Monthly Archives: September 2013

“I’m an oilman”

by Haroon Ahmed

Daniel Plainview considers himself an oilman, a true oilman. During the early 1900’s oil became the real goldmine for Americans who were to put in the money. If they have the right spot, the risk versus reward leans towards reward. In There will Be Blood, it skips a substantial amount of time and the time that is skipped is time where daniel is building his empire. Oil or industrialization, is Daniel’s business, it is his life.

Daniel bases his life on finding oil, if he thinks that there is a substantial amount in the ground, he will take his resources and drill it out. In the scene where he declines the town’s offer, i believe that there wasn’t much oil in the ground, thats why he didn’t bother with the towns differentiating views about whether they want to drill or not. But if there was a lot of oil, he would have ignored the talking and tried to reassure them of how good a drilling could be. Daniel is an entrepreneur, he took his money and invested it in something that he knows can make him a lot of money. But it not only affects him, but like the invisible hand theory, affects everyone around him. The moment i believe that is most important is when he gives his speech to the town where the Sunday family resides. I believe this speech justifies Daniels job. He talks about how him drilling the oil well is going to benefit the whole town. The line that got to me was when he said if i start drilling, bread wont be a luxury item anymore. I believe it does do good to the community even though they’re getting ripped off.

Like Daniel explained in his speech, industrialization is shown as progression. Its advancing these towns that have no tourism or any technology and by doing this, its making the united states progress as a whole.

 

The Oil Boom

by ma162250

The movie commences as Daniel Plainview, a mineral prospector, discovers oil and establishes a small drilling company. Daniel Plainview, along with many from his mold at that time period are seeking to take advantage of Oil during the early parts of the 1900’s

As the movie progresses, Plainview is approached by a young boy by the name of Paul Sunday, who teasingly tells him about what he believes in an on oil deposit under his family’s property in Little Boston, California. Plainview begins to portray the type of character he is as he rudely proposes a ridiculously small amount for the property hoping the family doesn’t know about the Oil. Paul’s brother Eli however does know about the oil and rejects the bargain bid and demands $5000 to fund the local church, of which he is the pastor. As Eli’s dad agrees with Plainview’s bargain price, Eli’s views on Plainview seem ever more skeptical as Plainview illustrates himself as very mistrusting and selfish. An example of why he seems to distrust Plainview is the way in which Plainview completely disregarded Eli’s attempt to bless the up and coming oil extraction point.

Furthermore as Oil production begins, an on-site accident kills a worker. Eli is first to blame the event as a result of not blessing the site.

Rise of the industrialization

by jc158939

In the film, “there will be blood”; it portrays how peoples life were affected by the rise of industrialization and oil boom of the early 20th century. The main character of the the film Daniel Plainview was ordinary digger who was struggling to find a oil. In the early part of the movie, it shows how Daniel’s life was affected tremendously because of the rise of industrialization and oil boom in the early 20th century. Just like Daniel Plainview, many people started to using steam engines and mechanic to use in their work and tries to make a profit out of it. Daniel eventually becomes very successful man because he finds rich oil site and later on he even tries to make more profit by buying the land off  Paul Sunday. While Daniel Plainview starts using men to work for him, accident occurs when the drill fails to work and it drops on worker, therefore killing him. This shows how industrialization brought wealth but it brought misfortune and death to some people. Finding wealth with help of industrialization was big success for some, but it was dangerous and risky gamble for many others.

