Shoe evolution

Lee Thomas
D block
12/13/2018

Goodyear advertisement, 1891

Shoes have been around for hundreds of years. They started off simple and have grown into a much more complex everyday item, but they weren’t always so complex. Nowadays shoes come in all different sizes and colors, with all different benefits based off of one's preference, but how did they get to be like they are now, and why are there so many different kinds of shoes in the world today?

While shoes started off as hay stuffed in leather, they’ve advanced as time has gone on but they took a massive leap forward amidst the mid 19th century. Many shoes of the time were leather from animals sewn together to make shoes. Wordpress.com shows us that 1832 came with the new technique of putting rubber as the sole of the shoe. This process was patented by Wait Webster, and following this Joseph William Foster, who was the founder of Boulton or modern day Reebok, decided to put spikes on the bottom of the rubber soled shoes. This was the birth of the track spike.

Early 1850s running spikes

While Wait Webster kickstarted the movement of advanced shoe making, it didn’t really take off until Charles Goodyear came along with the invention of Vulcanization. While many know the name Goodyear for the tires on their car, Goodyear actually started as a shoe company, really one of the most important shoe companies because of their contribution to the industry. Vulcanization is the process of heating up the rubber that you would put on shoes. This makes the rubber stronger and more flexible, which allowed many people to move away from stiff and uncomfortable shoes and instead wear something much lighter and flexible. With this new technique of shoe making Tennis shoes began to appear on the scene. Tennis shoes started as the new vulcanized rubber with fabric attached to the sole. These shoes were also called other names such as sneakers, trainers, or even felony shoes because of how quiet they were compared to older stiffer shoes. These Tennis shoes became very popular with the younger generation and gave way to different types of shoes such as ones with a harder canvas but the same sole, these were more prominent with higher class people who played sports such as Golf or Croquet. While Tennis shoes were named “Tennis shoes” they weren’t specifically for tennis. These shoes allowed for more movement in many sports like basketball or soccer.

The 19th century gave way to many sports, one of which being America’s favorite pastime. Baseball. While baseball was played some before the invention of vulcanization it began to rise in popularity. The first shoes with the new vulcanized rubber varied more in the canvas of the shoe rather than the sole. Many shoes would either be high tops or low tops, with leather being at the rim or lip of the shoe. Early shoes were usually just fabric with the leather at the top, but soon leather became to dominant material around 1882. In the 1890s Spalding even took another step up when they went from $6 all leather shoes, to $7 all kangaroo leather shoes. The new shoes were even more durable than just plain leather ones which made them last longer.

Even though the canvas of the shoe was changed throughout most of the late 19th century, the new vulcanization process stood the test of time for at least 50 years. Compared to today, 50 years is incredible. Modern day shoe companies are making different types of soles every couple of years now. They make them lighter, more breathable, more flexible, more padded, and every couple of years there’s something different. So for the the the process of vulcanization to stand for 50+ years shows how advanced for it time it actually was.


Sources:
Encyclopedia of fashion
Baseballhalloffame.org
Wordpress.com

Thanksgiving evolution

Thanksgiving blessings and prayers

Lee Thomas

Evolution of Thanksgiving

            Thanksgiving is a well known holiday throughout the United States. It’s a time to get together with family and celebrate each others company with all sorts of foods, the same types of foods that were at the first Thanksgiving. At least that’s what many who celebrate the holiday believe. The truth about Thanksgiving is a little more than just the Mayflower and turkey. More people were involved in the coming of Thanksgiving than just the Pilgrims and Indians, but why is it all left out of the modern day knowledge?

            The origin of Thanksgiving as many today know it is somewhat true but some of the ideas around it, mostly main ideas around the holiday, have been stretched and are not as true as one would think. Many would start the story of Thanksgiving by saying that Pilgrims came from England as to escape religious persecution. The reality behind it is that while there is definitely a possibility that a handful were escaping persecution, many came over on the Mayflower to make money. Another issue with the story is that they were called Pilgrims. Many of them would have called themselves Separatists for removing themselves from England. All of these facts a simple to find if more people looked into the real origin of Thanksgiving. I looked on the New York Times, and History.com to easy find facts that disprove these misconceptions.

The meal shared by the Indians and the Separatists is true, however this wasn’t really the start of Thanksgiving. While it was celebrated in parts of the country, Thanksgiving wasn’t declared a holiday until 1863 when Sarah Josepha Hale, the “Mother of Thanksgiving” as some would say, wrote Abraham Lincoln a letter asking him to make it a national holiday. After the Civil War ended Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday as a form of thanks for the victories at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Gettysburg as said on History.com. This is where the technical start of Thanksgiving began.

