Women's Rights Protests/Movements: Then vs. Today

The 1960s are famous for sparking some of the biggest social movements in American history. While women in America have been protesting for equal rights since the beginning, their efforts reached a pinnacle in this decade. During the 1950s, many women felt like the sexist social norms for females threatened to their independence, so they were able to change their roles through protests. Within one decade, women's roles were completely changed- suddenly, they could explore new social freedoms and live life independently, which is something they could have never done before.

Today, many American women face similar threats to their freedom that others felt in the 1960s. With events such as rapists walking away from court with only a month of jail, or the recent election of a president who wants to defund Planned Parenthood, feelings of fear in women across the country can be paralleled with those from the 1960 and 70s.

Here are some comparisons between the recent Women's Marches and 1960-70s women's movement protests:


Media Use

In the 1960s and 70s, American media ridiculed women's rights activists, calling them aggressive, bitter, angry, unfeminine, and confrontational. However, this didn't stop them from manipulating it to their advantage. They protested at heavily televised events such as the Miss America Beauty Pageant, and only scheduled interviews with female reporters. While much of the media continued to attack the movement, the activists were able to effectively expose the movement to the rest of the country and gain support.

On Janurary 21, 2017, it seemed like every news broadcasting source covered the Women's Marches. With heavy promotion on social media, television, and news websites, the worldwide protest went viral, making it impossible for Americans to ignore the message the 5 million protestors were sending to America's new president, his administration, and the rest of the world: women's rights are human rights.




Leaders


1960-70s women's movement leaders included Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedman (The Feminine Mystique), Helen Gurley Brown (Sex and the Single Girl) and Germaine Greer.

The number of women's rights activists in 2017 has grown significantly since the 1960s. The Women's March was organized by Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Bob Bland. Speakers at the marches included Gloria Steinem, America Ferrera, Scarlett Johansson, Sophie Cruz, Angela Davis, Michael Moore, Cecile Richards, Ilyasah Shabazz, and many more. See the Wikipedia link in the sources section for more activist leaders who attended the protest.

Women's Strike for Equality 1970

Turnouts

NOW Activists organized a "Women's Strike for Equality" on August 26, 1970- the 50th anniversary of women's suffrage. 50,000 people marched in New York, while 100,000 people participated in protests in 90 cities and 42 states.

Women's March 2017

About 3,300,000- 4,600,000 people participated in the Women's Marches in America alone. An estimated 5 million people participated worldwide. It was the largest single-day demonstration in American history.






Impact

While the Equal Rights Amendment was not passed in 1972, the women's rights protests of the 1960-70s signified a huge change in the role of women throughout America. They gained new social freedoms, brought issues such as domestic violence and rape into the national eye, and overall began a modern wave of feminism in America.


The 2017 Women's Marches also signified a new era in America. Held right after the inauguration of President elect Trump, protestors successfully established their unified strength against sexism and gender inequality. It is also rumored that the women's marches had an effect on the recent failure of Donald Trump and Paul Ryan's plan to replace Obamacare and pull government funding for Planned Parenthood.

Sources:
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=11832
https://www.womensmarch.com/mission/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Women's_March
http://now.org/about/history/history-of-marches-and-mass-actions/
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/the-1960s-a-decade-of-change-for-women
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment

1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement

How many UC Berkeley students does it take to change a lightbulb?

76. One to change the lightbulb, fifty to protest the lightbulb's right not to change and twenty-five to organize a counter-protest.

One hour away from Los Altos, the University of California Berkeley has always been a major focal point for "liberal" movements. In the 1960s, Berkeley played an important role in voicing student opinions about current political and economic issues, especially during their 1964 Free Speech Movement.

The Free Speech Movement began on October 1st, 1964. Soon after the University administration asked students to stop political activities on campus, student Jack Weinberg protested by distributing political literature at his Congress of Racial Equality club table. When approached by the campus police, he was arrested after refusing to give the authorities his identification. After he was ushered into the police car, Berkeley students spontaneously crowded around the police car in protest of this "free speech oppression", forcing the vehicle to stay in place for a full 32 hours.


That winter, thousands of students continued this protest for free speech when they stormed Sproul Hall, the building in front of their typical political activities. There, students and faculty gave speeches about the injustice of the administration's attack on their freedom of speech, one of which was made by movement leader Mario Savio. In his famous speech, he called that they must "put [their] bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus" of government's "machine" if they want it to stop. By the end of the protest, the police arrested 814 of these students.

The University officials, taken aback by the amount of disturbance on campus, backed down a month after the Sproul Hall protest. On January 3, 1965, acting chancellor Martin Meyerson allowed political activity on campus and established provisional rules. For certain hours of the day, permitted clubs could use Sproul Hall's steps as an area for open discussion.

The Berkeley Free Speech Movement marked a turning point for college campuses across America. First, it demonstrated that college students had a voice in on campus and could successfully protest against administration. Similar to the Civil Rights Movement, students used media, especially television news and documentary filmmaking, to spread awareness about their cause. Also, as a result of FSM, other universities, like the University of Wisconsin, Madison, led their own strikes against policies restricting their freedom of speech. The Free Speech Movement had an impact on national politics as well- Ronald Reagan had even gained political traction by campaigning on a platform to "clean up the mess in Berkeley".


Sources:
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~katster/Hist98p.htm
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/CalHistory/60s.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Movement
https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/43/the-free-speech-movement/#overview
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/300038/Free-Speech-Movement-timeline/#vars!panel=3000401!

