Working Conditions

( http://www.hemlockgorge.org/FHG_Makers_of_the_Mold/Makers_of_the_Mold_Images/

makers_Ind8.jpg )

As I've been here, I have seen that Working conditions are much worse then those of the 21st century. The factories and warehouses are crowded and dark. There are narrow passageways and not enough exits in case of fire. The only protection from fire is a few pails of water here and there. The Asch Building went down yesterday. The builders only build two stairways when they needed three. Their fire escape was counted as the third. But that only reached up to the second floor. They had only a few hundred pails of water spread around the buildings ten floors. Long story short, Fire went up, not enough water, lots of people died. Building went down. Many other buildings didn't have sufficient fire prevention. Back in 2010 the workplaces are less crowded, there's sufficient light, enough fire escapes, fire distinguishers. Here in the 1800s? Well, let's just say things are pretty bad. If I had to grade them on how they build these buildings, I'd probably give them at least a C. Mainly because they do try to build good buildings but they're missing alot. Well, until next time.

Living Conditions

(https://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com/file/view/scan015.jpg/30416344)

As you can see, large families were often times crowded in small apartments. In each apartment there was at least one bed in every room, including the kitchen. They oftentimes didnt have indoor bathrooms, they went in pails and threw the waste on the sidewalk in the mornings or whenever the pail got full. Nasty huh? Yeah. I'm glad they invented houses with bathrooms. Living conditions here differ so much from living conditions back in 2009-2010. Watching people

live like this and watching them accept it makes me grateful that we dont live like this anymore. They are taking a bad situation and turning it upside down and making the best out of it. They cant afford to get a better place but they are not giving up on it, they are still working hard to be able to provide for their families.

Sure, this sounds bad, and looks bad but after talking to a few of these people about it I can see that they are optimistic on things improving. I think that if we had to live like this today, if the government took away all of our electronics and forced us to work in factories and stopped most of the schools and all of that, that most of us wouldn't survive as well as the people back here do. mainly because people from 2009-2010 are so dependant on other people and things that if those things were taken away from them, they wouldn't know what to do. These people truly are fighters.

Immigration

(http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dgarvey/Garvey_us_census/Irish_to_US.jpg) Immigration is increasing every day. Irish especially. Just between 1843 and 1854 the number of Irish immigrants increased from less then 50,000 to over 200,000. They are getting jobs at factories and working at the railroads. Many Irish immigrants were mistreated around the time of the Civil war in 1861 to 1865. They were forced to live in really cruddy apartments, sort of like the Plains that exist here today. Cramped and dirty. There are rats a lot of the time and even some roaches.
Immigrants came to America during this time because they had dreams of becoming rich, the Homestead Act offered free land to people who were applying for citizenship or were already citizens. They were discriminated back at home because of their religion. They also wanted personal freedoms and all of that is being offered in America. The Irish Potato famine is also a reason that many Irish people traveled from their home in Ireland to ours in America. European immigrants mainly entered through Ellis Island and if they passed the test to get in they moved to areas where other Europeans lived, these areas are called Ghettos. White Americans discriminated them because, even though they are caucasion as well, they are viewed as a different color because they come from Europe. Asian immigrants came through Angel Island and if they passed moved to the west coast. They were brought to work on the railroads and faced much discrimination, like the Europeans. In 1882 Congress passed tbe Chinese exclusion act which restricted Chinese immigration. All of this leads to tension between different groups. Labor supply is increased around this time as well.
I like the fact that people are coming to America because if they didn't the Industry would've taken much longer to grow and we wouldn't have learned that all people are created equal with the same unalienated rights as true born Americans. I don't like that the immigrants were treated like this because even though they have different skin or are from a different country, doesn't mean they are bad people or animals or whatnot.

Welcome to the late 1800s

Well, here I am in the late 1800s otherwise known as the time of industrial growth. Many new inventions are around at this time, like the telephone, Like the one above. (http://techmiso.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/1896_telephone-292x300.jpg) The lightbulb was also invented by Thomas Edison. John Westinghouse has been working on improving electricity. The telephone is a genius invention. You can call people miles away and not have to worry about running over there on the horse, It saves so much money and time. Personally I think that the phone is maybe my favorite invention of all. Electricity is good too. Actually, the phone might not be working if not for electricity so I guess those are a close second. People are going crazy for this new technology, I mean, back in the 21st century, they are going crazy over iPhones and iPods and laptops and all that while here in the late 1800s we are going nuts about a little electricity. It makes you think about what you would do if you didnt have those things. Quite Frankly, I know a few people who would go bananas if they didnt have their cell phones. I can tell you that I would be insane after a day without electricity. We'll see what tomorrow has in store.

Getting started...

My name is Kassidy Otteson. I am in Mrs. Steinhoff's first hour class. In my freetime I like to write twilight fanfictions which you can read about in my other blog called "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb..." I just finished ''I miss you." I am 15 years old and a sophomore at Simley High School. I love animals and want to become a vetrinarian when I grow up. I am planning on going to the University of Minnesota in Crookston in either Equine science or Animal science with Pre-vet medicine. I have 20 animals all together at home. 10 Cockatiels, 4 finches, 3 canaries, 2 dogs and 1 rabbit. My favorite subject in school would have to be German class. I think its cool to learn different languages and cultures, especially German since I am part german. I am in many extracurricular activities after and before school most days. I am in German club which meets almost every monday before school, Creative writing club which meets almost every wednesday after school, and Art club which is thursdays after school. I am also taking guitar lessons tuesdays after school with Mr. Olson, my old history teacher. My favorite book series that has been made into a movie (almost all the books have now been made into movies) is Harry Potter by JK Rowling. I also love the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. I have alot of friends from all different grades. I am friends with a couple of the foreign exchange students, each from either Germany or Thailand. I know a lot of the seniors this year and many juniors and Freshmen. Even some of the sixth thru eighth graders! All of my teachers are really nice. Well, that's all for now.
Kassidy