history speech

History Speech

Celeste Nelson

December 16, 2014

I pledge

                United States History this year has been very rewarding. I have thoroughly enjoyed the class and have realized that history can be a subject of enjoyment rather than a required credit. The history of the United States has had its ups and downs and of the ups I can say I was pleasantly surprised to find that Americans were so willing to put their lives on the line to fight for their rights and the opportunity to improve the United States. Not to mention the endless causalities, the lengths Americans had to go to, to reserve their rights was extensive to say the least. During the Emerging Industrial supremacy & Industrial Workers in the New Economy unit: many, many workers had to go on strike to get what they deserved as working citizens. Even after strikes ended in mass casualties, they kept going to fight for their rights. I find that so admirable: that even in the face of death, the American citizens fought on. Something that I found unpleasant in United States history was the way that Children were put to work in factories as young as ten years of age. I found it especially disappointing that even when states passed child labor laws, they were hardly ever enforced and came with many exceptions. The United States should have realized how allowing children to be working in such dangerous conditions was wrong at an earlier time.  One thing that I am likely to be able to discuss in ten years is the Haymarket bombing. The way that the eight protestors were wrongly prosecuted for the bombing was unfair and handled very unjustly. The Haymarket Bombing proves the need people have for a scapegoat. The eight wrongly persecuted men were not prosecuted for the bombing, they were prosecuted so the people of the United States could have someone to blame for such a tragedy. Something that the United States continues to struggle with today is the belief that it is easy to climb the social ladder. It was hard back then, and it still is today. It is the unfortunate truth that the class you are born into is likely to be the one you die in. If I were given the chance, I would name the time from 1865 – 1920 “The Age of Growth”.  The reason for this is simply because we have never had a time in United States history since then where there has been so much growth. This was the time of Westward expansion and the list of new discoveries and innovations in the time period was endless: Railroads were expanding, there was a huge growth of labor supply, the conversion of iron into the much more durable and versatile steel, and the surge of new entrepreneurs and government. The automobile and the idea of a United States airline were becoming huge.  The amount of new things in this time period was so extensive, there is no way there could be a repeat of that age.

Thinking About Success

1. Skill

2. Opportunity

3. Luck

4. Hard Work

 

         Normally, I would rank this list in a completely different order. It would probably go in the order of hard work, skill, opportunity, and then luck. Well, today I'm here to throw out that happy go lucky, rose colored glasses gal, and tell the blunt, unfortunate truth that is our society.

         I ranked the first one skill, because if you don't have at least a basic skill set, then you have nothing. When people are looking to hire you, it doesn't matter if you swear on your mothers grave that you will work harder than anyone else on the whole entire planet, because people can't make money on your promises and swears. I mean, don't get me wrong, hard work is awesome, and very important, but people will always go for the more qualified person. And I guarantee there are thousands of people that will work just as hard as the next guy, but working hard doesn't mean jack squat when you don't even have the proper skill set to even do your job.

The second one in this list is opportunity. I had some trouble deciding whether to put opportunity or luck in second, but in the end it really fell to opportunity. It's very hard to get started in the 'business world' if you don't have any opportunities. In America, we make it seem like it's very easy to climb the social ladder from low class to middle class to high class. The reality is that it is not. The wonder that is America is that if you were born into a low class family, it is likely that you will die in it too. If you lack opportunities, you will never grow. If you don't know the right people you are doomed to be stuck forever.

didn't have time to finish this. perhaps later. I got kinda into it.

The thought that there is so much risk in selling to a clothing company is something new to me. I thought that it was simple. That the clothing store needs more clothes, so a company will send it to them, easy. Well, not so much. I learned that it's about predicting trends and how much the store will sell, and if the store will need more or less. It takes a lot of planning and predicting to be able to get your sales down pact and with out major losses and mistakes. Apparently, three clothing companies have got it down to a tee. The company 'Zara' has a system of getting clothes to their headquarters and shipping it to the stores in an extremely timely fashion. The company H&M has a hold on predicting trends and emerging styles. The last company Uniqlo has gotten good at learning the customers preferences. All three are very successful and have their methods down pact.

Dear Megan,

       I arrived about in New York about a month ago. Things are very different here. Just he other day a man in a suit came to our door and had a long talk with Ben, my husband. Afterwards Ben told me he had a new job in the government as long as he voted for a certain man in senate. We were thrilled of course and now Ben is making more money than ever before. Our kids, Charlotte and James, are doing well too. They help around the house and make my day much brighter. The house, might I mention is not very bright. In fact, it has but only one window. We hardly know the time of day when we're inside. As a family of immigrants, we are generally looked down on and are not taken seriously. The other "Truly American" kids are quick to shun the children too. It's hard to make friends, and the only one I truly connect with is a young man named Earnest. He was quick to accept us and helps out however he can.

      On my way to the market every few days I have to pass through the upper class neighborhoods and I wish so much to own one of those houses someday. I know I probably won't but maybe one of my kids will. I can see how the people that live there look down on me and it hurts. Someday they will see me as a true American and will see me and my family for who I am.

The Process of becoming an American is strenuous to say the least. We are trying to loose our accents and drop the language as much as possible. On top of that we are obtaining as many new clothes as we can to try and fit in. I feel like I'm loosing a part of me. But I can't say I'm not excited about it either. Once we become a part of this new world, we will truly be happy.

Love, Celetse

Celeste Nelson

                Imagine if you were strolling through a museum that was full of ancient artifacts and ancestral remains, when suddenly you come upon an exhibit of the preserved remains of your great, great grandfather. How would you feel? I would feel pretty upset. My grandfather’s remains deserve to be treated with respect. No one considered the feelings of the descendants of the man. The fact that the museum is receiving money for digging up someone’s grandfather and putting him on display is morally wrong. This is how many Native Americans felt about their ancestors and cultural objects being dug up and put on display for educational purposes.

