Henry George 1885: An analysis of the crime of poverty

Henry George wrote in 1885 about poverty and his concerns about poverty.  George made it clear that he believed that poverty was a crime.  Not because people who are poor deserve to be poor and do many things that make themselves this way.  No, George wrote that he felt that poverty was a crime because it was the result of social problems that force those people into poverty.  He believed whole heatedly that most people were poor because of society and not due to their own faults and that was the major crime.   George made it clear that if God had made poverty necessary then it would not be a crime but it was society and people who decided that their needed to be rich and their needed to be people who they ruled over.  It was a crime because there were are so many people who have an abundance of the resources and then others that were starving or freezing to death right down the street.  Having wealth is not really just for a minority and George believed that it was possible for all men to be rich and  to have everything that they needed.

George was an activists who believed that it was not necessary for the rich to have everything and the poor to have nothing.  He believed that it was a crime for people to have to suffer and that it was actually a from of slavery.  George made a very convincing and passionate argument about the role that the poor played in our system and just how unnecessary it was.  Owning land was the key to wealth is what he believed because if you owned the land you owned all of the resources on it including the human beings that resided on it.  This is a matter of injustice and George believed that this was an evil that continued to thrive.  Then George went on to explain that the poor working class was actually the class that should rule because they did all of the hard work and brought the earth and humans together by building things and developing new items while the rich just paid for it to happen.  George also talks about the land and how it is almost absurd that humans try to control the land and own it.  Land is not there to be owned and it should be respected by everyone.  This reminded me of a speech that we read least week from Chief Joseph which concerned land and how it should be viewed.

George points out many things to get people to believe his argument and those main things were that everyone should be rich and there should not be a poor working class.  I know that this would be something that was discussed over and over again by people and it would be available to the poor and give them something to believe in.  When the poor perceive that there are other people who understand where they are and are trying to make their lives better they seek ways to advance themselves.  He also pointed out that poverty was not necessary and made it clear why not.  God was brought into the writings to make it clear that it was not diving will that made people poor and thus utilized logos and pathos to win his argument.  The logic was very clear in this speech and George used many examples to get people to believe his arguments.  The emotional aspect took place later on in the writing but he pointed out that if people owned the land then they owned everything on the land and that included all the people on it, which in turn made them all slaves to the owner.  This was something that was still a huge emotional issue because the Civil War was still fresh in their minds and had a huge impact on the United States.

I think that this was a very important historical document because it was a time where the United States was changing and new things were being developed.  If the poor did not just accept their lot in life but fought for better wages and for better employment conditions it would change the world.  This is something that had a long term effect on out country and it left us with a much better country with the poorer class being treated slightly better by the rich.  This also eventually led to the middle class of individuals.

I thought that his arguments were very convincing because he pointed out ways in which the rich and poor were different and in all reality there was not much of a differences.  George made sure to give examples with all of his arguments and they really seemed to make sense and were accurate.  Like I said above he was very passionate and seemed to be on the side of justice not just on the side of the rich or the poor.  Justice was really on that he was seeking and if their was injustice on our world it was not necessary.  Crusaders like this really made a lot of change happen because they could get people to believe everything that was spoken or written.  Tone and having a way with words is necessary to get a large group of people behind you and this speech clearly showed me that.

Jessica Lucas

Text Analysis: Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

March 4, 1865

Jessica Lucas

This speech was a complete turnaround from the previous speech for years earlier.  Abraham Lincoln seemed very depressed and frustrated over the years of war that had wreaked our nation.  At this time Lincoln did not even feel that it was necessary to address the nation due to the fact that everyone in the country knew and understood what was taking place at the time.  Lincoln discussed why it was necessary to have the previous speech and how its main focus was to try and prevent war but at this time the war was dragging on.  I think that Lincoln thought that the time for talking was over.  Everyone seemed to keep discussing the same things over and over again without reaching an agreement and he felt that it was unnecessary to keep saying the same things that he had on previous occasions. However, he did bring about a new argument that he had completely changed his thinking on and that was slavery.  Lincoln talked about the slavery issue and how a large portion of the population was vested in the outcome of this war and while some people might have wanted to just give in and leave the southern states to their own devices there were still reasons that the war needed to be fought.  Lincoln went back to try and get the northerners to realize that while slavery was a huge part of the reason for the war it was more prudent for the south then for the north.  He wanted to remind people that it was the south who really wanted to perpetuate slavery and created the war when the north just wanted to limit slavery in territories and this had nothing to do with the states that had slavery already established. 

