Photos demonstating differences in the 2008 recession and the Great depression.

When finding the photos for this task i decided to find photos that displayed how people dealt with the recession differently depending on the period. The contrast is that the many protests during the 2008 recession in the US blamed the government and 'the system' directly whereas in the 1930s it was people appealing to the government, asking for assistance instead of calling out their errors like today. The top photo was taken in 2008 in New York and the bottom in the 1930s, also in New York.

Both photos demonstrate. to me, the exact difference in how the approach to solving economic distress has changed. The bottom photo shows the front to some form of establishment reading 'Don't Argue', even if it's highly ironic in this photo it sum up well the predominantly peaceful and conformative process protest went through. In 2008, as demonstrated by the top photo, the finger pointed at the government or the '1%' and aimed to change the hyper-capitalisation of America at its roots, from its base mindset.

Urban America- Great Depression to 2008

    The first image shows a demonstration of unemployed workers with their various trades on display, prepared to labour for $1 a week during The Great Depression of the 1930's. This shows the desperate measures that the depression made people take when confronted with the economic poverty that the Depression enforced through the massive loss of jobs; at this time 'in the United States, the percentage of the population that was out of work rose to 25 percent of the workforce at its highest level. This number translated to 15 million American being without work.'

     This is similar to the image below taken from Wall Street in September 2008 after the financial crisis. '"While the gestures of protest were familiar - satirical costumes of billionaires, hand-made signs, numerous bells and horns to draw attention to the cause - some deep-seated anger about an administration and Congress bailout deal for Wall Street was apparent today in a late afternoon protest in the financial district. "

This image taken during the time of the Great Depression shows the impact class relations had and is symbolic for the crisis of unemployment in the US during the 1930s. This shows how even children became part of the protest as they were being massively affected through their parents unemployment as shown with the boy on the right. These children, like any other protest, sought to go out and protest and attempt to bring about change and the fact that children were a part of this, really shows the desperation and deprivation of many Americans. On the other hand, the girl on the left held a sign saying, "Rarig's kid doesn't starve why should we?" which alludes to the idea that every child should have the benefit which Rarig's kid does. Rarig was a engineering successful business owner and was still wealthy during the Depression therefore the comparison is being made and how a large social speciation was occuring. The sign on the left is certainly a popular view, as they would've most likely been from a family of the working class and had parents that were unemployed due to the disastrous state of the economy.

Initially when you compare the recession of 2008 and The Great Depression, the latter is undoubtedly the one which is shown in everyday life through pictures and people on the street protesting regularly. The Depression deprived people of essentials in life, left many homeless and created social separation and uproar. The recession is on a more down turn from this because people weren't suffering badly like they were during the Depression and unemployment rates were far worse during the 1930s. However, both pictures show in a sense that unemployment was a major struggle. This picture demonstrates the closures of businesses which in turn led to mass unemployment. Similar to businesses as seen in this image, over 170,000 small companies were destroyed (2008-2010) and each of them had approximately 100 employees each. Both images share the fact that not enough jobs are available for people to be able to live happily and have easy access to essentials in life. 

"Street Arabs in Sleeping Quarters [Church Corner]"

At first glance, this photograph would generate a lot of sympathy and pity for the street children of New York, yet Jacob Riis in 'How The Other Half Lives' states that "it is a mistake to think that they are helpless little creatures, to be pitied and cried over because they are alone in the world...they were a set of hardened little scoundrels". Riis verbally paints a picture of a street child as "acknowledging no authority and owing no allegiance to anybody or anything, with his grimy fist raised against society", and with "sturdy independence, love of freedom and absolute self-reliance", we see him suggest that these "Street Arabs" embody several core American ideals, such as freedom and independence, despite being in a state of homelessness. This photo therefore shows that despite the hardships faced by immigrants in New York, even this young, they continued to battle and survive the poverty and dangers they faced in New York; which Riis explores my saying "the little ragamuffins sleep with at least one eye open, and every sense alert to the approach of danger: of their enemy, the policeman, whose chief business in life is to move them on, and of the agent bent on robbing them of their cherished freedom". This shows the discrimination against immigrants in America at this time, and lack of pity even on those as young as the boys pictured. However, Riis does also give examples of those who helped these "Street Arabs", such as "Children's Aid Society...lodging-houses". Regardless, they couldn't house every homeless child in New York, therefore there were always those left on the street, like those pictured above, highlighting the inevitable poverty of immigrants in America at the time.

