2.7: Md-Semester 2 Reflection

1. I believe that the most important thing that I learned about immigration in the 19th Century was how hard it truly was to immigrate. With literacy and US History tests becoming requirements to enter onto US soil. The Naturalization laws were also very cut and try and did not make the transition any easier for the trying immigrants. The visa and green card rules and regulations were also very strict and enforceable by border patrol and the Government. Birthright citizenship was the topic that I wrote about and I was able to find out just how much it effected those trying to immigrate and some of the legal challenges that they must face.
2. Immigration today still makes it very difficult for an immigrant to be able to come onto American soil. With the recent Government shutdown, some have had their green card hearings passed over, which seems unfair to wait all that time and because of a fault that was not their own they must miss their green card hearing and begin waiting in the back of the line. The border wall controversy is also very relevant with the election of President Trump becoming an ever lingering issue at the footsteps of the Government. I learned that even with new and improved rules and regulations, immigration is still made very difficult and could certainly still look for improvements.
3. One of the aspects of living that was challenging in the 19th Century is overcrowding and overpopulating of rural areas such as New York and Chicago. In these two places in particular, tenement housing was used as a cheap and effective way of housing a large number of families. Because of the lack of regulations, there were many downfalls to having these such as occasional fires, no running water, little to no light, no ventilation, and just overall really poor living conditions. Also, another problem with urban settings was the presence of pollution, litter, and unclean streets. The sanitation in urban areas was little to none and had an effect on the face value of properties and did not look good when shown to the public. In order to combat this, there was a "city beautiful movement" started in NYC.
4. The Highline promotes a sense of progressivism because of all of the volunteers and people that it took in order to bring it to life. From the private investors to the gardeners that keep the plants pruned they all played a significant role in the development of the Highline. The individual initiative that Robert and Joshua had to use in order to take this unwanted and thrown away railroad into something that the community uses as a symbol for their city was a true feat. Many people played important role in the construction and design such as architects, photographers, designers, gardeners, CSX, private investors, and even the Highline team that are there to answer questions and interact with the Highline visitors.

Image of the Highline in New York

2.6 Philanthropy

1. Philanthropy - A Greek term which directly translated means “love of mankind.” Philanthropy is an idea, event, or action that is done to better humanity and usually involves some sacrifice as opposed to being done for a profit motive. Acts of philanthropy include donating money to a charity, volunteering at a local shelter, or raising money to donate to cancer research. - NPQ
Philanthropy is the love for human kind, and focuses on the quality of life for the greater good of society. Philanthropy is different from charity although similar at the same time. For instance a major difference between philanthropy and charity is that philanthropy addresses the root of a problem while charity attempts to create a temporary solution for a specific problem.
2. Andrew Carnegie, Philanthropist - Americas Library
Carnegie gave away 90% of his wealth to organizations that supported teachers ($10 Million), Public Libraries (2,000 built), College/Schooling Aid ($125 Million). Andrew Carnegie also believed in World Peace, and funded Hague Palace of Peace which became the World Court. Carnegie gave his donations to causes that he cared about and had a deep connection too from what he believed help him through life while he was younger. He was a passionate individual that cared about what he could do for others with his own donations.
3. John D. Rockefeller - History.com
Rockefeller and Carnegie were very similar in their early life and rise to fame, and both ended their lives donating to causes that they were passionate about. Unlike Carnegie, Rockefeller was very religious and gave his money to religious institutions, Education, and Scientific causes (such as Rockefeller University). Rockefeller donated more than half a billion USD.
4. Carnegie Cooperation
The Carnegie Foundation is involved in "promoting advancements in the diffusion of knowledge and understanding." The three main causes that it focuses on today are International Peace, the advancement of education, and strength of our democracy.
5. Barron Hilton - Hilton Foundation
W. Barron Hilton helped in the creation of the Super Bowl and established the LA Chargers NFL Team, Hilton "pledges" to give 97% of his wealth to Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. As of 2011 net worth = $2.5 Billion.
6. I would invest in religious works and non profit pet/vet organizations because those are some of the things that I have found that I am passionate about and would want to further expenses and research in those areas.

Image of W. Barron Hilton while serving with the U.S. Navy

2.5 Progressive Research

Research Document

2.4 Tenements and Building Codes

Image of tenement housing on crowded New York street

Image of "Dumbbell tenements"

Image of tenement in New York

Interior of a New York Tenement

Image of fire from tenement housing

Image of rubble left after tenement fire in New York

Works Cited -

America's History Textbook - This is where I found information from the History Textbook.

www.JSTOR.org - This is where I found information on the New York State Tenements.

www.history.com - This is where I found the information about the typical building regulations around tenements.

books.google.com - This is where I found the book, "Industrialism", by Jason Mauch.

