Shames and Greats of America
Trey Schmidt
Bessemer Process (political)
This process injected air into molten iron to remove carbon. By the 1980s, America was making 90% of the world's steel. It was a great invention I am proud to say America invented.
Show Your Product
Transcontinental Railroad (Economic)
The railroad spanned from the East Coast to the West. Awesome idea that I am extremely proud of because it opened up so many opportunities for America, like trading and mass transportation. These both created a better economy for the United States.
Irradication of Buffalo (Social/ Cultural)
Americans removed 1000s of buffalos in an attempt to get the Indian culture to be completely removed. I am highly embarrassed of this because it was really just a selfish act. We killed 1000s of animals and almost made them extinct just to try to remove a culture. Definitely not the right thing to do.
Chinese Exclusion Act (Political)
This act didn't allow any Chinese into America for about 10 years! I really do agree with this and I guess I am proud because we were having a problem with over population and that solved a lot of it. Now they are allowed back here and we have too many people once again.
Tenement Houses (Economic)
These "houses" were just run down places to live, not even real and legit homes. They were the slums of America and they made America look like a terrible country. They also trashed our economy. I am extremely disappointed that these "houses" even existed.
Problems for Farmers (Social/ Cultural)
Too many people migrating to America created an over population for farmers. As the people came, they began to move and take over farmers lands. This is an embarrassment because we were allowing immigrants to come and take over our farmers so that immigrants could happily, with no regard for the farmers who had to suffer.
American Federation of Labor AFL (Political)
Americans created this group in order to control how much work was being done at a time and make the risk factor lower while at work. I am very proud of this because we were having major problems with child labor and major accidents at work, including death.
Public Services (Economic)
I am proud of public services like subways and trains and cabs because we still use these things fluently everyday. People have to pay to ride subways and trains, so it raised money to better our economy. It was and still is a great way of transportation.
Jay-Z Introduces Himself to Woman on Subway
Poor Working Conditions Social/ Cultural)
There was a huge culture shock which created a lot of chaos, especially in the work area. This created poor working conditions and made the work place a rather dangerous place to be and that was where people spent most of their time. I don't agree and I am embarrassed about this because people shouldn't die in a work area. The owners and managers should do everything in their power to make a work place safe.
Muck Rakers (Political)
These people really brought up all the terrible things about businesses that people were oblivious to. Awesome group because it really opened peoples eyes to the dangers surrounding them in the world.
Woman Suffrage Movement (Economic)
Women raised money to have protests for the women's right to vote. I am proud they did this because yes they won and they have the same rights as everyone else.
Kendall Jenner Explains History of Women's Right to Vote
19th Amendment (Social/ Cultural)
The 19th Amendment officially gave all women the right to vote. I am rather proud about this but it seems to me that once they over came that major obstacle they steadily want more and more. They kind of control everything now a days, if your wife or girlfriend isn't happy, I am willing to bet neither are you. "Happy wife, happy life"
Big Stick Diplomacy (Political)
Based off of Roosevelt's saying "speak softly and carry a big stick" which means he is threatening other countries with war. I am proud of this because it showed dominance in America and that we aren't afraid to fight if necessary.
Panama Canal (Economic)
The United States wanted control over the Panama Canal so we could control the sips and trade routes. I am proud we wanted this because it brought a lot of money to benefit our economy and make our nation better.
Platt Amendment (Social/ Cultural)
Unites States wanted control over Cuba so we could prevent attack from Spain. That would change everything in Cuba completely. I like the Platt Amendment because yes we would have control to prevent attack but I don't like the idea of changing an entire country's culture just to benefit America.
Sinking of The Lusitania (Economic)
Sinking the Lusitania took a chunk of our economy because we wasted so much money on supplies and the Germans just sank our ships. I hated this, why did we continue to send supplies knowing that Germany would just sink the ships anyways, doesn't make sense to me.
Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (Social/ Cultural)
The 14 points were Woodrow Wilson's "world peace agreement" that the United States didn't even sign. I am embarrassed about this because why would we purpose something like this then not even sign it? We basically looked like idiots because we made the agreement but it seems like we know it was messed up but we just wanted to screw our enemies and make them sign it. We looked like fools.