The Forces of Bacchus by D. A.

 1. The Forces of Bacchus reading starts in the state of North Carolina in the Rowan county. The main focus was on the temperance of alcohol that had slowly emerged through the county. The Rowan county had consisted of a very religious community which had come to realize alcohol and its limits. The church believed in a limit and moderation of alcohol and that drinking was to be taken modestly. As time went by, the population in the state grew excessively, bringing in all types of people, and businesses. Taverns became a part of the community, adding alcohol to many parts of the Rowan county. Seeing the increase of alcohol and the clear necessity that it was, to many of the residents, problems arose, violence within the men who drank, abuse to their spouses. The government believed in allowing alcohol licenses to those with "good character" but as time went by, temperance groups arose, religious groups, activists, wanting to abstain, limit, or prohibit the use of alcohol. 

2. The purpose and point of view of the speaker were to add an emphasis on the temperance that had become such a harsh demand in the Rowan county. Many religious groups tried to prohibit alcohol and found ways to really increase that demand of abstinence of any alcoholic drink in reference to the bible and proclaiming it as a sin or an evil that would come upon the individual if they were to drink.The speaker explained how temperance activists wanted to force the community to a limitation of drinking but poorly failed since the demand for alcohol as well as business in the community were to increase. Those residents did not see the taverns as a bad thing but a service that was to be provided to the community. 

3. In class, we discussed more reasons as to why temperance groups and religious groups saw alcohol as a problem. Temperance activists believed alcohol ruined potential, ruining families, causing violence amongst each other, and as well as promoting political corruption. In reference to these beliefs, these temperance groups decided to try and raise awareness in the community, creating pictures, showing everyone what alcohol does to you and what it symbolizes. In class, we also discussed a temporary prohibition of alcohol that led to the actions of smuggling and residents secretly bringing in alcohol, drinking indoors. It did lead to less drunk people in public, less violence since many had to hide to drink but smuggling did become a part of the temporary prohibition. 

4. Some of the conclusions we drew in class were the types of people that made up temperest activists, for example, the consistency of many whigs in the activist's groups than democrats. We also concluded that of all the types of groups that were against alcohol, religious and activists, the religious groups were more modest in explaining that drinking would have been easier to not do but it was encouraged to a limit. The activist's groups encouraged prohibition much more and wanted it to be a thing. 

5. Some questions that were left wondering went towards a concept of what if the prohibition of alcohol really went through ? In ways it did, but if alcohol was to be fully prohibited, what would have changed, what would the community become, and how the residents in the community would have lived. Alcohol was such a demand to many many residents in the Rowan County, but if there were none whatsoever, I would like to see how many people depended on it. 

Abolitionists by H. T.

1. The reading that we read, entitled “The Anti-Abolitionist Meetings in the South,” we learned how many people, whom are in favor of the institution of slavery, went about preventing abolitionists from making large strides in trying to abolish slavery. The author, Susan Wyly-Jones, was arguing that anti-abolitionist were willing to do a lot in order to maintain that slavery, the free labor and the superiority it provides, stays. This is proven when Wyly-Jones discussed the many actions that the anti-abolitionists often took when trying to protest the many actions abolitionists were also doing in their efforts to end the institution of slavery. Many anti-abolitionist would host meetings, speaking about how slavery was the only thing keeping America together. In one instance, they even stole pamphlets, which were intended to be sent out in an effort to explain how horrible the institution of slavery was, from the post office and burnt said pamphlets in an act meant to strike fear in the hearts of abolitionist everywhere.
2. The purpose of the piece that Susan Wyly-Jones wrote was mean to inform readers of the events that occurred during the period of high tension that surrounded the decades before the Civil War. In order to complete this goal, Wyly-Jones included the voices of Anti-Abolitionists and Abolitionists alike. She included these groups by stating the vents that they induced and experienced such as the burning of the pamphlets, the pamphlets themselves, and the meetings Anti-Abolitionists hosted throughout the entire country. The voice that was missing was the slaves themselves, and how the actions these groups did impacted them directly while still in slavery.
3. Our discussion in class, and the sources we viewed such as the artwork, helped me understand the topic of abolitionists and abolitionists by making us understand the classes of people and how and why things happened. For example, we talked about how people whom worked at the post office on the night of the burning of the pamphlets, and how they had divided out the mail for the “robbers” who broke into the the post office before the robbers had even gotten in. Also, we discussed how the anti-abolitionists used the reason that the institution of slavery was the only thing maintaining the balance of society, and how that sparked feeling in lots of people.
4. One connection we made in class was about how these events were demonstrative of why nothing had been done about slavery until the Civil War, and how tensions grew between Abolitionists and Anti-Abolitionists and how that lead to the Civil War between the North and the South. Because of the tension between the two parties, conflicts could rarely could’ve settled and no progress would be made towards, nor away from, ending the institution of slavery.
5. One question that I had following the end of class, was how long would this battle between Abolitionists and Anti-Abolitionists have gone on had South Carolina not triggered the Civil War by seceding from the Union? Another question that I had shortly after leaving class was how often did these type of event occur? How often would fires burn in the streets over the issue of slavery?