                In a previous time, Native Americans could claim no ownership rights to artifacts that were taken from their land. Their burial grounds were dug up by archeologists and the findings were sent to museums across the country. Many artifacts were purchased, often below the value of the objects, or stolen from tribes.

                Finally, a law was passed in nineteen ninety called the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. It reserved the rights of Native American lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations with respect to the treatment, repatriation, and disposition of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. The law also mentions that’s the tribes can claim ownership of objects, and if a review determines that their claim is justified, then the ownership of the artifact is given. Unfortunately, it was not always so easy for tribes to claim their cultural item.

                 Although there were many counts of museums happily returning items back to the rightful tribes, there were also many counts of museums not willing to be so compliant.  The University of Pennsylvania’s museum of Archeology and Anthropology had over forty items that the Tlingit people of Southeastern Alaska tried to claim.  The museum would only give back eight items and allow the tribe to serve as a co-curator of the rest of the objects. The tribe said that they would not hesitate to take the museum to court if they did not come up with a better offer.

                There were people who thought that returning items back to a tribe was not the answer. The late Clement W. Meighan, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, was one of those people. She saw returning bones and artifacts to the tribes so that they could rebury them as “The equivalent of a historian burning documents after he has studied them, thus, repatriation is merely an inconvenience that makes it impossible for scientists to carry out a genuinely scientific study of American Indian prehistory. An entire field of academic study may be put out of business.”

                I stand by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. I think it is morally wrong to go digging up someone’s ancestors so they can be put on display. It is disrespectful to the Native Americans to treat their artifacts and ancestors as a means of business. Many Native Americans will benefit from this law and many artifacts and cultural items can be rightfully returned to tribes across America.

Native American remains

Excavators digging up burial grounds

Native American remains on display

Native American artifacts in a museum

Burial grounds

archeology website

The official website stating the current repatriation laws

princeton doc.

This website goes more indepth on the laws and the background of them

who should own native american artifacts

An article on the  debate of the law

huffingtonpost article

This article describes counts of the law being in use and the controversy 

archaeology debate

This article talks about the debate and why people are in favor or not of this law

science buzz article

 This article does not talk explicitly on Native Americans but it talks about similar cases and how they will affect the people

A traditional Native American scaffold burial.

Film Review

Celeste Nelson

September 11, 2014

Film Essay

I Pledge

                It is possible to develop great analytical skills and explore real events because they were based on true events.

                Both movies, Glory and 12 Years a Slave, are exceptional movies. They were highly successful and many schools include these movies in their curriculum. One reason some schools do not include these movies in their curriculum is because they think that because they are movies and not documentaries, that the accounts are not based on true accounts. Schools think that the movies were made to entertain, not to educate. I found that in my research, that is not the case at all for the films Glory and 12 years a Slave. When Steve McQueen, The director and maker of 12 Years a Slave, wanted to make a film about slavery he set out to come up with a story that portrayed a story from a freedman’s point of view who had been kidnapped and forced into slavery. When McQueen shared the idea with his wife, she set out to help him research the topic. She came back to him with an 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup. Solomon’s account of his life was on the same topic that McQueen wanted to make a film about. McQueen decided that instead of coming up with a new story that he would base his film on this piece of literature. In the making of 12 Years a Slave, the intentions of McQueen were to have a film that tugged on the heart strings of the audience. He wanted the epic and tragic story of Solomon Northup to come to light. In the making of the film, some accounts were not true or warped. In 12 Years a Slave, the ship that carried Solomon after he was kidnapped was headed south. On the ship, a slave that was also being transported stood up to a white man and was immediately stabbed to death. That occurrence actually would have been very rare. Slaves were valuable and they would not have been killed in a split second decision. In the memoir what actually happened was a slave on the ship died of Small Pox. This was not uncommon as slaves were not offered the best of transportation and care. The reason McQueen changed this was to show how hard it was for someone to escape from slavery. The effect was a more dramatic film and it made it more obvious to the audience how hard it was. It is so difficult for us to even fathom being kidnapped and forced into slavery.

                Another inaccuracy in the film 12 Years a Slave, was when Patsy begged Solomon to drown her in a swamp. In the original memoirs, Mistress Epps, who was intensely jealous of the affection her husband had towards Patsy, wanted to bribe Solomon to drown her. The scene, though it was partially false, was in my opinion very successful and necessary. The scene showed just how miserable and desperate slaves were to escape their lives. It is so hard for me to imagine begging someone to take my life because I was so desperate and miserable.

                12 Years a Slave was a very successful film that, despite a few inaccuracies, did exactly what Steve McQueen had intended. It was a hard to watch film that portrayed slavery in its raw and gruesome form. It left a legacy in the film industry and it won many well-earned awards. It forces the audience think critically about being a slave and the lengths you would take to escape.

                The film Glory is another highly successful film. It was directed by Edward Zwick. The intentions of Zwick were to create the most historically accurate film of the 54^th regiment, lead by Shaw. Zwick had always been very interested in the Civil War and wanted above all to make it so it was based on cold hard facts. The film has almost no inaccuracies. The movie was based on literature including “Lay This Laurel” by Lincoln Kirstein, “One Gallant Rush” by Peter Burchor, and actual letters written by Shaw. The letters written by Shaw are frequently quoted verbatim in the film. The end result of Glory, was an amazing film completely true and without inaccuracies. 

 

Sources doc.

Imdb – 12 Years a Slave

Imdb – Glory

Article on 12 Years a Slave

Film Review of Glory

Interview with Steve Mcqueen