Life Was Industrialization by Jessica Gianelli

by jg158452

There Will Be Blood focuses on the oil boom of the early 20th century. From the moment that the film begins, this idea that industrialization is the most important part of life at this time is extremely self evident. With barely any dialogue, the first scene to me was one of the most powerful that we have seen thus far in the movie. Tents were pitched all over demonstrating the day in and day out dedication to finding oil within the wells. Digging these wells and discovering oil was life for these men at this time because oil equaled money. And in turn it meant they were able to provide for their families. To me, though, the determining factor for just how important the oil was to them was the camera focusing in on the baby, (whom we later know to be H.W., Daniel Plainfield’s son,) sitting in a bucket crying after the men had all left to begin to pull up the buckets of oil. Immediately, I felt sorry for the baby, and then I came to the realization that although he was crying because he was left alone in a bucket with little attention being paid to him, the reason that he had to be there was so that his father could provide for him. In order for industrialization to progress, this work was necessary. The culminating moment of this scene was when Daniel Plainfield was attempting to console H.W. and make him stop crying and he gently brushed his face and a streak of oil was left. I believe that from this very moment on, H.W.’s life solely revolves around the discovery of oil consequently based on the fact that his father’s revolved around it as well. Industrialization was Daniel Plainfield’s life, and therefore it was H.W.’s, too.

There will be blood by Jie Cao

by Jie Cao

      1902 as a silver mining workers Daniel Plainview in a chance to open in the next oil deposits, eat the sweetness in 1911 he had suddenly become as Oil Man looking for the source of Petroleum and Minerals.

        The movie has two main lines, one out of a dark. Open wire which began around Daniel Plainview, the director will be a mercenary for the money, the means cruel, inner strength, hate the world vividly screen in front of his gritty, look for targets and resolutely implement the plan, in order to reach the goal at all sweep clear the road of the “robber barons” style chilling.Complement each other, dark lines in the movie, the director focused on a “hypocritical” Christian apologist – Eli Sunday priest, he preached superstitious ideas and to “the prophet of God” in the name spent a lot of effort to conduct their own image building, hearts conceal the brutality and greed, through religion to deceive the public to accept the “subsidy.” Daniel Plainview despise Eli Sunday emotions finally burst in the film at the last minute, he would like to own name, executed Eli Sunday, just as deep in his soul pulled out of a thorn.

         Like with any political force, as the representative of a large oil-capital forces and religious forces despite competing, but also interdependent, in the common economic or political interests before the rivals before a second handshake can instantly lay down their arms cooperation. Films portray these two forces can be described as extremely spicy, always relentless, successful people on the one hand lament the difficulty and expense of cruelty, on the other hand, and fully appreciate the “want to be successful, only the expense of other people” helpless and biting desolate.

          In 1914, the outbreak of World War II, during the war, the United States successfully carried out industrialization and reforms and rapid accumulation of wealth by means of war on the world stage. 10 years after the war is part of the merchant class of 10-year government would no longer interfere in the private sector and legislation to protect, then successfully cleared one by one pioneer history to join the ranks of the capitalists. Represented by Daniel Plainview rise and capital into the industry, as well as Eli Sunday as the representative of the spread of Christianity, such as parallel lines contrast with the general description of the early 20th century American frontier history. The Movie accompanied by the rise of American capitalism and industrial development, and created a general climbed from the bottom of the pioneers in the process of oil tycoon, spanning the Great Depression at the end of the 1930s, with the collapse of the bubble economy broken, humanity finally bloom ugly side.

Reading Secondary Sources: Active Reading

by David Parsons

READING SECONDARY SOURCES, PART ONE:

ACTIVE READING

Reading secondary historical sources is a skill which may be acquired and must be practiced. Reading academic material well is an active process that can be far removed from the kind of pleasure reading most of us are used to. Sure, history may sometimes be dry, but you’ll find success reading even the most difficult material if you can master these skills. The key here is taking the time and energy to engage the material—to think through it and to connect it to other material you have covered.

