Speech

Walking into this class at the beginning of the year, I had the mindset of every typical teenager, “This class is gonna be boring” or “Why do we need to learn this? They’re all dead anyway.” As the first week went on I was shocked to find out that one of our first project was to watch the movies, “12 Years a Slave” and “Glory” unlike every other class we had where it was review. 

My favorite and the most pleasantly surprised part was how horses were such a big part of the Native American culture. If horses wouldn’t have played such a part of the Natives lives then they wouldn’t be a part of the American Culture. As a quote from my paper, “  Indians bred the most well known horses known to date in America.” If they wouldn’t have bred those horses, there would be no entertainment containing horses such as rodeos or Kentucky Derbies. The one thing I was unpleasantly surprised with the United States was how they treated the Industrial Workers. The higher ups could have gone about cutting wages and laying off workers differently but they didn’t. Instead they cut some workers pay and raised the rent up to 25%, that’s bound to put anyone out on the streets if they weren’t financially stable before that. 

In 10 years from now, I will probably still remember the horrid and vivid images from “12 Years a Slave”. I won’t forget house Solomon was treated as property and I won’t ever understand why someone would treat him badly and others treat him okay, or how Soloman had respect for the man who held him captive. In his journal he praises William Ford, “There never was a more kind, noble, candid Christian man than William Ford.” Along with slavery came Racism. Racism is something that Americans still continue to struggle with. The Huffington's Post has an article titled, “More White Americans Believe in Racism than Ghosts”. So many people believe in ghosts but more people believe that racism is real. Racism has been one of the many problems America has struggled with and they will continue to struggle with it for many years to come. 

If I were to name the time era for 1865-1920 I would name it “The Migration”. During that time period more than 25 million people immigrated to the United States. This helped the time period out a lot because they were able to recruit workers in the industry. And even though they were sent out in hard work areas, they were able to say that they worked and lived in America. 

Having history in our schedule at school may seem pointless and boring at first glance but then you come to find out the good aspects of your country and the bad aspects and you learn how the people before us built the country to what we are to this day. It makes it more interesting to learn about when you think about how we could’ve been a totally different country if it weren’t for certain people. 

Thinking About Success

 I think that with hard work, skill, opportunity, and luck that you would be successful in the economy. Being successful in a job or anything comes with hard work. If you don't have the will to work, or you want to do it lazily then you won't have success. Skill is also important, even if you don't have skill in the start of your job, if you keep working hard you will gain your skill. Having opportunities in the job world means that you can get further faster in your job. If a good job opportunity arises then you would jump on it and you might get it if you have the will to work hard, and the skill that comes with working hard. Lastly to be the most successful is luck. To be lucky means that you just happen to be at the right place at the right time, it doesn't mean that you're going to continue with your lucky streak.

In today's reading I found that Zara, the Spanish store, is so successful because they are able to make sharp turns in the fashion industry to keep up with people's demands. Every week they make two trips to the stores and put new stuff out. They spend money to make money. They bought 14 new machines that work around the clock to keep up with cutting fabric and dyeing items. H&M, which is similar to Zara, sends out only 2 seasons and sub seasons within the seasons. They have people set up to check what consumers are wanting, similar to Zara which makes them successful with their customers. Being caught up to what is the latest trend is what keeps these companies alive. I do not like shopping there because of their unreliability of the outfit, in my opinion their clothing is a few time wear and be done with it. They do keep up with the trends and people like how quick they are to get on their feet and run with the newest idea of what's next. They're one step ahead of big names like Belk, Dillards or similar to them.

The Age of the City

Dear Mom and Dad,

The new city is much different from back home. The streets are crowded and it’s hard to breathe. When I got off the boat it was such a relief. It was cramped and lonely on the boat ride here. You told me it would be worth it to go to America so I endured the struggles I face. When I was on the boat I met one other person from our country. We spoke our native language which got us many looks from strangers. She was very scared as to what was going to happen when we got off the boat. After our ship had met land and we were filed off we set off to find others like our own kind. We would speak for awhile to see if anyone caught on and then we would stay quiet, trying to listen to others but it was difficult to hear over all the noise from shopkeepers, cars and horses going down the street. We did the process of speaking and listening for a few days, we slept on the streets, taking turns to make sure we were keeping each other safe. We walked up and down unfamiliar streets, attempting to read english signs but it was no use. We stumbled into weird neighborhoods on occasion. They attempted to communicate with us but it wasn’t working out on both sides. We found food out of garbage cans for a while, eating leftovers from bakeries.