The Beatles' World Domination

Dark hair, iconic tunes, multi-platinum records. Without a doubt, the Beatles were, and still are, one of the most iconic music groups of all times.

The Beatles in early years

It all began on July 6, 1957, when 17-year-old band leader John Lennon met 15-year-old Paul McCartney at Woolton Parish Church. Impressed by McCartney's ability to play and tune a guitar, Lennon invited his new friend into his band at the time, "The Quarry Men". Soon after, McCartney and Lennon accepted 14-year-old George Harrison into the group. At this early stage, the band went through a few members. Before Ringo Starr came into the band, Pete Best played drums. One of Lennon's closest friends Stuart Sutcliffe played guitar and bass, but quit after he decided to stay with his girlfriend.

They toured around Hamberg, Germany for a bit before they caught the eye of Brian Epstein, whose family owned the record store NEMS. After seeing that their first record, My Bonnie, was selling phenomenally, Epstein traveled to Liverpool, England to see them for himself. Impressed by their charisma, Epstein became their manager by 1962.

After their debut single, Love Me Do, the Beatles were signed on with music producer Dick James. Soon after in early 1963, they performed their next single Please Please Me on UK television and immediately topped the charts. Almost every single after that would dominate the country and sell millions of copies. The Beatles had officially conquered Great Britain.

The Beatles in 1965

It wasn't long before the Beatlemania spread to the US. By late 1963, I Want To Hold Your Hand became the number 1 single in America. In fact, they became so big that when the appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show (which was the highest rated television show up till then), no crimes across the nation were reportedly committed.

The Beatles continued their fame with 13 albums in 7 straight years- way more than a typical band would release in such a short period of time. They became the best selling band of all time, with 177 million units sold worldwide. They toured globally non-stop for a while before finally deciding to end the run in 1966.

In years after that, they continued to release music and their style evolved to become more mature, and less pop boy band-esque. For example, in 1967, the same year their manager Brian Epstein had passed away, they recorded their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and starred in the film Magical Mystery Tour.

By 1969, the Beatles had definitely risen to the top of the music industry. However, Paul McCartney decided that he wanted to quit the band, and they all publicly disbanded in 1970, breaking the hearts of millions of fans across the world.

The Beatles marked a significant change in the music business. They eclipsed 1950s iconic artist Elvis Presley with their own style of rock, and became the single greatest creative force to ever hit the music industry. Because of their unique style and constant chart toppers, a lot of music after that was modeled after the Beatles' own hits. Their new innovative sound and worldwide fame revolutionized music in the 1960s, and is still loved by many today.

Sources:
http://www.beatles-tribute-band-uk.co.uk/history.htm
http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/09/the-beatles-were-just-awarded-13-more-platinum-albums-because-why-not/
https://news.digitalmediaacademy.org/2016/01/21/how-the-beatles-changed-music-2/

James Lawson: Silent Hero of the Civil Rights Movement

James Lawson's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement completely revolutionized protest techniques. At 32, he had been able to spend three years as a Methodist missionary in India through his involvement in the Fellowship of Reconciliation. While in India, he learned peaceful protest methods from one of the most famous silent protestors of all time: Mahatma Gandhi.

James Lawson in the 1960s versus today

With his experience, he came back to America to study at Oberlin College. There, he met Martin Luther King Jr., who convinced him to take a break from his studies and help bring momentum to the Civil Rights Movement in the south. "We don't have anyone like you," King told Lawson. Soon after, Lawson moved to Nashville, Tennessee to study at the Vanderbilt Divinity School and open his own Fellowship of Reconciliation office. There, he would give some of the most valuable lessons about peaceful protesting that would change the course of American history.

In Nashville, Lawson held seminars for young African-Americans on peaceful protesting. For example, he taught them how to organize a sit-in and other actions that would force America into confronting the issue of segregation without any violence breaking out. It was in those seminars where Lawson convinced his young students that the Civil Rights Movement "was a moment in history when God saw fit to call America back from the depths of moral depravity and onto his path of righteousness."

James Lawson alongside Martin Luther King Jr.

Lawson's most notable role was his leadership in the Freedom Rides. When the original Freedom Rides were stalled in Birmingham, Alabama, Lawson encouraged his students to continue the movement. He also held workshops for the Freedom Riders when they were stuck in Montgomery, Alabama, and he also spoke publicly on behalf of the movement by saying that the Freedom Riders "would rather risk violence and be able to travel like ordinary passengers" than rely on the armed guards who did not understand their methods of peaceful protesting.

James Lawson remains a strong advocate for Civil Rights even today. He continues to train activists in nonviolence and to work in support of many nonprofit organizations. In the end, Lawson's efforts to train future civil rights protestors and leaders, such as Diane Nash, Bernard Lafayette, and John Lewis, made a tremendous impact on the nonviolent essence of the Civil Rights Movement.

Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/witnesses/james_lawson.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawson_(activist)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/james-lawson

Elvis Presley: 10 Interesting Facts About the King of Rock n' Roll

Elvis Presley was an international heartthrob icon for rock n' roll throughout the 1950s. While he is known mostly for his swinging hips and deep voice, there is much more to this rock star than most people know. Here are some facts about the "King":

1. Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi during the Great Depression.

