The Gap in the Bridge

Contribution by María Belen Antolini

CARTOON: “The gap in the Bridge”

By: Leonard Ravenhill

Date: December 10^th , 1919

I chose this cartoon because I believe this will enlarge the last topic we have seen, which was the US´s impact in the WW1. This cartoon refers particularly to the end of World War 1 and the creation of the League of Nations.

Background:

In 1919 Wilson had the idea of setting up the League of Nations. He was principally concerned with trying to achieve world peace and prevent this previous conflict to happen again. The US joined the World War 1 in 1917, three years after the war had already started. Hundreds of thousands of Americans soldiers fought during WW1 and a hundred and ten thousand lives were lost in a very short period of time. This had a knock on effect on the American views of getting involved in such an organization. Many felt that America should not get involved in this European issue which was thousand miles away from their country. As a result of this some American politicians began to appeal to the American public to stay out of the European affairs. Consequently, the idea of America being involved in the League of Nations was actually rejected by the American Congress, and as a result of this America never joined it.

The idea of the League was to achieve collective security to overcome border disputes and prevent another world war from occurring.

The 'Gap in the Bridge' cartoon tells us several important things. Germany was missing. Russia was missing (because of its communist government). The cartoon doesn't mention Japan (not an industrialised nation). The bridge idea is to show its ability to join countries and provide a means of communication. The importance of the gap is to suggest that the bridge will fall apart without the USA.

I will analize the cartoon by looking at its denotation (what we can see in the image) and its connotation (the effect on its audience).

DENOTATION: The bridge represents the League of Nations with the key stone missing.

CONNOTATION: The League is not complete and will collapse without the keystone.

Meaning: The League is weak.

DENOTATION: The keystone is the US and is not part of the bridge.

CONNOTATION: America not joining the League.

MEANING: Without America the League will fail.

DENOTATION: Under the bridge there is a deep dark cliff.

CONNOTATION: If the bridge collapses, the world will fall into disaster.

MEANING: Without the League, there might be another war.

DENOTATION: A sign says that the bridge was designed by Wilson, but uncle Sam is asleep.

CONNOTATION: Asleep has a connotation of negligence and inconsideration.  

MEANING: America is being hypocritical by failing to join.

As I stated before, the cartoon was published by the magazine Punch and the cartoonist is an English man. This was published three months before the US Senate finally voted to reject the Treaty and the League of Nations. This cartoon therefore was a criticism to the American position and delay in joining. It was an attempt to shame the Senate into joining the League by prophesying disaster if it didn´t.

The Roaring Twenties

CLICK HERE to see the presentation by Marilu and Sofia.

Great work, girls!

IMPERIALISM

CUBA

PHILIPPINES

Yellow Press

DJANGO UNCHAINED

Contribution by Sofia Daireaux

DJANGO UNCHAINED AND THE SCIENCE OF PHRENOLOGY

VIDEO LINK

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwvgbi_django-unchained-old-ben_shortfilms

The movie “Django Unchained” from Quentin Tarantino, takes place in Texas, 1858. In this film, Django (actor: Jamie Foxx), a black slave is promised his freedom by the German bounty hunter King Schultz (actor: Christoph Waltz), if he helps him find his own slaveowners in order to kill them. After achieving this, Django becomes a free slave and Schultz, feeling he owes something to him, accepts to help him rescue his wife, Broomhilda (actress: Kerry Washington), who’s working on “Candyland”. This enormous plantation belongs to Calvin Candie (actor: Leonardo DiCaprio), a slaveholder who also enjoys watching “Mandingo fights”, in which slaves are forced to fight to death.

In this scene, Candie introduces his guests to the skull of Old Ben, a slave who had worked in his family for a long time. He says that he’s been his whole life surrounded by “black faeces” and that he’s always asked himself the same question: “Why don’t they kill us?” Candie uses the science of phrenology in order to justify and “understand the separation of their species”. He shows that in the skull of blacks the area associated with “submissiveness” and “servility” is larger than any other human beings' skulls. On the other hand, he says that the skull of white men has more developed the area associated with creativity.

This topic has to do with the pro slavery theories developed by southerners in order to justify slavery. They tried to give scientific arguments for this institution, such as the “science” of phrenology which gave physical evidence of the blacks’ inferiority.