Lincoln then seemed to try and use God to get people to accept his arguments concerning the war.  He made it clear that the south was trying to get gods assistance through slavery but that it was not forthcoming.  He also seemed to state that it was the use of slavery that made God want to punish the North and the South but that slavery was only in the south and it was the southern states fault that God sought to punish our republic.  He also warned people about judging the southern states because they too could receive punishment.  Lincoln then talked about hoping God had plans to end the war quickly but that they would keep fighting because “if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."  He wanted people to remain steadfast and not waver in their support of the war and what needed to be done once the war was over.

1. Lincoln was ultimately arguing that while it was the South’s fault that the war was so long and costly they needed to keep striving forward to make sure that in the future God would seek to bless them and out nation when it was the right time.  I really liked how Lincoln used the existence of slavery to bring God in the subject and try to rally northerners behind him once again.

2.  Lincoln spoke about slavery being only in the south and that it was a huge issue for the southern states and the slaves that lived there.  However, he wanted northerners to realize that the south made the war necessary by trying to dictate where else slavery would go.  Lincoln tried to remain calm and informed people that while the government was just trying to limit slavery in the territories the south kept seeking to expand it.  Lincoln wanted everyone to know that they did not want the southern states to change and had no intention of disrupting slavery that already existed in certain places but the south had to keep pushing.  He appealed to logos in this way because he wanted everyone to understand that the war as a step by step issue and the south always seemed determined to reach that point.  When Lincoln began bringing God into the issue and made it clear that God might not agree with slavery and that was pretty much why the war was dragging on he appealed to pathos.  God is always an extremely emotional subject and when you use that subject to get people behind you it generally works.  Lincoln made it clear that he felt that the south had pushed God into making this war so long and created the amount of casualties but felt that they needed to continue on until the south relented.  God did not want slavery and that was why they had to continue.   Lincoln wanted people to believe that he was the one who was in charge but he needed the support of the people.  God needed him to be there and since he was in charge the people needed to accept that it was his will that this war be continued and with this leader. 

3.  This document had a huge historical significance because I believe that it kept the Union Army and the north going during some generally brutal times.  It kept them with their eyes on the prize and probably really rejuvenated a people that was very down and depressed about the toll of this war.  Getting people to believe that on side had caused the way might have encouraged the northerners to continue on and keep on believing in their cause. It also might have really gotten the south to realize that the north would not quit.  That the north had a leader that would continue with their cause no matter how long it took.  This thinking could really encourage on side while making the other side really think about what was going on and how long it would take to end the war.   

4.  I did not really believe that his argument was convincing because you go with one way of thinking and speaking before the war and completely changing the thoughts after the war had drug on for a while.  I felt that in this speech Lincoln was very manipulative and just sought ways to blame the south for the war, and to try and make people believe that God was on their side and they needed to continue on no matter how long it took.  This seemed like a recruitment speech, he had no ideas to try and fix things with the southern states and did not seem exited about his prospects at all.  In fact the seemed very downtrodden and depressed just like most of the nation.  Having a leader give a speech like that is not very inspiring and it is not convincing at all.  Inaugural addresses usually look upon the new term with a sense of hope and adventure and that was not the case with this speech.

CDL: The Right to Fight: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

The Right to Fight:  Black Soldiers in the Civil War

When the civil war was at its beginning the armies of the North and the South had no problems getting able bodied men to join up for the chance to fight for their rights.  However a much longer war then was predicted and huge casualties made it much more difficult for both armies to get new recruits and so they had to resort to a draft system to get white men in their armies.  However, there was one group of individuals that was begging to fight for the Union army and that was free blacks in the north and former slaves from the south.  These individuals knew that the war was generally about them and they felt that they needed to fight in it.  At first Abraham Lincoln would not consent to have black soldiers in the army but that gradually changed when the casualty list kept increasing and they needed even more soldiers.