Elvis' location of birth.
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Elvis_Presley_house_in_Tupelo_3.jpg

Born on January 8, 1935, he was born in a two-bedroom house right in the middle of the American Great Depression. His middle name was originally Aron, but it was later changed to Aaron.

2. He was actually born as a twin. 

The current grave site of Elvis, his mother and father, and his brother Jesse.
Source: http://papiblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Screen-shot-2011-07-15-at-10.18.41-PM.png

Unfortunately, his identical twin brother, Jesse Garon was a stillborn.

3. Elvis wanted a rifle when he was 11. His mother got him a guitar instead.

Elvis at 11 years old.
Source: http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/images/68.gif

In fact, he got so good that he was offered to play on a local radio station at 12. He was too shy and backed out.

4. Elvis never performed outside of North America.

Source: http://i.imgur.com/0JGPDb4.jpg

According to Elvis' official biographical website Graceland.com, Elvis only had 5 concerts outside of the US, all of which were from a three-day tour in Canada. It was rumored that he never went on international tours due to the fact that his manager, Tom Parker, was an illegal immigrant from Holland and didn't want to leave the country in fear of being deported.

5. He was cast in 33 successful movies. 

Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/83/1a/8d/831a8de86f75d179401a4634f17c515c.jpg

His filmography career includes the movies Viva Las Vegas, Girls! Girls! Girls!, and Frankie and Johnny.

6. Elvis was a controversial figure when it came to race.

Source: http://theroundplaceinthemiddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/elvis3.jpg

African American newspaper The Memphis World reported that Presley "cracked Memphis's segregation laws" by attending the local amusement park on what was designated as its "colored night". Due to anti-black prejudice, many white adults did not like him. It was also rumored that Elvis said at one point, "The only thing Negroes can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes." He later denied this rumor.

7. Elvis served in the army while he was famous.

Elvis in the army
Source: http://theroundplaceinthemiddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/elvis3.jpg

He also inspired the musical Bye Bye Birdie, where famous heartthrob Conrad Birdie was drafted into the military.

8. Globally, Elvis sold over one billion records.

Source: https://www.graceland.com/!userfiles/Biography/Achievements_RecordSales500x332.jpg

At the time, this was more than any other artist. He also earned gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards from American sales alone.

9.  Elvis recorded over 600 songs, but didn't write any of them.

Source: http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/images/LeiberStoller.jpg

Notable songwriters were Aaron Schroeder, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller. But still, how disappointing.

10. He was distantly related to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jimmy Carter.

Source: http://weeklyview.net/wp-content/themes/eastsidevoice/timthumb/timthumb.php?src=http://weeklyview.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/LincolnPresleyweb.jpg&w=300&&zc=1

According to ACX.com,  "Genealogists discovered that the great-great-grandfather of our 16th President, Abe Lincoln, was Isaiah Harrison, an ancestor to Elvis. The 39th President, Jimmy Carter is a 6th cousin, once removed from Elvis."

While Elvis' fame quickly faded out with the rise of bands such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones, he kicked off a movement in the music industry that is still prevalent today: rock n' roll. Without him, music would not be where it is today.

Sources

https://www.graceland.com/elvis/biography.aspx

http://askheatherjarvis.com/blog/25-fun-facts-about-elvis-presley-the-king-of-rock-roll

https://www.graceland.com/elvis/biography/quickfacts.aspx

http://www.history.com/news/7-fascinating-facts-about-elvis

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

http://www.axs.com/elvis-presley-5-things-you-didn-t-know-about-elvis-presley-44076

http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/elvis-songwriters.html

The Little Rock Nine

September 4th, 1957. Nine historic figures, surrounded by hecklers and shouting, walk the streets of Little Rock, Arkansas.  

Shortly after the famous Brown v. Board of Education trial banned segregation from American schools, the town of Little Rock became the first to allow black Americans into a local white high school. Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Kalmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals soon became known as the Little Rock Nine.

The Little Rock Nine
Source: http://kearsleyeclipse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/little-rock-nine.jpg

However, this small group of teenagers suffered massive roadblocks with their then-controversial academic careers. At the time, Arkansas' governor Orval Faubus was a verbal segregationist. On the Little Rock Nine's first day at Little Rock Central High School, Faubus ordered armed federal and nearby Army troops to surround the school and keep the group from entering. Faubus justified his decision with the argument that the entrance of the Little Rock Nine would incite violence, and thus it would be safer for everyone to keep them out. Soon after, President Dwight D. Eisenhower persuaded the governor to remove the troops, and instead sent his own National Guardsmen to escort the students to school. Governor Faubus was officially stripped of his power to segregate Arkansas' schools.

The Little Rock Nine gets escorted to school by National Guardsmen
Source: https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/01_055946691.jpg?quality=85&w=832

Additionally, these new students struggled to adjust to school as their peers abused them racially and physically throughout the year. Specific examples of abuse included beating, kicking, heckling, and burning an African-American effigy in nearby lot. Patillo recalls getting acid thrown in her face, Ray was pushed down a flight of stairs, and Brown was expelled from the school for retaliating against the attacks. The racism even got to a point where Faubus held a vote regarding integration and shut down all of Little Rock's high schools for a year to prevent more black American students from entering the system.

Students heckle a girl from the Little Rock Nine as she walks to school
Source: http://hotelworkers.org/images/uploads/eckford_large.jpeg

Despite the violence they had to endure, the Little Rock Nine represented a major turning point in US history. They were the first black Americans people to attend a white school. Their education in a desegregated school helped spark motivation in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Because of them, people across the nation fought harder against similar injustices they had to suffer through.

