Most Significant Groups in US History

[meghanav]

rina said:

Last info post:
Rialroad workers are one of the most influential groups in American History because they still exist today. There are still Transcontinental Railroads, and other railroads that many people use today. Railroad workers are still fighting for better working conditions and better wages. Railroad workers were those who built the railroads, and now they work in the trains and fix the railroads. Railroads and their workers still exist today.

I don't think that the fact that railroads are still around is a strong enough argument to say that they are one of the most influential groups in America. A lot of the inventions that Buddy wrote about are still around today also.

[carolinah]

# 2 Info Post
Some of the Prominent Members of the Revolutionaries:
John Adams: Adams served from 1774 to 1777 as a member of the Continental Congress. In 1882, he returned to France to help negotiate the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War. From 1785 until 1788 he served as the first United States Ambassador to Great Britain. In 1789, he was elected Vice President, an office he held until 1797.
Alexander Hamilton: In 1774 and 1775, he wrote pamphlets supporting the patriotic cause, and joined the army in 1776. Hamilton became General Washington's secretary and aide-de-camp in 1777, demonstrating his administrative ability. In anonymous "Continentalist" letters of 1781-2, he supported a more powerful central government and a broad program of economic development. After the war, he planned and wrote a great deal of The Federalist, in an attempt to help the ratification of the new Constitution. In 1789, Washington appointed Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury.
Benjamin Franklin: The Stamp Act lead Franklin to defend the colonies in the House of Commons. When Franklin returned to Philadelphia in May of 1775, he became a member of the Continental Congress. During the Congress he was part of the committee that helped draft the Declaration of Independence. Later, he served as president of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, and traveled to Europe as a diplomat. Between 1776 and 1779 he worked in France, negotiating for an alliance and for treaties of commerce. With the aid of John Jay and John Adams, he negotiated the Treaty of Paris which brought the War for Independence to a close.
Thomas Jefferson: From 1769 to 1774, Jefferson served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. He was a leading spokesman for those who opposed continued British rule. In 1775-1776 Jefferson was a delegate to the Continental Congress. There he headed the committee charged with writing the Declaration of Independence. In 1779, Jefferson became governor of Virginia. From 1783-1784, he served as a member of the Continental Congress.
Baron Von Steuben: He went to Paris and, in 1777, offered his services to Benjamin Franklin, who sent him to America. In 1778, Congress accepted him as a volunteer without rank in the Continental Army, and sent him to Valley Forge. Four months later, he attained the rank of major general, and trained troops with a new system of drill that consisted of European practices modified to American needs. The next year, Congress authorized the publication of Steuben's Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, known as the "Blue Book." Although Steuben helped the patriot cause in many ways, his major contribution was increasing the professionalism of the army.
George Washington: As a member of the Continental Congress, he advocated strong resistance against Britain. The Continental Congress appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, and his troops bore the brunt of Britain's anti-revolutionary efforts at Boston, New York, and later in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Washington's troops lost battles at Long Island, Brandywine, and Germantown, but they fought well and inflicted heavy casualties on their opponents. By the summer of 1778, after a winter spent in Valley Forge, his army had improved in size and ability, reflected in their strength against the British at Monmouth, New Jersey.

[carolinah]

Last Info Post:
The Revolutionaries are the most important group of people because without them there would be the America we know today. America would exist but it would be a much younger country. Eventually our army would have gotten stronger, but without the revolutionaries it would be a longer process, they sped up the process.

[carolinah]

To answer your question Amanda. Our army would have grown to be bigger. But don't know how long we would have waited for. I could have been decades before Britain was ready to give up. The Revolutionaries left that it would the best time to get out when they did because it was right for the other people. The revolutionareis sped up the process.

[Alex S.]

Here's my summary post. I don't know what specific groups I will pick yet, but I do know what my criteria will be like.

-Change. Without change, the country stays relatively the same. Therefore, for the country to be different now than it was in 1776, there were many changes enacted by many groups. Those groups are the most influential.
-Individuals don't matter to me. Just because the leader of some group did something doesn't mean that they represent the whole group. (Sometimes this is the case, but most of the time exceptions are exceptional people; good or bad.) If the person's influential, it doesn't necessarily mean the group's influential.
-All aspects of the country must be affected. A group cannot merely change one aspect of the country in order to be one of the most influential. Numerous, most, or even all aspects must be affected in some way.

[Michelle M.]

Yea so, I have waited for the absolute last minute to do this…

But regardless, Socialists are the most significant group in America! Here’s some basic info:

Socialism is a political theory that the people should control and have ownership of all capital, land etc. The first wave of socialism in the United States came in the early 19th century with Utopian socialists who attempted to create small self-sufficient communities to demonstrated this ideal.
The first socialist political party was the Socialist Labor Party (formed in 1876), a group comprising of many Germans who had imported Marxists beliefs. Their main platform advocated the timely transfer of the means of production to the hands of the “proletariat”, or the working class.
In 1901, The Socialist Party of America, an amalgamation of the Socialist Labor Party and Eugene V. Debs’ Socialist Democratic Party, was established. With this new political party, Debs would run for presidential office five times pledging to nationalize the railroads and gain rights for workers.
Many labor unions held ties with the socialism movement as they shared similar goals. One such labor organization was the International Workers of the World or “Wobblies”, which is still in existence today.