Abolitionists by D. L.

The documentary “Three Abolitionists Who Helped Change America” tells us the significance of three men in particular and their impact on the abolitionist movement. At that time, being an abolitionist was a challenge. David Walker, David Ruggles, and Anthony Burns were all looked up to for various reasons. David Walker used his freedom of speech and press for his abolitionism. David Ruggles believed in the use of practical abolition. He liked more of a direct confrontation towards the topic of slavery. Ruggles owned a bookstore in which he helped hide and protect many slaves and he would often be out by the ports to watch for illegal smuggling. Anthony Burns had the greatest impact when he decided to escape and run from slavery. Only to be caught and jailed. Soon after, he was sold to an abolitionist and gained his freedom. All these men had a great impact on opening the eyes of people who hadn’t realized how important it was to be an abolitionist.
            In the article, “A Departure from Their Place”, we read about how women were involved in various petitions submitted to congress. Also, how the women’s place in society didn’t affect them into doing what they believed to be right. For example, in these petitions, the signature places were divided between Citizens, men, Ladies or even Neighbors, and minors. These petitions showed society where women stood and this didn’t affect the women into not wanting to take action. On the contrary! Once congress decided to disregard the petitions sent in by women, the women responded by sending even more and more their way.
            In class we also took a look at an article titled “Address to the Slaves of the United States” by William Lloyd Garrison. In this article we found what slave owners feared most. One reason being that Slaves knew that their “masters are cowardly and weak, through conscious wrong doing”. A few questions that still remain in my head are why congress would disregard petitions if that was their job. Next, I would have liked to get more into the process of how Anthony Burns eventually made it out of jail and became a free man. Also, how whites reacted to the acts of the three men who were so recognized in the abolition movement.

New York: Order & Disorder and Swill Milk by D. C.

