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Category Archives: Cultural History
Jazz Age 1920 to 1929
This song is from YouTube. It was introduced in the first recording of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which is generally considered as one of the bands who had their first Jazz recording in 1917. Their recordings sparked the Jazz Age of the United States.
The Jazz Age describes the period after the end of World War I, through the roaring Twenties, ending with the onset of the Great Depression. Jazz was first performed in New Orleans dating from the early 1910s. In 1920s Following World War I, African Americans in search of better employment opportunities moved to the northern part of the United States. With them, they brought their Jazz culture to big cities like New York and Chicago. During this period of time, Jazz was popular music performance in bars, dancing halls and night clubs. Jazz was also changed men’s and women’s fashion style as well.
Posted in 1916-1920, 1920-1932, Cultural History, June 28 assignment
Tagged African American, employment, first jazz recording, Great depression, Jazz, jazz age, music, New Orleans, World War I
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George Cohan’s “Over There”
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/wbggEGUaE28" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Over There is a patriotic song during World War I written by George M. Cohan, and it was widely performed by various artists from its publication in 1917. Notable early recordings include versions by Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, Billy Murray, initiated by Charles King. Cohan later recalled that the words and music to the song came to him while traveling by train from New Rochelle to New York shortly after the U.S. had declared war against Germany in April 1917 (firstworldwar.com). This song was a nationwide hit in the months immediately following America’s enthusiastic entry into the war. On June 29, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded Cohan the Congressional Gold Medal for this and other songs.
Listen to The Song (Credit:Vintage Audio, firstworldwar.com)
Enrico Caruso – Over There by Enrico Caruso, Nora Bayes – Over There by Nora Bayes, Billy Murray – Over There by Billy Murray
Your Song–Our Song–Our Boys' Song! Over There.
Johnnie, get your gun,
Get your gun, get your gun,
Take it on the run,
On the run, on the run.
Hear them calling, you and me,
Every son of liberty.
Hurry right away,
No delay, go today,
Make your daddy glad
To have had such a lad.
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
To be proud her boy’s in line.Johnnie, get your gun,
Get your gun, get your gun,
Johnnie show the Hun
Who’s a son of a gun.
Hoist the flag and let her fly,
Yankee Doodle do or die.
Pack your little kit,
Show your grit, do your bit.
Yankee to the ranks,
From the towns and the tanks.
Make your mother proud of you,
And the old Red, White and Blue.Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there –
That the Yanks are coming,
The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum-tumming
Ev’rywhere.
So prepare, say a pray’r,
Send the word, send the word to beware.
We’ll be over, we’re coming over,
And we won’t come back till it’s over
Over there.
Posted in 1916-1920, Cultural History, June 28 assignment
Tagged 1917, George Cohan, Over There, World War I, WWI
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Prohibition of alcohol
Prohibition of alcohol occurs in the United States. Prohibition in the United States began January 16, 1919 with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S Constitution and effected on January 16, 1920, and it continued throughout the 1920s. Prohibition was finally repealed in 1933. This picture shows that Beer barrels are destroyed by prohibition agents in an unknown location on Jan. 16, 1920 and was published by Associated Press. While Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, it tended to destroy society by other means. Prohibition became increasingly unpopular during the Great Depression, especially in large cities.
The link of this image is http://apimages.ap.org/Search.aspx?st=k&remem=x&kw=Prohibition+of+alcohol&intv=None&shgroup=-10&sh=14
Posted in 1920-1932, Cultural History, Economic History, June 28 assignment, Social History
Tagged 1920s, alcohol, prohibition
4 Comments
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) was a landmark in legislative attempts to improve the quality of life for African Americans and other minority groups. Although civil rights had a long history as a political and legislative issue, the 1960s marked a period of intense activity by the federal government to protect minority rights. It prohibitted racial discrimination in employment, institutions like hospitals and schools, and privately owned public accommodations such as restaurants, hotels, and theaters. It also banned discrimination on the grounds of sex- a provision added by opponents of civil rights in an effort to derail the entire bill and embraced by liberal and female members of congress as a way to broaden its scope. The Act did not resolve all problems of discrimination. But it opened the door to further progress by lessening racial restrictions on the use of public facilities, providing more job opportunities, strengthening voting laws, and limiting federal funding of discriminatory aid programs.
Posted in 1960-1968, Cultural History, June 21 assignment, Political history, Social History
Tagged civil rights, Civil Rights Act 1964, equal rights, inequality
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Identity Politics
Identity politics happens when members of an explicit subgroup get together in order to affect political or social change. Identity politics is not limited to the major racial or gender divisions, but extends into sexual orientation, ethnicity, citizenship status and other instances where a specific group feels persecuted. Homosexuals could organize political rallies to have stronger hate crime laws created or allow same-sex partners to qualify for marital benefits.