Work Vs Leisure - Ragged Dick Presentation

• Alger implements various themes to show secret to success 
• Work vs leisure, key to Dicks way of life/ Rags to Riches
• American Dream link to work and leisure 
• Hard work centralised, what you attain from it 
• Work reoccurring theme in not only ragged dick but Algers other novels
• Working hard and it's benefits vs indolence 
• Luck vs work
• Child falling in water, dick rescuing, luck or benefits of being selfless?
• Leisure - self education and its importance 
• Leisure intrinsically linked with work
• How leisure is involved 
• Dicks friendship with Henry Fosdick
• Becoming more literate and its importance, accepting Mr Whitneys advice
• Ragged Dick emphasises important underlying message through leisure and work. 

Friendship vs. Rivalry

• Friendship:
• Frank and Mr Whitney
• Henry Fosdick
• Mr Greyson
• How frienships help
• Rivalry:
• Micky Maguire
• Roswell Crawford
• Mr Travis
• Alger's meaning
• Appearance of friends vs. Rivals
• positives and negatives of friendship and rivalry 

Youth vs Experience

• Introduction - importance of Youth vs Experience
• Dick - presents aspects of both? Young & talented. Rags to riches. Putnam's quote.
• Youth - pos & neg. Pos- youthful & full of energy, lack of responsibilities - true for Dick? Neg- nicknames, lazy stereotype.
• Other hand: lazy characters e.g. Johnny Nolan - quotes?
• Maturity in experience: Dick being mature for his age.
• Maturity in age: Mr. Greyson and Mr. Whitney - mature, responsible figures.
• Other hand: Irresponsible adults - Mr Nolan, store clerk.
• Dick acting older than he is: Quotes?
• Street smarts as experience: Quotes? Experience as a boot-black. Dick vs Frank in street smarts & common sense.
• Appearances: Younger characters- dirty and ragged, except for Frank, and later Dick. Older characters- well-dressed and hygienic e.g. Greyson and Whitney, except for Mr. Nolan, presumably. Suggests experience is superior to youth.
• How characters are treated by how they look: When filthy, Dick is judged and the clerk tries to con him and threatens to arrest him. Whereas when cleaned up, he is treated with more respect, except for by Micky, who bullies him. 
• Experience as negative: Micky being experienced but mean, bullying Dick and being a "leader of a gang of young ruffians", contrasting Dick.
• Fosdick: Like Dick, he is both young yet experienced, but not in the same way. He can read and write, whereas Dick is a good boot-black and is street smart. 
• Conclude: pos and negs of both, youth and experience as separate, but can be overlapped by the likes of Dick and Fosdick. 

12 Years a Slave Review

The story begins with Solomon living with wife and children in New York as a free man and respected member of his community. After being lured to Washington by a couple of con-artists who promised him work, he was subsequently drugged, locked in chains, viciously beaten, stripped of his identity and shipped to New Orleans to be sold into slavery. Over the next twelve years, he was owned by two men who treated him in contrasting ways. The first was relatively civilized, but the plantation's half-witted manager was threatened by Northup's superior intelligence. Their mutual dislike produced a dangerously volatile situation where we see Solomon moments away from being lynched. This scene is perhaps one of the most powerful, as a continual shot it leaves the audience uncomfortable as Solomon struggles in the mud on his tip-toes to keep his balance with the  noose still around his neck while other slaves continue on in the background, unable to help. Unwilling to lose his investment, Northup's owner re-sold him to a neighbour. This unbalanced individual regarded his slaves as property to be used for pleasure and profit, which caused them to live in perpetual fear that his capricious moods would flare into sadistic lust or rage at any moment. He often punishes his slaves, with his worst behaviour reserved for his 'favourite' slave Patsey, regularly raping and beating her. This leads to his wife's increasingly hostility for her through jealousy, culminating in her throwing a glass bottle at her head and encouraging her husband to beat her until her flesh is exposed; all for borrowing a bar of soap. The slave owner even gets Solomon to take part in the whipping of Patsey.This shows how no remorse is shown to people considered nothing but property.

 Their dramatisation of Northup's experiences is both powerful and uncomfortable to watch, as the film depicts the perverse nature of a society that permitted such a barbaric system and successfully manages to show how a privileged Southern elite cruelly exploited their fellow humans in order to acquire greater wealth for themselves.

The film does often rely on shock tactics to keep the story moving and does not delve particularly deeply into the psychological side of how slavery effected both the slaves and the slave owners. These factors are shown however in the scenes where Solomon carves his wife and children's names into the side of his violin only to smash in later on, or the despair when he is almost found out for trying to get a letter sent up north with the help of a White man who ultimately double crosses him. Another powerful scene is where a fellow slave is buried, while the slaves sing, a close-up of Solomon's face reveals his impending realisation that unless someone saves him his fate is to die as a a slave- the fate of so many black people in the South at this time.