1. The first source was a documentary called New York: Order and Disorder, we learned about the ways in which New York changed from a rural to an urban community through the years and through it’s inhabitants. Some of these intensely packed living areas of immigrants and poor civilians really changed a lot of the scenes in the city. Irish immigrants were flooding the streets and were forced to compete with black folk for the same jobs and positions in society. The economical and political points of view also took note of who was living because they had to see enough product and realize how to win future elections. Our second class source was all about Swill Milk and it was called, Organizing a Protest in a Changing City by Michael Egan. This swill aka diseased milk came from diseased cows. This became such a huge issue due to the skyrocketing infant mortality rates which stemmed from the diseased milk they were consuming off the market. These cows were producing such awful milk because of their conditions, cramped and dirty all stacked up on one another--sort of like the Irish and Black immigrants. Disease spread faster this way leading to worse and worse conditions for both.
2. In the purpose of the documentary we watched is to give us a true understanding of the demographics of NYC’s struggles throughout the time period of 1825-1865. It gave us reasoning for why immigrants acted in the way that they had, it also made us see how horrible it was for them. The author’s point of view in the documentary seems to be a white middle class observer depicting the scenes of chaos. The text by Michael Egan was in the point of view of honestly a college department head describing the horrid struggles of poisoned milk and what was and was not done about it and its effects on society. The purpose is to show how powerful some industries can be and also how manipulative the are capable of being.
3. Well in class we did a lot of talking about the swill milk portion and had many stories and examples of the conditions from first had experiences with diseased milk. The smells and looks are disgusting but it was right under so many people’s noses and they could have saved a lot of lives but the inspectors were fooled. Just talking about how bad the milk was in class made me realize how stupid or how much these inspectors were paid off to keep it as if everything was functioning beautifully. On the documentary when we talked about how the Irish and Blacks were seen as equal even though Irish men were white, that fact alone gave me a great idea as to how they were treated. Having to compete with another race for everything and survive in slums in America was truly awful.
4. One of the big questions we talked about in class was dealing with the milk and why nothing was done about it. The Dairy Industry put chalk and magnesium into the pale blue diseased milk to make it a thicker white milk which stayed white for longer to fool the inspectors and the public consumers. Nobody did or said anything about it because there was so much economic benefit from it. The Breweries would give their left over grains to the Cow Stables to feed the cows, then the Butcher would get the cows to sell to people if he didn’t say anything. Also the Markets grew and had more product for the public the buy like meat and milk and alcohol so their businesses boomed too! The money everyone saved by cutting corners, lack of caring for people’s health, and this rapid population growth was honestly why nothing was done. It’s quite sad that it is all true and that there was no alternative source for any product, it was just how things were done back then.
5. I’d want to know more about if any other industry pulled this off and if so how and how long did it go on? Also why could the government not get involved if they new it was costing people their lives? Could immigrant traffic be stopped so the cities didn’t get overwhelmed with unemployed people on the streets? What was the consequence for these Industries once Western Country milk was brought over in refrigerator cars on railroads?

New York: Order & Disorder and Swill Milk by M. M.

The documentary New York: Order and Disorder, is about the events that led up to New York changing from a rural to an urban community. Problems that plagued New York during this period included moral depravity, too little space for too many people, and discrimination against the Irish immigrants escaping famine in their country. Discrimination against the Irish is said to come from their bushy eyebrow, tendency to drink, and the competition they offer to Native-born Americans. The producer of this documentary uses these facts as well as a brief look at New York while it was still rural, to support the idea that New York urbanized and grew faster than it could handle.

The various historians present in the documentary gave us a third-person perspective of the events that took place during New York's urbanization period. In addition, several excerpts from diaries of New Yorkers who lived through urbanization, were read by the documentary's narrator which did and didn't give a first-person perspective. I say didn't because as far as I watched, there wasn't an account from the Irish immigrants or the Native-born Americans who discriminated against them. How these two groups saw each other, their fellow New Yorkers, and the process of urbanization are what was missing from the picture of New York transforming.

Discussions about the documentary in class seemed to bring a few new facts about the newly urbanized New York to light. Our class conducted an analysis of a drawing of New York during during their transformation; we noticed that the artist used a lot of red and orange which are usually associated anger, painted a diverse crowd of New Yorkers in narrows roads, and the aforementioned crowd seemed to be in a frenzy. We concluded that with urbanization came hostility and chaos due to very large populations being compressed into a city that cannot accommodate such a huge increase in its population.

Another fact that my class and I learned is that unsanitary conditions and rise of diseases, often accompany rapid urbanization and population growth. When populations inflate in such a small area, the chances of diseases spreading to the rest of the population are very high. Not only that, but the chances of diseases starting are increased when you have a population produce more waste than a small city can hold or handle. We understand how disease can start and be recognized in large part, thanks to one of my fellow classmates whose name I am ashamed to say, I don't know, connected the smell of bad cow milk to popping a zit. An unusual comparison, but one that can help picture the disgusting conditions that New Yorkers became accustomed to living in.