FIVE STRATEGIES FOR READING HISTORY BOOKS:

  1. Read the title. Define every word in the title; look up any unknown words. Think about what the title promises for the book. Look at the table of contents. This is your “menu” for the book. What can you tell about its contents and structure from the TOC?
  2. Read the book from the outside in. Read the foreword and introduction (if an article, read the first paragraph or two). Read the conclusion or epilogue if there is one (if an article, read the last one or two paragraphs). After all this, ask yourself what the author’s thesis might be. How has the argument been structured?
  3. Read chapters from the outside in. Quickly read the first and last paragraph of each chapter. After doing this and taking the step outlined above, you should have a good idea of the book’s major themes and arguments.
  4. Read through the chapters actively, taking cues as to which paragraphs are most important from their topic sentences. (Good topic sentences tell you what the paragraph is about). Don’t read a history book as if you were reading a novel for light pleasure reading. Not every sentence and paragraph is as important as every other. It is up to you to judge, based on what you know so far about the book’s themes and arguments. If you can, highlight passages that seem to be especially relevant.
  5. Take notes: Many students attempt to take comprehensive notes on the content of a book or article. Instead, though, try to record your thoughts about the reading rather than simply the details and contents of the reader. What surprised you? What seemed particularly insightful? What seems suspect? What reinforces or counters points made in other readings? This kind of note taking will keep your reading active, and will help you better remember the contents of the piece.

 

Identifying Primary Sources

by David Parsons

WORKING WITH PRIMARY SOURCES, PART ONE:

IDENTIFICATION

1.  What is the nature of the source?

You’ll want to know what kind of source it is — a newspaper, an oral history account, a diary entry, a government document, etc. — because different kinds of sources must be considered differently. For example, you might think about a description of a Civil War camp differently than you would think about a photograph of one, or you might have different questions about census data regarding poverty in the 1930s than you would about oral history interviews with people who were poor during the Depression.

2.  Who created this source, and what do I know about him/her/them?

Knowing something about who created the source you’re using can help you determine what biases they might have had, what their relationship to the things they described in the source might have been, and whether or not this source should be considered credible. Keep in mind that someone doesn’t have to be famous or need to have played a dramatic role in history to be a credible source — in terms of understanding the experience of World War I, for example, the writings of a regular soldier in the trenches may be as valuable or even much more so than the recollections of President Wilson or a general.  You might wonder different things about the account depending on who wrote it, so knowing the author would definitely help you start to ask the right questions.

3.  When was the source produced?

Knowing when the source was produced can help you start to put it into historical perspective. A discussion of women’s rights in America, for example, would obviously be very different in the 1820s (one hundred years before women could vote), the 1920s (when women first got the vote), the 1970s (when the feminist movement was thriving and the Equal Rights Amendment was debated), and 2013. If you don’t know when a source was written, you can’t start to put it into its historical context and understand how it connects to historical events.

4.  Where was the source produced?

Just as it is important to situate the source in time, it’s also important to identify the place where the source was produced. If you found an editorial in a newspaper discussing the Montgomery Bus Boycott, for example, you would want to know where the newspaper was published — a newspaper from Montgomery might be considered very differently from one published in Boston, Massachusetts, Mobile, Alabama, or Washington, D.C.

 

The Role of Poor Whites in the Reconstruction era South

by David Parsons

FROM IRENE TANG:

In American Negro Slavery, Ulrich Phillips wrote, “A great number of southerners at all time held the firm, belief that the negro population was so docile, so little cohesive, and in the main so friendly toward the whites and so contented that a disastrous insurrection by them would be impossible.” In observing slaves alone, many plantation owners came up with this conclusion based on the behavior of the majority of slaves that were owned, along with the belief that blacks were naturally programmed to be submissive and obedient, as stated by the character Calvin Candy in Django. Looking only at the population of black slaves, to southerners it seemed almost impossible. But with poor white people thrown into the mix, a fear began to boil within.

 

“The slave holders… suspected that non-slaveholders, to encourage disobedience and even rebellion, not so much out of sympathy for the black as out of hatred for the rich planters and resentment of their own poverty. White men sometimes were linked to slave insurrectionary plots, and each such incident rekindled fear” –Eugene Genovese

 

Poor white people began helping black slaves out of spite. The idea of poor whites and black slaves working together and forming an alliance struck fear to many slave owners. Due to that reason, white slave supporters did whatever they could to keep the poor whites segregated from black slaves and tried to keep some sort of hatred amongst the two groups. They did so by paying the poor white people to oversee slave labor as well as segregating the Irish workers and the slave workers to avoid and alliance between the two. What this also did, was give the poor whites a sense of power and authority over the black slaves, once again, causing hatred between the two.