12 Years A Slave Review

Woodrow Wilson once stated in the wake up 'Birth of a Nation' in 1915 that the film was "history written with lightening". However, in 2013 Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave set the record straight and thus many people have come to argue that finally, history has truly been written with lightening. Very few films have depicted slavery which is perhaps the most profoundly abiding shame in America's Hollywood. No film before 12 Years A Slave truly addressed the reality of slavery at such a personal level whereby we can truly see what life was like as a slave, not to mention the brutality and rape, but also the mental destruction that comes with it and a generation of people who are brought up in slavery and thus internalised. Numerous films in Hollywood seem to have followed the trend of black people or history being improved and saved by white people, notably, such as Taratino's Django Unchained which ultimately ends up as a revenge fantasy and doesn't really show any empathy towards the slaves or what their lives were like. Returning back to the idea of internalisation of the slaves McQueen shows this effectively by showing how their movement around the plantations is not monitored in the slightest. Clearly you can begin to understand the mindset of slaves and how their attitudes to seek freedom is bereft not only out of fear through brutality which the film shows explicitly, but also there is no possible way of returning even if on the rare chance your family wasn't also put into slavery. Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays Solomon Northup, brilliantly empitomises the loss of hope through his facial expressions and expresses the despair of slavery to an extreme extent where he joins in singing the song ('Roll, Jordan, Roll')  which all the other slaves are also singing. It is at this point where Solomon accepts he's a slave and cannot change this; something which is every slave would have to be endure in 19th century America.

Review of 12 Years A Slave

After its 2013 release, 12 Year a Slave was nominated for 295 awards, winning 223 of these, including 3 Oscars, therefore is a world-renowned historical drama about slavery. Based on Solomon Northup’s memoirs, the film is an unapologetic account of the inhumane, brutal reality of slavery in the U.S, well-known for its difficulty to watch, due to the violence onscreen.

Previous to the release of 12 Years a Slave, actress Lupita Nyong’o was relatively unknown to the U.S. public, and the world, excluding her popularity in Kenya. However, after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, she gained worldwide recognition for her outstanding performance as Patsey.

During the film, we see Patsey as the object of Epps’ affections, as well as his best cotton picker. As the plot progresses, Patsey is seen being raped, beaten, whipped and begging for Solomon to kill her. This emphasises not only the physical abuse of slaves, but also the sexual abuse by their owners.

One of the most notable scenes in the film would be Patsey’s whipping, in which Solomon is forced to whip his comrade, due to Epps’ cowardice. Sean Bobbitt commented on this scene, stating “That was always going to be one continuous shot…the audience is given no relief…the complexity of the emotions and the violence going on, it really acts to heighten the drama and the performance of the actors”. In this way, we can see that McQueen, and the producers worked to make this scene as uncomfortable as possible for the viewers; the disproportion of Patsey’s mistake versus her punishment (defending Solomon), the shame in her being stripped from her clothes and tied to a post, and Solomon’s unease to hit her hard enough, are all elements which completely shock the audience into the realisation that this was reality during that time in America.

On the other hand, however many argue that the film relied almost entirely on shock tactics, and unthinkable violence. Several critics compare it to the book, in this way, as in the film, we see Patsey beg Solomon to kill her, and release her from her misery, whereas in the memoirs of the actual Solomon Northup, he claimed that Patsey believed there was goodness in the world, and hoped for freedom. In addition to this, many claim that within the book, Solomon has a very complex relationship with Epps, and isn’t as negative and brutal as Fassbender portrayed him.

Therefore, despite how well 12 Years A Slave depicts the slave trade, over 150 years after emancipation, to a generation who live long after these events, many argue that the film doesn’t remain entirely true to Solomon’s actual life events, with superfluous violence, and incorrect characters. However, I believe that said over exaggeration was deemed necessary, in order to convey the brutality of the slave trade, to an audience who may be uneducated on the subject. 

12 Years A Slave - Critical film review review

12 Years A Slave is without question, the most realistic and powerful portrayal of the brutal conditions 19th century slaves had to endure in the southern states. The film captures the process of dehumanisation these people endured at the hands of their oppressors in a startlingly frank fashion, making the film exceedingly uncomfortable to watch at many points, it's clear that this is Steve McQueen's intention throughout the film. The use of camera angles to highlight the power struggles Soloman and the others faced is very clever, even in the scenes where the characters are persecuted and assaulted in the most abhorrent ways the camera height and angle remains level whether the character is black or white showing that despite the circumstances these people are still equal. The concentration on Soloman's legal struggle to get release papers filed, explores the issue of slavery in never before seen detail, as well as this, the film shows a diverse array problems never seen in a major motion picture. One aspect of the film that may not be presented as much as it could be is the scale of the trade. The only slave ship shown in any great detail the film carried hardly a dozen slaves, this of course makes sense since Soloman was not on a huge trans-Atlantic boat yet, one feels that the scale of slavery wasn't quite done justice. Also, some criticise the film for it's overactive use of violence yet, as a film in needs to inform visually the pain suffered by the slaves in captivity. Apart from these points, 12 Years A Slave excels in its portrayal of the slave trade with sexual and physical assault in no way shied away from, even details like the greying of Soloman's hair or his features becoming more gaunt over time reinforce the justice that McQueen does in his presentation of the hardships endured by slaves in the 19th century American southern states.