The Little Rock Nine went on to have successful careers. Green became assistant secretary of the federal Department of Labor under President Jimmy Carter. Brown served as a deputy assistant secretary for work force diversity int he Department of the Interior under President Bill Clinton. Others went on to have amazing careers in journalism, accounting, social work, and psychology.

The Little Rock Nine as of 2008
Source: https://www.blacktie-colorado.com/captured_events_pictures//1d19f579869cd949e7b676d623e909c6.jpg

Sources: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration
https://newsone.com/2034005/little-rock-nine-facts/

Japanese Internment Camps

  

Executive Order 9006, signed by FDR a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, demanded that all Americans of Japanese descent were to be relocated into internment camps. Unaware of where they were going or how long they were going to be gone, 120000 Japanese-Americans found themselves in one of ten US internment camps.

Living conditions were poor in internment camps. Bordered with barbed wire and guard towers, the camps had poorly kept mess halls, schools, post offices, latrines, hospitals, and warehouses. Overcrowded, dirty, and cramped, the relocation centers were described by the War Relocation Authority as "tarpaper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind." Each barrack, built to house mainly families, contained apartments ranging from 15 by 20 feet to 24 by 20 feet. There was hardly any privacy, as "rooms" in the apartments were cheap wooden partitions.

These camps also significantly affected family dynamics. Men, who were traditionally the patriarchal leaders of the family, soon found their roles dampened by life in the internment camps. Also, tensions between first generation (Issei) and second generation (Nisei) were heightened by being confined in these centers. For example, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) encouraged Nisei children to rebel against their Issei parents by holding Americanized, patriotic activities in the camps. This overall encouragement widened the divide between generations and tore many Japanese American families apart.

A Japanese Internment Camp classroom

Other government-provided facilities also greatly also the lives of children in these internment camps. For example, education resources were extremely scarce. The student-teacher ratio in elementary school was generally 48:1, making classrooms cramped and underfunded. Educational staff was roughly 12 people while there were up to 1774 pupils enrolled. This was a major concern and disappointment to many parents, as many of them saw education as a path for social advancement.

A baseball game at a California internment camp

However, not all Japanese Americans relied on the facilities for entertainment- internees developed universal outlets such as sports for dealing with the depression of the camps. Baseball was especially popular in the spring and summer, football took over in the fall, and high school and community teams played against each other. Camp newspapers were also developed, often devoting full pages to sports scores.

While Japanese internment camps were underfunded, unkept, and overcrowded, people found ways to deal with the environment they were locked in. However, the unfair treatment of these innocent Japanese Americans should serve as a lesson to never again use fear as an excuse to force people into horrible living conditions.

Sources: http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/exhibits/ww2/threat/camps.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/internment1.html
https://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/japanese-internment

Songs Of Liberty: Music in the 1940s

Music has always been a form of expression throughout the course of American history. During the Revolutionary War, people would sing drinking songs criticizing the British empire. During the 1920s, Americans would sing songs about blue skies and happy days in their new Ford Model T.

Similarly, US music in the 1940s strongly reflected the status of America's involvement in the war. For example, the song "The Last Time I Saw Paris" quickly followed the fall of France, and the song "Goodbye Dear, I'll Be Back In A Year" became popular after the draft was announced.



Artists such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong dominated the music industry. Known as the "crooner decade", the 1940s produced lots of big band, jazz, blues, swing, and barbershop quartets. It was also the first decade to electronically mass distribute music through the introduction of "singles".

Frank Sinatra in the 1940s

Due to the war overseas, this era triggered a surge of patriotic songs. Emerging onto the scene came songs such as "There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere", "American Patrol", and "This is Worth Fighting For". These types of songs reflected the public's strong sense of American pride and grew in popularity due to their relevance in this decade.


However, this American pride also brought derogatory songs towards the Germans and Japanese. For example, songs sung by cartoons such as "You're A Sap, Mister Jap" and "Der Fuhrer Face" (a parody of the German song "Horst Wessel Lied") came out during this era. These not only reflected America's antagonistic spirit towards their military foes, but also served as negative propaganda against them as well.

American soldiers for the most part had access to the radio, so they were familiar with most of the popular tunes back home. Unfortunately, these troops and their girlfriends back in America lamented about the lack of romance in this era. Women complained about the shortage of men through songs like "They're Either Too Young Or Too Old" and "No Love, No Nothing (Until My Baby Gets Home)". Men also complained about not being with their partners, begging them "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me".

American music throughout the 1940s not only popularized genres still relevant today, but also reflected the feelings Americans often experienced throughout the era, such as disappointment with romance, American pride, and Nazi/Japan antagonism.

If you want to check out the Billboard chart toppers of the era, go to this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_number-one_singles_of_the_1940s

Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_music_in_World_War_II#Popular_music_permitted_under_the_Nazis
http://www.retrowaste.com/1940s/music-in-the-1940s/
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/world-war-ii/essays/forties-and-music-world-war-ii
https://www.veteransunited.com/network/big-band-in-the-barracks-looking-back-at-the-music-of-wwii-and-the-greatest-generation/

Eleanor Roosevelt: Revolutionizing the First Lady's Role

Before FDR took office in 1933, the role of the First Lady was simple: stay in the background, handle domestic matters, host parties for politicians.

