Most Significant Groups in US History

[Melissa F.]

SUMMATIVE POST
Musicians rock by the way... Ok, so I'm going to use the following criteria to pick my top ten most influential groups (and it's some pretty awesome criteria if you ask me!):

1) The impact of the group's actions (how prominent they were during their time - whether their actions were positive OR negative)
2) The range of influence they had (politic, society, economy, etc)
3) The amount of risk they faced (determination to push the social standards of the time)
4) The length of time that they actively affected the country
5) Whether or not they influenced other groups as well
6) Whether or not they have any current influence
7) Any notable members (although this is not a particularly important criteria, it would probably just be a bonus for whatever groups I pick)

Alrighty, well this was fun. Have a good weekend everyone - at least of what's left of it - and good luck writing your own wonderful papers. ;D

[Matt F]

Coby,
In my opinion, the present day journalists are just as significant as the past journalists. Yes, there are many contrasting viewpoints now which adds a different element to daily journalism, but, just like in the past, journalists are most significant for the way in which they distribute information (hard and soft news) throughout the millions of people in our country. Because we are no longer in eras like WWII, where propaganda was rampant, I believe that the opinion side of journalism takes a backseat and isn't what dominates news anymore.

[Tali Cayemitte]

To you Dearest Matt,
In order for me to have contradicted myself, we would have had to be talking about the SAME topic in Which i gave differing opinions and that is NOT the case. You seem to be ignorantly confusing the word abolition with equality as one in the same. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING!!!!!

HERE'S A LITTLE HELP:

equality-(noun) state of being equal: rights, treatment, quantity, or value equal to all others in a given group

abolition- (noun) act of outlawing something: the act of officially ending a law, regulation, or practice

Abolitionists ACHIEVED their goal of outlawing slavery, the act itself. They were a catalyst to the idea of "equality", the state of being (if you've forgotten that definition, look up!!!) , the idea (if i could unferline this, i would) that all men are created equal because everyone knows that long after slavery was successfully abolished with the help of ABOLITIONISTS, jim crow laws still prevented blacks from being "equal" to their counterparts. But, because of ABOLITIONISTS, the IDEA of EQUALITY spread to neighboring organizations. A good example is the feminists who used the idea that all men are created equal, alltering it slightly, along with their involvement with the abolition movement to attain their own rights.

As far as my "irrelevant question", i was trying to show that the ones who create the idea are very important because they allow others to work off of their ideas and make something out of it. <------- (THIS IS SPEAKING ABOUT EQUALITY...NOT THE SAME THING AS ABOLITION)

Oh yea and umm if you feel that was an "irrelevant" question, i'll refrain from asking you questions of that sort if you refrain from bringing up examples of that sort.

Good day to you

[Matt F]

SUMMATIVE POST
There are so many groups that I am considering putting in my top 10, but I think the criteria that I use will be:
1.) How significantly the group impacted our past, (and also our present and future)
2.) How much of the country the group actually effected
3.) How long the group was/has been present in our history
4.) What they actually accomplished or changed forever

I thought this was different and a good way to end our two years of simulations. It will be interesting to see how the informational posts effect the way that people end up choosing their top 10 groups for their out papers.

[beckyg]

coby, you are right in that sense, but my point was to show that just because a group is around today, doesnt override the negative or insignficant impact they may have on society.

[Matt F]

Haha, Talisha I think we should just both settle on the fact that no matter what we both say, we are never going to agree, Im not even going to waste the energy of responding. Its been fun though. PS- I should have added to my summative post that abolitionists were already out because my criteria looks for groups that accomplished stuff. I'm done.

[sophieq1]

Summative Post
...aw last post..so sad. i guess.
yeah so criteria...
1) If the group influenced other people or groups during the time.
2) If the group influenced society, economy, politics, etc. (i.e. Caitlin Williams brought up a point that environmentalists dictated the economy. Also if the group effected all three of these things that group would be even more important.
3) Length of time that group was importantn.
4) Number of monumental moments or if the group didnt have many and one huge concept or change came from the then I would put that in aswell.
5) Being the First counts. For example if one group is based off another then the first group would be higher on the list.
6) The amount of people that got involved with it. (this can also be connected with criteria number 1.)
- i dont think ill be using how important it is today just because a lot of really important groups existed a while ago that don't now. However that is not to say that groups that are around today aren't important as well. I just think a time frame isn't too important.