Born in Slavery : An Interview with Charlie Williams

Interview with Charlie Williams

I found this interview shocking, but not because it was a graphic account of whipping and abuse by slave owners, but rather the opposite.
It was shocking for me, to see an account from a slave's perspective, in which we are told that Nat Williams, the land owner, didn't whip Charlie's parents. We also see him call Williams "nice", as after his wife's death, he lived with the former slaves, after they were freed.
Charlie's family seemed to have a good relationship with Williams, or as good as a relationship between a slave owner and slaves could be, as Charlie tells the interviewer that "Mr. Williams kept us well protected."
Another shocking truth is the fact that Charlie never encountered the Ku Klux Klan, which was incredibly fortunate.
The sad reality, however, is that Charlie, after 'escaping' slavery, he remains in poverty. He says "I have no home. I am a widower. I have no land."
This emphasises the hardships and disadvantages faced by black people, in 1936, over 70 years after they, and their families, escaped slavery.

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938

The initial response to this narrative is certainly the noticeability of the poor English that is used throughout. Undoubtedly, you can infer that the individual who wrote this was very illiterate and had most likely been raised as a child within the slavery culture just like his son. Clear spelling and grammar errors are made as he tries to express his recent activities initially stating, “we builds cribs and didn’ take long ‘fore we could buy some hosses and some mules and some good hogs.”. The fact that slaves were so illiterate is clearly shown in this narrative and supports the idea of a slave culture which had created clumsy, inept, non-critical learning and unassuming human beings. Whilst we cannot tell how old the writer of this was it is fairly likely he was a grown man that had been ‘infantilised’, therefore becoming so controlled and unaware of any other way of life.

 

         The narrative gives the reader an idea of what their day to day lives would be like with ‘building cribs’, ‘scrubbing dem wid lye soap’, ‘buildin’ better houses’. This suggests a fairly normal day’s work and even states his master was happy and perhaps is why there is a lack of brutality in this part of the narrative. This lifestyle traps the slaves into a very ordinary culture during this time and this person quite clearly doesn’t know any better as the narrative suggests so much normality. The lack of emotions shown also reveals another capability slaves had; or perhaps their illiteracy meant they couldn’t portray it with words.

Interview with Mr John W. Fields, ex-slave of civil war period. 1937

One of twelve children born into slavery, John W. Fields was sold when his master died and all twelve children were split up from their family to settle his estate. He was six years old and from then on he only saw his mother for one night a year. "my life prior to that time was filled with heartache and dispair". The slaves longed for education but teaching a ''negro slave" was a punishable crime, "our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us".  Even when the civil war broke out many slaves did not know that they were free after the emancipation act of 1863; Field's did not realise he himself was free until  1864.

Punishment as a slave was a constant, "one of the women slaves had been very sick and she was unable to work just as fast as he thought she ought to. He had driven her all day with no results. That night after completing our work he called us all together. He made me hold a light, while he whipped her and then made one of the slaves pour salt water on her bleeding back back. My innerds turn yet at that sight".

pro and anti gun control websites

Pro-gun control: http://smartgunlaws.org/

'To reduce the immense loss of life due to gun violence in this country, we need laws and policies that work.' It seeks to educate to help reduce the loss of life in the US while protecting peoples second amendment rights.

Anti-gun control: http://www.cato.org/research/gun-control

'not simply to stave off new gun-control proposals, but to begin restoring Americans’ right to keep and bear arms.' The website includes a map that plots where people have used guns successfully against criminals- 'The bottom line is that gun owners stop a lot of criminal mayhem every year.'

Pro/Anti Gun

Pro Gun Control: http://csgv.org

Anti Gun Control: https://home.nra.org

This first website shown is created by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and 'seeks to secure freedom from gun violence through research, strategic engagement and effective advocacy.'  This organisation uses its contributions/funds to raise awareness of how dangerous guns are through social media, TV, radio and prints ads. Many of these awareness campaigns and their campaigners believe the NRA in particular and other organisations that are supportive of pro gun control are putting our loved ones in the line of fire. The CSGV want to educate people who are supporters of guns and make them realise why citizens must be free its violence through statistics and 'hard-hitting' stories about fatalities from gun violence. The organisation does not want to completely rid the country of the 2nd Amendment, however they advocate the idea of sensible and tighter gun laws.

