Samuel Hopkins Adams

Today, Samuel Hopkins Adams is commemorated for having been a successful American writer and an individual who publicly spoke out against health issues. He was born in Dunkirk, New York on January 26,1871. In 1887, at age sixteen, Samuel Hopkins Adams went to Hamilton College. He worked for the New York Sun, a politically conservative newspaper published between 1833 and 1950, for several years. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Ruffner Noyes in 1898, with whom he had two daughters. in the year 1900, Adams began to work with the McClure's Magazine. There he met Ray Stannard Baker, a journalist and muckraker. A muckraker is a "reform-minded journalists who wrote largely for popular magazines and continued a tradition of investigative journalism reporting”.

Samuel Hopkins Adams became a muckraker and began to speak out about public health issues in the United States. In 1905 Adams joined an American magazine founded by Peter Collier called Collier’s Weekly. During the span of time for which he was employed by this magazine, Adams published several articles focusing on the patent medicine market. Eleven articles to be exact. Patent medicine is defined as, “compounds promoted and sold as medical cures that do not work as promoted”. Samuel Hopkins Adams is credited for having contributed to the introduction of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1806 in the UNited States. This act required labels containing ingredients on food, and it prevented the making and selling of poisonous food, liquids, or drugs.  

Despite the fact that the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1806 had been established, in 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that label falsification was unacceptable only when it came to medication. This decision made it easy for useless products to be sold once again. Adams, was determined to bring out the truth and once again published various articles on false advertisement by various companies.

Battle of Little Bighorn - Alison's Textbook

Battle of Little Bighorn

The Battle of Little Bighorn, also known as "Custer's Last Stand" was fought on June 25th and 26th of 1876. near the Little Bighorn River; hence, its name. The battle was fought between three native tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment (the U.S. Army). The tribes consisted of the Cheyenne, Lakota, and the Arapaho. Today, various ideas have been developed about the battle according to the perspective. 

According to the Treaty of Laramie of 1868, the Black Hills were rightfully within the Sioux's reservations borders. However; when gold was discovered by the Americans near the border of the Sioux reservation (the Black Hills), tension grew between the Natives and Americans. 1874 was when the Black Hills Gold Rush officially began. According to Kate Bighead, a Cheyenne Indian, the American Army attacked the CHeyenne campsite near the Washita River. Not only did they destroy their food, belongings and shelter, but they also killed Chief Black Kettle. Driven by hatred and ambition, the Americans broke their peace treaty with the natives ultimately resulting in the natives conducting raids against the whites. 

After the American settlers and gold-miners first attack on the Cheyenne, they were forced to seek help from other tribes. The Sioux, led by Sitting Bull,  aided the Cheyenne and they camped together. As time passed, and danger approached, more natives came together. In 1876, six tribes camped near the Little Bighorn river when American were seen south of their camp. The Battle of Little Bighorn officially started and the natives won. Not only did the natives victoriously win; but the battle resulted in 268 deaths and 55 injuries for the Americans.
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Chinese Immigration and Exclusion

Chinese Immigration and Exclusion

After the American Civil War (1861-1865) ended, immigrants from various nationalities came to the United States. From 1870-1880 most of the people migrating here came from Ireland, Germany and England. However, even prior to the Civil War, the California gold rush attracted copious immigrants, Chinese immigrants specifically. In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill which was when the Chinese initially came to the United States. These Chinese immigrants came to the U.S. determined to work; unfortunately, they were eventually prohibited in 1882, when the Chinese Exclusion Act was enforced. Despite the hatred and racism they underwent, Chinese laborers worked as gold miners, railroad construction workers, industrial and agricultural workers, some were even able to develop their own small businesses such as laundries and restaurants.

According to Document A, an anti-Chinese play called "The Chinese Must Go" from 1879, the reason as to why the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was enforced was that they wanted to take over jobs that were rightfully for Americans. However, the script also implied that the Chinese wanted to get rid of or even kill the Americans. maybe they thought that the Chinese yearned to take over America. "White man no work, no money, die - sabee?" According to Document B, a political cartoon by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly in 1871, the reason as to why the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was enforced was because immigrants of other nationalities disliked the Chinese. The cartoon portrays several Irish and German "thugs" wanted to kill a man being protected by Columbia. In the background there is a noose hanging from a tree and there are various signs with explicit words expressing hatred toward the Chinese. "If our ballot will not top them from coming to our country, the bullet must."

