Progressive Presidents

In which John Green teaches you about the Progressive Presidents, who are not a super-group of former presidents who create complicated, symphonic, rock soundscapes that transport you into a fantasy fugue state. Although that would be awesome. The presidents most associated with the Progressive Era are Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. During the times these guys held office, trusts were busted, national parks were founded, social programs were enacted, and tariffs were lowered. It wasn't all positive though, as their collective tenure also saw Latin America invaded A LOT, a split in the Republican party that resulted in a Bull Moose, all kinds of other international intervention, and the end of the Progressive Era saw the United States involved in World War. If all this isn't enough to entice, I will point out that two people get shot in this video. Violence sells, they say.

1) Which of the Presidents would you bring to a party based on their personality?  Why?

2) Who would you want to lead your sleigh?  Explain.

3) Which president would make the best Santa?  Why?

4) Who gave the most to the 'American Worker?' Women?'

5) How would the current President compare to the 'Progressives?'  Would he be invited to their party?  Why or why not?

Trust Busters

"Trustbusting" was one of a number of progressive reforms enacted at the national level in the early 1900s. In addition to local and state issues, progressives were also concerned about problems in the country as a whole. Many of them believed that the national government no longer served the interests of all Americans. In an age when big business seemed all-powerful, many reformers felt the United States was abandoning its promise of freedom and opportunity for all. They wanted the government to play a stronger role in promoting democracy and solving national problems.

Three presidents—Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson—worked to advance the progressive reforms. Their efforts helped change how Americans thought, and continue to think, about the role of government.

The All American Hot Dog

What food could be more American than the Hot Dog? What is your favorite? - a chili dog, a cheese dog, or a foot-long dog? A multitude of toppings can enhance the flavor of your hot dog. Common toppings used on hot dogs include ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, chili, cheese, and sauerkraut.

Hot dogs are popular among Americans because they are easy to make, inexpensive, and delicious. Hot dogs can be prepared in a number of great ways--nuke-em, grill-em, sauté-em, roast-em, fry-em or boil-em.

Most recipes for hot dogs combine together a tasty blend of favorite meats (pork, beef, chicken, or turkey), meat fat, a cereal filler which could be either bread crumbs, flour, or oatmeal, a little bit of egg white, and a mouth-watering array of herbs and seasonings including garlic, pepper, ground mustard, nutmeg, salt, and onion.

Once these ingredients are grinded together, the stuffing is squeezed into sausage casings. Many of the hot dogs sold in stores are enclosed in synthetic cellulose casings, but most home-made hot dogs are made out of natural animal intestines.

During the 'Gilded Age' increased production meant that more products were available to the public, but buying them was not always a good idea. Consumers often did not know what was in the products because the government did not regulate product quality.

Meat was one example. In his 1906 novel The Jungle, muckraker Upton Sinclair wrote about unsanitary conditions in meatpacking plants.

Read excerpt from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and answer these 3 questions.

1) What do you suppose was the reaction of the public when they found out what was in their meat?

2) Why did meat companies allow this to happen?

3) How is our food better regulated today as a result?



Read this excerpt from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, watch the trailer for the movie, then answer the next 3 questions.

4) Compare this reading to Upton Sinclair's 100 years ago. Have we learned our lesson?

5) Both Upon Sinclair and Eric Schlosser were "Muckrakers" and used their books to cause change in our society. Perhaps some day you too will write a great American novel; but until that time what greater power do you have? Will you think twice the next time you pull up to the Drive-Thru window?

6) Sinclair himself once stated: “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” He intended the book to raise public consciousness about the plight of the working poor; like the Lithuanian family in his story. Who do you think works in the slaughterhouses of today? What hasn't changed?

How are Hot Dogs made today?

I wish I were an Oscar Meier Wiener, that is what I'd really like to be...

Why is Cincinnati known as 'Porkopolis?'

Whats a Pig's favorite Shakespearean Play?

The McRib:  Enjoy your Symptom

Even Homer Simpson likes the Ribwich!

Pigs In Zen

The Sewer

We Sing this song of the Sewer....

Can a picture change History?

After a yellow fever epidemic swept through Memphis, Tennessee in 1878, the newly created National Board of Health sent engineer and Civil War veteran George A. Waring Jr. to design and implement a better sewage drainage system for the city. His success there made Waring’s national reputation, and in 1895 he was appointed sanitation commissioner of New York City. During his brief tenure, Waring made a huge impact on the city, making much-needed reforms that would become the foundations for modern recycling, street sweeping and garbage collection.

In 1895 street cleaning commissioner Colonel George E. Waring Jr. ordered his entire brigade of sweepers to wear all white uniforms and caps, eaning them the nickname the 'White Wings.'

Why White? He believed the eye-catching regulation whites would keep members of the force at work, and would prevent them from slacking off. Regulation whites remained in effect until the 1930s.

Who else wears white?

What is the history of garbage?

What can we learn from looking at old garbage?

Wealth Inequality

'Diamond Dog'

      During the "Gilded Age," every man was a potential Andrew Carnegie, and Americans who achieved wealth celebrated it as never before.  In New York, the opera, the theatre, and lavish parties consumed the ruling class' leisure hours.  Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish once threw a dinner party to honor her dog who arrived sporting a $15,000 diamond collar.  How much would that be in today's $$$$?

     While the rich wore diamonds, many wore rags. In 1890, 11 million of the nation's 12 million families earned less than $1200 per year; of this group, the average annual income was $380, well below the poverty line. Rural Americans and new immigrants crowded into urban areas. Tenements spread across city landscapes, teeming with crime and filth. Americans had sewing machines, phonographs, skyscrapers, and even electric lights, yet most people labored in the shadow of poverty.  Read more....

Is the Distribution of Wealth more equal today than in the Gilded Age?

What do the 'bean counters' say?

Make a prediction and then check out the reality.

Baby Its Cold Inside

"He was nearly as close to the stove as he could get, and yet he could not persuade himself, that he felt the slightest heat, not withstanding the 'glass' door was still gently and serenely glowing. He tried to get a trifle closer to the stove, and the consequence was, he tripped the supporting poker and the stove-door tumbled to the floor. And then there was a revelation--there was nothing in the stove but a lighted tallow-candle! The poor youth blushed and felt as if lie must die with shame. But the Colonel was only disconcerted for a moment--he straightway found his voice again: What you want is the appearance of heat, not the heat itself--that's the idea. Well how to do it was the next thing. I just put my head, to work, pegged away, a couple of days, and here you are!  Stove with a candle in it and a transparent door--that's it--it has been the salvation of this family."                      

The period in the late 1800s known as the 'Gilded Age' derived its name from a satire written by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner.  It was considered the first "social protest" novel in American literature and inspired future writers to expose social and political ills that they observed in the nation.

1) What does the contradiction between the Colonel's explanation and the cold the young man feels imply about "Gilded Age?"

2) What does it mean if something is gilded?

3) How was the 'Gilded Age' a scam?  Who were the only ones feeling the real warmth?

The Political Political Poor Relation-An Unwelcome Guest

Suffrage or Suffering?

We have all suffered through this election.  But are we willing to give up our 'suffrage?'

Women's suffrage in the United States was achieved gradually, at state and local levels, during the late 19th century and early 20th century, culminating in 1920 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provided: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

The fight to gain suffrage was not an easy one.  Not for Ourselves Alone explores the movement for women's suffrage in the United States in the 19th century, focusing on leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Was this cartoonist a man or a woman?  What should the caption be?

What obstacles did women have to overcome to earn their voting rights?

So YOU think YOU can VOTE?!

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