to 102,000 in 1900 and in 1919 it was at 700,000. During this time period many new innovations were being created and events were documented much better than before. Newspapers being printed regularly impacted the country by letting all the people know what is happening such as crime, murders, and scandals.

A notorious gang, The Valley gang was a violent gang that originated in Chicago Illinois in the late 19th century. The gang consisted mostly of Irish descendants and they ran the street known as the Bloody Maxwell section on 15th street in Chicago. The crime that was popular within this gang was pick pocketing and armed robbery. By 1900 the gang became the leading force in the underworld of Chicago. They were later noticed by Capone and the Chicago Outfit gang and became allies with them over a few years. Following the bootleg wars both allied gangs were battling their rival gang the Ragen's Colts and many other gangs and law enforcement during the time of prohibition. The leader of the Valley gang was Patty “the fox” Ryan until killed by gang rival Walter “runt” Quinlan in 1920. Capone allowed the Valley gang 40% of his income for return for protection from The Ragen’s Colts.

The Chicago Outfit Gang ran by Al Capone was a very wealthy and notorious gang also originating in Chicago Illinois. The gang controlled large movements and shipments of liquor during the prohibition. This gang was also known as the Chicago Mafia due to the heavy presence of Italian descendants in its members. It was founded by Big Jim Colosimo in 1910. The gang didn't really show their power until around the 1920’s. The gang was involved in much crime during the early 20th century. The crime consisted on distribution of large amounts of alcohol, loansharking, gambling, prostitution, extortion, political corruption and murder. The rival gangs most delt with by The Chicago outfit were the Ragen’s Colts, Five Families gang, Detroit Cleveland gang, and the Milwaukee gang.

Another street gang in Chicago at the time was the Ragen’s Colts, known rivals with the Chicago Outfit gang and the Valley gang. The Ragen’s Colts started off as a sports club consisting of men playing sports. The gang was later formed by leading pitcher Frank Ragen and this is where the name for the gang came from. The number of members in the gang rose from 160 in 1902 to over 2,000 in 1908.Frank Ragen was known to hire lots of men to partake in election fraud. The gang had also financed many careers in Chicago including the Chicago Police and city treasurers. By 1920 many of the men were already known as notorious criminals or murderers. This gang was believed to be a leading cause of the riots in 1919 in Chicago.

The Chicago Race riot of 1919 was caused by torment and disagreements brought on by gangs towards african americans. The Large racial conflict started on the 27 of July and ended on the 3rd of August. 38 people were killed in this riot and 500 were injured. It was the worst of 25 riots during the red summer. The cause of this riot was conflict due to african americans moving into big cities that were filled with urbanization. The Irish descendants that were already living there at the time did not like that the African Americans were moving in and this started the racial conflict and riots in Chicago. The Irish living their fiercely defended their thought to be territory and this created fighting between races. The battle to find jobs was immense and this was a main reason for the conflict because everybody was looking for labor. The racial battle became violent after a young black boy was killed by a rock hitting his head.

Overall the late 19th century and early 20th century was a time period starting to experience more and more crime. The murders and violence brought on by gangs were a large part of the troubles faced by large cities ranging from the north to the south. The rise of violence was caused mainly due to urbanization and the racial battle that was going on. From 1880 to 1920 many good thing in the united states occurred but there were also a large amount of crime that came along with it.

Chicago riot of 1919

Riots Across the US

Valley Gang

Al Capone

Ragen”s Colts

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-infamous-gangs-of-chicago

I used this source to find different gangs in the Chicago region

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.04.x.html

I used this source to study and gain facts about the race riots of Chicago and around the nation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit

I used this source to study the Chicago Outfit gang ran by Al Capone

https://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/ganghistory/Industrial%20Era/Ragen.html

I used this source to study the Ragens Colts Gang also in Chicago

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/chicago-race-riot-of-1919

I used this site directly for information about the Chicago Race riot.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_red.html
I used this source for additional information about the race riots.