Little did America know that one woman was going to come along and change it all.

Eleanor Roosevelt grew up as a timid, shy child in New York City. After losing both of her parents during her childhood, she was educated in England, which, according to biography.com "helped draw her out of her shell."

Soon after coming back to America, she married her fifth cousin once removed, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Together, they had six children. It was FDR who introduced her to the life of politics- he became Assistant Navy Secretary in 1913, just before World War I. As the wife of a Cabinet member, Eleanor took on several volunteer positions at the Red Cross and Navy Relief Society, thus marking the beginning to her charitable role in government.

In 1921, FDR suffered a polio attack, prompting Eleanor to step up with her husband's political career. She began to pursue writing, teaching, politics, and feminist movements (ex. The Women's Trade Union League, The League of Women Voters, etc.). Soon after FDR became president in 1933, she took these skills to the next level. Eleanor "gave press conferences and spoke out for human rights, children's causes and women's issues, working on behalf of the League of Women Voters" (biography.com). She wrote for her own newspaper column, "My Day", and focused primarily on equality issues, such as poverty and racial discrimination. An extreme activist, she soon rose to play significant role in American society, shining a bright light through the darkness of the 1930s depression. At one point, she even stated, "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness".

Even when her husband died in 1945, Eleanor did not stop her work. She went on to become chair of the United Nation's Human Rights Commission and helped write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was reappointed by both presidents Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy to continue her work in the United Nations. Kennedy would also later appoint her to the National Advisory Committee of the Peace Corps and the President's Commission on the Status of Women.

Eleanor Roosevelt played a revolutionary role not only nationally, but on a global scale as well. Within America, she rose above the traditional role of the First Lady. She was one of the first public officials to advocate for causes through the mass media, standing up firmly for those wronged by society and representing a figure of charity and activism. On a global scale, she helped secure the foundation of the United Nations, which would unite all countries under the hope for a better world.

Singlehandedly, Eleanor not only revolutionized the role of the First Lady, but also played a major role in transforming the world into what it is today.

Sources: http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33

http://www.biography.com/people/eleanor-roosevelt-9463366#synopsis

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/eleanor_roosevelt.html

Life in a Shanty Town

In 1929, America's once-booming stock market completely crashed, thus triggering the largest economic crash of US history: The Great Depression. By 1933 it put more than 1/4 of American workers out of their jobs.

Desperate for shelter, people who had recently lost their jobs, money, and homes began to build communities on the streets called "shanty towns", or better known as "Hoovervilles". This name was inspired by the current president Herbert Hoover, who had passed several acts that had greatly contributed to the rise of Great Depression.

What was life like in these Hoovervilles? People generally constructed their "homes" from cardboard, tar paper, glass, composition roofing, canvas, and other materials that they could get their hands on. Some were not even structures- people who could not get their hands on materials would dig holes into the ground and cover it with makeshift roofs. Dinner would come from scraps of food people would find throughout the day, often thrown into a cooking pot to create a community-wide "Mulligan Stew".

Hooverville civilians generally camped out near rivers for a water source. Unfortunately, due to their unsanitary habits, this raised some major health concerns. Without any government help or health agencies nearby, sanitation facilities were a complete mess (for example, latrines were dug in ditches, "fresh" water came from the rivers, which were often polluted, etc.). Because of this, tuberculosis, diphtheria, diarrhea, rickets, influenza, pneumonia, and skin diseases were common in the shanties. People were constantly starving, their shelters were filthy and unclean, and police often came to burn down these communities.

However, not all shanty town inhabitants were completely barbaric. In fact, as these communities grew, some actually established loose forms of government. For example, according to History.com, the St. Louis Hooverville even had its own mayor, churches, and social institutions. Though its success was partly due to private donations, the organization and hard work put into building the community showed optimistic dedication throughout these economically-dire times.

In the end, most shanty towns were torn down around the early-1940s, after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal". However, Hoovervilles made a significant impact on American society. John Steinbeck's famous novel, Grapes of Wrath, was inspired by shanties. The establishment of these communities not only represented the destitution of the country, but also drew social and political attention to the outcomes of the Depression. While the United States has not since experienced an economic crash as devastating as the crash of 1929, the living conditions of Hoovervilles serves as a significant reminder of the country's missteps, and why must not make the same mistakes again.


Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1642.html

http://www.american-historama.org/1929-1945-depression-ww2-era/shanty-town-facts.htm

http://mashable.com/2015/09/17/hoovervilles/#HI1.bnfs8kqd

A Hooverville in Seattle, Washington (source: Mashable)

Children in a Hooverville (Source: American Historama)

"Repeal The 19th Amendement"??

The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution states: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

On October 11 2016, FiveThirtyEight's editor-in-chief Nate Silver posted two comparative demographics predicting the 2016 US presidential election polls: one if women could vote, and one if women could not vote.

Donald Trump would win the poll without women voters.

Supporters of Donald Trump reacted immediately, posting tweets with the tag, "#repealthe19th", their main goal to take away women votes from the upcoming presidential election in order to get him elected. This hashtag soon became trending on Twitter, invoking a mix of passionate responses from citizens on both sides of the election.

A little bit of backstory to the 19th Amendment...

Before it became ratified on August 18, 1920, women had to lay nearly 70 years of groundwork to be able to vote. Sparks to the women's suffrage movement began in Seneca Falls, New York, where hundreds of women gathered under the direction of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott for one cause: gender equality. It was here where Stanton delivered the famous line, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal."