[Michelle M.]

Second Info Post (some important names):

Eugene V Debs – Socialist politician and was one of the founders of the IWW. He ran for president five times, receiving 6% of the vote in 1912. He gave an anti-war speech in 1918 which landed him in jail, where he would run for office in 1920! He was pretty much the Socialist movement…

Helen Keller – the deaf and blind girl we all know and love was a socialist and supported Debs in his many presidential campaigns.

Upton Sinclair – Member of the Socialist Party of America, muckraker who wrote the pro-socialist novel, The Jungle, that criticized the meat packing industry in Chicago and suggested Socialism as the solution to the problems the workers faced.

[Michelle M.]

Last Post (summative):

Socialism began to decline in 1920, their leader, Debs, was in prison, sedition laws severely restricted their freedom of speech, and the IWW, one of their major allies, virtually dissipated because of the Palmer Raids.

However, during their prominence in the late 19th and early 20th century, socialists came together with Progressive makes strides for workers’ rights including obtaining the eight-hour day. Debs and the IWW also took progressive strides by allowed women and African-Americans to become involved.

Socialism became an outlet for farmers and the workers class to vocalize and act out against the capitalist system that took advantage of them.

[Michelle M.]

For Jamie,

hey sorry if u answered this before i havent been able to read all the posts yet, but question:

Although i realize the absolute necessity of the army for the development of this country, isn't this their job just as firefighters have protected us against fires. What I'm basically saying is what is so unique about the American military as opposed to say Britain's. Becuase if there isnt something special, what stops us from saying that all armies are the most significant group.

[Michelle M.]

boggle234 said:

Info Post #2
Info #2:
Here are some of the most visible groups:

-(Noble and Holy Order) Knights of Labor.
-Founded in 1869. Their most acknowleged founder is Uriah Stevens (he was an activist for the labor reform cause who believed in the inclusion and equality of all workers. Knights of Labor was originally a secret society. Members included a diverse group of all working people (‘cept some, like doctors and lawyers). Stevens promoted this group’s message of all workers joining together as a unit. Later, Terence Powderly, another leader and a worker himself who championed the labor standards cause, became the head of the Knights of Labor in 1881. The union’s adopted motto was “an injury to one is the concern of all.” First organization to est. the tradition of Labor Day.

-American Federation of Labor. Organized at end of the 1800’s by Samuel Gompers. Formed from a different group called the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States of America and Canada. AFL advocated for only groups of skilled laborers, not all workers. The AFL had tremendous success in their strong organization and proudly supported the most members of any other union in America. They were very dedicated and active in their reforms and eventually influenced Congress to pay more attention to their cause. The ratification of the Clayton Act, the creation of the U.S Department of Labor, and other programs recognized the reform efforts of the AFL on a national scale.

-In 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies, formed. Under direction of “Big Bull” Haywood. The Wobblies believed in the individual worker and the separation of different classes and did not discriminate among members. The new approach to an all encompassing membership was indeed extremely progressive for the time. Only in rare occasions had there ever been complete acceptance of all races and genders as there was in the IWW. The beliefs of the Wobblies were opinionated and generally socialist. Their absolute views gave them a belligerent persona. Similar to the Knights of Labor, their motto is, “an injury to one was an injury to all.”

Kathryn,

i know that some labor organization are still in existence (such as the IWW), could you tell me about their influence today?

[Michelle M.]

6343 said:

In this last post I wish to talk about modernism's effect on other movements.
As it might seem, the modernist movement was more of a concept that reflects a period of time starting in late 19th century through today. Because it is more of a concept, it works its way into many other groups like musicians, writers, communists, and industrialists. It even confronts religion through its promotion of science and reason, and so in all, it simply reaches into many other subjects and groups.
But it is important to understand that this is exactly what modernism is about. It is a social concept that as a result of creating a progressive attitude within a people or nation, it has stretched into every aspect of life that the people work with and deal with in life. One should not think that there were only modernists in the world in the past century, but rather that all groups that encompassed progressive measures, mainly in the 20th century, were embracing modernist ideas.
Either way, the modernists have brought the United States through one of the toughest centuries in history and have led the US to become the current supreme power in the world.

I hope I've made my group as clear as possibe. Please ask any questions you have, and I'll try my best to answer them.

Gabe,

I understand that modernism was a "social concept", but what direction would they have wanted the country to go in? what policies did they advocate if any?

[Laura D]

(Summative post)
I loved this simulation! However I realize how many people could get caught up at this time, I was sort of lucky this time.
This simulation has been my favorite one from all two years... Everyone had to participate, and it really made me have to think more critically than in other simulations. Several times I wanted to just respond with "because I'm right" or something similar, but the way the board is set up, you really have to defend your point well.
My criteria for the top ten:
1) How long they were around for...
1.5) How long has their influence lasted...
2) How many significant events they influenced
3) What affect they have had on other signifacnt groups
3.5) and how many other sig. groups
4) Are there definate leaders/members of the group
5) To what extent would America be different to day, if they never existed...

