The Sacco and Vanzetti trial and sweeping immigration restrictions pointed to a rampant nativism
Nativism refers to the belief that those born in the United States are superior to immigrants. This belief is something that was rampant during the 20s. However, we can still see how nativism and immigration restrictions today mirror those of this era.
In 1915, acclaimed film director David W. Griffith adapted Dixon’s novel into the groundbreaking blockbuster film, Birth of a Nation. (The film almost singlehandedly rejuvenated the Ku Klux Klan
It is incredibly shocking and disturbing how this film was able to revive this hate group through it's romanticized depiction of the clan. It goes to show that power that cinema and media representation has on social trends and public attitudes. Although racist attitudes were still prominent during this era in America, the book and blockbuster film cemented the acceptance of violently racist attitudes within American pop culture at the time.
Immigrants from specific countries—and often even specific communities—often clustered together in ethnic neighborhoods.
It's interesting to read about ethnic enclaves and chain-migration because it's a trend that is reflected in cities over many decades. For instance, this passage mentions the formation of organizations and communities made up of predominantly Eastern European Jews and Polish people in greatly populated cities such as New York. When visiting these cities today, although immigration trends and population patterns have significantly changed since the 1800s - early 1900s, we can still see how these ethnic enclaves prevail today.
September 1878, Edison announced a new and ambitious line of research and development—electric power and lighting.
This form of technology must've greatly revolutionized society at the time, especially in densely populated cities such as New York. However, with the commercialization of these power systems, I wonder if electricity was accessible to the lower class or was it a luxury limited to those with wealth?
When the People’s Party held its own convention two weeks later, the party’s moderate wing, in a fiercely contested move, overrode the objections of more ideologically pure Populists and nominated Bryan as the Populist candidate as well
This election was crucial because both the Democratic and Populist party happened to nominate the same candidate.
The fittest, Spencer said, would demonstrate their superiority through economic success, while state welfare and private charity would lead to social degeneration—it would encourage the survival of the weak.
In other words, Herbert Spencer believed in Social Darwinism, as in he believed that it was natural for impoverished people to starve and shouldn't be interfered through charity or state welfare programs. Essentially, it is a capitalist mindset that excuses the violence that comes with laissez-faire systems of hierarchy.
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To summarize this paragraph, the boom of railroads, including many transcontinental lines, led to the formation of many major cities such as Chicago. With the World's Columbian Exposition, technological progress was showcased, expanding the rapid-transit economy of the United States. this is an important paragraph to note because it includes many of the identification terms!
The Red River War began when many Comanche bands refused to resettle and the American military launched expeditions into the Plains to subdue them, culminating in the defeat of the remaining roaming bands in the canyonlands of the Texas Panhandle.
This sentence is important to note because it defines the Red River War as a war between the Comanche tribe and American military over their refusal to resettle from their land.
most Americans agreed that it was acceptable to use force, which Native groups resisted.
Observing the image above and reading about the way in which Indigenous people were forced to conform to traditional American culture and Christianity is so upsetting. It's a method of erasure that most Americans viewed acceptable because they viewed their own culture as superior, despite forced assimilation being an oftentimes violent erasure of culture and identity.
but the Americans broke Indigenous resistance at the Battle of Wood Lake on September 23, ending the so-called Dakota War.10
In summary, the so-called “Indian wars” were brief and sporadic, oftentimes with economic and cultural motivations. Originally, Natives were moved West to live isolated from settlers. As the popularity of the West grew, efforts towards creating reservations increased in popularity as well. The arrival of settlers on Dakota territories led to starvation and poverty for many tribe members because hunting became unsustainable. The federal Indian agency refused to provide the tribe with food, leading to the murder of many white settlers from the Dakota tribe in response. This led the governor of Minnesota to wage a war against the Indigenous insurgents causing the break of Dakota resistance at the Battle of Wood Lake.
II. Post-Civil War Westward Migration
In this section of the reading, the main ideas expressed by the author were that following the Civil War, the West was land that people were drawn to because of the economic opportunities brought by the gold rush, the hunting of bison, or due to religious persecution for those who were Mormon.
Vagrancy laws enabled law enforcement to justify the arrest of innocent Black men and women, and the convict-lease system meant that arbitrary arrests often resulted in decades of forced, uncompensated labor.
The term convict-lease refers to the system in which incarcerated Black people would be essentially bought and used as free labor. This is important to note because it ties back to the loophole of the 13th amendment and is a reflection of a lot of prison labor seen today.
III. The Meaning of Black Freedom
In this section of the reading, the author describes what Black freedom meant to now freed people. These desires included land ownership, the reinstitution of families, education, and religion. Many broken promises were made regarding previously enslaved people's ability to own land and the Freedmen's Bureau went as far as pressuring freed people to go back to their enslavers as wage laborers instead. This among other policies showed that the Republican party still prioritized the economy over racial justice. However, freed Black people continued to seek freedom by searching for previously sold family members that had been lost, by increasing their literacy rates, and by creating Black churches.
“except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
This is an important sentence to note because it highlights the loophole of the 13th Amendment. Reading this statement reminds me of the fact that the U.S. has one of the largest incarceration rates in the world, predominantly made up of people of color such as Black men in particular. Today, prison labor is still used as cheap or free labor for various companies. Therefore, although slavery in the U.S. has been abolished, this loophole and the prominence of prison labor is eerily and sadly similar.
However, the proclamation freed only enslaved people in areas of rebellion and left more than seven hundred thousand in bondage in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri as well as in Union-occupied areas of Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia.
This is a very interesting and important point in the text because although Abraham Lincoln is a president highly celebrated throughout history, it seems that his support for the abolition of slavery wasn't to the extent that people think of him today. This sentence in the text, which is new information to me, goes to show this perfectly.