Christmas spending

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday of the year. Along with all of the family time and the occasional snow, Christmas has some serious spending. According to a poll that was done by Gallup.com, The amount that the average american spends on Christmas gifts is actually on the decline. In 2007, American spent roughly 907$ on gifts, and in the year 2010 the average american spent around 715$. Some experts predict that the numbers for this years Christmas shopping will be even lower. On the bright-side though, Gallup's prediction are not as bad as they originally thought because the amount of Halloween spending was higher than expected

Nation of immigrants

I think that being a "Nation of Immigrants" is what makes America he country that it is today. Having all of the different kinds of people, and all of their cultures produces a very diverse nation. I think that having a nation of immigrants makes us, as a whole, more open to different cultures and different religions. Having this open minded attitude towards different cultures helped to lure in new immigrants because America seemed like a nation that would not discriminate against other ethnic groups.
I think that above all else, an immigrant had to have great amounts of bravery in order to make the trip to America. An immigrant had to leave their homeland behind and most times they even left their family behind in order to find a better life for them and their families. When it comes to my ancestors, i do not really fell a great connection with them because of the fact that I am a novice when it comes to information about them. I feel like if I were to know more facts about my ancestors as well as details of my family tree, I would feel a stronger connection with my ancestors and where they came from.

Research project!!

During the years of 1880 through the 1920’s, there was much advancement in American culture, industry, as well as technology. The largest change or advancement that came during these years was the transition into a consumer economy. This completely changed how the majority of Americans lived their lives. Several new forms of buying products, and entertainment emerged due to the consumer economy. The growth of college football, as well as the establishing of large department stores is just a few examples of how the consumer economy changed the lifestyle of the majority of Americans. One of the areas in which Americans could see how the consumer economy changed their lifestyles was at the Chicago World Expo of 1893. The Expo was the showcase for the technological marvels of the time period. Not only did the Expo show Americans all of the technological advancements of the time, but it also gave them a glimpse of what life was like in Europe due to the Beaux arts style of architecture that was used for the majority of buildings in the expo.

The Chicago World Expo was held in order to celebrate Christopher Columbus’s four hundredth anniversary of him landing in the Americas. Also Chicago beat out large cities such as New York and Washington D.C, and won the right to hold the worlds fair for 1893.  The Expo covered nearly six hundred acres and it also featured almost two hundred structures. These structures featured Beaux Art style architecture as well as many lagoons and a canal system. The expo was located in Jackson Park. The overall layout and floor plan of the expo was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Beaux Art style buildings were the brainchild of Daniel Burnham. One of the most well know nick names for the world expo is “The white city”. The expo received this name due to the fact that all of the Beaux Arts structures were constructed out of white stucco. This building material was said to give the buildings a “bright white glow” Overall, most of the visitors were blown away by the size, content, and the extensive use of electrical lighting.

One of the main exhibits of the expo was the electrical showcase of Nikola Tessla’s alternating current illumination. Before alternating current, the majority of Americans only knew of direct current lighting systems. The main advantages of Tessla’s AC(alternating current), were that the AC bulbs put off greater amounts of light with half of the heat, when compared to direct current bulbs. Another advantage of AC was that the bulbs used much more common materials for the filaments than direct current bulbs, thus greatly reducing the cost of production. One way that the AC bulbs were put to use, was that they allowed for the first ever night football game. The game only lasted forty minutes, compared to ninety minutes for a regular day game.

One aspect of modern life that came into existence during the 1880’s, was urban planning. The main idea of urban planning was to create a more attractive and efficient city design. The highly integrated design of the landscapes, promenades, and structures provided a vision of what is possible when planners, landscape architects, and architects work together on a design scheme. The overall success of the World expo created great success for its co-architect Daniel Burnham. The Merchants Club of Chicago decided to commission Daniel Burnham to design a city plan for Chicago. His plans became the first modern city plan in America. The main recognizable design feature of the White City was its Beaux Arts style of architecture. Beaux-Arts architecture depended on sculptural decoration along conservative modern lines. Some other notable design characteristics of the Beaux Arts style are: a flat roof, arched windows as well as arched doors, and classical details.

The World expo had a lasting effect on the way that Americans viewed their culture and how it was advancing. Not only did the expo create a showcase for all of the technological advancements of the time period, but it created an excellent opportunity for merchants to advertise all of their products. The expo was the ideal for a merchant to advertise their products due to the vast amount of visitors that the expo received. All of these factors added up to create the perfect environment for merchants. Overall the Chicago world expo was an enormous achievement across all fields. It presented the public with all of the cutting edge technology as well as a forerunner for urban planning and the Beaux Arts style of architecture. Every single aspect of the expo was ground breaking, and it was definitely a crowning achievement in the history of Chicago. Tragically, the expo suffered a great fire and was entirely destroyed. The fire started off as just a small flame, but it quickly spread throughout the entire fair. This was primarily because of the fact that the majority of the structures were built as temporary structures, and they had not been properly fire gaurded

This photo shows the Administration building of the Expo, this building is an example of the Beaux Arts style

This is a very detailed map of the World Expo

This is a view of the court of honor. The court of honor was the main section of the Expo

This photo shows the court of honor during the night hours. This was a display of how the expo utilized alternating current

This photo shows the large electrical motors that were necessarily for alternating current to work

Progress of my project

For my project, I am doing research on the white city. The white city was the nick name for the Chicago world expo. The expo was built to showcase the technological achievements of the time period. I have found many sources about the expo and I am moving along just perfectly

Homework question number one

Labor attempted to fight back against such conditions by adopting some of the same tactics their employers had used so effectively: creating large combinations, or unions. Even though unions were created, they had little to no success by the end of the century.

Faces Of America

On Monday and Tuesday, our class watched the film Faces of America. The show gave detailed looks into the heritage of several well known people. The list of people included; Steven Colbert, Meryl Streep, Kristi Yamaguchi, as well as Yo-Yo Ma and many others. Each of these stars were interviewed by Henry Louis gates Jr, and he had previously researched each of the their family history. When he met with each of the stars to interview them, he presented them with a large binder that contained every aspect of their family's history. He pointed out interesting details about each of the stars parents and grandparents, as well as showing them pictures of them. Each of the stars that were interviewed by Mr Gates were simply shocked by all of the accurate and detailed about their ancestry. They also couldn't believe their eyes when Mr. Gates showed them pictures of their parents and grandparents.
I enjoyed watching Faces of America not only because it was very interesting to learn about the family trees of the various stars, but also because it made me think about my own family's heritage. It made me ponder the question of how the first generation of the Teachey family made it to the United States of America. I am very interested in pursuing this question. I feel like everyone should watch this film because of the fact that it should make you wonder about where you came from and how you got to where you are today.

Ellis Island

Andrew Carnegie's Philanthropy

Andrew Carnegie was one of the many people that believed in the Gospel of wealth. This meant that he believed that the wealthy people were obligated to give back their money to the society, in order to advance it. Andrew Carnegie was also a strong supporter of the education system in america. He set up various funds that established over 2,000 public libraries in towns across america. He also founded Carnegie Mellon University, and by the end of his life he had given away over 90 percent of his wealth.