WWI Letters Home

Dear Folks
It has been six days since I wrote you last but it is only because we moved a lot since then. I am now in a dugout near the front line in trenches with several other men. We control the telephone connections from here. It is now 3:30 in the morning. The other boys are all asleep and it is my turn to be on duty. I thought it would be a good time to write. We are all well. We are feeling fine. We get plenty to eat. We eat with the French, and you can't beat the French cooks. The French soldiers are the best pals. I think they are the finest kind of fellows. I can understand a bunch of their lingo already. Although, American candy sounds so good right now. I haven't had any since i left home. I must light a new candle soon. We are OK so long as we can get candles. I am surely glad I brought lots of paper with me. It seems foolish always to be carrying such stuff as paper around on my back from place to place but it comes in mighty handy down here. What is going on in the good old U.S.A. any way? Where is my sister now? When I get back to the USA, I'm never going to leave again. But I've gotten used to it here. It's all a matter of course. Well, I must close. I hope you are all well and happy. Write often. Send my love to everyone.
Your son,
Harold

Movie Night Extra Credit

QUOTE 1: British General - “God has endowed the British race with a worldwide empire that they may execute His sovereign purpose in the world. The victories you will have over the heathens are the victories of the nobler soul in man.”
Question #1: What does this quote say about how British viewed their role as colonizers? Was this perception valid? Explain.
- This quote explains how the British thought that they were colonizing Africa for their religion. They believed that their Lord wanted the British to colonize Africa in order to expand their massive empire. I don't think that this perception was valid, because I don't think God really wanted them to do this. I think He wanted the British to keep peace with all the territories around them, and let the other countries have their freedom.

QUOTE 2: Harry - “I sometimes wonder what a godforsaken desert in the middle of nowhere has to do with Her Majesty the queen.” Question #2: Why is Harry questioning the idea of colonization? Why is he looking at it differently than everyone else? What does this belief force Harry into doing?
- Harry is questioning the idea of colonization, because he is starting to wonder if this is what God really wants them to do. I also think he is trying to figure out why the Queen would want to take over small desert areas that would be of no help to the colonization and flourishing of the British empire. He thinks that Britain should let countries have their freedom, rather than suffering in every-day life under British rule. This belief leads Harry to not shoot incoming natives when they are being attacked in the desert because he believes not every one should be brutilized due to the British Empire's greed.

QUOTE 3: British Soldier - "Avoid drinking local water and spirits "avoid local barrooms and brothels and, above all, remember, you're a Christian soldier." Question #3: What does this say about the lands that the British were colonizing? What did the soldiers have to look forward to? Why are their religious beliefs brought into question?
-This says that the lands the British were colonizing were very poor. They didn't have clean drinking water, good sanitation, laws governing the actions of the natives in these areas, and no religious foundations or beliefs. The soldiers didn't have anything to look forward to. All they did was eat, sleep and wage war against other regions they were trying to take over and colonize. Their religious beliefs are brought into question, because the Queen knew of the mockeries that are inside some of the regions and the brothels and barrooms may shift the soldiers' mind. If the soldiers started to visit the filthy areas of the region, they would be thinking about sex and alcohol before taking action for God and the Queen, so she wanted them to stay focused on the mission.

QUOTE 4: Desert Trader - “They're like children. They have no concept of gratitude or loyalty. That's something you British don't understand. You come here, trying to civilize them with your Christian values.” Question #4: What does this quote say about the people in the colonized areas? What were some drawbacks dealing with these people? Why did the British feel they could (and had the right to)change people who were already set in their ways?
-This quote says that people in colonized areas don't believe in Christianity or have loyalty to anyone but themselves! The British are trying to be courteous to them and teach them to be civilized, but they don't want to learn to be civilized! They are only doing the work for British in order to not get beaten or punished. The African people still believe in their own religion and don't care about Christianity. Some drawbacks were that the African people didn't understand the British language, the British work ethic and the British day to day activities in regards to work. They also purposely disobeyed the British foreman and tried to overthrow the British work force by being defiant and belligerent. British rulers believed they had the right to change people because they had overthrown their region/country. Now that Britain was the ruler, the people in that area are forced to follow their rules and religious beliefs.