Finally we found our native speaking neighborhood. It was like having a small piece of home in America. They had movies that played in our language, newspapers on what was going on back at home, food that we would have on a daily basis back there and we played games that we would play back at home. The majority of the people that we met were nice to us, they told us how to get a job, who to stay away from because it would get us in trouble and where we could stay until we found a job and learned how to speak enough English to get us around without a translator or struggling.

It has been a difficult first few weeks but with the help of everyone around us it has become easier and easier with each passing day. I have learned to speak some english, I have gotten a job at a local market, and a family has taken me in for the time being until I can start renting my own home or apartment. The Americans are kind of rough with us, they make us take tests on how well we’re understanding what is going on and if we are literate enough or if we are needing to be sent off again. Most everyone has passed their tests but they are kind of difficult sometimes. I got scared the first time they asked me questions about everything. But I soon got over my fear. I hope everything is okay at home. Maybe one day you two can come to America and see what I mean instead of just imagining it from a letter.

Love, your daughter

American Indian Horses

Horses was one of the best things to happen to the American Indians. The American Indians became to culture baseline for the Indians. The helped them travel, carry large loads, and hunt a lot faster. They gave todays American horse culture the building blocks to a successful horse bond and life. 

When horses first came to America in the 1600’s the Indians thought they were “god like”. People who had never seen a horse and were naming they thought of this, “He put us in mind of a stag that had lost his horse, and we did not known what name to give him. But as he was a slave to man, like the dog, which carried our things, he was named the Big Dogs.” That was quote from Piegan in 1787. People named the horses because it meant character. The most well known chiefs are called crazy horse and have other names with the word horse in them. For a very long time Indians were not allowed to ride let alone own the horses. With the horses being “god like” they started basing their religion off of horses. Along with religion they had medicine cults which were used to influence horse races, heal or calm, and make the broodmares foals come out strong. The people in the medicine cult were usually the most respected members of the tribes. Horses were thought to be a link between the supernatural world and earth. Indians were known for their bonds with their horses and with his bond they had “visions”. Visions were for people who wanted knowledge and being able to fast. The people who had these visions usually shared only these visions with their horses but not other people from the tribes. With these bonds of the horse, the horse would in return would help the human. Many people believed that their horse saved their life in battle or war. When they did this they would carve the horse into wood or staffs. The owner of that horse would take this staff to dances. When carving this staff they would show where the horse was injured or killed and they would cut off a piece of mane or tail. Having the staff was just a small part of the art culture of the Indians. They made art for the horse as well, such as masks or martingales for parades. They decorated both of those pieces of tack that they couldn’t be used anytime else. They also made saddles and bridles into works of art. The saddles were made out of animal pelts and started off as functioning but got into decoration. Bridles were used for almost always functioning purposes. They were really decorative as well. People who painted pieces of art would usually have horses in them, the owner would be showing the bond between the two or it would be a battle scene, the more common of the two. Images of horses were a sign of respect. But that was only the cultural side of the importance of horses to the Indians. 