            The most important part of Thanksgiving to many who celebrate it is the food. Turkey and cranberries, corn, and bread. These are just some of the many foods that are a necessity at the table, but unfortunately, they all aren’t the foods that many believe were at the first Thanksgiving. Squanto was an Indian living in New England when he was taken by the English and sold into slavery in Spain in 1614. Once he got out of slavery, he lived in England for a while, where he learned english, then returned to New England in 1619 only to find that his tribe had been killed off by a smallpox outbreak. In 1621 the Separatists came to New England and met Squanto who showed them the best fishing spots, and how to farm properly. Another tribe also helped show the Indians how to grow corn and other foods. The meal was shared by the Separatists and the Indians, that much is true, but Turkey was not for certain part of the meal. It’s been debated that many “wild fowl” could’ve been a part of the meal, but over the years advertising has many Turkey the main food on the menu. The same goes for cranberry sauce. Cranberries were for sure not at the first Thanksgiving, but through advertising have become a major part of the holiday. Smithsonianmag.com showed that 88% of families eat Turkey on Thanksgiving and that 20% of the turkeys eaten every year take place on Thanksgiving.

Sources:
New York Times
History.com
Smithsonianmag.com

           

Movie review paraphrase

Lee Thomas
D block
10/30/18

Solomon Northup

Original paragraph:

"It’s on Epps’s plantation that “12 Years a Slave” deepens, and then hardens. It’s also where the existential reality of what it meant to be enslaved, hour after hour, decade after decade, generation after generation, is laid bare, at times on the flayed backs of Epps’s human property, including that of his brutalized favorite, Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o). Mr. Fassbender, skittish and weirdly spiderlike, grabs your attention with curdled intensity. He’s so arresting that at first it seems as if the performance will soon slip out of Mr. McQueen’s control, and that the character will become just another irresistibly watchable, flamboyant heavy." 
( New York times movie review)

My Paraphrase:

We see the movie "12 Years a Slave" become more engaging as we arrive with Solomon at Master Epp's plantation. This is where we really see what life was like as a slave, and for many of them this was their whole life. Master Epp's is portrayed as a vicious slave owner, with his main victim being his best cotton picker, Patsey. Michael Fassbender's (Master Epps) acting style throughout this film really captivates the viewer for the whole time. His aggressiveness within his scenes makes us think that his character will go off script at any moment and become a character we can't take our eyes off of. 

Paraphrase Practice:

"Some historians have argued that Lincoln’s personal beliefs underwent a significant change during the last year of the Civil War, and Lincoln did in fact suggest to the reconstructed government of Louisiana in 1864 that “very intelligent” black men and “those who have fought gallantly in our ranks” might be given access to the ballot box. As depicted by the film, during the 1864 Presidential campaign Lincoln threw his support behind passage of the 13th Amendment and was active in securing its passage in 1865."

Spielberg's Lincoln: A Historian's Review, The official publication of the Texas Exes

My paraphrase of this selected passage:

Historians have debated how Lincoln's moral outlooks changed during the final year of the war. Along with how in 1864 Lincoln attempted to persuade Louisiana for blacks who'd fought in the war, and were "intelligent" to vote. At the time Louisiana was a reconstructed government. The movie shows that while Lincoln was attempting to obtain votes for the election of 1864, Lincoln was all in for the 13th Amendment and stayed that way until 1865 when it was ratified. 

Lincoln questions

Photo of Lincoln

1. Lincoln was "uncompromising" when he kept pushing for slavery to be abolished even when many people opposed his judgement. Thaddeus Stevens was "uncompromising" when he continued to disagree with Lincoln's methods on spreading popularity for the amendment. however, the did agree on hiring the men to persuade members of the house to vote in favor of the amendment.

2. The movie shows the conflict Lincoln was facing with going against the wishes of many in order to do what he knew was right morally. Both the movie and letters convened the well.

3. Lincoln was in such a rush to get the 13th amendment passed because if he didn't get it passed before the war ended then the Emancipation Proclamation could be removed and slavery would be reinstated.

4. The movie made it somewhat complicated when discussing who was pro-slavery and anti-slavery because members of the house began to flip sides and then flip back which began to get confusing after while.

5. Many people were worried about their businesses going under, or blacks gaining too many rights. This wasn't shown that much in the film except for the scene where Lincoln is talking to the couple towards the beginning of the film, and the couple said that they were in favor of the amendment unless the war was almost over, in which case the would like to keep slavery.

Reconstruction archive reflection

Within the archive I found talk about the "Fears of Reconstruction". This topic mainly went over the drop in products, and injure businesses. The paper was from the Memphis Daily Appeal, and it went over how reconstruction was causing a scare within the community, and there was increased agitation along with trouble on the streets.This is really what i expected from the paper at this time, southerners are afraid of the businesses being ruined or the communities tainted from the black community, and they're not happy about it. Reading the archive allows us to get a better feel of what was on everyone's mind at the time of the Reconstruction, and to see peoples reactions to it.

Memphis Daily Appeal newspaper

Why did Reconstruction end in 1877?

As two men ran during the election, the vote was split to 7 Democrats and 8 Republicans and David Davis, a Supreme court judge as the deciding factor, however after taking the Illinois Senate seat, David he wasn't allowed to vote. Joseph P. Bradley, a Republican, took his place and the vote ended 8 to 7 Hayes won the election. With his election Hayes expressed equality for both races, and with that he pulled the remaining Union soldiers out of the South which led to the fall of the last Republican administrations, and with that Reconstruction ended.