By identifying himself or herself as an African-American or a homosexual or a feminist, a person could focus his or her energy on a specific political cause. Under the focused umbrella of identity politics, such a compromise would have been much more difficult to achieve. This is why many organized minority political groups have largely abandoned the identity politics model for a more comprehensive approach to common goals.
Image source: http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/B/3/2/politics-yin-yang-sac0407bc.jpg
Posted in 1960-1968, Cultural History, June 21 assignment, Midterm Exam Review, Political history, Social History
Tagged feminist, gender division, homosexuals, political groups
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Greensboro Sit-In
The Greensboro Sit-Ins were an instrumental action in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, leading to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in American history. It all started with four African-American students who decided to sit at a segregated lunch counter in Greenboro, North Carolina, Woolworth’s Store. This lunch counter only had chairs/stools for whites, while blacks had to stand and eat. They were all aware that they weren’t goin to be served but they sat there anyways demonstrating their courage and determination to fight for their rights. Four days later 300 students were outside Woolworth’s protesting.
Posted in 1953-1960, Cultural History, June 16 assignment, Midterm Exam Review, Political history, Social History
Tagged African-Americans, Civil Rights Movement, Greensboro Sit-Ins
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
This event was a start point of the civil rights movement. In 1955 in Montgomery, Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to give her seat to a white person. Almost all black people in Montgomery stopped using the public transportaitons. This boycott resulted in a crippling financial deficit for the Montgomery public transit system. Finally in December 20, 1956, the United States Supreme Court declared that Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses are unconstitutional.
Posted in 1953-1960, Cultural History, Economic History, June 21 assignment, Midterm Exam Review, Social History
Tagged African American, Boycott, Civil Rights Movement, protest
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Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square protest happened in 1989. There were tens of thousands of students demonstrating for the greater democracy in capital of China, Beijing. It reached at its peak On June 4, 1989. On that day, because protesters wanted to grieve the Hu Yaobang who was a pro-democracy and anti-corruption official, around 100,000 students went to gather at Tiananmen Square. Estimated 2,000 protesters were killed by Chinese government.
http://www.politicalforum.com/current-events/80800-tiananmen-square-20-years-later.html
Posted in 1989-2000, Cultural History, June 21 assignment, Midterm Exam Review
Tagged Beijing, killed, Protesters
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Little Rock Nine
50 years ago nine couragoeus high school students changed the USA. One simple step towards inequality turned a segregated naition upside down on September of 1957.
On September 2, the night before school was to start, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called out the state’s National Guard to surround Little Rock Central High School and prevent any black students from entering in order to protect citizens and property from possible violence by protesters he claimed were headed in caravans toward Little Rock.
A federal judge granted an injunction against the Governor’s use of National Guard troops to prevent integration and they were withdrawn on September 20.
When school resumed on Monday, September 23, Central High was surrounded by Little Rock policemen. About 1,000 people gathered in front of the school. The police escorted the nine black students to a side door where they quietly entered the building as classes were to begin. When the mob learned the blacks were inside, they began to challenge the police and surge toward the school with shouts and threats. Fearful the police would be unable to control the crowd, the school administration moved the black students out a side door before noon.
As Little Rock experienced their first year as a segregated school these nine African American students took the heat, insults, and abuse from their white peers. This event was one of the most important events in the civil rights moivement. Here at Little Rock, you had a state fighting against federal authority, national guard troopers facing professional paratroopers and a governor against a president.
This was an incredible step towards integration and althoguh it took many more years of hardships we always have to start somewhere. We have to stand up for what we believe and stand on our grounds in order to get heard. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/1kbawIm1SXY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
The Birth of Consumerism – Loss of economic freedom?
The 1950s marked the beginning of a cultural change called consumerism. The new culture convinced Americans the need to buy new homes, cars, appliances, credit-cards and even succeeded in redefining ‘freedom’. From the pre-world war meaning of freedom, which was to starting to focus on anti-segregation policies, the meaning of freedom shifted to consumption. Foner does not go into much detail but does make it a point to mention that this new idea of consumerism, being the goal of freedom, resulted in American’s being comfortable with living in never-ending debt.
I believe Foner is right in that redefining freedom; consumerism began an a culture Americans are still struggling to deal with. Consumers in American to this day live under the pretense that comfortable means ‘buying more than you can afford’. Although consumerism has succeeded in redefining freedom, it has failed to redefined what the realities of such life-styles are. The fact that debt became a part of life ‘comfortable to live with’ is shocking. As a result we live in a country that is experiencing an economic recession, loss of jobs, a growing national debt and increasing deficit in international trade. Foner even mentions that the goal of women obtaining jobs was not to help the family out of poverty rather to promote the ‘family’s middle-class-lifestyle’. A life-style that put more families in debt. Of course there are exceptions to all this and the middle-class ‘revolution’ did promote better living conditions in America. But it has come at a cost the US is still struggling to deal with – an ever expanding national debt. I fail to see the freedom or comfort of consumerism because reality says otherwise.
National and Individual Debt Clock
