2.7 Mid-Semester 2 Reflection

Max Miller
Mid-Semester 2 Reflection

1. The most important thing I feel that I learned about 19th-century immigration was how much immigration impacted life at the time. Specifically in the United States Immigration was a big deal and I found it very interesting to learn how much of our history is actually attributed to immigrants.

2. To me the vast complexity of immigration around the world today is something that I found to be very important. The first step to knowing something is finding out what you don't know and upon my research on the immigration crisis in the EU I found out that there is a lot that I do not know. This resulted in a vast amount of information that I accumulated and when I analyzed that information I found out that immigration around the world and specifically in Europe is a very complex topic and everybody has their own take on the problem and their own evidence to support their solution. I see this as important because it really opened my eyes to how complex the world is especially when it comes to a global issue.

3. The 2 most challenging aspects of living that people faced in the 19th-century, I think was the quality of life and the lack of technology to solve simple problems. I think that America was very successful with meeting both of these challenges. Because back them the quality of life was very poor compared to how it is now and manual labor was still a major factor in everyday problems. I think that because of this it forced people to develop new technologies like the toilet . Something very common in life today but a new invention back them and groundbreaking for the world at that time. The invention of such technologies dramatically changed the way America and even the world is today because the quality of life has improved a lot since then and challenges that were often very time consuming and laborious to fix are now much easier to due thanks to the new technology and the need to develop new solutions to meet such problems.

4. The Highline and the concept of progressivism have similarities and differences. The similarities are that the Highline was something that has never been done before and nothing like it has ever been seen which goes along with progressivist views on how in order to move forward as a society some things are going to need to be done that have not been done before. The Highline was also accomplished by the knowledge from many experts such as gardeners, engineers, and business people who worked together to make the surrounding area a better place to be around this is what progressivism supports, the collaborative effort from different people with all a single goal. Make the world a better place. Although there are similarities there are also differences between the Highline and progressivism such as how the highline relied in part on wealthy powerful businesses and businessmen supporting it which progressivism is against and how it is still an old structure that could have potentially been torn down and replaced with something new and potentially more modern. 

Highline-Nyc

Philanthropy

Max Miller
Philanthropy

What is the meaning of the word philanthropy, and what types of activities are associated with it?

Business Dictionary defines philanthropy as something that is done for the benefit of all the human race this includes a level of personal sacrifice from an individual in order to help the larger cause. Activities associated with it are things like donating to charity of the research for a cure or it can even be something like volunteering. 

How is philanthropy different from “charity” or “charitable giving.”

Philanthropy and charity are often confused. They both involve giving money or volunteering ones time but charity is focused on helping to eliminate the suffering caused by social problems meaning that the majority of people can be charitable because it is often fairly easy to help. But Philanthropy involves trying to fix the social problem that causes the suffering all together meaning that philanthropists are looking for a long term solution to a wide spread problem and this usually requires a lot of money and time from many individuals.

Learning to Give.org

Find out about the philanthropic work of Andrew Carnegie, including the amount of money he spent and the types of projects on which he spent it. Why did he invest so much in philanthropy, and why he decided to spend his money in the ways he did?

According to Columbia University, Andrew Carnegie gave away over $350 million of his own money to many different projects but they centered around global education and world peace. He invested so much in philanthropy because be felt that people who had more than they needed had a moral obligation to give it away to help those who didn't which he stated publicly. At the time of his wealth there weren't a lot of education programs such as libraries so Carnegie spent a lot of money building many libraries around the world. 

During Carnegie’s lifetime, the press called attention to philanthropic giving of his business rival, John D. Rockefeller. How did the two men’s giving compare?

Carnegie and Rockefeller both gave away massive amounts of their own money. And many regard them as both pioneers in the philanthropy world. They both gave a lot of money to education but in different ways. Carnegie focused on building public libraries as Rockefeller focused on building schools and collages. New York Times 

What type of philanthropic work is the Carnegie Foundation involved with today? There are many different branches of Carnegie Foundation involved in philanthropic giving – be sure to note them all.

The Carnegie Foundation is still heavily involved in philanthropic work today and they are still involved in many aspects of giving but they still mainly focus on education. 

Who are currently considered major philanthropists? Find a current list and then choose one to focus on.  Summarize what you are able to learn about that individual’s philanthropic giving.

Major Philanthropists include people like Chuck Feeney, Gordon Moore and Bill and Melinda Gates. Bill and Melinda Gates have given away the overwhelming majority of their money and are known to encourage other billionaires to do the same and join them in their efforts. Their mission is to make sure that the younger generation of people survive and thrive as said on the Bill and Melinda Gated Foundation website.

Imagine yourself as a philanthropist. What types of work would you invest in, and why?

If I was a philanthropist I would focus in investing in saving the environment and specifically the animals that are going extinct because many species of animals are going extinct at an alarming rate and its kind of humanities fault. 

