Essay Blogs

The Atlantic (1600s-1700s)
Due to the policies imposed by the mercantilist theory, the North American Colony’s economy thrived through the benefits of trade with England.

During the 1650s to the 1750s, a theory was established as to how the mother country, England, would make money off of the colonies. This theory was called mercantilism and the mother country, in this case England, would make money from the colonies by being able to endorse from the money made from the resources. An example of such would be the use of lumber and the use of fishing. The north, for the most part focused on the lumber and the trade involving that. In turn this also resulted in the rise of ship building; now another area of work to do. Because of the weather of the South, the main focus was what would be known to be called “cash crops” such as rice, indigo, and even tobacco.

The mercantilist theory, in turn also gave rise to the trade industry involving the slave trade. Through the mercantilist theory, the colonies would primarily focus on staying near the coast and would focus on the Triangular Trade Route which connected the colonies established in North America. Through this, we saw the increase of exporting of slaves through the middle passage, sugar, rum, and more crops being sold. On the English part, we also saw an increase in the smuggling of money. They ended the salutary neglect that had allowed the colonies to run on their own and introduced the Navigation Acts which added a new regulations to the trading system meaning that the crops would only be sent to England or English colonies.

Britain, for the most part, established an economy in America through the colonies that would last a lifetime. Through the mercantilist theory, the North American colonies would grow and prosper into developing the economy that is present today due to the progress made through trade.

The 1920s

The cause for the cultural changes during the 1920s was greatly attributed to the issues with alcohol and the great influx of new immigrants coming to the United States.

For many Americans, such as religious citizens, alcohol was a source of corruption and misjudgement in society. Prohibitionists, beginning from the Temperance movement involving many women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, advocated for the complete removal of alcohol in the country. Shortly before the 1920s, the 18th Amendment was passed that actually did prohibit the distribution, the transportation, and the dealing of alcohol.

Immigration also was a cause for many of the cultural changes in the country. Towards the beginning of the 1920s, there was a great migration of immigrants from both Eastern and Southern Europe into Ellis and angel Island. When they arrived they would live in tenement houses that were basically declared a dump. They were not in humane conditions for families to live in.

Both Immigration and prohibition had their effects culturally on the society. Because of the alcohol and prohibition movement, there began to be an increase in the sale of "bootleg beer" in which illegal beer was both made and sold. This in turn gave rise to the crime rates in the country, and gave birth to the Chicago Gang Wars and the famous Al Capone. Because of this, it led to the repealing of the 18th Amendment in 1933. As for immigration, because of the living conditions and customs of the new immigrants, both Americans and Northern European immigrants felt threatened. They felt that the new immigrants were a threat to their cultures, and in turn tried to Americanize them. Later on they also passed the Immigration Act in which 357,000 were allowed in America total.

The 1920s was a time full of cultural conflicts which in turn divided the nation. Both Prohibition and the great influx of Immigration caused a great number of changes in the country both politically and socially.

Weather Underground/ The Weathermen

The Weather Underground Organization, more commonly known as the Weathermen, were a group of men that believed that peaceful protests were, in fact ineffective. They believed that they would have to do anything needed in order to get their voices and their points across to the government. They believed that if violence was necessary for both social and political change, then it would have to be done. The Weather Underground originally came about from when Bernardine Dohrn and other University of Chicago Students split from the SDS at their school. They split from them because they did not agree on how the group was peacefully attempting to handle things. 
As mentioned before, the organization ultimately did not agree with how the SDS was responding to the opposition to the Vietnam War. They felt that there was no need to actually endure war. They felt that they were being too peaceful about the situation and that was getting them no where. This is one of the reasons as to why a few members disbanded to create the actual Weathermen organization. This same organization was known for causing bombings in areas as well. One example would be the bombs that they would set off at the National Guard headquarters in order to show their discontent towards the Vietnam War. They also set plans into motion to target people that were central to the American politics. 
This group was widely criticized for their method to make their voices be heard.  Because of their actions, they became some of the most targeted by the FBI themselves. Many people who see them think of them in a "Bonnie and Clyde" type of way. This means that these white students were observed to be attractive and full of life. Many people believed that they only did these actions for the thrill of the lawbreaking that they were doing. What people were fascinated about was the fact that the organization was able to continue right under the nose of the government without being caught. 

Carpet Bombing

To begin with, we must know some of the previous history behind the famous carpet bombings. Towards the beginning, the way that the United States was aiming South Vietnamese was by sending in military advisers. These advisers helped train South Vietnamese soldiers in fighting tactics such as "guerilla warfare" and how to use aviation in combat as well. This is when bombing North Vietnam came in to place. It is said that the bombings were called "strategically targeted surgical strikes" meaning that the bombs were only sent to military bases. These bombings, for the most part, were carried by the planes F-5, F-4, and A-6. With time, the United States progressed to using B-52 bombers in which hundreds of missiles would be able to be fired at once. Because of this, the term "carpet bombing" came into place in which they stated that, like a carpet, the bombings would go from one end to another. 

Document Analysis

To begin with, I found this document in the CIA archives. What this means is that this was documented by someone that was there at the events first hand. This makes the document a primary source, and further adding credibility to the document as a whole. The Central Intelligence Agency was one that has kept the documents secret until they were released a few years back. This document was written and stored on October 18, 1968. This goes to show that this document was written at the time of the event and further ads to the credibility once again. 