However, even after this flame was set on American soil, the women's suffrage movement had been set back by other political events. For example, around the mid-1800s, they shifted focus on supporting the civil rights movement during the Civil War. While their support proved to be valuable to African-Americans in the end, women suffragettes sacrificed the momentum of their own fight to aid this other social reform.

In the 1890s, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was formed and led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They emphasized the importance of women's role in society as well as "maternal commonwealth", which called to expand female spheres of influence in the community. The role of women became especially vital during World War I, influencing many to advocate more for women's suffrage.

Finally, around the late 19th and early 20th century, states (Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho being some of the very first) began to allow women to vote, and in 1920, the 19th amendment was finally ratified in the US Constitution.


Today, supporters of Donald Trump are willing to erase centuries of hard work in order to get their candidate elected. Though they are actively advocating for their candidate, I personally feel like it would be extremely offensive to those who worked tirelessly to help America move forward into becoming a better country. Women are a huge part of society today- an vital part, nonetheless. By wrongly taking away women's votes, America would be committing a crime that would perpetuate us further and further into the past.

FiveThirtyEight's editor-in-chief Nate Silver posted this graphic on Twitter on October 11, 2016

Sources
http://fivethirtyeight.com/politics/

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/19th+Amendment

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trump-supporters-repeal-19th-amendment-article-1.2828571

http://www.complex.com/life/2016/10/trump-supporters-repeal-19th-amendment-keep-women-from-voting

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/seneca-falls-convention-begins

http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage

http://ecssba.rutgers.edu/docs/seneca.html

Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois: Who Was "Right"?

The late 1800s brought many demands for social reform in America, such as woman's suffrage, alcohol abolitionism, improvements for working conditions, etc. However, one of the most important reforms came from one of the longest-suppressed groups in American history: the African-Americans. Though often eclipsed by worker union strikes and the industrial revolution, the late 19th century marked the years in which the cries for African-American equality began to rise up in the throats of many across the country. The path to achieving this goal would be paved by two important, yet clashing figures: Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois.

In 1856, Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Virginia to an enslaved mother and unknown white father. He had always harbored a fascination for learning and reading, but being born African-American, he was forced to spend most of his time carrying sacks of grain. However, when he got a job as a houseboy in 1866, his employer was so impressed by his intelligence that she sent him to school for one hour a day. Washington loved education so much that by 1872, he walked 500 miles to earn a scholarship to Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute in Virginia. He graduated with high honors.

Washington was later recommended by one of his teachers at Hampton to run the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, a newly founded "colored" school. He soon developed the curriculum and environment to become one of the leading schools in the country.

It was at Tuskegee where Washington began to preach his views on civil rights. He openly, yet reluctantly, accepted racial segregation, believing that blacks were not equal to whites until they built themselves up to be politically, socially, and economically equal. His most famous speech supporting his point was the "Atlanta Compromise". In it, Washington declared, “In all things that are purely social, we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.”

In 1868, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born a "mulatto" in Massachusetts. There, he was warmly supported by his peers and educators in his studies. However, when he left for college at Fisk University located in Tennessee, he began to first experience discrimination as well as the resentful effects of Jim Crow laws. After graduating Fisk, he went on to become the first African-American to achieve a Ph. D. from Harvard University in 1895.

He went on to work at Atlanta University as well as publish his book The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study in 1899. In this case study, he brought public attention to the term "talented tenth", which emphasized the view that a tenth of the African-American population will rise up and lead the rest of the race to glory.

Du Bois strongly opposed Washington after listening to his famous "Atlanta Compromise" speech. Rising in national popularity, he publicly argued that blacks deserved the same political, social, and economic rights as whites did, and Washington was therefore betraying his race by not believing that they were equal. Du Bois argued, "One hesitates, therefore, to criticize a life which beginning with so little, has done so much. And yet the time is come when one may speak in all sincerity and utter courtesy of the mistakes and shortcomings of Mr. Washington's career as well as of his triumphs, without being captious or envious, and without forgetting that it is easier to do ill than well in the world."

It is evident that these opposing opinions on this issue stemmed from the environments in which both men were raised. Because Du Bois was raised in a non-discriminatory, educationally nurturing environment, he was taught to believe that blacks were always intelligently equal to whites. Contrastingly, Washington was raised in an environment where he had to work around lack of resources, discrimination, and caucasian power to achieve his success, so he inferred from his own methods that it was easier to independently build himself up before heading out into the world.

Both men were of extreme importance to the culture of the civil rights movement. While this movement would not truly begin to take off until 1954, these contrasting viewpoints contributed to the strategies African-Americans would use for the next century to gain full citizen rights. Washington encouraged a more cautious method, avoiding possible risks of conflict.  Du Bois, however, commanded a more aggressive stance, demanding immediate full citizen rights to blacks. In a sense, both of these methods were used to achieve the ultimate goal. Following Washington's argument, African-Americans over the first half of the 20th century would socially, economically, and politically build themselves up as a group in America and achieve enough power to truly propel the Civil Rights Movement. Similarly, those of the 1950-1960s Civil Rights Movement also imitated Du Bois' demands for immediate equality.

Though they spent the rest of their lives arguing over the solution to this issue, both Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois ultimately worked together to lay the foundation for African-American equality in America.


WEB Du Bois and Booker T. Washington.