Progressive Era Research

Progressive Era Research 

Human Trafficking

Child workers in America-Wikipedia

Woman and children slaves awaiting to be sold, Virginia 19th century

Child Labor-Britannica

19th century Brothel

19th century New York Brothel-New York Times 

Newspaper comic-University of Oxford archive 1930

Sources: The Frightening Parallels between 19th Century American Slavery and 21st Century Sex Trafficking- George Washington University Article 

18th Century Human trafficking- Tes.com 

Human Trafficking and Exploitation-Plos medicine journal

Trans-Atlantic slavery and contemporary human trafficking-Open Democracy.net 

Immigration

Max Miller


In the recent years immigration and the migrant crisis has been a very talked about topic in the news. The drama surrounding the southern border has been in the forefront of headlines for years now, but the US is not the only country dealing with problems surrounding borders and immigration. The EU and almost all of Europe have also been dealing with a migrant crisis. The US and the EU both have their own immigration issues, and many people think of them of having the same kind of problem but do they require the same solution? When many people hear about immigration today and news involving the US and the EU they think that both parts of the western world are dealing with the same kind of problem and also require a similar solution. Even government officials constantly compare the problems and say that a certain solution would fix the US and the EU, but the US and the EU have some similarities and a lot of differences and is it possible for them to learn from each other?

The European crisis and the influx of immigration in the US have some parallels as they both involve immigration as being the core of the issue but they also have major differences. An NPR interview dives deeper into these differences. In the interview it goes over how Europe is actually allowing many refugees and some world leaders in the EU are supporters of open border policies, but in the US, president Trump vowed to not let any immigrants in in exchange for much stronger border policies. There are also many supporters for closed borders in European countries such as Germany who say that the US should serve as a role model and close their borders off. In the US there is now a backlog of over 750,000 immigrants and it is said it will take many years to process all of them, Germany has a similar issue with long wait times for hopeful immigrants even after the number of migrants entering Germany has dropped significantly since 2015. This was a result of the German government making deals with other countries to prevent a glut and overwhelming migrant influx. Despite President Trumps hopeful talks with Mexico trying to do the same thing he is taking a more hands on approach and trying to build a physical wall instead of diplomacy. Immigrants trying to come from Germany and the US often come for the same reason. In the US immigrants are coming form central America trying to escape poverty and crime, it is the same case with middle eastern  refugees trying to escape war in Syria. This highlights some of the similarities and differences between the US and other countries.

The US and the EU are intertwined on their struggle against controlling immigration. The American Foreign Service Association states that immigration in the US and EU is often regarded as a crisis and there is still no end in sight. They also state that the EU has been reliant on American financial aid to help with refugees since the Obama administration but the White House has since changed its stance on this policy now that trump has been elected. In the EU countries have partnered with many other nations such as the ones that are in a good geographical place to help such as Turkey, to work together on a solution which as been proved effective and has worked on putting a limit on huge influxes of migrants making the problem more manageable to deal with. The US on the other hand has worked alone to solve its issues such as when Trump signed an order that would ban immigration from certain middle eastern countries that he deemed were a danger to national security. This resulted in the many countries in the EU breaking off ties with the US on migration issues, resulting in the US being left almost completely alone to solve its issues. But in the EU there is still a lot of disagreement on how best to go about this problem. Countries work together on certain things but they are still often divided on many aspects, there are also many calls for the countries to unite to act as one.

In the EU it seems like everybody has a different opinion on what to do, and the more arguing that happens the more people suffer which is why in Europe it is such a talked about issue because in a New York Times article it says that more than 14,000 people have been recorded dead of missing in the Mediterranean sea trying to reach countries like Italy, and even more people are held up in refugee camps and forced to wait with no other option. The conditions in these camps are often said to be terrible which is why so many people are eager for a solution as they know the longer they wait for European countries to argue the more people will end up suffering. European counties have been under a lot of pressure around their actions and some countries are now at the point where they are just avoiding the problem and their nations legal and moral responsibilities states the New York Times again.

In Europe and the US there seems to be a vast divide in opinions and the longer the arguments go on the more refugees and immigrants have to wait. For some it seems hopeless as waiting lists for citizenship is scheduled to take many years and those who were once hopeful are now forced to wait in often inhumane conditions which has caused a lot of controversy with human rights. But despite all of the bad news, there is hope. Which comes in the form of the Netherlands who have developed a system. This system is a fast-track system and is very efficient in processing refugees and migrants, instead of years this system only takes weeks and it combines empathy and humanity with border control. This is a system many countries are trying to replicate and something other countries could learn by, that instead of politics they combine humanity with border control.