On the other hand, the NRA, undoubtedly the most notorious and pro gun organisation in America believes in the traditional and founding principle of protecting the 'freedom' of individual gun owners. However, many people criticise the organisation and think it's actually working to protect the interests of the gun industry to manufacture and sell virtually any weapon or accessory to people who don't have the greatest training or understanding of safety. The NRA believes everyone should have the right to defend themselves against criminal intentions yet the irony is that these types of organisations suggest people need more guns to protect themselves from people who have guns. Moreover, the NRA argues "firearms helped define your life. Now, let them be your legacy.", which to an extent, is understandable as this was the ideology that secured American independence. Although, that was a time when guns were necessary to fight for independence. Nowadays the laws that are set in place are debatably outdated in a civilised society and it seems the US is the only super power nation that doesn't have a controlled, tighter and regulated process when purchasing weapons. There are countless statistics put forward by the CSGV which criticises all the NRA's beliefs. For example, no mass shooting in over 30 years has been stopped by an armed civilian thus proving the ineffectiveness of civilians having the right to defend themselves from criminals with guns.

Websites For and Against Guns in America

Pro Gun Website:
http://jpfo.org/

Anti Gun Website:
http://momsdemandaction.org/

Freedom of Religion

(https://youtu.be/fp9lSHTepLA)

At first, I thought that this video was just controversial clickbait.
However, after watching it, I believe that this news story brings up some good points regarding the right to Freedom of Religion in America today.
When discussing Freedom of Religion, I would naturally think of either the majority, the well known religions which are still prevalent in America today, such as Catholicism,  Protestantism, Judaism etc. Otherwise, I would be inclined to think about the controversy over extreme religious freedom, shown through the likes of the KKK, and its presence in America today, as well as prejudice and stereotypes which are directed towards those of a Muslim faith.
Therefore, one of the last religions which I would consider would be Rastafarian. I found this video very interesting, therefore, as it looks at the core beliefs of Rastafarian faith, particularly in relation to marijuana, and how these beliefs are often trivialised and mocked, with viewers often bringing up the issue of "Christian privilege" in relation to Freedom of Religion, in comparison to less popular religions, such as this. This video also explores how the Freedom of Religion can conflict with current laws,  particularly drug laws, in America.

The presidential election campaign of 1964 saw the Republican candidate Ronald Reagan give the infamous speech; "A Time for Choosing". This is a highly patriotic and very American video which follows the speech of Reagan by showing how his call for courage and defending American "God-given and inalienable rights for freedom" was successful. Throughout the video, militaristic power is shown at an extreme extent which perhaps reflects the strong belief of defending American Liberty. This power is shown through the various clips of weaponary including US fight jets, assault rifles and even the infamous atomic bomb. The fundamental theme in this video is defending American Liberty which is shown through the different pictures portraying elements of history. For example, Reagan states that those who helped defeat Nazi Germany should not die in vain thus the nation must carry on defending their freedom from any other threats. The pictures shown which follows this part of the speech is Hitler at one of his rallies whilst he was a dictator. 

History shows that American values were upheld and fought for through numerous campaigns, battles and World wars such as democracy, capitalism, economic liberalism and freedom. Moreover, Reagan calls the nation to continue to fight for these values, particularly the fight against Communism which pursued to spread the ideologies the majority of Americans disagreed with considerably such as Communism, state monopoly Capitalism, imperialism and a general lack of freedom. Reagan returns back to traditional values of protestantism and religion, something that was fundamental to the founding principles of liberty which the Soviet Union wanted to abolish.

Is the KKK movement still alive in the US?

This video shows the complexities of the concept of freedom of speech in America. Members of the KKK are free to practice their ideas due to this, ideas such as 'white power' which insinuate hatred towards other races and ethnicities. They are thus protected from prosecution as inciting racial hatred is not a crime. People in America cannot be arrested for racial hatred due to the 'freedom to express yourself' and 'civil liberty groups protect their rights to exist'.

A town in Arkansas even have a sign stating 'anti-racist is a code word for anti-white'. There are thought to be 650 different white supremacy groups currently in America. A right designed to protect and allow freedom to its citizens also takes away the freedom and protection of others.

Samuel Adams biography page

http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-adams-9176129#political-career

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was one of the American Founding Fathers who represented Virginia  during the American Revolution in Continental Congress.

Jefferson strongly supported ideologies of individuality, democracy, and republicanism all of which are still strongly upheld by modern day Americans. He started off as a farmer in a very isolated region which taught him the values of self-help thus learning how people can govern themselves.

