The 2 AM Imperialism Paper

REVISED, PEOPLE!! I decided to get rid of the entire paper except the intro and conclusion after comments from people and the realization that I could barely get through the entire paper on my own. So if you took the time to read at all, here's just the snipets:

This is my crazy history paper that I wrote and finally finished late into the night the day before it was due. I'm never been much of a history buff, but I thought I would share it with all those who took the time to actually read my blog. Good luck - hope you don't get too bored - it's on imperialism! Also, it may be difficult to see, but the settings wouldn't let me put it in paragraph format. Heh.


“Old expectations encountered new realities”—this statement, taken from Americans on the Move: the West and the City, reflects the stories and live accounts of those who experienced the changing reality of imperialism. Whether Americans were on the move, imagining how the other half lived, or braving the beginning of the middle-class life, people’s expectations were met with realities they had never seen nor even imagined. James Rusling, Michael Gold, John A. Fitch, Jacob Riis, P. T. Barnum—these names offer no significance to the average ear, but their stories, their writings, and their books hold much meaning to the lives that were buried within their works and the audiences to whom they were directed. Those lives, along with many others, echo only a small portion of what imperialism entailed within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readers are welcomed to relive the journey of the struggles that new immigrants, hard-working foreigners, and the average, every-day American people endured as well as the actions that they took to ensure a change that would better their lives and the lives of the future generations.



Although each article summary remains undeveloped, certain points have been emphasized to relay importance. Even within each, only small shreds of information are contained within what represents this time period—the 19th and 20th centuries, and U. S. History within itself. What one should take away after reading the highlighted points is not the individual struggles, but the issues the nation itself faced: immigration, prejudice, strikes, labor, and status. The list is ongoing, but history at this time seems to be treading a slow uphill journey toward a lifestyle of independence, self-reliance, and human ability. Though small in size, these articles should not be overlooked but rather praised for those individuals who took the time to represent those people who lived to see difficult times. No doubt, there are moments when these certain individuals, these specific writings, and these recorded events may have been forgotten, but they cease to be lost to the great nation in which they took place.