The horses were used for so much besides just having cultural influences. When they first arrived in 1680 in Nebraska, the Apache tribe traded horses among tribes in trade for hides and other important things they needed. Horse trading became a big part of the Indians economy. One ordinary horse would be eight buffalo robes, one race horse would be ten guns and one really nice hunting horse would be many pack animals. Some tribes would have basically a “game” instead of buying horses they would do raiding. Raiding is when they stole an enemies horse and brought back to their tribes. The best prize would make it to the chiefs tipi and steal the priced horse. When horses are brought back to the tribe it was given to a widow or a lower class person. People made charms to have good luck during the raids. When they had the best horses they would go into mounted parades. This showed people how rich they were. They would show off how many horses they had and how nice their tack was and how much they had of that as well. After they did mounted parades they moved onto rodeos and fairs to show off their culture. Horses became their caste system. The more horses you had, the richer you were which meant you were up higher on the caste system. Before horses, the Indians had to carry wood by themselves and only had enough strength to to do small tipis. With horses in the picture, they could do large decorative tipis with no problem by using a travois, which is just a ball that could haul stuff, similar to a wagon. Women had to work less because they didn’t have to help with getting food or carrying things. The effort for hunting for buffalo really decreased because instead of having to track a herd of buffalo by foot(which took days) they could have one man killing one buffalo. With having less time dedicated to hunting, they could focus on socializing and culture. They also didn’t have to worry about food shortages. 

Indians bred the most well known horses known to date in America. They bred Chicksaw ponies with English Thoroughbreds to make the American Quarter horse, Appaloosas which was Nez Perce with an Akhal Teke, American Indian horses and Mustangs. Their most known breed was the Nez Perce. Lewis of the Lewis and Clark brothers, said “their horses appear to be of an excellent race, they are lofty, elegantly formed, active and durable; in short many of them look like fine english coursers and would make a figure in any country.” In 1874 the attack of the comanches happened and they caught thousands of horses, almost all but a few were shot. A few years later they caught another 6-7 thousand and some were auctioned off but most were killed.With these horses being killed it killed off many breeds such as the Nez Perce. In 1995 they bought 33 Appaloosa broodmares and 3 Akhal Teke stallions and started breeding creating the Nez Perce registry. This was founded by the Nez Perce Tribe. 

Overall the horses shaped the Indians to who they are today. They helped them survive when they were lacking that, they showed them culturally how to live, and they also gave todays horse culture the baseline. Horses have always been part of Americans history and even though they are not spoken off a lot in this day and age they are known in history. 

Kindred Spirit by Shanon Standridge

This is a horse pulling a travois, used to carry heavy loads that the humans could not carry themselves http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-e6253060876bd8913729ec3a19f6b9ab?convert_to_webp=true

A decorated bridle that Native Americans would have used. Has a bit but most Indians would not have used bits.
http://www.hawkhillpress.com/images/0626BS__04_V3copy.jpg

Indian and Horse by American painter Jim Clements

http://www.dreamerhorsefarm.com/wp-content/uploads/nez-perce-long-neck-horse.jpg

This is a picture of a Nez Perce horse, ridden by Nez Perce Indians 

Indian Horse - Horse History
I used this website as my main source for religious information and medicine.
NMAI - A Song for the Horse Nation
This was my main source for this essay, it has everything to do with horses and Native Americans.
NatGeo - People of the Horse
This website has the basic stuff for Native Americans and horses but they have events that happened with the Natives and horses
Nez Perce
This gave information on the Nez Perce breed.
Nebraska Studies
This website gives information on the horses and Native Americans before the Spanish showed up.
American Indian Horse Timeline 
It gives me a timeline about when the horses came to America with the Spanish 

Gabriela Childs

September 11, 2014

USH Film Essay 

Films are a great way to learn about historical events in a fun way. They are filled with real history and if the director does it correctly will keep you interested and engaged with the film. 12 Years a Slave and Glory both are oscar winning history films based on true events. The film makers wanted to make a statement with these films and show the real story behind these two films. 