Sources
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/39/
http://www.biography.com/people/web-du-bois-9279924
http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/booker-t-washington

The Homestead Strikes

1892. Homestead, Pennsylvania.

Just outside of the one of the plate factories to the famous Carnegie Steel Company, thousands of angry workers and supporters gather, hoisting rifles above their head and calling for action against their recently-administered unjust labor demands.

In 1890, the value of steel dropped $13, triggering Frick's decision to cut wages and break the strongest craft union in the country: the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. The union was designed to protect the rights, regulate the work loads and hours, as well as help people find jobs in this workforce. Thus, when Frick decided that he wants to break the union, workers were instantly angered and attempted to reach out to Carnegie to support the laborers.

Though publicly in favor of labor unions, Carnegie supported Frick's decision to break this union, as he was also personally against its ability to hinder work efficiency. He encouraged Frick: "This is your chance to re-organize the whole affair. Far too many men required by Amalgamated rules.”

In turn, when Carnegie left for his trip to Europe in 1892, infuriated workers in his factories finally found their opportunity to strike back. Many had already met in the Opera House and decided to strike, making the Homestead Strikes one of the first organized labor strikes in American history. Word was already spreading around, and sympathizers and workers alike were suiting up to strike.

Frick first took action by locking workers out of the plate mill, building a wall three miles long, topped with barbed wire, and leaving holes open for rifles to fit through. On top of that, he sent guards from the army of Pinkerton Detective Agency. Workers responded by surrounding the mill, almost as if guarding their own property. In a PBS article, historian Paul Krause explains that "Workers believed because they had worked in the mill, they had mixed their labor with the property in the mill. They believed that in some way the property had become theirs."

Because of this belief of ownership to part of the mill, the strikers were enflamed with passion to protect their "property", as well as their rights as workers. When the Pinkerton army arrived, the mob was in full fury. A day of fighting ensued, but by the end of the day, the army had surrendered. Six of the guards added to nine strikers on the casualty list, and the Pinkertons could no longer suppress the ten thousand people on strike.

Frick had to think fast. By the next day, he had called Governor William Stone for help. On July 12th, eight thousand militia men had marched into the area, finally extinguishing the rebellion for good.

Over a hundred strikers were arrested. While many were released, the leaders who stirred up the strike faced much dire legal consequences. With the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers out of the picture, Carnegie Steel was free to increase hours and decrease wages against the workers' wishes.

The Homestead Strikes were revolutionary in many ways. While it essentially failed for the laborers, it was one of the the first major labor strikes that had been organized by a set of leaders- most strikes up until that point had been disorganized and spur-of-the-moment. The magnitude of this strike also inspired many laborers around the country to rise up against authority figures in this workforce.

Additionally, it symbolized how hard it was for any union, no matter how powerful, to make a difference against corporate powers. By the late 1800s, America was run by corporations and industries that revolutionized production rates as well as the common workforce. Even with a mob as massive as ten thousand people, these strikes proved that the common man was essentially powerless compared to the leaders of the companies they worked for.

These strikes ultimately tarnished Andrew Carnegie's reputation. His harsh mistreatment of his workers had made him an undesirable person to work for and with, and in turn, he would spend many years after attempting to restore his name.


Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/homestead-strike
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/peopleevents/pande04.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Strike

Election Debates: 1858 vs 2016

*DISCLAIMER: I am not expressing my own political views through this blog post, nor am I saying that one candidate is exactly like the other.*

On September 26, 2016, in Hampstead, New York, two candidates stood in front of a mediator, a crowd, and their entire country in their first debate, shooting back and forth at each other their opinions on current national and global issues and how they can lead America to improve its situation.

On August 21, 1858, in Ottawa, Illinois, two candidates stood in front of a crowd of people and shot back and forth their opinions on the current situation of the country, arguing for why they would make a better representative in Senate for the state of Illinois.

Almost exactly 158 years since the Lincoln-Douglas debates for state legislature, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump debated for the very first time for the 2016 presidential election. While many social, economic, and political changes have been made in the last century-and-a-half, there were also many noticeable similarities in debate and persuasion techniques within both very different periods of time.

On The Topic Of "Minority" Groups
Even though slavery was abolished many years ago, racial equality has been a persisting topic throughout the course of time. Douglas tried to accuse Lincoln of wanting to make the slaves completely equal, stating:

"If you desire negro citizenship, if you desire to allow them to come into the State and settle with the white man, if you desire them to vote on an equality with yourselves, and to make them eligible to office, to serve on juries, and to adjudge your rights, then support Mr. Lincoln and the Black Republican party, who are in favor of the citizenship of the negro."

As a response, Lincoln claimed that he was not "in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races", but instead said that he was focused on preserving the Union by preventing the expansion of slavery.

Today, America has come a long way in terms of racial equality. However, when race was brought up at the 2016 presidential debate, similar themes were brought up.

Donald Trump emphasized his idea of law-and-order on the topic of police brutality, especially among young black men. When describing the current situation of this issue, he claimed:

"We have a situation where we have our inner cities, African- Americans, Hispanics are living in hell because it's so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot."

Both Douglas and Trump used a similar method to emphasize their points: group generalization. Douglas further separated the whites from the blacks by claiming that whites, as a group, were superior and should not become equal with the "negroes". Trump also segregated African-Americans and Hispanics by claiming that, as a group, they all generally lived dangerous, war-like communities.

