December 16, 2014
US History-H Block
Speech
From
watching historically based films like "Glory" and "12 Years a
Slave", to researching how Native Americans are genetically predisposed to
obesity and diabetes, I have been presently surprised by the copious amounts of
different topics we have learned this semester. Seeing as I want to go into the
medical field, I was very interested in my research topic about what marker or
gene causes Native Americans to be susceptible to obesity and
diabetes. For thousands of years, communities and populations that relied
on farming, hunting, and fishing for food experience a great fluctuation of
alternation periods in which they endured feast and famine. For their bodies to
adapt to these extreme changes in caloric needs, their bodies developed a
"Thrifty Gene" that allowed them to store fat during times of plenty
so that they would not starve during times of famine. While this gene was
extremely helpful in times of famine, these populations have now adopted to the
“typical” western lifestyle. Meaning, they endure less physical activity due to
automobiles, consumption of a high-fat diet, and access to a constant supply of
calories. This Thrifty Gene has begun to work against these communities, continuing
to store calories in preparation for famine, causing their high susceptibility
of diabetes and obesity. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that by
understanding the biology of things like genes, I can get a better insight to
American history as a whole.
Having a
minimal history in the rise of the industrial workforce and the people that
worked in it, I was unpleasantly surprised by the how the children were
treated. At least 1.7 million children under the age of 16 years old were
employed in factories and fields. Only 38 state legislatures had passed child
labor laws in the late 19th century. Agriculturally employed
children worked 12 hour days in the field, and these children were often exempt
from the laws. For factory working children, they had to be at least 12 years
old and would work a minimum of 10 hours a day. These children were being
maimed and even killed in industrial accidents at an alarming rate. Knowing
that children were being so poorly mistreated and manipulated by adults just so
they could pay cheaper wages is truly sickening.
10 years
down the road, I will be able to remember and discuss the effects of Social
Darwinism during the Industrial supremacy. More importantly, I will be able to
remember Herbert Spencer’s argument in which he states that society benefited
from the elimination of the unfit and survival of the strong and talented.
Racism has
been an issue that Americans in the past and present have struggled with. 149
years after slavery was abolished, and all men and women of different skin
color became equals, we are still having catastrophic issues with racism. Take
Michael Brown for example, an 18 year old African-American male who was shot
and killed by a white police officer. Everyone jumped to the conclusion that he
was shot because he was black, but no one stopped to listen to the fact that he
had just tried to rob a store and then physically assaulted the officer,
resulting with Brown turning the gun back on the officer. It was self defense,
but people who did not even witness the crime, immediately jumped to the
conclusion that it was about race.
Looking
back at what we have learned in history this past semester from 1865 to 1920,
there is a common theme of growth and expansion throughout America. Whether
it’s political or technological, America went through a major transformation
during this era. Therefore, I would name this era the Age of American Expansion
because we have talked about all forms of expansion throughout America.
Anywhere from expansion of populations across the nation or the spread of
industrial factories, America went through a significant period of growth
during this era.