2.3 Immigration Essay - "Jus Soli"

     Jus Soli

     Jus Soli, this phrase is latin for "right of the soil." This is where I started my research for the topic of birthright citizenship in the United States. I encountered some challenges throughout my research while I was trying to find out weather or not I agreed or disagreed with the choice America has chosen to allow for birthright citizenship. So, in my research I lay out the positive and negatives to the law and leave the topic open for debate because it has backing on both sides of the argument. While researching U.S. birthright citizenship, I learned that immigration is a two way street and that somebody's situation is not as it always seems.

     The Constitution in 1787 states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction there of." This was the first glimpse of birthright citizenship at the time. Originally, the law was limited to "free whites" and excluded enslaved people and Native Americans. The arguments surrounding slavery in 1857 challenged the birthrights of immigrants. A prime example of this is the Dred Scott v Sandford case. Scott, an escaped slave, sued for his freedom and was not considered a citizen at the time. Scott sued and won the case granting him his freedom and rights as an American citizen. The post Civil-War era lead the charge for equality and eventually total birthright citizenship. Attorney General Edward Bates declared, "free men of color born on American soil were American." This leads into the 14th Amendment which states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction there of."
     Birthright citizenship has been a topic of discussion for political leaders of the U.S. since it was deemed to be the law. With the latest election of Pres. Donald Trump, immigration has been relevant now more than ever. Although birthright citizenship can be viewed in a negative and demeaning light, it really is not as bad as it seems with all of the media attention that it has drawn. Some of the negative sides of birthright citizenship are shown when 7% of all U.S. births were to a family where at least one parent was illegal. Another issue surrounding birthright citizenship is security. An example of this being Anwar al-Awlaki who was born in the U.S. to illegal parents and granted citizenship automatically because of the 14th Amendment. Al-Awlaki became one of al-Queda's top operation planners and was granted citizenship upon birth. Another down fall comes when there are only 2 developed nations that allow automatic citizenship to a child born in their borders, the U.S., and Canada.
     Although, birthright citizenship is presented with these challenges the idea of birthright citizenship has many positives. Immigrants are now able to hope for a better economic future for their children, and a safer and more educated environment for them to grow up in. Birthright citizenship plays a key role in allowing for diversity and integration of immigrants into American society. By ending birthright citizenship, it creates many problems including, growth of the undocumented population, excludes millions of Americans from society, harms the integration to "one America", and eventually toughens the already broken immigration system.
     The numbers and graphs have been able to tell a story that the media sometimes misses. Although the U.S. and Canada are the only two developed nations that have the idea of "jus soli", there are actually more than 30 countries that have adopted this style of citizenship in their own unique spins. In 2014, 275,000 children were born to undocumented parents this is 7%of all births that year. 1.3 million children live with two parents who are both unauthorized, and 1.8 million live with one legal and one illegal parent. Since the Great Recession, the births to unauthorized immigrants has declined 25% and continues to dwindle.
     Researching birthright citizenship has allowed me to dive deeper into a subject that I came into knowing little to nothing about. I have enjoyed being able to research the data, facts, and topic as a whole. I believe that I came out of this project with the take away that a story is not always as simple as what is on the cover. Birthright citizenship has its positives and negatives, but overall I believe this project helped to open my eyes to the world I live in today and allowed me to see two sides to a story that is sometimes only presented on one side of the other.
Pictures -

This image shows the countries that allow birthright citizenship.

This is an image of the 14th Amendment.

This is an in depth image of the countries that allow the idea of "jus soli".

Sources -
www.pbs.org - This is where I found the data behind birthright citizenship
www.washingtonpost.com - This is where I found information on Wong Kim Ark
www.history.com - This is where I found information on the Constitution and arguments that surround it
www.numbersusa.com - This is where I found information on Anwar al-Awlaki and the US and Canada
Gale Research Database - Information on the 14th Amendment and Constitution

2.2 Thinking About Success

Hard work, Skill, Opportunity, Luck
Ever since I was a little kid, my parents have told me that with hardwork anything can be accomplished. It has been engraved in me that hard work in the long run will always outperform skill or luck. Although it is always helpful to have a little bit of all of these traits, hard work is an absolute necessity in order to gain and maintain success. You can be skilled in an area but if someone is making themselves better day in and day out then that person will eventually be better than you.

Picture of tortoise beating a hare through hard work.

2.1 Rats show empathy

I found that rats are not innately born to help other rats. Instead, the rats form bonds with those that are placed in a surrounding social setting and those bonds can directly tie to empathy felt for the other rats around them. This shows that although rats are not born with empathy that they are able to develop this mindset through their past experiences and social interactions.

This is a photo of teh rats that were used in the experiment at the University of Chicago.