It was clear from an early age Jefferson was destined to be an intellect as at just 24 he became a circuit lawyer for an agency of the supreme court of Virginia. He worked on a number of law suits to help the fight for freedom upon enslavement and also help reform slavery anyway he could. In one particular case he argued that, "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will... this is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance". This statement shows the exact qualities that a moral American should have, and also depicts a different identity; one of kindness and care to other human beings by doing right by man. Furthermore, this argument is in fact added into the Declaration of Independence, something that he in the end became a principle author of. 

Although Jefferson was never directly fighting in the war he was very much a thinker and used his words as a fight for independence and clearly stated the only reason the colonists are still with England is due to their discretionary allegiance with the crown. Moreover, he focused increasingly on creating a better country and making the most of this 'new world' by continuing to campaign for democratic reform and religious freedoms in the new state government. 

James Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe (1696-1785) was the founder of the Georgia Colony in Early America. Oglethorpe was born in England, seventh of nine children, and began to prepare for a military career from a young age.

In later years, he studied at Oxford, served under Prince Eugene of Savoy, and served five months in prison, for killing a man during a brawl when he returned to England.

Oglethorpe supported the rights of the colonists, and was strongly against any kind of slavery. He was noted as a philanthropist and an incredibly benevolent person.

In 1732, King George II granted a charter for creating Georgia, and subsequently named Oglethorpe as one of the 21 Trustees to govern this new colony, due to Oglethorpe’s connections, and service, in Parliament.

Oglethorpe and company landed on the site of present-day Savannah, in January 1733, and the settles arrived on February 1^st, from South Carolina.

As a humanitarian, Oglethorpe hoped to create a place in the New World, in which debtors could be rehabilitated and start a new life. However, these objectives weren't fulfilled, due to restraints on land and the fact that the majority of settlers were poor English tradesmen, and religious refugees from Europe (Catholics were banned, though). The military objectives became the top priority, due to the threat of war with Spain.

During the war, Oglethorpe showed poor military leadership, and failed several sieges, mostly due to the lack of help from South Carolina or his Native allies, despite efforts to gain their support. Despite this, Oglethorpe was considered a national hero in England, and was promoted to brigadier general by King George II.

In 1742, Oglethorpe returned to London, rose steadily through the ranks of the British Army, married Lady Elizabeth Wright, and later died on June 30^th, 1785 (Aged 88) in Essex, England. He had lived to see his infant colony become a free, and independent state.

George Washington

George Washington (1732-99) was the first President of the United States. He also fought during the American Revolutionary War, and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States having been highly involved in the drafting of the Constitution. During his lifetime was called the "father of his country"; thus making him an important colonial figure.

As the first President he established many characteristics and set many precedents of future American leaders which have become part of the American identity such as perseverance, determination and courage that shape modern America's identity as inspirational and as a nation of optimism.

'George Washington was a brave, determined man. He faced many dangers in his life, yet he seldom panicked and never gave up. Instead, he worked his way through each problem as calmly and bravely as possible. […] [H]e had earned a reputation as a man who could deal with anything. […] In the end George Washington became a hero. He was more than just a good general. He had the ability to take command and inspire his soldiers to do the impossible. […] When Americans were looking for their first President, it is no wonder they turned to George Washington.' Garcia, J. R. et al. 1997. Our United States: Social Studies. Parsippany, NJ: Silver, Burdett and Ginn.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire was founded as an English Royal Colony in 1691 and the charter was enacted the year later by King William III. Prior to this New Hampshire was a place of settlement for many as it was one of the closest parts of this 'New World' to Europe. The captain and colonist John Mason found this land in 1629 and was then named after the county he was brought up in which was the original Hampshire in England. Farming was particularly difficult in this colony due to the poor soil which was unsuitable for crops. However, within the towns along the coast, the colonists made a living with shipbuilding, fishing, and whaling. The latter became particularly resourceful and valuable as whales oil could be used in lamps.

New Hampshire had a general lack of government during the early stages of settlement and thus looked for protection in the colony of Massachusetts which resulted in Hew Hampshire being governed from Massachusetts in 1641. Many of John Masons heirs began to seek control of their territory whilst Massachusetts was coming under increasing scrutiny by King Charles II and therefore establishing the Province of New Hampshire under a charter set in 1679.

This colonies relationship with the natives began as almost non-existent due to most of the settlers staying relatively close to the shore of the Atlantic so that they could keep in easy and constant contact with England. Whilst there was minimal contact many exchanges had occurred such as trading the natives learned survival skills for improvements in metal work. However, whilst New Hampshire was not directly involved in The First Indian War many of the resources were going to New England who were a direct belligerent. Ultimately, this resulted in multiple raids and skirmishes and only got worse as time went on. This, in turn increased the amount of slavery in New Hampshire as settlers attempted to control the natives and seek profits in the meantime. Three years before the American Revolution there were up to 674 slaves in New Hampshire.