According to Document C, a speech to the workingmen of San Francisco from August 1888, the reason as to why the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was enforced was similar to that of Document A. Document C also implies that American citizens wish to banish the Chinese because they are taking their jobs. "This state of thing brings about a terrible competition between our own people, who must live as civilized Americans, and the Chinese..."According to Document D, an excerpt from Lee Chew's autobiography from 1903 called "The Biography of a Chinaman, the reason as to why the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was enforced was similar to that of Document B: jealousy. Chinese labrers were known to be honest, sober, and even talented. Irishman, Germans, Englishman and Italians were not being hired simply because Chinese were a "better" option.

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Trench Warfare at Petersburg

Trench Warfare at Petersburg

Ulysses S. Grant

      The American civil war was the bloodiest war in American history with the greatest deaths yet recorded, it was initiated on April 12, 1861 and finally concluded on May 10, 1865. Growing issues between the Northern and Southern states involving tariffs, railroad taxes, and especially slavery were what caused this war. the Southern states felt that as an independent nation they would succeed and decided to secede, they were known as the Confederate states and had Robert E. Lee as their military general. The northern states however, were known as the Union and had Ulysses S. Grant. The Confederate capital was Richmond and Ulysses S. Grant thought that if his army could take over Petersburg ( an important supply center for 

Robert E. Lee 

the capital which had 5 railroads and various roadways ) then they could destroy Richmond. They fought for four days starting June 15th but when Grant realized that it was useless, he ordered his army to siege operations (this was the longest siege in American war history). Grant ordered the roadways to be destroyed but the siege lasted a total of ten months. finally on April 2nd, Grant ordered an attack on Lee's men, which were then destroyed. Luckily for Lee, he was able to escape on time. The Petersburg siege and battle went on from June 15, 1864 to April 6, 1865, it had the involvement of over 180,000 soldiers, 8,150 Union casualties, and 3,236 casualties for the Confederate states.

      The Battle of Petersburg was such a significant one because it basically resulted in the destruction of roadways that supplied Richmond, the Confederate capital. Robert E. Lee was able to escape Petersburg along with his soldiers the night the battle ended. this meant that Petersburg was left in the hands of the Union. Additionally, since the Union was now in charge of the most important supply center for the confederate capital, there was only a certain amount of time until the South would finally surrender. On April 9, 1865 Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox, Virginia. 

Siege of Petersburg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkE3v5dyKYU

Journey through Slavery part 4 - Judgement Day

Journey through Slavery part 4 - Judgement Day 

      Today Pierce Butler is commemorates as one of the founding fathers. He was born on July 11^th in

Pierce Butler

1744. He was a soldier, planter and statesman. He was the representative for South Carolina during the Continental Congress, Constituitonal Convention and for the US Senate. He publicly spoke out in favor of slavery for both personal and political reasons. He also introduced the Fugitive Slave Clause during the Constitutional Convention. The Butler Island Plantation was one of the largest rice plantations in the South. More than 500 enslaved African Americans worked the plantations which fundamentally made the Butler family one of the riches in the United States. During this time it was thought that the demoncracy was in the hands of the white men, slave owners of course. More money was being spent on slavery than any other investment in the Unites states. There were over two million enslaved blacks and were worth approximately a billion dollars in total. Most of the cotton, worldwide, was being proeduced and exported from the south. This required labor, hard labor, all done by the slaves. Cotton production was the basis and foundation of ship building, shipping, and even factories, etc.

