Muckrackers

How many of you hope to leave Talawanda and live in ' the Big City' someday?  Why/ not?

This footage is from a San Francisco cable car shortly before an earthquake and fire destroyed the city in 1906. What social, political, and environmental problems do you see on the ride?

How about this trip through New York City 1911?

In a Writing for Understanding activity today in class you will  act as muckrakers to conduct field investigations using primary sources.  You will then use your notes to write newspaper reports exposing problems in American society in the early 20th century.  Be sure to use shocking and vivid language that will stir your readers into action.  

Trying to imagine what a bustling city street in the late 1800's/early 1900's sounds like?

How the Other Half Lives

Watch the Video

Jacob Riis, the third of fifteen children, was born in Ribe, Denmark, on 3rd May, 1849. He worked as a carpenter in Copenhagen before emigrating to the United States in 1870. Unable to find work, he was often forced to spend the night in police station lodging houses.

Riis did a variety of menial jobs before finding work with a news bureau in New York City in 1873. The following year he was recruited by the South Brooklyn News. In 1877 Riis became a police reporter for the New York Tribune. Aware of what it was like to live in poverty, Riis was determined to use this opportunity to employ his journalistic skills to communicate this to the public. He constantly argued that the "poor were the victims rather than the makers of their fate".

In 1888 Riis was employed as a photo-journalist by the New York Evening Sun. Riis was among the first photographers to use flash powder, which enabled him to photograph interiors and exteriors of the slums at night. He also became associated with what later became known as muckraking journalism.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAriis.htm

What Does it Mean to Be an American?

If you wish to become a US citizen and neither of your parents are US citizens, you’ll first need to immigrate to the United States and become a legal permanent resident.  You must reside in the United States as a permanent resident continuously for five years. The only exception to this rule is if you are married to, and living with the same U.S. citizen spouse; then you can qualify after only three years.

Before immigrants to the United States can take the final Oath of U.S. Citizenship they must first pass a naturalization test which assesses their knowledge of basic U.S. government and history. Applicants must correctly answer at least 6 of the 10 randomly selected questions to pass.

Do you know more about America than the immigrants who want to become citizens? 

Click here to find out.

Are these questions fair? Why are they so hard? 

What questions should we be asking?

What does the US citizenship exam actually test? 

How has military service served as a pathway to citizenship?  Should it?

Is immigration good or bad for the USA?  Why?         Take the Poll

Angel Island

How were new immigrants 'welcomed' differently by Americans already living here (old immigrants)? Were all immigrant groups treated the same? How are immigrant groups today treated differently?

Veterans Day

Dear US Service Member,

We don’t know each other and will probably never meet, but I want you to know that you and all of our troops are in our hearts and prayers each day. Please always remember what you're doing will always be appreciated and never forgotten. I wish you all the best and pray for your safe and speedy return home to your family and friends. Thank you.

Talawanda HS Student

Oxford, OH

Some of our soldiers don't get much mail from home. They don't often hear how much we appreciate all they do for our country, even though there are many easy ways in which we can let them know. Write your letters of thanks in class and we will compile and send them to our soldiers currently serving overseas.

Mission US: City of Immigrants

It’s 1907. You are Lena Brodsky, a 14-year-old Jewish immigrant from Russia. How will you start a new life in America?

Click the link to play the game. The goal of Mission US is to understand history, not to win. In each mission, you’ll meet a range of people with very different viewpoints, explore historical settings, and witness key past events, and will have to make difficult decisions. The fate of your character is based on your choices in the game, which will also impact the outcome of your character’s story. You can replay the game and make different choices to see how your character’s story might have turned out differently.

Ellis Island

Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Between 1892 and the early 1950s, nearly 15 million people streamed through Ellis Island in search of a new life.  Here are the stories of those extraordinary immigrants, largely in their own poignant words. Coming primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe, and from widely diverse backgrounds, the émigrés represented in this remarkable volume recount their adventures with dignity, wit, and unflagging honesty.

What factors 'PULLED' these immigrants here?  'PUSHED' them?

What did immigrants bring with them?  What would they contribute?  What is their legacy?

What do Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty mean today?