Delaware

Delaware is one of the Middle Colonies of early America, alongside Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
The colony was English in origin, and was founded in 1638, by the New Sweden Company, and Peter Minuit, a Dutch Colonist.
The two main reasons as to why Delaware was founded were trade and agriculture, this was due to the fertile soil, and thriving forests in the area.
Delaware was the first of the original 13 colonies to become a state of the United States, on 7th Dec 1787, almost 150 years after the colony was founded.
Despite the fact that the Dutch insisted on always purchasing land from the Native American's, rather than seizing land by force, this didn't keep the peace between the colonists and the Native Americans. In 1631, there was a massacre of the initial 28 colonists by the Zwaanendael Colony, due to the cultural shock and confusion over the concept of land ownership and payment. Therefore, the relationship between the Native people and the settlers wasn't positive, and the colony wasn't successfully founded until 7 years later, due to the area being deemed too dangerous to settle in.

Pennsylvania

The middle colonies consisted of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Pennsylvania was originally founded in 1681 as the result of a royal land grant to William Penn, after which the state was named. Penn established the colony as a safe haven for Quakers who were persecuted in England. Religious freedom was offered to everyone in the colony.
The middle colonies were the most ethnically and religiously diverse of the original 13 colonies.
 Before the Commonwealth was settled by Europeans, the area was home to the Delaware (also known as Lenni Lenape), Susquehannock, Iroquois, Eriez, Shawnee, and other American Indian Nations. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their colonial lands in America. The Dutch were the first to take possession. During the Anglo-Dutch war the British took control of former Dutch colonies.The Quaker leader Penn had signed a peace treaty with the leader of the Delaware tribe, beginning a long period of friendly relations between the Quakers and the Indians.Additional treaties between Quakers and other tribes followed. The treaty was never violated.

New York

The colony of New York was first claimed by the Dutch in 1609 as New Netherland, after Englishman Henry Hudson was sent to find a passage to Asia by employ of the Dutch East India Company. This resulted in him setting up the fur trade with local Native American tribes, and consequently the first Dutch settlement, Fort Nassau, was constructed near what is now Albany, New York. 

Hudson reported the Native Americans to be "amicable" people, and Dutch settlers relied on this relationship with surrounding tribes as their interest in the area was primarily for trade purposes. 

In 1664, the British Army conquered the colony of New Netherland. The transfer between Dutch and English possession of the colony was done without the need for war, with the English offering the Dutch "life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority". Peter Stuyvesant, General of the colony of New Netherland, accepted and the colony was surrendered to Colonel Richard Nicholls and renamed New York after James II, the Duke of York.

Demographic conveying information of the US

This is an image portraying an estimation of the number of deaths that have occurred in each state. Accidents, suicides, self-defence as well as cases of murder are included in these statistics. Also, it is perhaps unsurprising to notice that the states with tighter gun control laws tend to be the states that have far less deaths. For example, Arizona has one of the highest death rates which is certainly connected by the fact it is only one of three states that enables its citizens to bear concealed weapons without a permit. In contrast, states such as New York have fairly low figures due to the regulations including the New York SAFE Act. With these figures in mind, recent events of gun shootings would perhaps increase the amount of deaths per 100,000.

True Stereotypes

One shows the highest paid public employee jobs by state whereas the other shows most popular Google auto-complete results; which both exemplify truths behind some stereotypes about America.

The Best and Worst Aspects of Each State

Both of the above diagrams highlight the Best and Worst aspects of each state in the United States, according to statistics. I chose these images as I believe that they highlight the differences between the states well, with some facts being quite surprising. I think the fact which shocked me most was that despite Alaska being named the "Most Equal" State, it still has the highest rates of Suicide. The least surprising would include California being known for Air Pollution, New York being known for the Daily Commute, and Hawaii's high Cost of Living.

Two demographic maps of the US

Here is a .gif map of cannabis reform throughout the US by state. There seems to be a correlation between cannabis reform and the well-being of the state, as well as being able to see the direct democrat's party influence in many of the changes.

Its interesting to look at this map and think about which states have higher incarceration rates, perhaps linked to institutional racism and the cannabis law map above. Also worth thinking about the average salary in the higher population areas too.

Surnames Across the United States

This map of the US shows the 25 most popular surnames in each state as of 2000, with the size of the surname in each state representing the amount of people with the corresponding surname. By far the most frequent is "Smith", with states such as California and Florida containing over 125,000 people using the surname. The map also shows the origin of the surnames, with many of them originating in England and Wales, particularly in the closest area to the UK; the East. The Southern and Western states also contain many surnames of Spanish origin which correlate with their proximity to Mexico.