Harriet Ann Jacobs was born on February 11^th in 1813, in North Carolina. She underwent the

Harriet Ann Jacobs

hardship of being a slave including sexual abuse by her owner since the young age of fifteen. Despite the fact that the owner had the government on his side, she had he will, desire, and determination to be freed from slavery. When Jacobs was twenty-one years old she finally decided to run. She first hid in the Cabarrus Pocosin swamp then ran to her Grandmother’s shed. She believed that hiding in a shed habituated by rodents was better than undergoing the cruel life she had as a slave. She hid in her grandmother’s shed for seven years. Through a small hole she used as a window she saw her cruel owner and even her children, whom she couldn’t speak to but didn’t dare leave behind.  During this time slaves disappeared overnight and it was a great disadvantage to the slave owners, they lost a great amount of money. After all, they were losing their free labor. Additionally, any attempt to escape slavery was considered an act of rebellion.

David Walker

During this crucial time period in history free blacks were a great threat to slavery. There was a total of 182,000 free blacks living in the South and a total of 137,000 living in the north. Not only was slavery a growing issue but so was abolitionism, at least to most of the white population it was. Slavery in the South had a unforgettable impact on every black person in the country where ever it was that they were. Even if they weren’t enslaved, most free blacks were greatly discriminated but also segregated. In the north, segregation was a major issue in schools and even in churches that claimed to support the abolitionist movement. Laws even prohibited intermarriage between blacks and whites. David Walker was born on September 27, 1797 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was an outspoken African America, but had never been enslaved, unlike his own father. In 1829 he started his own private war, which was fought to condemn both racism and its foundation, slavery. He fought in favor of all African Americans and their right to be free and treated as citizens of the United States. 

PRIMARY SOURCE: http://www.yale.edu/glc/harriet/15.htm

Journey through Slavery part 3 - Brotherly Love

Journey through Slavery part 3 - Brotherly Love 

Journey through Slavery part 3 covered the obstacles that Africans and African Americans underwent during the late 18^th century as well as the 19^th century. The age of Enlightenment was introduced during this time and it basically gave people faith that the human race could be improved or even perfected. I personally agree with the historians that express the idea that slavery was a contradiction to this crucial time in history. The American Revolution (1763-1787) was a time during which Americans yearned and fought for their liberty from British rule. When the revolutionary war ended in 1787, Britain no longer had control over America, Americans were free. However, 19.3% of the American population was African American with a total of 757,208. There were 697, 681 slaves with a total of 92% of slaves.

Thomas Jefferson

On September 29, 1789 George Washington which then held presidency elected Thomas Jefferson as the first Secretary of State. At that time Jefferson was Minister to France. He was well-known as the author of the Declaration of Independence and gained fame by laying the foundation of the American democracy. During the revolutionary war Jefferson stated and claimed, "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL". He believed that it was invalid/immoral for one man to own another as property. Despite his words and beliefs, Jefferson himself owned approximately 130 slaves. His excuse was that blacks were naturally inferior to whites and that is why it was his duty to stand on their side and protect them. Because they were like children, they could not protect themselves. I believe that even though Jefferson owned slaves his excuse might have been justifiable if thinking from a historical point of view. Additionally, he was one of the first to write about the idea that blacks and whites could not live together in equality. He even warned that slavery could result in rebellions.

Banjamin Rush

Richard Allen was born into Slavery on February 14, 1790, in Delaware. Luckily for him, he successfully bought his freedom. As a free black man, Allen dram of founding his own church. He wanted to prove that despite their color and the segregation they underwent, blacks had the capability of succeeding just like the whites. In 1794 he was able to found the African Methodist Episcopal Church and is now known as a minister, educator and writer. Not only were blacks able to prove themselves as capable to succeed thanks to individuals such as Richard Allen but also during the Yellow fever epidemic of 1973. Sanitation was so horrible that the death rates increased dramatically. Benjamin Rush, a significant physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence was known as a friend of the Blacks. He contributed in helping Allen found his church. During the epidemic he introduced the idea that blacks were immune to the fever which is when they
came to be handy to the whites. They cared for and nursed the ill; however, in the end the plague ended up killing off both the white and black population.

PRIMARY SOURCES:
Testimonies from three of Jefferson's slaves.
1. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.html
2. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873israel.html
3. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/slaves/memoir.html