[michaelg]

carolinah said:

Last Info Post:
The Revolutionaries are the most important group of people because without them there would be the America we know today. America would exist but it would be a much younger country. Eventually our army would have gotten stronger, but without the revolutionaries it would be a longer process, they sped up the process.

I do not concur. There are a number of things that could happen in America that would not lead to the founding of The United States. England was the most powerful country in the world and a lot had to happen for the colonists to actually revolt. I do not think one could say that it would eventually happen if it did not happen then. Perhaps another european power would conquer the colonies, like Spain or France. That would certainly change things. Perhaps, without the revolutionaries, the loyalists became more powerful and America would not have revolted (and won).

[Michelle M.]

I agree with Alex G(oldstein) and Melissa about the importance of music and sports in America. Although they are both forms of entertainment, they define ages and allow the population of America to distract themselves from the problems of the time.

For example, during the Great Depression (i dont know if this was already mentioned) Seabiscuit was the most loved horse. At the "Match of the Century" Seabiscuit won the upset again the favored War Admirable, a match that was joined by about 40 million Americans who listened on the radio.

[michaelg]

I would really appreciate it if somebody asked me a question for this. I need to answer one more.

Traders are important because of their influence on the expansion of the United States. It is of my opinion that the United States would not be the size it is today had it not been for the influence of traders.

North America has many resources. Obviously, the traders would like to utilize all of them. That is a large reason why the United States expanded westward. By expanding, the United States was opening up markets for traders. Many of the squatters that lived past US borders were traders that would trade goods like fur.

Aquiring Hawaii was a way the government could secure their access to Eastern markets. Traders could have influenced the decision to make Hawaii a protectorate and later a state.

[laura b]

info 3
I've stressed the importance of segregationists mainly from a social point of view, but their impact went way beyond that. The motivaiton behind segregationist views was mainly political and economic. The power segregationists had led to minimized white-black worker interaction, and prevented blacks from voting and basically having any part in our nation's political system. Most unions did not accept blacks, further distancing them from our nation's economy.

[Alex G.]

Info Post 3

As I have made clear in some of my previous posts, athletes, and the sports that they participate in, have often been able to bring people together. Here are some of the most important sporting events in American History.

1980- U.S Hockey team beats Russia en route to the gold medal.- During much of the cold war period, the Soviet hockey team ruled the hockey world. They beat many of the best NHL teams during special challenge series, and won Olympic gold medal after gold medal. Being that during this time soviets could not play in the NHL, the best talent was available to their hockey teams, as professionals could not play in the Olympics. In 1980, the U.S team was made up of college kids. Lead by captain Mike Eruzione and goaltender Jim Craig, the U.S team was somehow able to beat Russia in the game known as the "miracle on ice", and then went on to beat Finland for the gold. This game is widely recognized as one of the most, if not the most important sporting event in American history. It brought the country together like never before, as Americans rallied around the athletes and their victory of the communists.

1936- Jesse Owens wins gold in Germany- In the Berlin Olympics in 1936, Jesse Owens, a black man shows Hitler that Blacks could succeed, as he takes home four gold medals in all.

1938- Joe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling- Once again, a black man shows Hitler his skill as he knocks out German boxer Max Schmeling.

1947- Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier - Branch Rickey, the GM of the Brooklyn dodgers took a chance on a young kid from the Negro leagues named Jackie Robinson. He was assigned to the minor league club the Montreal Royals in 1946, and tore up the league, and a year later made his way to the majors, breaking the color line. Robinson paved the way for such legends as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and countless others.

2001- Baseball returns after 9/11- Everyone knows about September 11th. Baseball seems pretty insignificant compared to what happened on that day. However, When baseball returned after September 11th, people rallied around the sport like never before. During a game in Boston, a city that has a general hate for New York sports, one fan held up a sign that said "we are all New Yorkers".

Though Sports may seem to many as a distraction, they, as well as those who play them bring people together like nothing else. Athletes are the reason that these sports can take place, and the reason that people can be brought together.

[sweetlou]

well brian, the war hawks were there to help expand the country which meant fight off indians. Also the English especially around the war of 1812 were helping the Indians so I guess you could say they were defending agianst outside invaders

[Alex G.]

joy said:

Alex G.-
Athletes were entertainment, I get that. Have they (athletes) influenced any other aspects of United States history, like politics or economics?

JOY

Absolutely. Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Baseball years before integration in the south.
In 1980, when the U.S beat Russia in hockey, it was sort of a win for capitalism over communism, and on the flip side, the Russians were so distraught over the loss, the Russian player who accidentally deflected the puck into the net for the game winning goal, Sergei Starikov, was sent to Siberia. That was not just a game, it was for both sides kind of a struggle: good against evil.

[sweetlou]

thanks Misha for clearing up my question, I respect what angle you are aproaching them at