Irregular immigration in the EU: European parliamentary service blog  


Contemplating the politics of the EU immigration policy-MUN Planet

Gangs conspiring with officials to smuggle Illegal immigrants into the EU-Daily Express


Sources:
The Differences Between The European Migration Crisis And The Influx To The U.S.-NPR

Europe remains as divided as ever over ‘almost impossible to solve’ migration crisis-CNBC

In U.S. and Europe, Migration Conflict Points to Deeper Political Problems-NY Times

Immigration rows: US and Germany compared-BBC

The Migrant Crisis in Europe and the U.S.-E.U. Relationship-AFSA Org

The 5 Big Questions About Europe's Migrant Crisis-Times

2.2 Success Factors

Max Miller
Success Factors

Opportunity 

Skill 

Hard Work 

Luck 

In terms of economic success these are the order of the factors I think contribute to success. Opportunity is first because in order for anything to work and be successful opportunity is at the core and most important, because you can know exactly how to do something and work hard at it but you will never be successful if you do not have the opportunity to display and use such skills. I ranked skill next as I feel it is also a major key to success because if someone can work hard but it can be very ineffective if they lack the skill as opposed to if one possesses such skill it will be easier to be successful. Next is hard work because hard work is one of the building blocks of success without it can be very hard to be successful but not impossible.  Last is luck I put it last because luck is luck is not essential for success but it does make it easier at times and if luck is being relied upon for success them success will most likely not come. 

   

Tips for Success-Strathcona Elementary School 

Barbed Wire

Max Miller
Barbed Wire

Glidden's Patent for Barbed Wire-National Archive  

        First Patented in 1867, barbed wire was the perfect solution for a widespread problem facing the American West. Before the invention of barbed wire, fences formed boundaries by using timber, soil, stone and sometimes metal, but the American West had none of these resources to create fences and it was inefficient and very expensive to fence off large areas during the west at that time. The idea of having a fence made out of wire was not new. It was not until Joseph Glidden's perfected the idea by adding little barbs on the wire and inventing a machine for its manufacture that barbed wire saw use. Gliddens won a patent for this new type of wire in 1867 resulting in lawsuits from many other inventors at the time claiming that it was their idea, but Gliddens won because he was one one that was responsible of making the machine to mass produce all of the wire.

This new invention of wire fence was more economical and durable than its wood and metal counterpart and finally made it possible to fence off large areas such as cattle ranges in the west. This caught the eyes of businessman and steel tycoon owner John Warne Gates who used the idea of barbed wire to create “American Steel and Wire Co”, he used his the new innovations in manufacturing technology to create a barbed wire monopoly. Accordin to the BBC, In the year 1880, his factory produced 163,000 miles of wire which is enough to circle the world 10 times.

      But the history of barbed wire is one that is much more complex than it might seem. There is good and bad that was a result of this new popular innovation. The Good, National Archives compared barbed wire to having the same magnitude of change as other inventions that dramatically affected the West such as the windmill, locomotive and rifle. This is because the Barbed wire proved perfect for the conditions in the west. Joseph Glidden's, John Warne Gates  steel and wire manufacturers, and anybody in the industry at all at the time was made very rich because of the tremendous popularity of the wire. It was efficient, cost effective and exactly what farmers needed at the time. Benefiting the land owners more than anyone else, they could finally fence off their land keeping things in and keeping things out just like they would do with any other fence. And because of the Homestead Act many landowners were looking for just the innovation. But this did not come without a price and the barbed wire fences would soon become a controversy.

      Because of how widely used barbed  wire was, it limited the openness of the west, which in turn limited the freedom of the ranchers and cowboys as they were fenced off of the land that the relied on to make a living during their cattle drives. They also cut many people off of necessities that they relied on to survive. This caused many disputes among the different people living in the west. Private farmers would unlawfully fence off land that was not theirs and claim it for themselves, which resulted in conflicts where a group of people would go and cut the wire of a landowners property which cited many violent conflicts. The cattle were now given less land to roam as they would be fenced in and closed off. Slowly, Wealthy ranchers pushed out small time ranchers and the power in the west now shifted dramatically in favor of those who owned land. The uncontrollable expanse of barbed wire fences led to many new laws, as Rush country-The Barbed Wire Museum states “Miles of barbed wire was being constructed daily”. All of these factors gained barbed wire the name “Devil's rope” in the west, and also started to mark the end of cowboys and ranchers.

     Though the history of barbed wire is long and controversial. It is undoubtedly an extremely underrated innovation. As Native Americans also lost land due to barbed wire it became a controversy and is now a symbol of oppression that is still used today. Barbed wire is also widely used today and is easy to find during ones average day if they were looking. A major part of barbed wires’ history was its use in both World Wars the Glidden Homestead organization estimates that there is around 1,300 miles of barbed wire used on the western front alone in WWI, as just like it did in the american west, proved to be a perfect solution to a pressing problem, as barbed wire could not be shot or destroyed by guns and was very good at stopping enemies.

Patent Drawing for Barbed Wire-National Archives

     In conclusion, barbed wire is an old invention that has stood the test of time, hardly ever differing from its original patent. It has proved itself as a useful tool time and time again throughout history. Although the history of barbed wire is a controversial one, there is no doubt that it has influenced not only American but the World.

Sources:

Rush Country Organization-General Information and History  

BBC-Affects Barbed Wire had on America 

University of Richmond History Engine- Deeper understanding on the American West and Barbed wire  

 First Machine used-Glidden Homestead Foundation 

JSTOR-Affects Barbed wire had on farming and how it changed many aspects of life 

Glidden Homestead Foundation-Complete History on Barbed Wire

National Archives-Patent Information on Barbed Wire 

Britannica Articles-General knowledge