QUOTE 5: Abu Fatma - “You English walk too proudly on the earth.” What does Abu mean by this statement? Do you think he looks at Harry as a typical Englishman? Do you feel Abu agrees with what the British were doing in Africa?
- Abu is saying in this statement, that England walks too proud on the Earth and doesn't recognize or respect the freedom and religion of other nations. I think he looks at Harry differently than other English men and women. Abu believes Harry thinks as he does! Harry and Abu believe people in Africa shouldn't have to obey the British rules and laws and change what they have been doing for hundreds of years. He looks at Harry as if he was one of African descent. I feel that Abu hates what the British are doing in Africa, and wants to punish them all for their horrible deeds.

Critical Thinking: Think back to the scene where Jack shoots the young boy during their first encounter in Africa. Why did the boy not follow Jack’s orders? Do you think the boy knew he would die if he continued to load his gun? Was Jack justified in shooting the boy? Would you have done the same thing? Jack felt remorse after shooting him, why? Would you have? When the people started throwing stones at the soldiers, do you think it was because Jack shot the boy or some larger reason? Explain.
-I think that the boy didn't follow Jack's orders, because he knew that he had the support of his own people right behind him. The boy didn't think that Jack would shoot his gun at him, because he though Jack was a coward and wouldn't shoot anyone. Jack was justified in shooting the boy, because Jack would have died if he hadn't shot the boy. If I was in Jack's position I would've done the exact same thing, in order to save myself from death. I believe Jack felt remorse after shooting him, because he knew that he didn't deserve to die at such a young age. If I was in that position, I would feel total remorse and guilt for my actions too. I believe that the people started throwing rocks at the soldiers, not solely because of Jack's shooting of the boy, but Britain's actions as a whole. Throwing stones at the British was a small punishment from the African people, and a communication tool to tell the British they were hated! The Africans were trying to tell the British that they should stop all of their violent actions immediately.

Simulation Questions

1. Two historical accuracies of the stimualtion were that the "Europeans" had to increase the amout of people and time to colonize depending on the size and importance of the colony. India, America, and Canada were the most successful colonies.
2. The advantages for our group were that we were small and basically knew where everyone was the entire time, but the drawback was that we couldn't colonize as much territory due to the fact that we only had 7 people.
3. We didn't really need to communicate via cell phones because we didn't split up, we couldn't because we wouldn't have had enough people to colonize a territory.
4. We didn't have any conflicts with the other countries because they obviously had WAY more people so we kind of gave up quickly. In other words, we didn't communicate at all with our competition really at all.

Motives for British Imperialism

1. According to Halstead, slavery was in declined because they costed money and that it need to be abolished in order to keep free trade available and they wanted to spread their idea of foreign policy to other countries. Also because industrialization was booming and there were a lower need for slaves.
2. According to Halstead, trade did not have an influence on British imperialism because the places they were imperializing had no knowledge of trade, besides their normal bartering system. I somewhat agree with this.
3. Halstead's beliefs differ from Richard Cobden because he believed foreign policy was the main reason the British imperialized, whereas Cobden had other reasons.
4. Halstead's final reasonings for British Imperialism were national security, protecting free trade, protecting commercial routes, competition for markets, and spheres of influence, settlement, colonization, diplomacy, and ideology.

The White Man’s Burden

1) What does Kipling mean by "the White Man's burden?"
I think Kipling is describing the pride and the responsibility the white men felt to take over the rural areas of the world when he talks about "the White Man's burden". The white men believed it was their job to teach uncivilized people the white man's civilized ways.

2)How does Kipling justify imperialism?
He justifies imperialism by stating that the people living on the land were savages and needed guidence in order to live better. He also validates imperialism by describing how famine and sickness ceases when the white men comes in and "helps" them.

3)Why might such justification be so appealing?
These justifications make it seem like the white people are imperializing for selfless reasons, which is certainly not the case. Kipling paints a picture that the white men are utilizing there advancements for the greater good of everyone, rather than revealing the greed and selfishness behind it all.

4)Why was religion used as a justification over money, capitalism, the greater good, and political strength?
Using religion was a smart idea. The fact that the imperialists looked like they were moving into these countries to help the native's salvation made it seem like they were doing something great, whereas if it was said that they were doing it for more money or political power it wouldn't be as appealing.

Industrial Rev - SAQ’s

Industrial Revolution
Q2) Machines had both a positive and negative effect on the world. They were good because they made jobs easier and took the place of workers in which the owners of factories would have to pay. They were bad because they required smaller people to work them, children, therfore causing the kids to develop uncurrable diseases or die due to exhaustion, fatigue, and/or falling into the machine.
Q3) Crop rotation helped the growing population because its system provided a way to have food during every season of the year; therefore preventing famine and hunger.