American Ideals

On February 23rd 1945 this historic picture was taken which depicts 5 US soldiers raising the nations flag on top of Mount Suribachi, during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. This image undoubtedly became one of the most significant and distinct images of the war as it represented the allies war against tyranny, fight for democracy, team work, dedication, sacrifice, patriotism, all of which are ideals that created this country. Even though the war in Japan didn't end for another 7 months, many people saw this image as a symbol of inevitable triumph because no foreign power had ever planted their flag on Japanese soil. Therefore, the publication of this image also gave many people huge hope of the safe returns of their loved ones.

This image was published in Life Magazines February 1937 issue, World's Highest Standard of Living which became instantly relatable to American people all over the country. This was published at the peak of the Great Depression and therefore includes a blatant sense of irony with an idealised American family poster board next to a real, everyday and grim looking group of families who are clearly bereft of belongings or homes. The picture specifically shows a line of people who were homeless after the flooding of the Ohio River. In contrast to the first image this shows how even hard work and having the correct morality american life didn't stop people from suffering. Ultimately, the 'American Way' of life only accounted for a very select few at this time and it was more of a dream to think about whilst they were living in the nightmare. 

American Ideals - Graham

Here we see the face of Barack Obama super-imposed upon that of  'Uncle Sam'. The iconic image of modern America that President Obama now is, portrays the epitome of what the US can be. A charismatic, against all odds winner ,who despite his critics, strives to succeed and innovate even in the face of constant adversity.

Here we see a statement highlighting how the core fundamental values of the United States of America, however pure in intention, rely on material wealth and power. This has ironically culminated in a system of government that is apparently founded upon religious ideals, yet fails to provide healthcare and other means to the poor, has one of the world's highest incarceration rates for non-violent crimes and is stereo-typically seen as violent in many ways. 

American Ideals

In 1988 American pop star Michael Jackson bought and took up residence at a 3000 acre ranch in California which he named "Neverland" in reference to the fictional island from Peter Pan. Michael himself embodied the American Dream, famously going from humble working-class beginnings to becoming the so-called "king of pop". This picture shows the entrance to his home; a train station. The ranch was also a symbol of the American Dream, showing that any American can achieve their highest aspirations. 

This second photo is of Michael Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch entrance over 25 years later. The ranch has now reverted to its original name of Sycamore Valley Ranch after a recent renovation. In late 2007 Jackson got into financial difficulties that saw him faced with a bill for nearly $25million to allow him to retain ownership of the ranch which he could not pay. Although some find their American Dream, it may not be long until it turns into their American Nightmare.

American Ideals Images 

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states the freedom of speech as a constitutional right. This first image shows a protester proudly displaying a rainbow flag to celebrate the legalisation of same-sex marriage in June 2015, demonstrating the American constitutional ideals of equality and freedom. The changing of the law to make marrying the same sex was presented as a fundamental right. This is iconic of America as it demonstrates how America presents its people as proud to stand up for what they believe in. 

However, by September 2015 an Apostolic Christian was sent to prison in Kentucky for her stance in refusing to follow court orders to issue a marriage licence to a gay couple. As many as 12 counties in Alabama are not issuing marriage licences in a state where the law says judges "may" issue licenses. On the other hand in Oregon a county circuit court judge is facing an ethics review over his refusal to perform same-sex marriages. This demonstrates how America is not completely free to everyone and that equality is not the same to each person in every American state as there are still many campaigners against gay marriage even now it has been legalised. 

American Ideal Images

The first image clearly embodies the American ideals of diversity, opportunity and liberty. Arnold Schwarzenegger was born into poverty and famine in Austria, and dreamed of moving to the U.S since age 10. By age 21, he was living in L.A and had been crowned Mr. Universe. Today, age 68, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a household name, known for his acting, bodybuilding, and for becoming the 38th Governor of California. Schwarzenegger has been called "the most famous immigrant in America", and I believe that his life epitomizes the American Dream, as well as American ideals of liberty and opportunity.

The second image, however, seems to question whether traditional American ideals are still upheld in certain areas of modern America, particularly the likes of liberty, equality, and basic human rights. The recent unrest in Ferguson, over the shooting of black teenager, Michael Brown, by white police officer, Darren Wilson, had a massive online following, and one twitter user juxtaposed these pictures in order to show the lack of progression which America has made in response to racial tension and police brutality, in the last 50 years.

Find and post any TWO images which you judge are iconic of “America.” Choose one which affirms the connection between America and its ideals and one that questions it. Comment on your posts.

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