(2009). “Fight the Power!” The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. The Journal of Southern History 75.1: 3-28.…
I recently read a book titled “Night Comes to the Cumberlands” written by a man named Harry M. Caudill. I chose this book for a couple of different reasons. The first is because after reviewing the book, I realized it was very thorough in how it covered the plight of the Appalachia people, it also goes into detail about how many different events from when his grandfather’s grandfather, James Caudill, built his cabin in 1792, to the current state of events when the book was written in 1962. At the time it was first published in 1962, it seemed to appeal to the American peoples’ conscience so much that it actually prompted the…
In this book, the professor conveys major points throughout the Civil War that have been given scant attention, which America herself had previously tried to keep hidden. Professors name exposes the class warfare between rich planters and common folk or “plain folk”, and the economic injustice the planters forced upon the starving men and women on the home front and war front (14). Women fought for their families’ survival, equal rights, and became spies in both armies. Volunteers and conscripted men demanded respect, but the affluent brass ignored any cries and used them for their own economic interest. The professor emphasizes how the actions of deserters and draft evaders had previously been condemned by other Civil War documents and gives justice for their desertion. The spirit and resentment the soldiers and civilians had towards the elites are shown throughout the book as what they perceived as a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight” (75). The professor detailed how African Americans fought for their freedom long before Lincoln “emancipated” them and how Lincoln continually showed a vague attitude towards them, and brought light to the fact of the military reasoning for the Emancipation Proclamation. Professor elucidates how Native Americans were continually disposed, massacred, and ripped from their land with no adequate repayment. This book broadens history’s contracted lens by sharing fascinating firsthand accounts of the war and the overall consensus most Americans felt.…
Segregation is a problem we have dealt with over hundreds of years. Ada Sipuel has endured some of this segregation in her battle to get into college. After Jim Crowe laws were passed in 1876, blacks and whites were segregated, or separated, from one another in every aspect of modern life. Ada was turned down many times in her journey to acceptance. Ada was a very determined and witty girl. This book is full of inspiration and moving instances. I feel like every American, no matter which race or ethnicity they are, should read this book.…
The day is over, and just in time. I am extremely exhausted from all of the plowing out in the summer’s heat. It’s getting to me and I know it is unfair that my family and I must endure this type of work and lifestyle. I can’t make enough money to support us but I have no choice but to keep this job. I can’t find any place else willing to hire me so if I leave this place I am subject to a fine of up to fifty dollars as well as up to ten days in jail. That will leave me in a worse situation than I am in now. I find it especially cruel that I am unable to leave my job at anytime I choose. If I do so, the boss is able to keep the money I have earned for that year and I receive nothing. I don’t feel like a freedman, I feel like the slave that I was before.…
Ida B. Wells uses a straight-forward writing style to prove a very bold argument against lynchingdiscrediting the excuse of rape, and more. Wells uses specific examples and theory to disprove the justifications of lynching made by Southerners. Within her pamphlets, Wells portrays the views of African-Americans in the 1890s.…
The Chartist movement came into being because of the economic circumstances of the working classes in industrial areas. This is reinforced by Asa Briggs who argues that Chartism was strongest in those older industrial areas where industry was dying or in newer areas where industry was expanding. Rural areas of the country had few or no supporters at all (Briggs 1959 Secondary Source 1). The speech was made at a period of economic stress and high social tension (O’Day et al., 2011, p117), and the first eight lines of Paragraph 4 of the extract concentrate on the economic theme. “Destitution in horrid form stalks through streets (Para 4 Line1), “its emaciated frames, its haggard features, its ragged clothing (Para 4 Line3) and “its skeleton-like, ghastly aspect” (Para4 Line 4). These references build a…
to able to use thier own seed. They want the farmer to send them a money…