[margaux]

info post #2 ANTI-IMPERIALISTS

economic aspect:
economic imperialist actions may seem to enhance America's economy. However, this is only good for the economy until the foreign investment causes our economy to become to attached to foreign economics. the effect of our current over-development on foreign nations can been observed in the recent stop market slip. It occurred after the Chinese stock market fell almost 10% in one day. The American stock market consequently fell 3% in response. This slip along with the reverberations felt in other major stock markets in countries such as Japan, France, England, etc. shows how necessary it is for that the anti-imperialists make their impact. Many times in the past century there have been extreme attempts to push our nation abroad. If this had been done to such an extreme point then the US would be dependent on foreign nations. We can thank the anti-imperialists for maintaining the strength that the United States has in itself.

[Kathryn S]

Beth M:
"The justices have different opinions and rarely, if ever, agree 100% on anything."

If these supreme court justices are supposed to be going by the constitution then why do you think these people are so important to America ....when really they are just going on their own opinions

[jamie]

Summative Post

the simulation was good but at times really confusing. i feel like i will have another good source to study from for the test coming up. good job everyone

obviously everyone is gonna have their own parameters for their top 10 groups so it should be interesting to see why people choose certain groups. looking over the most influential people packet is also reccomended because it gets our brain thinking. i plan to choose my groups based on the following elements:

the group has a significant responsibility in change, negative or positive
- they are the root of change (many times it is a collaborative effort between groups)
the group must have had some impact that we still feel today
the group must have had a profound impact on pop culture- who have americans heard of, who do they idolize etc.
the group must present exmaples of american values/ freedoms
the group had to have impacted atleast two of the following, political social and economic subjects
the groups impact was felt by different people
the group must have contributed new notions to out country as it grew- economic policies, war strategies etc,

[Juliet T.]

Summative Post
criteria:

1. Must have made a lasting impact on society and for future generations
2. Accomplishments/contributions (including any significant members of that particular group)
3. Exactly what they changed for the betterment of the country
4. Struggles they overcame to make a difference

I had fun! peace out

[laura b]

carolina-
I'm not gonna repeat myself so you can just look back at my previous posts for details, but segregationists basically swayed the social and political beliefs of the majority of our country, and kept the Jim Crow Laws in effect for almost 80 years. They also greatly impacted America's economy by separating blacks and whites in labor. Just read over my info posts if you want to know the details on the group.

[Andrea T.]

Info Post 2:
The Communist ideology was evident through the party's actions from the 1930s through the 1940s. It worked toward helping and organizing the unemployed after the Great Depression, attempted to found "red" unions, and championed the rights of African Americans, farmers, and the working poor.
A group of African American socialists affiliated with the party was known as the African Blood Brotherhood, and Harry Haywood, a prominent member, would later play an important role in communist work among blacks. The communists were one of the most notable parties seemingly unaffected by the racism prevalent throughout the early 20th century, and in fact, it worked to stop discrimination.
By 1936, the Communist party was effectively supporting Roosevelt in much of his trade union work. While it continued to run its own candidates for office, the party followed a policy of representing the Democratic Party as the lesser evil in its elections, having a direct affect on the vote.
Additionally, during this time period, the Communist party was adamantly opposed to fascism, and rallied to the defense of the Spanish Republic after a fascist military uprising moved to overthrow it, resulting in the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939). The party raised runds for medical aid and many of its members went to Spain to join the Lincoln Brigade, which was the first American military force to include blacks and whites integrated on an equal basis.
After 1941 the party was one of the most enthusiastic pro-war voices in World War II. It advocated unity against fascism and did not oppose the prosecution of leaders of the Socialist Workers Party under the newly enacted Smith Act. Well-known members and supporters such as Dalton Trumbo and Pete Seeger recalled anti-war material they had previously released in order to further support for the war.

While the Soviets were allies to the United States during World War II, so were the communists pro-war, pro-Soviets, and decisively all-American. It was not until after the war, when the United States changed its mind about the Soviet Union, that communists in our borders began to seem a threat.