Clinton's argument for this topic contrasted greatly from Trump's. She argues:

"But we also have to recognize, in addition to the challenges that we face with policing, there are so many good, brave police officers who equally want reform. So we have to bring communities together in order to begin working on that as a mutual goal."

Lincoln and Clinton harbor similar arguments in the sense that they both are focusing on preserving a certain union within the country, whether it be between North and South or between police and US citizens.

Even though there has been much reform politically, socially, and economically throughout time, it is fascinating how many similarities there are between effective arguments and debate methods.

Method: Striking Fear in the Voters
A method that has proven to be effective in debates is controlling the votes by striking fear in the voters. In the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Douglas creates fear in the voters, whom of which were predominately male white men, by claiming that Lincoln wanted to make all black people equal to whites. This particularly engendered fear of lost power in the voters, which caused them to oppose Lincoln. However, Lincoln struck back with his famous "House Divided" speech, and claims that the expansion of slavery would ultimately ruin the Union. This also triggered fear in the voters, as a divided country would ultimately result in war, which not many at the time truly desired.

Similarly, Clinton and Trump have used fear as a major tool to control the votes. Clinton has used undesirable quotes from her opponent to release accusatory campaign ads. Trump has repeatedly accused Clinton of being corrupt and an incompetent leader. The fear of how one of the candidates could damage the nation has been a major factor in deciding where the votes will go in November of 2016.




Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/lincoln-douglas-debates
https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/debates.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%E2%80%93Douglas_debates
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/26/the-first-trump-clinton-presidential-debate-transcript-annotated/

The Petticoat Affair: Peggy O'Neill's Impact On The US Cabinet

Many women in the early to mid-1800s hardly had any voice in society, much less a role in government politics. Margaret "Peggy" O'Neill, wife of Secretary of War John Henry Eaton, defied this standard. Within a few years of being Eaton's wife, she singlehandedly changed the face of the US Cabinet, inducing sectionalism between the North and South that would eventually lead to one of America's deadliest wars to that date.

The oldest of six children, O'Neill spent most of her childhood in her father's tavern, the Franklin House. Her parents believed in education and balance, so she was sent off to boarding school to be educated in English, French, and music. While most women were expected to sit submissively at home, her intelligence, wit, and liberal mouth outrightly broke these stereotypes.

Politicians, senators, and congressmen would often stop by William O'Neale's tavern. While overhearing their heated debates and arguments, Peggy soon discovered that these important figures were just as flawed as everyone else. Little did she know that this understanding of politics would play a significant role in her influence over the US Cabinet.

O'Neill was married to navy pursuer John Timberlake with three children when she first met John Henry Eaton. He had taken interest in her in 1818 when he began to stay at the Franklin House, but was hesitant over rumors of her scandalous teenage life, many of which consisted of attempted elopement and discouraged suitors. However, Eaton enjoyed O'Neill's company through his close friendship with her husband, and when Timberlake died in 1828, they considered marriage. They were discouraged by rumors that Timberlake committed suicide due to his wife's unfaithful behavior, but Andrew Jackson, who was grieving the loss of his wife, encouraged their relationship. With the president's blessing, they were married in early 1829.

Issues instantly arose when Eaton was appointed as Secretary of War. He initially hoped that his new role would salvage her tainted reputation, but Peggy O'Neill's attractiveness and charisma soon fostered jealousy amongst the other wives of the cabinet members, and her lowly status and reputation made her an easy target, especially to Vice President John Calhoun's wife, Floride Calhoun. While President Jackson was trying to focus on his cabinet, he was constantly distracted by the bad blood between its member's wives. Martin Van Buren named Jackson's preoccupation with this conflict "Eaton Malaria".

Andrew, who had taken a liking to O'Neill and her father, was quick to defend the young Irish woman, even though she did "not want endorsements [of virtue] any more than any other lady in the land." During an exclusive cabinet meeting, he even argued with one of the ministers about her reputation, declaring, "She is as chaste as a virgin!" 

However, he could not deny the schism that "The Petticoat Affair" had struck in the cabinet. To resolve this conflict, Jackson had Van Buren step down from Secretary of State and Eaton to step down from Secretary of War. This forced Jackson to completely rearrange and replace his cabinet, which also meant that his vice president, John Calhoun, was fired. Calhoun, bitter from the sudden loss of his position, would go on to become an enemy of Jackson, taking lead of the South and inducing sectionalism, which eventually resulted in the Civil War.

Peggy O'Neill set off a chain of history-altering events. The impact of her past rebellious streak and knowledge of politics easily made her stand out from the rest of the women of the time. Her conflict with the wives of the US cabinet members influenced Jackson to reorganize his cabinet, which triggered his famous rivalry with John C. Calhoun. This feud promoted sectionalism that would contribute greatly to the Civil War.

Today, women are changing politics in much more positive ways. One of the presidential candidates for 2016 is a woman. As of 2015, 104 women hold seats in the United States Congress. Many more have risen up against old antifeminist stereotypes and currently hold significant power in deciding the fate of our nation. However, Peggy O'Neill was one of the first women to truly impact the US government, and ultimately revolutionized the role of power women have in politics.



Written by: Megan Tsern

Sources: 
Pierce, J. Kingston. "Andrew Jackson: The Petticoat Affair -- Scandal in Jackon's White House | HistoryNet." HistoryNet. N.p., 05 Aug. 2016. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.
"Women in U.S. Congress 2015." CAWP. Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics, n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.