Even though racism is and has always been an issue, we don’t often think about all the ways it can affect people of color. One example of this is environmental justice and racism, this is where corporations dump environmentally hazardous or degraded elements, such as toxic waste, pollution and urban decay near low-income or minority communities (Environmental Racism 2012, 1). It’s another unjust way African Americans have been and still continue to be treated. Many families have grown up in danger of being affected by these harmful substances and haven’t had a fair say when it comes to the accumulation of waste proximal to their area. From the early 1920s-1978, more than 80% of Houston's garbage landfills and incinerators have been located…
This essay is a summarization of what occurred in the United States before and after the civil war between Northern American and Southern America. Throughout the essay ideas and concepts from class are discussed, quotes from Major Problems in the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era: Second Edition by Leon Fink, along with quotes from the book Southern Crossing: A History of the American South, 1877 - 1906 by Edward L. Ayes, and other outside sources sited within the passage.…
In Uneven Ground, the author Ronald D. Eller narrates the economic, political, and social change of Appalachia after World War II. He writes “persistent unemployment and poverty set Appalachia off as a social and economic problem area long before social critic Michael Harrington drew attention to the region as part of the “other America” in 1962.”(pp.2) Some of the structural problems stated by Eller include problems of land abuse, political corruption, economic shortsightedness, and the loss of community and culture; personally view the economic myopia as being the most daunting.…
Chasing the Red, White, and Blue is an omnipotent observation of the lives of Americans in modern society. The author, David Cohen, followed the footsteps of Alex De Tocqueville, to explore if Tocqueville major aggregation “equality of opportunity “pursuit of wealth” still exist modern-day American society. Cohen also wanted to figure out what had changed over the years. He found out such thoughts as freedom and liberty remain as the national character of the United States. However, “equality” and “American Dream” which were the main characteristics of America in Tocqueville eyes was indirect or mistaken. Cohen explains this concept in the book, “ What you see depends on the angle in which you look” (Cohen 3) To Further explain, Tocqueville essentially only met white male upper class Americans, Cohen interrogated every American in society including bus drivers, preachers, Washington lobbyists, high-powered real estate brokers, and illegal immigrants. He saw the widening economic gap between the rich and the poor in American society in which minimum wage workers cannot even support themselves. “If you don’t have money, you are none and nobody will care about you,” (Cohen 43) this text of the passage explains how poor Americans are viewed upon throughout the book.…
Bibliography: 1.McGirr, Lisa. Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001.…
Leonhardt , David and Janny Scott; ed. bell hooks. (2005).“Shadowy Lines that Still Divide,” Class Matters, Times Books, New York.…
Within the span of a few decades from the late 19th to the early 20th century, the United States was transformed from a predominately rural agrarian society to an industrial economy centered in large metropolitan cities. Prior to the American industrial revolution, most Americans were reared in largely isolated agricultural households and small towns that were linked to the external world by horse drawn wagons. Except for towns that were connected to railroads or water borne shipping, isolation and the costs of overland transportation meant that many rural communities were largely self sufficient in food, clothing, and many other essentials of everyday life. This changed as many products became mass produced and shipped over the growing national network of railroads and highways. This was made possible or at least greatly enhanced by the millions of immigrants that were coming into America from Southern Europe who moved into cities and began working in factories. This huge influx of workers allowed employers to lower wages. Coupled with this great industrial and economic change was a large social change. Even though slavery had been abolished in 1865, there was nothing stopping segregation against the black population. They were forced to use separate facilities than whites and were kept from owning their own land. Some employers wouldn’t hire them so it was hard for them to find jobs. They were also treated poorly within their communities. There even laws enforced to keep them oppressed. The greatest example of this is the Jim Crow laws which remained in effect from 1876-1965. These laws were used and interpreted to oppress the black population in the South in legislation and custom. The African-American response to these laws and their establishment differed in idea and intensity. Some thought it appropriate to maintain some forms of segregation as long as they were treated equally, which was shown in legislature by the “Separate but equal” act that was passed.…