James Henry Gooding was one such person who joined the 54^th Massachusetts Colored Regiment.  Gooding went out of his way to document his experience that was published by a newspaper.  He made it clear that black soldiers made less money and did not always receive the proper supplies and equipment.  While they did not receive the credit that was due to them black soldiers joined the army in droves.  Most black soldiers viewed this opportunity to refute the claims that made slavery such a big thing.  They also believed that slavery was at a turning point and it was up to the black soldiers to make sure that it would go away.  Gooding made it clear that having black soldiers could only help the black race because they would give them a chance to rid themselves of certain labels such as the “foul aspersion that they were not men.” (p. 532). 

At first most black regiments were thought to be less capably and even cowardly compared to white regiments but that thought was changed quickly when they saw how the black regiments fought in battle.  In fact as the text said, “Black courage under fire ended skepticism about the capabilities of African American troops.” (p.532)  While black regiments proved themselves in battle they still faced discrimination.  At first black troops were only given jobs of manual labor and were not allowed to fight.  They also received a subpar amount of pay compared to the white soldiers.  While Gooding did not like the fact that they could not fight he still believe that every little bit counted and even manual labor was useful.  The pay issue was a huge button for black soldiers and Gooding wrote that his whole regiment refused to accept the pay that was not equal.  Gooding even wrote to President Lincoln to explain his reasoning on the subject and got the government to change their stance on the subject and in June 1864 equalized the pay of black soldiers and white soldiers.  These black soldiers learned a lot during their time in the Union army and even felt that they had earned the right to be citizens with all the rights and responsibilities associated with that.  They also felt that their time in the Union army also gave “African Americans not only to freedom but also to civil and political rights.” (p.533)  African American soldiers fought hard to help themselves and still faced discrimination and prejudice however they also learned to want better things for themselves and their children.  Many black soldiers learned to read and write whole in the army and became schoolteachers and others became politicians.  They were the backbone of the rebuilding effort to teach the former slaves a new way.  Education and learning how to live free were very important and black soldiers helped to lead the way. 

1.      If the war had not gone on so long and the casualty list had not been so high would Lincoln have allowed African American soldiers in the Union army? 

2.      Why were African American soldiers not given the right to fight immediately upon their addition into the Union army?  Why were they only allowed to do manual labor?      

 I

White Gold: The International Empire of Cotton

Jessica Lucas

White Gold:  The International Empire of Cotton

Cotton has been around for thousands of years but it wasn’t until a device was developed to separate the seeds from the cotton that it became a really big business.  The type of cotton that was grown in the southern states of America have sticky seeds inside the cotton that is really time consuming and difficult to remove.  This is something that made cotton difficult to cultivate and not as profitable to harvest.  Many different people attempted to develop a device that would remove the seeds from the fiber but it took a long time to find an invention that actually worked.  When Eli Whitney developed a machine that did so and it was very simple but it did what it needed to do.  This cotton gin worked to run through the fibers with wire teeth that rotated and pulled the cotton out without seeds (p. 444).  This invention made it very easy for those farmers to harvest much larger quantizes of cotton.  With this invention production increased substantially but now the farmers needed cheap labor in order to keep up with demand.  This led to slavery being a huge product of the southern states that relied on the cotton as it became one of their larger crops. 

This led to a major reliance on the south for the cotton.  Other areas of the country looked to the south for their cotton and this was a way that things like food and other merchandise made it into the south.  This invention also led to an increase in Europe’s reliance on cotton.  The southern cotton went all over the country in the United States and was also sold to places as far as England and France.  The numerous quantities of cotton that made it overseas drastically changed the way that they did business and increased the demand on higher production.  This completely changed the textiles industry from a private family based type into a much large scale with huge companies manufacturing these things.  Cotton became very big for England and the reliance on it was huge.  Once slavery was gone cotton was still a very large enterprise in the south.  The south seemed to own the market for years because of cotton exportation and development.  Large development and industrialization would simply not have occurred without the development of the cotton gin.  It was an extremely important invention that allowed countries to expand and develop.  It also made cotton very much more available and not just for the rich. 

1        

      1. Would  industrialized development of America and Europe have occurred without the invention of the cotton gin?

2.. What were the good things that occurred from the reliance that the South had on cotton?  What were some of the bad things that occurred based on the reliance that the South had on cotton?