Glory is a Civil War themed movie. The director took a chance with a young actor, Matthew Broderick, and came out with an award winning film. The movie won 3 oscars, including best actor with a supporting role(Densel Washington), best cinematography, and best sound. This film also was nominated for a golden globe for best picture, and over 20 other awards. Besides being known at the award ceremonies, this film is known by many people as “the best civil war movie of all time” according to James Berardinelli on Reelviews. Berardinelli comments that Zwick was able to grab the audiences attention without losing the historical elements. Glory focuses on 5 stories instead of just 1. He has 4 other african american soldiers along with Brodericks role that are the focus of the movie. Many other critics besides Berardinelli praised the scene of the movie where Trip was whipped. Most everyone who watched this film would agree that the scene is a heart wrencher and tug on your emotions. This movie is now being shown in many high schools because of it’s historical accuracy. The historical elements that were not correct were minor according the Ashbrook website. Instead of going from the north down to the souther they went from south to north in real life. Robert Shaw, played by Broderick, was not Governor Andrews first choice in command. After going through so many people, Andrew could not find a person who would be willing to lead a black regiment so he asked Shaw. Shaw was going to decline but slept on it and decided to be apart of the regiment and lead them. In the movie, they said most of the african americans there were not freedmen but instead slaves. That is not the case. Most of the men were freedmen. Zwick wanted to show that African Americans are people to and that some white people understand that they are people just like us. Zwick’s motivation behind this movie was to show the history behind this regiment. The only criticize he got for this film was that Shaw was the only fictional character. Some of them are half true but Shaw is the only documented man. He probably did that because he wanted the POV to be Shaw’s. “I think the choice was to focus on neither blacks nor whotes but on the regiment. One of the point of views was to explore a time in which both blacks and whites found some commonality of purpose.” That was a quote from one of Zwicks interviews he had with Michelle Berry, a MIT tech student. Zwick succeeded in the way he showed the film. The total gross of this film was 26.8million which was impressive but 12 Years a Slave has got this movie beat. 

12 Years a Slave is an emotional 2 hour film of watching a mans life turn upside down because of slavery. The film has won 214 awards, including, best motion picture, best actor with supporting role, and best writing for Oscars, Won best motion picture in Golden Globes and has even gotten on MTV’s movie awards as movie of the tear and best male/female actor/actress. Along with these major awards it has been nominated for several other Oscars, Golden Globes, and 200 other awards. That is over 400 won/nominated awards and the movie well deserves it. The historical accuracy is the same as Glory’s. It was small minor details that got the best of the movie but no one would know the difference if they didn’t look up the historical accuracy of this movie or read the book. Soloman had 3 children instead of just 2, he was not sure if he was drugged or not but signs point to being drugged. The slave who was murdered in the movie was not actually murdered in real life. Robert, the name of the man, died of small pox on the ship and the plan to escape crumbled after the death. William Ford, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, was actually a nice slave owner. Ford wanted to use the slave as property but in order to do that he did not let them come to harm. In the movie though he was portrayed as a hypocrite. Soloman wrote in his journal/book that “There never was a more kind, noble, candid Christian man than William Ford.” Other minor details were that Patsey did not beg Soloman to end her life and she did not go to Mistresses Shaw’s house to speak over tea(which we did not see in the movie during class). Historyvsholly explained everything from the correct to the wrong versions depicted in the film. McQueen’s interview, broadcasted on Youtube, explained his reasoning behind the film. He wanted to get Soloman’s story out into the world and let people know what he went through in those 12 years that he was a slave. McQueen selected the lead actor very carefully saying that he had to have a certain way of holding himself. He had to have humanity and show that Soloman was able to keep his faith and continue living his life and making the best of the horrid years. 97% of the people on rottentomatoes all said practically the same thing. 12 Years a Slave held your interest and kept the intensity high. Also like Glory this film is in many people’s minds are “the best slavery film of all time.” It shows people who may not have known, that America the world we live in today was not the same place we lived in this time period. The only bad ratings this movie got was because the film was hard to watch and became a heartache to see him suffer like McQueen was able to do so easily. The opening weekend of this movie was almost 1 million dollars and it has ranked over 54million. 

Both of these films are ranked so highly in historical films that they would be great to show in class. Students need to be engaged with what they’re learning and these films can do that. Yes, they’re both hard to watch but they show the real story and the statement that they made with these films. The films are amazing and have so much history in them that they would be hard to say no to watching them in class. People around the United States are showing them in high schools now because of that history accuracy and letting people get a glimpse of what it was like to be a slave or a civil war soldier in a black regiment.