[laura b]

summary
In writing my outpaper, I'll be considering:
-if the group made an impact that we still feel today
-if the group influenced more than one aspect of our country
-if their absence would have changed the course of history
-whether their leaders are well known
-if the actions of the group led to significant events/changes

[Sarah D.]

samr said:

sarahrd said:

Indentured Servants Informational Post #1

Indentured servants were admirable people who helped to shape colonial America. More than half of the people who came to states south of New England during the colonial period were servants. Indentured servants were usually males between the ages of 15 to 25. They consisted of skilled and unskilled laborers looking to make a better life for themselves economically when they finished their bondage terms. Little did they know, that indentured servants had a low life expectancy and most died before they finished their service. Landowner John Pory wrote a letter from Virginia in 1619 in which he stated "our principal wealth...consisteth in servants". Indentured servants were optimistic and determined people. They were willing to work demanding jobs to live in this country.

How are they more important than slaves, who replaced them in far greater numbers?

Sam-
Indentured servants were the ones who saved the tobacco industry. They kept the business alive that allowed Americans to have such a good economy. Slaves did eventually replace them, but indentured servants were the ones who worked the fields first. Many indentured servants went on to become hard working American citizens who laid a foundation for our country.

[evanj]

"i get that framers of the constitution were very important people, but you should understand that the colonies were evetually going to seperate from Great Britian anyways. First of all, the colonists were white just like the British, and most of them came from Britian, or were decendents of people that came from Britian, so they couldn't be looked upon as inferior like the people in the other colonies that Britian controlled around the world. even the other colonies eventually fell from under Britian's control, so the seperation was bound to happen, meaning that the Framers of the Contitutions, while being great because of their courage and guts, didn't really make that great a contribution since the colonies would become free anyways. right? don't you remember the begining of last year's notes, "the American Revolution was more of an accelerated evolution than a revolution""
Ayesha, that is an interesting point. The timing of the Revolution, however, is important to note, because regardless of what some lecture states, i will always believe that it is impossible to assume anything about history. Perhaps the colonies, who had still felt strong ties to Britain, would've worked out the situation with Parliament and never seperated at all? Maybe the colonies would have seperated, but would it have been successful? Remember the odds the colonists were going up against. Britain was OBSENELY favored and much more powerful than the colonies, a true David and Golieth situation, and it took an extraordinary set of circumstances for the colonies to succeed. Anyway, back to my original point, which is that going on the basis of an assumption is never a good way to argue a point, and that i'm sorry but i have to say that your point doesn't have too much validity in my opinion.

[Kathryn S]

Alex G, you said "Athletes are on the forefront of cultural reforms"... but aren't you forgetting all of the lesser known people that were totally WAAYYY ahead of the game (haha) before more visible personas, like the athletes, took these same cultural bounds?...like color and gender lines etc

[margaux]

info post #3 ANTI-IMPERIALISTS

Anti-imperialists really began to strengthen in number when a group formed called the American Anti -Imperialist League in 1898. The league was partially created because of outrage due to the Spanish-American war. Significant members of the league consisted of: Jane Addams, Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, Grover Cleveland, John Dewey, Samuel Gompers and William Jennings Bryan. Although the league died out a few decades later the ideas of anti-imperialists still widely exist to this day.
Anti-imperialists don't have a concrete example of why they are so significant to the United States. They bring about more of the hypothetical type question. For example if there was no opposition in the United States to any of America's imperialistic policies then most likely those policies would be put into effect. This would have a huge impact on the image of America with concern to how other nations view us. As stated in a previous info post this would also largely affect America's economy status. Anti-imperialists keep this country in check but without the publicity that many other groups may receive. Although anti-imperialists may not appear to jump out as being terrificly significant to this nation, just think about what this country would be like if anti-imperialism never crossed our minds. Without Anti-imperialists, the US would overextend its resources and get tied up in too many foreign debacles leading it to collapse in its own strength and greatness.

[Kathryn S]

Andrea t: Ok, so the commies have been significant in our country's history, but just curious... do you think that any significantly "good" ideas or occurrences came from their influence?

[Sarah D.]

Summary

-If the group ultimately changed the every day lives of Americans in all areas
-If the group remained powerful for a significant amount of time.
-What the group was able to accomplish
-If the group is still prominent today
-If the group had a lasting impact regarding politics, religion, or economics.