Social Ramifications
Q3) After the Factory Acts were approved, factories and mines could only hire children over 9 years old. Employers had to have some kind of documentation for each worker. Children between the ages of 9-13 could not work more than 9 hours a day and children between 13-18 could not work more than 12 hours a day and none of them could work at night. Two hours schooling was required every day for children. Four factory inspectors were appointed to enforce the law throughout the whole country. However, the passing of these acts did not mean that the abuse ended completely.
Q4) Socialism appealed to so many people during the Industrial Revolution because the poor could see the distinction between them and the rich was getting larger and larger, and the idea that everyone could be truely equal and everybody could help each other out. Also, it was said to be able to end poverty and injusitice which made people very happy especially those in that situation.

Inventors & Inventions
Q1) The Cotton Gin had both a positive and negative effect on the slave population. On one hand, it made it easier because they no longer had to search for the seeds in the cotton anymore, they had the machine to do that. But on the other hand, they had to work ten times as hard in order to keep up with the machine. So it was a win-lose situation.
Q5) The advancements in medicines lead to a bigger population due to the fact that the people were not dieing of currable diseases anymore. Louis Pasteur founded the germ theory which states that germs are microorganisms that can be good or bad for your body. He also invented the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax and developed a process called pasturization which prevent diseases from growing inside certain foods.

2nd Industrial Revolution & Mass Society
Q1) The power during the mid to late 19th century switched to the lower classes in the city when the idea of laissez-faire (hands-off) was terminated because the workers had horrible working conditions and were not going to vote for those who gave them bad working conditions; therefore mass society was created. Mass society was an idea that appealed to the lower class because it was in fair of the society and it allowed the government to get involved with businesses and develop rules and regulations for the employers.
Q7) Women's Suffrage allowed women to become more involved with society. Because they could vote, they were able to speak out about different political subjects. Also, the Temperance Movement created controversy and permited women to speak out about alcoholism and different problems pertaining to alcohol.

Labor Unions
Q1) Immigration and the decline of the slave trade helped give Labor Unions more power and influence because more people were coming and going to and from other countries, the Unions enable people to have one work place in which is secure. Also, since slavery was becoming less common, people needed workers, or laborers, in whidh Labor Unions would provide for those businesses.
Q5) Because Lassiez Fair was so money driven, the workers were left in the dust. In other works, the employees did not have good working conditions, therefore causing death and diseases. The employers needed as many worker as possible. Thats when Labor Unions came in handy. They provided workers and were associated with other companies in the same work field.

Japanese & Russian Industrialization
Q5) The Japanese were able to industrialize so easily because they were all on the same page, or they all agreed and pitched in to help industrialize. Also, because they had England and America as examples, and they didn't have a lot of land that they had to change.
Q11) England, Japan, and Russia all had different approaches to industrialization. England did a complete one-eighty when deciding to industrialize and turned the people's lives upside-down. In Japan it was a smooth transition because everyone was on board and willing to change. Unfortunatly in Russia the people were forced to change and were unable to catch up with the other countries.

Industrial Rev - Journal Entry

My name is Noah Berly, I'm 10 years old, and I work for a blanket manufacturer. I have had this job since I was wee lad of 6 years. My work day consists of fixing broken machinery from 6, sometimes 5, in the morning until 8, or 9, in the evening, which was about 14 to 16 hours of work a day. I live fairly close to the mill, so it is not that difficult being on time in if I run. Although if I were to be late, which I have a couple times due to oversleeping, I would be severely beaten. When I was too young to work a machine, I assisted a retched textile worker named John Rex. If I made a mistake he would abuse me physically and verbally. It was as if he didn't care about me at all, like I was just a slave worker or his property and all I was good for was labor. Now if I am late or not working hard enough, an advisor can tie a weight around my neck and force me to walk up and down the ailes in order to inflict embarassment upon myself and to show the others an example of what might happen to them if they aren't on time or if they don't do their job correctly. This could last up to an hour causing my neck to feel awful, almost to the point where I cannot rotate my head. I fear I may develop rickets from working so hard and the abuse. After work I go home for supper, but most of the time I fall asleep before it is served, so I don't end up eating anything due to my fatigue. The pain inflicted on us is unbareable at times. I get so depressed, but I know I have to help provide for my family. Sometimes I wonder if the cruelty will ever stop.