 

Howard Zinn says a lot by bringing a spotlight onto the common fear of alliance between poor white and black slaves leading to urgency for segregation between the two. He not only conveys the importance of white and black segregation, but he also coveys the reoccurring message that whether blacks and whites were on the similar ranking or not, in this day and age of slavery, white people always end up on top. Although the black slaves were the same before and after the fact that poor whites were helping them, it wasn’t until poor white people came into the picture that slave owners were afraid of rebellion. He showed how despite the fact that they were powerless in terms of their economic status, the idea remained that the poor whites were more powerful than the slaves because they were white, which resulted in the fear rebellion only when poor whites came into the picture.

White Mans Biggest Fear

by nt159601

Black slaves were a main commodity in the south due to a strong tobacco and cotton industry. This led to a strong paranoia by slave owners, who feared that people would help the slaves rebel, or the slaves themselves would rebel against their masters. In 1831, Nat Turners’ rebellion highlighted the fears of the slave owner, thus leading to increased security. The increased security did pay off, because for the next ten years there was only one  instance of black insurrection. To white slave owners their most important possessions was their slaves

Out of fear of losing their slaves, masters started to try everything they could do to stop the emancipation of slaves. They even suspected poor white people of helping slaves. As Genovese says, “The slaveholders… suspected that non-slaveholders would encourage slave disobedience and even rebellion, not so much out of sympathy for the blacks as out of hatred for the rich planters and resentment of their own poverty.”The paranoia of rich whites believed that out of jealousy poor whites would help blacks. According to Howard Zinn this is why there were so many measures against whites who fraternized with blacks. Another way that whites tried to stop whites from helping blacks, was by hiring whites to oversee the blacks, thus giving them money to not help them. Since the slave-owners did not want there profits to decrease they would do anything in there power to keep their slaves. As Zinn regurgitates throughout the chapter is that the elites of both the north and the south controlled the policies. It was not that northern elites were not racist, they were, they just had an economy that did not run on slaves. Unlike the south economy which ran on large plantation fields and forced labor. Thus making the most important property to a southern elite, his slaves. And he would do whatever was in his power to keep his slaves.

 

 

 

Media: A Catalyst for the War

by dt147363

“But you say I am a thief, because I took the old mare along with me. Have you got to learn that I had a better right to the old mare, as you call her, than Manasseth Logue had to me? Is it a greater sin for me to steal his horse, than it was for him to rob my mother’s cradle, and steal me? . .. Have you got to learn that human rights are mutual and reciprocal, and if you take my liberty and life, you forfeit your own liberty and life? Before God and high heaven, is there a law for one man which is not a law for every other man?

If you or any other speculator on my body and rights, wish to know how I regard my rights, they need but come here, and lay their hands on me to enslave me.. . .” -J.W. Loguen

Although the reasons President Lincoln went to war were initially racially neutral, tension had been building between the North and the South for many years. Contempt for southern slave owners only increased when newspapers like The Liberator began publishing letters and stories of the horrible experiences in the South. J.W. Loguen was a slave who escaped to the North by stealing his master’s horse; He proceeded to go to college and became a minister. After receiving a letter from his former mistress that she demanded compensation for the horse or return to slavery, Loguen openly publishes the letter and his reply to it.

This marks a time when blacks were no longer afraid to voice not only their opposition to slavery, but their defiance. Newspapers like The Liberator helped rapidly spread anti-slavery beliefs because of these firsthand accounts and pushed the North further and further apart. This marked the beginning of a time in which a clear rift existed between the free North and the enslaved South, a time when people felt free to voice their opposition and dislike for the other side. The effect was a building dislike not just for runaway slaves, but for white Northerners as well, which only helped lead the divided nation to war.