In fact there was a doctor from Kentucky, Charles Caldwell who “deployed phrenology in almost exactly the same manner as the fictional Candie. In 1837 he wrote to a friend claiming that "tameableness" explained the apparent ease with which Africans could be enslaved. This was a standard phrenological argument. Areas located towards the top and back of the skull, such as "Veneration" and "Cautiousness", were routinely claimed to be large in Africans.” (James Poskett. “Django Unchained and the racist science of phrenology”. The Guardian, Tuesday 5 February, 2013.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Unchained

TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2013/feb/05/django-unchained-racist-science-phrenology

Reconstruction

CIVIL WAR

TRASNPORTATION 1800-1850

Rather than giving funds directly to the railroads in the form of grants or loans, the government divided the land along the railroad rights-of-way into square sections, and alternate sections were given to the railroads. The remaining sections were sold directly to settlers. The government could command a much higher price for land that would be serviced by a railroad, and many settlers willingly paid a premium for the promising sites. Conversely, the lands granted to the railroads could be similarly sold to settlers in order to raise the necessary capital for the actual building.

The Rise of Manufacturing 1800-1850

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PRESENTATION

MAP 1848

John Wayne's "The Alamo"

Territorial Expansion

Labour Day

In more than 80 countries, on May 1, labor unions and working people take to the streets. The holiday is often referred to as International Workers’ Day or May Day. May Day was designated an international labour day by the International Socialist Congress of 1899, and it remains the standard Labour Day worldwide, with a few exceptions, including Canada and the U.S.

The day marks the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago, where police shot and killed several demonstrators who were fighting for the eight-hour workday. Over the next several years, people across the globe began demonstrating on May 1, and in many countries the day became an official holiday.

So why is it that American don't celebrate it in May? Government officials feared instigating anger over the event at Haymarket Square. But politicians and others relaized that a holiday honoring workers was necessary. So, following the massive 1894 Pullman Strike, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was quickly ushered through Congress. From then, on Labor Day officially occurred on the first Monday in September.t is often celebrated with parades and speeches, as well as political rallies, and the day is sometimes the official kickoff date for national political campaigns in the U.S. It marks the end of the summer.

The Statue of Liberty

Made in Paris by the French sculptor Bartholdi, in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel (who was responsible for the steel framework), this towering monument to liberty was a gift from France on the centenary of American independence in 1886. Standing at the entrance to New York Harbour, it has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States ever since.

Essay Writing Tips

Your first take -home essay test will be due on May 16th. Here is some advice, to be discussed in class.

1.      Pay attention to  key words (in the question itself as well as in your sources)

2.      Organize your paper during the pre-writing stage, not the writing or revising stage. A well-thought-out plan can save you from having to do a lot of reorganizing when the first draft is completed

3.      The introduction and the conclusion must refer to the question.

4.      Avoid irrelevant detail. Ask yourself: What does the question require me to do?

5.      Don’t provide your personal opinion if you are not required to do so.

6.      Revise extensively.

7.      Quotations, paraphrases, or summaries: If you use the author's exact words, enclose them in quotation marks, or indent passages of more than four lines Here’s some more info on quotations, (from the University of Toronto)

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/using-sources/quotations

8.      And some good points about topic sentences:

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/planning-and-organizing/topic-sentences

Colours of the Wind

Contribution By Maria Luisa Marino

 "Colours of the wind" from the movie Pocahontas. (The lyrics are visible on the screen).

Comment

If you pay attention to lyrics, you will find similarities with what we discussed last class about the cultural differences between the English and the native Americans. Pocahontas belonged to the Algonquian tribe in Virginia. In the song she talks about nature and everything which surrounds her having a spirit. She also mentions that the English consider them ignorant and savages but they are in fact ignorant of many things concerning nature. She mentions the English wanting to own whatever land they land on (regardless of the people who where already there). She says they are all connected to each other regardless of their skin colour (white or copper skin).


And here Pocahonta's grandmother (the willow tree) tells her about the spirits in nature. And we get a glimpse of the arrival of the English. 

Comment

As regards the willow tree scene and the governor I would like to add that it is related to what we mentioned in class about the English coming to America looking for gold and wanting to become rich. The governor's character is a good example of the nobility coming to America and expecting others to obey and to work for them.


If you want to read more...

CLICK HERE for her biography.  

CLICK HERE for a text released by the  Powhatan Renape Nation, an American Indian Nation located at the Rankokus Indian Reservation in , New Jersey. They criticize the Disney version and claim there is another side to this story

Native American Stand Up Comedian

13 Colonies Map

Material Chapters 2 & 3

Questionnaires chapters 2 and 3

Colonies CHART

Welcome to our US History Course!

STUDENTS' CONTRIBUTIONS

You are expected to make  (at least) one contribution during the course.

• It can be:

An article, a song,  a video, poem, a speech, etc.

• It must be:

Related to the topics dealt with in class and/or in the reading material.

• It has to include:

a) Source

b) Analysis:  A paragraph (or more) discussing: Why you chose it? What is the connection with our subject? In which ways is it relevant to you? (e.g. it could be used in a class, it sheds light on or gives a different perspective to a particular topic, it illustrates some point, etc) 

Good luck!