If you read carefully, you can begin to see details about what happened that day. It is stated in the first paragraph that the North Vietnamese have suffered a great number of deaths because of the bombings. This information was said to have been obtained by a prisoner that they have. One of them stated that they had lost up to half of their troops when the bombings occurred. They finish the report by stating that the Regiment 101st had been "severely impaired". This goes to show that the massive bombings that they had called "carpet bombings" created a massive amount of destruction. One that generally did impair the North Vietnamese troops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQjdNK6lhdM (Bombing of Battle of Khe Sanh)

Political Cartoons

This political cartoon was titled Kennedy and was made by David Levine. It was done in a manner that specifically was meant to show his physical attributes. It is believed that during the elections, the whole reason he won was due to the fact that he was visually appealing to the audience. Many viewed him as handsome and even described him as "angelic". Because of his attributes, it is said that he was able to win over the crowd both in the presidential elections but in his decisions made towards the Cold War. Many believe that his "success" was attributed purely to his physique which is why the artist chose to draw this.

It is said that Kennedy's term was, for the most part, all about foreign policy. This political cartoon titled Kennedy and Krushchev by Herbert Block was made to display this. This cartoon alone depicts how Kennedy came in during a time when there was much strain and tension revolving nuclear weapons and having the threat of a nuclear war. In the cartoon we can see both president Kennedy and president Krushchev trying hold down and incarcerate a beast. This beast is a metaphor for the nuclear war that is threatening to come out.

This last cartoon was titled Kennedy and Pearson and was created by Duncan MacPherson. What stands out about this cartoon us that is was made by a Canadian. It is said that during the 60s, the dilemma Canada was facing was if they too should get nuclear weapons to aid North America in a war if it came down to it. This cartoon is said to show how Kennedy was all too willing to convince the president of Canada in order to help his country. Kennedy is depicted as a guy who would meddle in Canada's affairs if it would mean that the United States would benefit greatly from it. President Pearson is depicted as an old gullible man who falls for the charm of the president, and ends up accepting the weapons provided by the United States.

President Kennedy

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the most effective and influential president involved in the cold war. In his youth, he was involved in WWII and fought valiantly even though he was injured. Because of this, he got some insight into the war business. Once coming back, he studied law and moved himself up to being president. He was most influential due to the fact that he helped prevent a larger war that would soon emerge not only in Cuba, but the whole world as well. By war, what I speak about would be the nuclear war that was inevitable in its course. Kennedy prevented the war in the sense that he forced the Soviet Union to remove its missiles stationed in Cuba.

While he was an influential president, he also did not agree with some of the presidents. The first president would definitely be President Eisenhower. He felt that the plans he had done were too rash and crazy, and would probably cause more damage than good. He in turn modified some of Eisenhower's plans. One would be the flexible response meaning that the US would retaliate in a manner that seemed suitable for an occasion. It did not necessarily mean that they would use missiles. Same goes for Nixon, who attempted to become friends with the Soviets. The whole purpose is to end communism, however, his plan was to both visit and become friends with them.

Dorothea Lange Picture

We know that famous photographer Dorothea Lange was famous for her photography during the Dust Bowl. This photo was taken around the year 1936. This photo was one labeled under "Waiting for Work". Dorothea Lange explains that This family has been on the road for 13 years total. The man standing in the middle is a migrant worker who has a wife and a family that continues to grow. He goes from state to state with his family to look for places in where he can work picking wheat, cotton, peas, and even potato. Some of the states he travels to are New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. He hopes to someday be able to buy his own place in the state of Idaho.
The reality is that he will probably never have enough money for this to happen. This is probably due to the fact that because of the dust bowl, many families were left without their homes. They may of had a place however, because of the dust bowl and the drought, it is likely that much land was left useless and their reason for moving around so much is that jobs must be scarce since many people were also looking for jobs as well. I can probably say that they were most likely forced to live this way and as we can see, they are all tattered and in sad conditions.
The government could of been helpful in this situation. It is customary, for example that the children would of been aided as part of the government. The government, as a responsibility should of ensured that that the family was taken care of. This family had been traveling and never settled down for 13 years in total. That must of meant something. A solution would be to obviously provide government assistance to these types of family. Perhaps giving them a place to stay would help them ensure that they are not moving around so much. As long as they were given something to start off with, im sure they would be fine.

Belgium

What must be known about Belgium's role in the First World War is that country was originally neutral. Before the War began, in the year of 1839, there was a treaty signed called the Treaty of London in which it would be stated that Belgium would remain neutral in any case of war. Later on in the 19th Century, Belgium was beginning to focus on land aquisition rather than actual militarism. They felt there was no need for one since they were in fact neutral. The problem with this is that Germany then felt that Belgium was an easy target to both conquer and destroy because of its proximity to France, and the easy route to this place as well. Once the war began, Belgium was not equiped to fight off the Germans who had an army of 5 million ready to fight, compared to 250,000 that Belgium had.

Once this invasion occurred, it was then that Great Britain found the excuse to fight Germany. Belgium did not want Germany to cross through because they knew this would mean there would be a war, and so it happened. As soon as Germany began to invade Belgium, Great Britain decided to declare war. While invading, all it took was a couple of hours to begin destroying many of the forts established for defense. On September 29th, Wavre St. Carherine, one of the forts was so badly ruined that it was as if it had been abandoned. By the 8th of October, it was decided that due to the increased war activity in Antwerp, it was decided that it had to be evacuated.

Once all of the countries were at war, they basically used Belgium as the middle man. Belgium was in between crucial areas for the Allied and Central powers in the war. Belgium was stuck being affected by the gunfire when they were, in reality attempting to stay out of the war. They were not prepared for such large attacks and were in turn affected the most. Geographically, they were important due to the fact that they were in the way of the German route to France.